Resource

A resource is a source or supply from which benefit is produced. Typically resources are materials, energy, services, staff, knowledge, or other assets that are transformed to produce benefit and in the process may be consumed or made unavailable. Benefits of resource utilization may include increased wealth, meeting needs or wants, proper functioning of a system, or enhanced well being. From a human perspective a natural resource is anything obtained from the environment to satisfy human needs and wants. From a broader biological or ecological perspective a resource satisfies the needs of a living organism (see biological resource).

The concept of resources has been applied in diverse realms, with respect to economics, biology and ecology, computer science, management, and human resources, and is linked to the concepts of competition, sustainability, conservation, and stewardship. In application within human society, commercial or non-commercial factors require resource allocation through resource management.

Resource (Windows)

In Microsoft Windows, resources are read-only data embedded in EXE, DLL, CPL or (beginning with Windows Vista) MUI files.

The Windows API provides for easy access to all applications resources.

Types

Each resource has a type and a name, both being either numeric identifiers or strings.

Windows has a set of predefined resource types:

The programmer can also define custom data types in resources.

Usage

The icon that Windows displays for a program file is actually the first icon resource in its EXE file. If the EXE file has no icon resources, a standard icon is displayed.

The version resource for EXE and DLL files is displayed in the Version tab of their property pages.

Resources always have a language attached to them and Windows will automatically use the most fitting language if possible. This allows for programs adapting their language to the locale of the user.

Resource fork

The resource fork is a fork or section of a file on the Apple Mac OS operating system used to store structured data along with the unstructured data stored within the data fork. A resource fork stores information in a specific form, containing details such as icon bitmaps, the shapes of windows, definitions of menus and their contents, and application code (machine code). For example, a word processing file might store its text in the data fork, while storing any embedded images in the same file's resource fork. The resource fork is used mostly by executables, but every file is able to have a resource fork.

The Macintosh file system

Originally conceived and implemented by programmer Bruce Horn, the resource fork was used for three purposes with Macintosh file system. First, it was used to store all graphical data on disk until it was needed, then retrieved, drawn on the screen, and thrown away. This software variant of virtual memory helped Apple to reduce the memory requirements of the Apple Lisa from 1 MB to 128 KB in the Macintosh. Second, because all the pictures and text were stored separately in a resource fork, it could be used to allow a non-programmer to translate an application for a foreign market, a process called internationalization and localization. And finally, it could be used to distribute nearly all of the components of an application in a single file, reducing clutter and simplifying application installation and removal.