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Q230332: Cvtres.exe Program Error

Article: Q230332
Product(s): Microsoft Windows NT
Version(s): 4.0,6.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbfile kbLinker kbOSWinNT400 kbVC600 kbDSupport kbGrpDSTools
Last Modified: 16-MAY-2002

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0 
- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0 
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SYMPTOMS
========

A large resource script that contains many custom resources with string names
may cause the following error message to be displayed during linking:

  CVTRES.EXE Application Error - The instruction at "0x01002b2b" referenced
  memory at [address]. The memory could not be "written".

CAUSE
=====

This problem occurs because there is a limited amount of space that is available
during linking for string names for custom resources. A large resource script
that contains many custom resources with very long string names may exceed the
available space and cause the observed linker error.

RESOLUTION
==========

A supported fix that corrects this problem is now available from Microsoft, but
it has not been fully regression tested and should be applied only to systems
experiencing this specific problem. The English version of this fix should have
the following file attributes or later:

  Date      Time      Size     File name    Platform
  ---------------------------------------------------
  05/13/99   05:33p   16,656   Cvtres.exe   x86
  05/13/99   08:30p   25,872   Cvtres.exe   Alpha




WORKAROUND
==========

To work around this problem, use numbers to identify resources instead of
strings.

STATUS
======

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products that are
listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION
================

The error is the result of the number of characters in a custom resource name.
The following describes the problem:

If you create a custom resource called "MYTYPE" and add resources under this type
by using Developer Studio, a number is associated with the resources in the
Resource.h file.

If you delete these numbers or create the custom MYTYPE resources by hand, the
resource compiler thinks that you intended to reference these resources by a
string.

The code to load the resource is different depending on whether the resource is
identified by using a number or a string.

You use the following line to load a MYTYPE type of resource with the numeric ID
ID_MYTYPEONE (defined in Resource.h):

  FindResource(hMod, MAKEINTRESOURCE(ID_MYTYPEONE), "MYTYPE");

You use the following line to load a MYTYPE type of resource with the string ID
"MYTYPEONE" (defined in Resource.h):

  FindResource(hMod, "MYTYPEONE", "MYTYPE");

The problem concerns custom resources that have been identified with strings
rather than numbers. If these strings are long and numerous, the crash may occur
if you overrun the space that is available for their names.

Empirical testing has shown that the following formula may be used to determine
when the problem may occur:

  Total Number of Characters After Which You Crash = 32760 - #Resources

Thus, if you have 5,460 resources, the total number of characters taken up by all
of those resource names combined should not exceed 27,300.

Additional query words: 4.00 CVTRES

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Keywords          : kbfile kbLinker kbOSWinNT400 kbVC600 kbDSupport kbGrpDSTools 
Technology        : kbWinNTsearch kbWinNTWsearch kbWinNTW400 kbWinNTW400search kbWinNT400search kbWinNTSsearch kbWinNTS400search kbWinNTS400
Version           : :4.0,6.0
Hardware          : ALPHA x86
Issue type        : kbbug
Solution Type     : kbfix

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