Good day,
The following information is being provided as there would appear to be some potential confusion with regards to the updating of the images within an application - with such "data" being commonly referred to as "resources".
This updating of such resources within an application can be performed in one of two ways, 1) manually or 2) via the employment of "scripts".
The question might then be asked, "Which method is the best one to employ?" - to which the answer might be "Whatever method meets your needs at the time!" In short, it really "boils down" to a matter of personal preference.
In our present "scenario" - we will be employing the Studio_FX_Echo.dll for this example - employing the manual method...
1. I want to update the images for the Studio_FX_Echo.dll
2. I copy and extract the ResourceHacker.zip to the root of drive C:
* Delete the ResourceHacker.zip data file
3. Copy the three images and the Studio_FX_Echo.dll to the C:\ResourceHacker folder
4. Launch ResourceHacker.exe
5. Open the Studio_FX_Echo.dll and replace the three images
6. I save the updated "Studio_FX_Echo.dll" resource
* Interestingly, the original resource is named "Studio_FX_Echo_original.dll" - thus leaving the original resource intact.
7. I copy and replace the original "Studio_FX_Echo.dll" with the updated resource in the host application
8. I finally launch the host application and observe the end result
Some observations - #1
1. Source data is required
* This source data could be of your own devising, or you can obtain such source data from others. The point here is - you need some form of source data.
2. You update the source data using the appropriate application
3. You observe the end result
A question?
The above scenario may work just fine for the updating of a few resources - but what if you have to update a number of resources, say 45? This "45" number refers to the total number of resources contained within the "Studio_Midi_WorkShop_Graphics.dll" resource! Though you could - as demonstrated above, update each of these 45 images manually, doing so just might not be the most efficient method to deploy. This is where scripting comes into play.
Here is the same scenario employing the use of scripts...
1. I want to update the images for the Studio_FX_Echo.dll
2. I copy and extract the resource_hacker.zip to the root of drive C:
* Delete the resource_hacker.zip data file
3. Copy the three images to the C:\resource_hacker\bmps\echo_32 sub-folder
4. Copy the Studio_FX_Echo.dll to the C:\resource_hacker\existing_dll sub-folder
5. In the C:\resource_hacker\scripts sub-folder, launch launch_me_echo_32.lnk
6. Navigating to the C:\resource_hacker\new_dll sub-folder, copy and replace the original "Studio_FX_Echo.dll" with the updated resource in the host application
7. I finally launch the host application and observe the end result
Some observations - #2
1. As can be observed, the total number of steps is similar - though the script method does employ two less steps.
2. However, the keys point to observe here is that the entire update process is completed much more efficiently
3. Once the data is copied - which needs to be done regardless, the entire update process is completed via a single script
4. This same process would be identical for updating the 45 images within the "Studio_Midi_WorkShop_Graphics.dll" resource
* Simply 1) copy the images and the existing .dll to the named sub-folders, and then 2) launch the appropriate script. Voila...done!!
5. The use of the scripting methodology does not delineate between the number of resources being employed.
About the tutorial
So, I have developed a tutorial - see link below, which includes all of the required "data" to deploy the script methodology. As this tutorial is focused on the native effects, SAC and SAW have been removed - but the very same methodology could be deployed for use with these applications as well.
An important note...
It is important to note that the use of either of the aforementioned methods is available to the end user and both methods will produce the very same end result. For the most part, the manual method has been the methodology most employed. All that I am endeavouring to do here is this present text is simply offer an alternative methodology. That is it...nothing more...nothing less.
I hope that some will find this tutorial of some practicable use?
The link: [Commercial Shades]
Tutorial: Updating Effects Shades
Moderator: Bob L