Presentation Manager allows the application developer to define application resources externally to the application code. Resources may include definitions for the following items:
Fonts
Except where noted above, resources are defined in a resource script file, an ASCII text file that may be manipulated using a standard text editor. This resource script file serves as input to a resource compiler, which is provided as part of the IBM Developer's Toolkit for OS/2 2.0. The resource compiler produces a precompiled version of the resources, which is then incorporated into the application's executable code or stored in a dynamic link library for use by one or more applications.
It is usual for simple text-based resources such as menus and string tables to be placed directly into the resource script file using an ASCII text editor. However, non-textual resources such as icons or bitmaps, or more complex text-based resources such as dialog templates, are typically stored in separate files and referenced from the resource script file.
A major benefit of defining such resources externally to the application is that changes may be made to resource definitions without affecting the application code itself. Modifications such as new icons, altered commands or menus, etc., may be implemented quickly and easily by making simple changes at a single point in the application.
As a further example, the task of providing national language versions of an application is simplified, since all text such as menus and messages may be defined outside the application code, and multiple language-specific versions of such resources may be linked into a single version of the application code. In this way, the user interface properties of a display window may be modified without affecting the internal implementation of the window procedure or its methods.
The creation and use of Presentation Manager resources is discussed in Presentation Manager Resources.