ResKnife — Template Editor

Supported template field types

As of version 0.6, ResKnife's template editor fully supports the following ResEdit field types:

DBYT, DWRD, DLNG

1‐, 2‐ and 4‐byte big‐endien signed integer.

FBYT, FWRD, FLNG

1‐, 2‐ and 4‐byte fillers.

CHAR

Single character. (MacRoman)

TNAM

Four character type code. (MacRoman)

PSTR, ESTR, OSTR, WSTR, LSTR

Pascal strings. (MacRoman)

CSTR, ECST, OCST

Null‐terminated C strings. (MacRoman)

OCNT, ZCNT

Counter for element lists (arrays).

LSTB, LSTC, LSTZ, LSTE

List begin, begin counted, and end.

In addition, there are about as many again Resorcerer‐only field types supported. Some further common field types are handled but displayed in an incorrect format (e.g. HWRD is displayed as DWRD). As the software develops these discrepencies will be eliminated. See below for a full enumeration.

In the end, we want to support at least all the field types Resorcerer supports. An exception may be made for field types that are deemed to be no longer interesting on MacOS X, and those types nobody is willing to implement.

Full list

The following tables provide a quick reference showing which resource edditors support white template field types. In the tables below the three editors represented are ResEdit (2.1.3), Resourcerer (2.0) and ResKnife (0.6) respectivly. A bullet denotes full support whereas an x indicates that a field type is recognised but not editable in its native format.

Decimal and Hex Integer Field Types

Type	Description	Size	Editors
DBYT	Signed Decimal Byte	1 byte	•	•	•
DWRD	Signed Decimal Word	2 bytes	•	•	•
DLNG	Signed Decimal Long	4 bytes	•	•	•
DLLG	Signed Decimal Long Long	8 bytes	-	-	•
UBYT	Unsigned Decimal Byte	1 byte	-	•	•
UWRD	Unsigned Decimal Word	2 bytes	-	•	•
ULNG	Unsigned Decimal Long	4 bytes	-	•	•
ULLG	Unsigned Decimal Long Long	8 bytes	-	-	•
HBYT	Hex Byte	1 byte	•	•	x
HWRD	Hex Word	2 bytes	•	•	x
HLNG	Hex Long	4 bytes	•	•	x
HLLG	Hex Long Long	8 bytes	-	-	x

Bit and Bit Field Types

Type	Description	Size	Editors
BBIT	Bit Within a Byte	1 bit	•	•	-
BBnn	Bit Field Within a Byte	nn bits	•	•	-
WBIT	Bit Within a Word	1 bit	-	•	-
WBnn	Bit Field Within a Word	nn bits	-	•	-
LBIT	Bit Within a Long	1 bit	-	•	-
LBnn	Bit Field Within a Long	nn bits	-	•	-
BFLG	Byte Boolean Flag (low-order bit)	1 byte	-	•	x
WFLG	Word Boolean Flag (low-order bit)	2 bytes	-	•	x
LFLG	Long Boolean Flag (low-order bit)	4 bytes	-	•	x

Parsing proceeds from high-order bits first.

Miscellaneous Graphic and System Field Types

Type	Description	Size	Editors
RSID	Signed Resource ID Integer	2 bytes	-	•	•
BOOL	Boolean Word *	2 bytes	•	•	x
CHAR	ASCII Character	1 byte	•	•	•
TNAM	Type Name	4 bytes	•	•	•
DATE	Macintosh System Date/Time (seconds)	4 bytes	-	•	•
MDAT	Modification Date/Time (seconds)	4 bytes	-	•	•
LLDT	Long Date/Time	8 bytes	-	-	x
SCPC	MacOS System Script Code	2 bytes	-	•	x
LNGC	MacOS System Language Code	2 bytes	-	•	x
RGNC	MacOS System Region Code	2 bytes	-	•	x
STYL	QuickDraw Font Style	1 byte	-	-	x
PNT	QuickDraw Point	4 bytes	•	•	x
RECT	QuickDraw Rectangle	8 bytes	•	•	x
COLR	QuickDraw Colour RGB Triplet	6 bytes	-	•	-
CLUT	Colour Lookup Table Hex Dump	variable	-	•	-
CODE	680x0 Disassembled Code Dump	variable	-	•	-

* You can configure Resorcerer to use any 16-bit non-zero value when setting a BOOL field to true.

Floating and Fixed Point Field Types

Type	Description	Size	Editors
REAL	Single Precision Float	4 bytes	-	•	x
DOUB	Double Precision Float	8 bytes	-	•	x
EXTN	Extended 80-bit SANE Float	10 bytes	-	•	-
XT96	Extended 96-bit SANE Float	12 bytes	-	•	-
UNIV	THINK C Universal 96-bit Float	12 bytes	-	•	-
FIXD	16:16 Fixed Point Number	4 bytes	-	•	•
FRAC	2:30 Fixed Point Fraction	4 bytes	-	•	•
SFRC	0:16 Fixed Point Small Fraction	2 bytes	-	•	x
FWID	4:12 Fixed Point Font Width	2 bytes	-	•	x
FXYZ	1:15 Fixed Point Colour Component	2 bytes	-	•	x

ASCII Text String Field Types

Type	Description	Bytes	Editors
PSTR	Pascal String	1 ... 256	•	•	•
ESTR	Even-Padded Pascal String	2 ... 256	•	•	•
PPST	Even Pascal String (pad included)	2 .... 256	-	•	-
OSTR	Pascal String Odd-Padded	1 ... 255	•	•	•
CSTR	Null-Terminated C String	1 or more	•	•	•
ECST	Even-Padded C String	2 or more	•	•	•
OCST	C String Odd-Padded	1 or more	•	•	•
BSTR	Byte Length String (same as PSTR)	1 ... 256	-	•	•
WSTR	Word Length String	2 ... 65KB	•	•	•
LSTR	Long Length String	4 ... 4MB	•	•	•
TXTS	Sized Text Dump	variable	-	•	-
Pnnn	Pascal String with Fixed Padding *	$nnn bytes	•	•	-
Wnnn	Word Pascal String with Fixed Padding	$nnn bytes	-	-	-
Lnnn	Long Pascal String with Fixed Padding	$nnn bytes	-	-	-
Cnnn	C String with Fixed Padding	$nnn bytes	•	•	-
Tnnn	Text with Fixed Padding	$nnn bytes	-	•	-

* In Resorcerer, this field type's behavior is configurable between ResEdit-style and Resorcerer's own style.

Hexadecimal Dump Field Types

Type	Description	Bytes	Editors
BHEX	Byte Length Hex Dump	1 ... 256	-	•	-
WHEX	Word Length Hex Dump	2 ... 65KB	-	•	-
LHEX	Long Length Hex Dump	4 ... 4MB	-	•	-
BSHX	Byte Length - 1 Hex Dump	1 ... 255	-	•	-
WSHX	Word Length - 2 Hex Dump	2 ... 65KB-2	-	•	-
LSHX	Long Length - 4 Hex Dump	4 ... 4MB-4	-	•	-
Hnnn	Fixed-Length Hex Dump	$nnn	•	•	-
HEXS	Sized Hex Dump	variable	-	•	-
HEXD	Hex Dump *	variable	•	•	x

* This field type's behavior is more general in Resorcerer than in ResEdit. Uneditable in ResKnife.

Skip Offset Field Types

Type	Description	Size	Editors
BSKP	Offset to SKPE in Byte, inclusive	1 byte	-	•	-
WSKP	Offset to SKPE in Word, inclusive	2 bytes	-	•	-
LSKP	Offset to SKPE in Long, inclusive	4 bytes	-	•	-
BSIZ	Offset to SKPE in Byte, exclusive	1 byte	-	•	-
WSIZ	Offset to SKPE in Word, exclusive	2 bytes	-	•	-
LSIZ	Offset to SKPE in Long, exclusive	4 bytes	-	•	-
SKPE	End of Skip or Sizeof	0 bytes	-	•	-

Automatically computed.

Symbolic Constants and Comments

Type	Description	Size	Editors
CASE	Symbolic and/or Default Value	0 bytes	-	•	x
CMNT	Comment	0 bytes	-	-	x
DVDR	Divider Line with Optional Comment	0 bytes	-	•	x

Counted Lists/Arrays

Type	Description	Size	Editors
OCNT	(One-Based) Count of List Items	2 bytes	•	•	•
ZCNT	Zero-Based Count of List Items	2 bytes	•	•	•
BCNT	Byte Count of List Items	1 byte	-	•	•
BZCT	Zero-Based Byte Count of List Items	1 byte	-	-	•
WCNT	Word Count of List Items (same as OCNT)	2 bytes	-	•	•
WZCT	Zero-Based Word Count of List Items (same as ZCNT)	2 bytes	-	-	•
LCNT	Long Count of List Items	4 bytes	-	•	•
LZCT	Zero-Based Long Count of List Items	4 bytes	-	•	•
FCNT	Fixed Count of List Items	0 bytes	-	•	-
LSTC	Begin Counted List Item	0 bytes	•	•	•
LSTB	Begin Non-Counted List Item	0 bytes	•	•	•
LSTZ	Begin Non-Counted List Item, List Terminated by Zero Byte	0 bytes	•	•	•
LSTS	Begin Sized List Item	0 bytes	-	•	-
LSTE	End of List Item	0 or 1 bytes	•	•	•
SELF	List Item is Entire TMPL	variable	-	•	-

Key Values for Subsequent Variant Items

Type	Description	Size	Editors
KBYT	Signed Decimal Byte Key	1 byte	-	•	x
KWRD	Signed Decimal Word Key	2 bytes	-	•	x
KLNG	Signed Decimal Long Key	4 bytes	-	•	x
KLLG	Signed Decimal Long Long Key	8 bytes	-	-	x
KUBT	Unsigned Decimal Byte Key	1 byte	-	•	x
KUWD	Unsigned Decimal Word Key	2 bytes	-	•	x
KULG	Unsigned Decimal Long Key	4 bytes	-	•	x
KULL	Unsigned Decimal Long Long Key	8 bytes	-	-	x
KHBT	Hex Byte Key	1 byte	-	•	x
KHWD	Hex Word Key	2 bytes	-	•	x
KHLG	Hex Long Key	4 bytes	-	•	x
KHLL	Hex Long Long Key	8 bytes	-	-	x
KCHR	Single ASCII Character Key	1 byte	-	•	x
KTYP	Four-Character Type Key	4 bytes	-	•	x
KRID	Key on Current Resource ID	0 bytes	-	•	x
KIDX	Key on List Index # (Zero-based)	0 bytes	-	-	x
KEYB	Begin Keyed Item for Previous CASE	0 bytes	-	•	-
KEYE	End of Keyed Item	0 bytes	-	•	-

Alignment Field Types

Type	Description	Bytes	Editors
AWRD	Align to 2-byte boundary	0 or 1	•	•	-
ALNG	Align to 4-byte boundary	0 ... 3	•	•	-
AL08	Align to 8-byte boundary	0 ... 7	-	•	-
AL16	Align to 16-byte boundary	0 ... 15	-	•	-
Annn	Align to byte boundary	0 ... $nnn	-	-	-

Uneditable.

Filler Field Types

Type	Description	Size	Editors
FBYT	Fill Byte	1 byte	•	•	•
FWRD	Fill Word	2 bytes	•	•	•
FLNG	Fill Long	4 bytes	•	•	•
Fnnn	Fill Bytes	$nnn bytes	-	•	-

Uneditable.

Inserting New Data Fields in Existing Resources

Type	Description	Bytes	Editors
+BYT	Insert a Byte When Opening	1	-	•	-
+WRD	Insert a Word When Opening	2	-	•	-
+LNG	Insert a Long When Opening	4	-	•	-
+nnn	Insert Bytes When Opening	$nnn	-	•	-
+PST	Insert a Pascal String When Opening	1 ... 256	-	•	-
+EST	Insert an Even Pascal String When Opening	2 ... 256	-	•	-
+CST	Insert a C String When Opening	1 or more	-	•	-

Deleting Old Data Fields from Existing Resources

Type	Description	Bytes	Editors
-BYT	Delete a Byte When Closing	1	-	•	-
-WRD	Delete a Word When Closing	2	-	•	-
-LNG	Delete a Long When Closing	4	-	•	-
-nnn	Delete Bytes When Closing	$nnn	-	•	-
-PST	Delete a Pascal String When Closing	1 ... 256	-	•	-
-EST	Delete an Even Pascal String When Closing	2 ... 256	-	•	-
-CST	Delete a C String When Closing	1 or more	-	•	-

Big and Little-Endian Parsing

Type	Description	Size	Editors
BNDN	Use Big-Endian Data Parsing	0	-	•	-
LNDN	Use Little-Endian Data Parsing	0	-	•	-

Pre- and Post-Processing Data with Code Filters

Type	Description	Size	Editors
FLTR	Declare Filtered Template (with comment)	0	-	•	-

Common Template Mistakes

Here's a list of simplifications or improvements one can make to existing templates.

• Use correct type where available, e.g. RGNC for RegionCodes instead of a DWRD.
• Use fillers (FWRD etc) for ‘Reserved’ values. Labels are optional.
• PSTR followed by AWRD: Use ESTR instead.