Does the .res file need to be in source control?

8
votes

In C++Builder XE5.

My understanding is that the binary file MyProject.res (which is created by the compiler in the same directory as the .cbproj file) contains compiled versions of the program icon and the project version details (although mine also seems to contain an XML manifest).

But this info is also contained in the .cbproj file and the .ico files; and if I delete the .res file then it seems to get recreated exactly was it was next time I open the project.

So is it safe to mark *.res as not being in source control? (I use git). And/Or is it possible to have it generated in the same directory as the object files instead, so it's not mixed in with the source?

(This certainly wasn't safe in C++Builder 5 - if you deleted the .res file then it complained it couldn't find it, and you lost your icons).

Update: Does this also apply to the .tlb file? This seems to be compiled based on the .ridl file, and if I delete it then it is automatically regenerated.

2
c++builderc++builder-xe5
Regarding the resource files: I don't think it's necessary to have your .res files under source control if you are a single developer. Some of my colleagues have however reported issues on multiple-user projects - resources getting 'messed up' after pulling files from the repository(subversion). Specifically the transparency/background-color properties of TImageList images. It does however only seem to affect certain systems, and unfortunately I do not know why. For that sole reason we do include .res files in our source control. - HvS
Note: The pulled files I was referring to which were causing problems were the .dfm files. - HvS
The DFMs certainly do need to be in source control as they are where the details of the Forms are stored! AFAIK there is no relation between DFM and RES though? - M.M
update: a few months later, still have not encountered any problem keeping .res and .tlb out of source control. - M.M
@MattMcNabb: also be make sure you set your DFMs to Text mode before putting them in source control, then you can perform diffs on them and such. - Remy Lebeau

2 Answers

4
votes

C++ Builder 6.0 and later will recreate RES files if deleted. I treat them as other temporary/build files (like OBJ files) and do not put them in version control software. I do have nightly backups that include all of these files though, which I think is still good practice.

I am not sure about TLB files. I would temporarily delete (aka-rename) one and see if it gets recreated to the same state. If so, should be same as RES files.

This does not hold true for 3rd party libraries though, if all you have is compiled resources. In that case, I still do not place in my version control though, since I am not going to be modifying them. I just have my backups.

3
votes

For what it's worth, the TFS source control defaults are to exclude *.res but include *.tlb.

So you should expect *.res files to be created by their associated builds. If the build isn't going to be present, then the *.res file should be included.

I suspect that you're right about *.tlb files being built as well, but perhaps TFS doesn't exclude these on default because the extension isn't entirely unique to OLE type library files alone.