rust-embed-resource

A Cargo build script library to handle compilation and inclusion of Windows resources in the most resilient fashion imaginable

Documentation

Quickstart

In your build script, assuming the resource file is called checksums.rc:

extern crate embed_resource;

fn main() {
    // Compile and link checksums.rc
    embed_resource::compile("checksums.rc", embed_resource::NONE).manifest_optional().unwrap();

    // Or, to select a resource file for each binary separately
    embed_resource::compile_for("assets/poke-a-mango.rc", &["poke-a-mango", "poke-a-mango-installer"], &["VERSION=\"0.5.0\""]).manifest_required().unwrap();
    embed_resource::compile_for("assets/uninstaller.rc", &["unins001"], embed_resource::NONE).manifest_required().unwrap();
}

Use .manifest_optional().unwrap() if the manifest is cosmetic (like an icon).
Use .manifest_required().unwrap() if the manifest is required (security, entry point, &c.).

Example: Embedding a Windows Manifest

Courtesy of @jpoles1.

The following steps are used to embed a manifest in your compiled rust .exe file. In this example the manifest will cause admin permissions to be requested for the final executable:

1. Add the following to your cargo.toml:

[build-dependencies]
embed-resource = "2.5"

2. In your project root directory, add a file named build.rs with the following:

extern crate embed_resource;
fn main() {
    embed_resource::compile("app-name-manifest.rc", embed_resource::NONE).manifest_optional().unwrap();
}

3. In your project root directory, add a file named app-name-manifest.rc with the following:

#define RT_MANIFEST 24
1 RT_MANIFEST "app-name.exe.manifest"

4. In your project root directory, add a file named app-name.exe.manifest with the following:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<assembly xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" manifestVersion="1.0">
    <trustInfo xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3">
        <security>
            <requestedPrivileges>
                <requestedExecutionLevel level="requireAdministrator" uiAccess="false"/>
            </requestedPrivileges>
        </security>
    </trustInfo>
</assembly>

5. Build your project!

Errata

If no cargo:rerun-if-changed annotations are generated, Cargo scans the entire build root by default. Because the first step in building a manifest is an unspecified C preprocessor step with-out the ability to generate the equivalent of cc -MD, we do not output said annotation.

If scanning is prohibitively expensive, or you have something else that generates the annotations, you may want to spec the full non-system dependency list for your manifest manually, so:

println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed=app-name-manifest.rc");
embed_resource::compile("app-name-manifest.rc", embed_resource::NONE).manifest_optional().unwrap();

for the above example (cf. #41).

Migration

2.x

Add embed_resource::NONE as the last argument to embed_resource::compile() and embed_resource::compile_for().

3.x

Add .manifest_optional().unwrap() or .manifest_required().unwrap() to all embed_resource::compile() and embed_resource::compile_for*() calls. CompilationResult is #[must_use] so should be highlighted automatically.

Embed-resource <3.x always behaves like .manifest_optional().unwrap().

Credit

In chronological order:

@liigo -- persistency in pestering me and investigating problems where I have failed

@mzji -- MSVC lab rat

@TheCatPlusPlus -- knowledge and providing first iteration of manifest-embedding code

@azyobuzin -- providing code for finding places where RC.EXE could hide

@retep998 -- fixing MSVC support

@SonnyX -- Windows cross-compilation support and testing

@MSxDOS -- finding and supplying RC.EXE its esoteric header include paths

@roblabla -- cross-compilation to Windows MSVC via LLVM-RC

Special thanks

To all who support further development on Patreon, in particular:

• ThePhD
• Embark Studios
• Lars Strojny
• EvModder