DOCUMENT:Q74800  10-JUN-1999  [win16sdk]
TITLE   :INFO: Working Around the STRINGTABLE 255 Character Limit
PRODUCT :Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit
PROD/VER:WINDOWS:3.1
OPER/SYS:
KEYWORDS:kb16bitonly kbResource kbSDKPlatform kbString

======================================================================
3.00 3.10
WINDOWS
kbprg

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The information in this article applies to:

 - Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) 3.1 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY
=======

Windows STRINGTABLE resources are limited to 255 characters per string. However,
it is possible to work with longer strings using the technique described in this
article.

MORE INFORMATION
================

The following function, MyLoadString, will allow strings longer than 255
characters to be loaded. Using the exclamation mark ("!") to indicate that a
particular string is part of a longer whole is not required; any character that
does not otherwise start a string may be used for this purpose. The string IDs
used for pieces of the same string must be consecutive.

      MyLoadString(HANDLE hInst, WORD wID, LPSTR szBuf)
      {

      int i, j;
      char szLoadedString[256];   // temporary buffer

      *szBuf = 0;

      do

       {
       LoadString(hInst, wID, szLoadedString, 255);

       if ('!' == *szLoadedString)
         {
         lstrcat(szBuf, (szLoadedString + 1));
         wID++;
         }
       else
         lstrcat(szBuf, szLoadedString);
       }

      while ('!' == *szLoadedString);

      return lstrlen(szBuf);
      }

The RC file will take on a form resembling the following:

      STRINGTABLE
      BEGIN
      100, "!This is the first part of the string to be loaded,"
      101, "!this is the second part, "
      102, "and this is the third"
      END

Additional query words: 3.00 3.10

======================================================================
Keywords          : kb16bitonly kbResource kbSDKPlatform kbString 
Technology        : kbAudDeveloper kbWin3xSearch kbSDKSearch kbWinSDKSearch kbWinSDK310
Version           : WINDOWS:3.1
Issue type        : kbinfo

=============================================================================

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