Make Binary Image Tool

  • Article

The Make Binary Image tool (Makeimg.exe) calls a number of programs and batch files in the process of making the OS image. Makeimg.exe performs all processing in the %_FLATRELEASEDIR% directory. After processing, the Ce.bib file defines which binaries and files are to be included in the OS image. By default, the OS image is named Nk.bin.

Makeimg.exe calls the following programs:

  • The NLS Compression tool (Cenlscmp.exe) enables national language support (NLS) compression. Cenlscmp.exe combines the configuration file Nlscfg.out and the input file Nlssrc.txt to build the output file Wince.nls in the %_FLATRELEASEDIR% directory.
  • The File Merge tool (Fmerge.exe) merges configuration files to create four initialization files, which are created in the %_FLATRELEASEDIR% directory. Fmerge.exe also includes configuration files from dependent projects — for example, the Wceshell or Wceshellfe project. If the configuration files for the dependent projects are defined in the _DEPTREES environment variable, and if they also exist in the %_FLATRELEASEDIR% directory, Fmerge.exe merges them into the appropriate initialization file. The following table shows the original files and merged initialization file for each source code configuration file type.
    Original files Merged initialization file
    Common.bib, Config.bib, Project.bib, Platform.bib Ce.bib, which identifies all the Windows CE files to be combined into the OS image.
    Common.reg, Project.reg, Platform.reg Reginit.ini, which provides a collection of registry entries for the OS image.
    Common.dat, Project.dat, Platform.dat Initobj.dat, which provides a description of the directory and file locations for the OS image.
    Common.db, Project.db, Platform.db Initdb.ini, which defines the creation of any databases in the Windows CE object store.
  • The Registry Compression tool (Regcomp.exe) performs registry compression by reading Reginit.ini and compressing it into a binary registry file called Default.fdf, which is eventually included in the OS image. Default.fdf is always loaded on a cold boot. The Ce.bib file references Default.fdf, which then initializes the system registry on the target device.
  • The Resource Update tool (Res2exe.exe) replaces the resources in specified .dll, .exe, or Control Panel (.cpl) files with the appropriate resources for the language specified by the LOCALE environment variable.
  • The Text to Unicode tool (Txt2ucde.exe) converts any ASCII text strings in Initobj.tmp, which was created by Fmerge.exe, to Unicode text strings and creates the file Initobj.dat, which contains the Unicode conversion.
  • The ROM Image Builder tool (Romimage.exe) reads the Ce.bib file to determine which binaries and files, located in %_FLATRELEASEDIR%, are to be included in the OS image, including how they are stored in memory. The Ce.bib file also lists the processed files: Wince.nls, Reginit.ini, Initobj.dat, Initdb.ini, and Default.fdf. Then, Romimage.exe combines the binaries and files into the OS image, which is usually called Nk.bin unless specified otherwise in the MEMORY section of the Ce.bib file.
Makeimg

Error Messages

  • MAKEIMG FAILED: Missing or invalid LOCALE variable
    MAKEIMG: res2exe FAILED: LOCALE var not set
    These two messages appear if the LOCALE environment variable was not set or an incorrect setting was used.

Example

The following code example shows how to use Makeimg.exe.

makeimg

Remarks

The environment variables in the binary image builder file (.bib), file system file (.dat), database file (.db), and registry file (.reg) help determine how Makeimg.exe builds the OS image.

See Also

Adding Project-Specific or Platform-Specific Files during the Makeimg.exe Phase | Building a CEPC OS Image for Use with an Ethernet Card | Creating a Profile-Enabled OS Image for a CEPC | Environment Variables | ROM Image Creation | Localizing a Configuration File | Platform Localization | Stripping Quotation Marks from an .str File | Cvrtbin Tool

 Last updated on Friday, October 08, 2004

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