I'm trying to compile an old project using VS express 2010 but I get this error:

fatal error RC1015: cannot open include file 'afxres.h'. from this code

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//
// Generated from the TEXTINCLUDE 2 resource.
//
#include "afxres.h"

I have installed Windows SDK already, but without any success.

thanks!

9 Answers

This header is a part of the MFC Library. VS Express edition doesn't contain MFC. If your project doesn't use MFC you can safely replace afxres.h with windows.h in your terrain2.rc.

4

Had the same problem . Fixed it by installing Microsoft Foundation Classes for C++.

1. Start
2. Change or remove program (type)
3. Microsoft Visual Studio
4. Modify
5. Select 'Microsoft Foundation Classes for C++'
6. Update

In in the Visual Studio Installer for VS 2022 this may be listed as an individual component: "C++ MFC for latest v143 build Tools (x86 & x64)", but you may need to adapt this for your platform and latest version available.

1

Even I too faced similar issue,

fatal error RC1015: cannot open include file 'afxres.h'. from this code

Replacing afxres.h with Winresrc.h and declaring IDC_STATIC as -1 worked for me. (Using visual studio Premium 2012)

//#include "afxres.h"
#include "WinResrc.h"
#define IDC_STATIC -1

1

Alternatively you can create your own afxres.h:

#ifndef _AFXRES_H
#define _AFXRES_H
#if __GNUC__ >= 3
#pragma GCC system_header
#endif
#ifdef __cplusplus
extern "C" {
#endif
#ifndef _WINDOWS_H
#include <windows.h>
#endif
/* IDC_STATIC is documented in winuser.h, but not defined. */
#ifndef IDC_STATIC
#define IDC_STATIC (-1)
#endif
#ifdef __cplusplus
}
#endif
#endif 

0

You can also try replace afxres.h with WinResrc.h

1

managed to fix this by copying the below folder from another Visual Studio setup (non-express)

from C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\VC\atlmfc

to C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 11.0\VC\atlmfc

a similar issue is for Visual studio 2015 RC. Sometimes it loses the ability to open RC: you double click but editor do not one menus and dialogs.

Right click on the file *.rc, it will open:

And change as following:

0

I faced same issue on VS 2019. My solution was to install C++ MFC library from Individual Components tab. When you open Visual Studio go to Tools->GetToolsAndFeatures->IndividualComponents

Select and install:

• MSVC v142 - VS 2019 C++ x64/x86 build tools (Latest)
• C++ ATL for latest v142 build tools (x86 & x64)
• C++ MFC for latest v142 build tools (x86 & x64)

Had similar issue but the message was shown when I tried to open a project solution. What worked for me was:

TOOLS -> Import and Export Settings...-> Reset all settings

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