C++: Manipulate file resources?

Question

Are there any WinAPI functions or so to manipulate file resources? I'd like to replace menu scripts, icons etc of system files like shell32.dll and shell32.dll.mui using C++, but I really have no idea how to get started on this. :/
I know that resource hacker has a command line interface, but I would really like to do it with C++ directly.

(Yes I'm aware of the risk that comes with manipulating system files.)

Answer 1

Yes, yes there is. See this list of Resource Functions.

Primarily you're looking at:

• BeginUpdateResource to begin a batch update of resources
• UpdateResource to update a particular resource
• EndUpdateResource to finish updating and save the resources back to the file

For an example, see Updating Resources.