The .DLG file is the information in the .RES file expressed as resource script statements. Each dialog is described in a sequence of statements called a “template.”
When you create a dialog in the editor, it has a unique ID number, which becomes a handle to the template . When you want to create an instance of the dialog in your application, you pass this handle to Windows in a call to the DialogBox function. Windows does the rest. Here's a typical .DLG script file containing two simple dialogs:
100 DIALOG 6, 16, 148, 84
STYLE DS_MODALFRAME | WS_VISIBLE | WS_CAPTION | NOT WS_BORDER | WS_POPUP
CAPTION “Invert"
BEGIN
PUSHBUTTON “Push This", 101, 54, 30, 40, 14,
END
200 DIALOG 6, 16, 148, 84
STYLE DS_MODALFRAME | WS_VISIBLE | WS_CAPTION | NOT WS_BORDER | WS_POPUP
CAPTION “Reverse"
BEGIN
PUSHBUTTON “Push That", 101, 43, 30, 40, 14,
END
The handles to the two dialogs are 100 and 200. You can also define a corresponding symbolic name for a dialog in the editor. It's easier to use a name than a number in your code.
The Dialog Editor cannot read the DIALOGS.DLG file. The data is saved and read from the .RES file.