prc2bin

A Python tool to extract resources from PalmOS PRC files.

Description

prc2bin extracts all resources from a PalmOS PRC (Palm Resource Code) file and saves them as individual binary files. It also saves the PRC header to a separate .hdr file.

This is a modern Python reimplementation of the original C version by E.Sundaw (1999).

Installation

This tool requires Python 3.10 or higher and has no external dependencies.

# Make the script executable
chmod +x main.py

Usage

./main.py <input-file> <output-directory> [OPTIONS]

Arguments

• input-file: Path to the PRC file to extract
• output-directory: Directory where extracted files will be written (use . for current directory)

Options

• -t, --by-type: Organize extracted files into subdirectories by resource type (e.g., code/, forms/, fonts/, bitmaps/)
• -v, --verbose: Print detailed header information including timestamps, creator ID, and validation warnings

Examples

Extract to current directory:

./main.py myapp.prc .

Extract and organize by resource type:

./main.py myapp.prc extracted/ --by-type

This will extract:

• Each resource as <TYPE><ID>.bin (e.g., CODE0001.bin, tAIN1000.bin)
• The header as myapp.prc.hdr
• With --by-type, files are organized into human-readable subdirectories:
  • code/ - Executable code segments
  • forms/ - UI form definitions
  • fonts/ - Font resources
  • strings/ - String resources
  • bitmaps/ - Image resources
  • app-icons/ - Application icons
  • color-tables/ - Color palettes
  • locales/ - Localization resources
  • And more…

Output Format

Each resource is saved with a filename composed of:

• 4-character resource type (from the PRC resource header)
• 4-digit hexadecimal resource ID
• .bin extension

Example filenames:

• CODE0001.bin - Code resource with ID 0x0001
• tAIN1000.bin - tAIN resource with ID 0x1000
• data03e8.bin - data resource with ID 0x03e8

PRC File Format

PalmOS PRC files contain:

1. A 78-byte header with metadata (app name, timestamps, etc.)
2. Resource headers listing each resource’s type, ID, and offset
3. The actual resource data

All multi-byte values in PRC files are stored in big-endian (network) byte order.

License

Based on the original work by E.Sundaw sundaw@yahoo.com, 1999.