Win32/MFC String Resource Visualizer - Visual Studio Extension

The string, its numeric ID, and the source .rc file appear merged into the standard C++ Quick Info tooltip.

The problem

In MFC/Win32 code, string resources are referenced by symbolic ID:

AfxMessageBox(IDS_DISABLE_MEM_DRIVE_NO_DRIVE_SIGNAL_STORED);

Those IDs are #defines in resource.h (#define IDS_… 12345) with the actual text living in a STRINGTABLE block in a .rc file. When you hover the ID in Visual Studio, the built-in C++ Quick Info shows only the numeric value from the #define. You have to open the .rc/string table and look it up manually, which is a constant small friction in large MFC codebases.

Goal: hover an IDS_… identifier → see a tooltip with its string.

How it works

This extension resolves any symbol defined in a STRINGTABLE, keyed by its name. While the IDS_ prefix is the standard recommended by Microsoft, any string-table naming scheme will work. As a fast pre-filter it only looks up identifiers beginning with ID by default (matching the near-universal IDS_ convention); if your string tables use a different prefix, change ID prefixes under Tools → Options → Win32 String Resource Visualizer (or clear it to consider every identifier).

Only STRINGTABLE entries are matched. Dialog, menu, and control IDs (IDD_, IDR_, IDC_, …) are ignored.

Supported Visual Studio versions