rsrcdump

Extracts and converts resources from Macintosh resource forks.

Run rsrcdump on an AppleDouble file and it’ll produce a JSON file with the contents of the resource fork.

Additionally, rsrcdump will convert some resource types to formats usable in modern tools:

Resource type	Converts to
cicn	PNG
icl4, icl8, ICN#, ics#, ics4, ics8	PNG
PICT (raster only*)	PNG
ppat	PNG
snd	AIFF-C (see note on AIFF-C files below)
SICN	PNG
STR, TEXT	UTF-8 text (stored in index.json)
STR#	Array of UTF-8 strings (stored in index.json)

* Only the raster part of PICTs is extracted. Complex PICTs containing text or vector opcodes aren’t supported.

Requirements

Python 3.10 or later.

How to use

Let’s look at extracting a resource fork when your file originates from one of the following scenarios:

Dual-fork files on modern versions of macOS
Zip archives made with macOS, extracted on Windows/Linux (__MACOSX folder)
Old archive formats (.bin/.sit/.cpt) extracted by The Unarchiver
Files on a host volume shared with BasiliskII or SheepShaver (not AppleDouble)

Dual-fork files on macOS

This section only applies to macOS.

On modern versions of macOS, resource forks still exist. They can be accessed by appending /..namedfork/rsrc to a filename. This yields a “naked” resource fork (not encapsulated in an AppleDouble file), so you must tell rsrcdump about it with the --no-adf switch.

So, on macOS, let's try to extract the music from Mighty Mike. Get Mighty Mike.zip from Pangea Software, and unzip it. Then run:

rsrcdump.sh "Mighty Mike™/Data/Music/..namedfork/rsrc" --no-adf

You’ll find the extracted files in a folder named Music_resources in the current working directory.

Zip archives made with macOS, extracted on Windows/Linux (__MACOSX folder)

If you have ever come across a zip file made with macOS, you may have noticed that extracting it on Windows or Linux produces a directory named __MACOSX. That folder contains resource forks as AppleDouble files. rsrcdump can work with those. (Note that files inside __MACOSX may be hidden for you because they start with a dot.)

For example, if you’re using Linux, get Mighty Mike.zip from Pangea Software, and unzip it. You can then run this command to extract the game’s music:

rsrcdump.sh "__MACOSX/Mighty Mike™/Data/._Music"

You’ll find the extracted files in a folder named Music_resources in the current working directory.

Old archive formats (.bin/.sit/.cpt) extracted by The Unarchiver

If you have an old Mac archive (such as .sit, .cpt, .bin, etc.), you can use the command-line version of The Unarchiver and tell it to keep the resource forks. They’ll appear as .rsrc files once extracted. The Unarchiver wraps them in an AppleDouble container, which is perfect for use with rsrcdump.

As an example, get bloodsuckers.bin from Pangea Software and extract it like so:

unar -k visible bloodsuckers.bin

Then you can extract the sound effects with:

rsrcdump.sh "bloodsuckers/Data/Sounds.rsrc"

You’ll find the extracted files in a folder named Sounds_resources in the current working directory.

Files on a host volume shared with BasiliskII or SheepShaver (not AppleDouble)

When you share a host volume with BasiliskII or Sheepshaver, the emulator stores resource forks in a folder named .rsrc.

The emulators do not encapsulate the resource forks in an AppleDouble container; they’re just “naked” resource forks. So you must tell rsrcdump to bypass AppleDouble detection with the --no-adf argument.

For example:

rsrcdump.sh ".rsrc/SomeResourceFile" --no-adf

Advanced usage patterns

List resources without extracting

rsrcdump.sh "Bloodsuckers 2.0.1.rsrc" --list

Only include specific resource types

If you’re only interested in a few resource types, pass them with -i.

For example, if you’re interested in STR and icl8 resources only, you could use this:

rsrcdump.sh "Bloodsuckers 2.0.1.rsrc" -i STR -i icl8

Note that if the resource types that you pass have less than 4 characters, they will be padded with spaces. So, passing STR will be interpreted as STR .

You can also pass a “URL-encoded” version of the resource type name: -i %53%54%52%20 is equivalent to -i STR. This is useful if your resource type names contain non-ASCII characters.

Exclude specific resource types

Same as above, but use -x instead of -i.

Note on AIFF-C files

AIFF-C files produced by rsrcdump are 1-to-1 conversions of the snd resources. The sample stream inside the AIFF-C file is a verbatim copy of the snd resource’s sample stream, keeping the original codec intact.

This means that, for further processing, you’ll need to use software that supports the codec used in the original resource. (Common codecs include MAC3, ima4, etc.)

You’ll have good results with ffmpeg or Audacity. Other audio editors may have incomplete support for old AIFF-C codecs.

Known limitations

Compressed resources are not supported.
PICT conversion:
- Vector and text opcodes not supported.
- QuickTime-compressed images not supported.
- Extremely old (“version 1”) PICTs not supported.

sev-/rsrcdump