Al.exe:
– Assembly Linker (Al.exe) generates a file that has an assembly manifest from modules or resource files.
– A module does not have an assembly manifest.
– It embeds the resources into a satellite assembly.
– It takes the resources in .resources binary format.
resgen.exe:
– The input for Al.exe is generally plain text or XML-based resource files i.e. in .resx format.
– The resgen.exe is used to convert such resources to the .resource in binary format which makes them compatible with al.exe.
– The resgen.exe performs conversion of .txt /.restext files to .resources/.resx files and vice-versa.
– These (.resources/.resx) files can be embedded in a runtime binary executable or compiled into satellite assemblies.
