resources & the .db file

Which of the resources are stored in the .mhonarch.db file? I thought that I 
read *somewhere* that 
all resources _except_ page-layout resources were stored in the .db file but if 
I omit the -rc 
command-line option everything just reverts to default.

How are they set? Resources set from the command-line don't seem to stick. 
Resources set in the .rc 
file disappear if I don't specify the .rc file from the command-line.

Eric P.
SunPS Web Infrastructure Team