Resource

Load bitmaps from .RES-file
.RES file containing multiple bitmaps
Changing a forms icon at runtime
Load a BMP in a EXE file
Loading a custom cursor
Associate an Icon with a component
Including a wave file in a Delphi EXE
Loading a bitmap from .res without losing palette
Custom cursor
Resource problems encountered with TTabbedNotebook and TNotebook
Adding new cursor to my application
Edit field cursor

Load bitmaps from .RES-file

Question

I have a .RES file that contains bitmaps. How do I get an image on a

form to display them?

Answer

A:

Be sure to bind it to the EXE by doing a {$R RESFILENAME.RES} then you can

use the LoadBitmap.



 TImage.Picture.Bitmap.Handle := LoadBitmap( Handle, 'BITMAPNAMEHERE' )





A:

A TPicture is a container of Bitmaps, icons and Meta's so..

TImage(grafCntrl).Picture.Bitmap.Handle := LoadBitmap(HInstance,'BITMAP_NAME');



A:

You are using the Picture instead of the Picture.Bitmap.

With image1.Picture.Bitmap do

begin

	ReleaseHandle;

	Handle:=LoadBitmap(HInstance,'BITMAP_NAME_IN_RESOURCE');        

end;



A:

Put the following compiler directive in the implementation section of your

unit.

{$R ResourceFilename}



Then in the OnCreate handler of your form that contains the speedbuttons do

the following:



 SpeedButton.Glyph.Handle := LoadBitmap(HInstance, 'BITMAP_NAME');



or use '#999' where 999 is the numeric resource id if you used numbers instead

of a string to identify bitmap resources in your .res file. The bitmaps for

each of the button states must be in the same bitmap resource.



A:

Try something like the follow:



procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);

var

  hIconHandle : HIcon;

  Icon        : TIcon;

  aIconFile   : array [0..255] of char;

  nIconNumber : word;

begin

  StrPCopy( aIconFile, ParamStr( 0 ) );

  nIconNumber := 0;



  { Extract the icon specified by aIconFile and nIconNumber }

   hIconHandle := ExtractIcon( hInstance, aIconFile, nIconNumber );



   if ( hIconHandle < 2 )

     then

       hIconHandle := LoadIcon( 0, idi_hand );



   Icon := TIcon.Create;

   Icon.Handle := hIconHandle;



   { Draw the extracted icon }

    with Image1.Canvas do

      begin

        Pen.Color := clSilver;

        Pen.Style := psSolid;



        Brush.Color := clSilver;

        Brush.Style := bsSolid;



        Rectangle( 0, 0, 32, 32 );

        Draw( 0, 0, Icon );

      end

end;



A:

Instead of loading the file directly to the glyph, create a TBitmap

object, load the bitmap resource to the handle of that TBitmap, then

assign that TBitmap to the glyph.

.RES file containing multiple bitmaps

Question

I have a .res file that has several bitmaps in it. I'd like to use some of the bitmaps for the TSpeedButtons of a component, could anybody show me a simple sample code for that?

Answer

A:

Put the following compiler directive in the implementation section of your

unit.

{$R ResourceFilename}



Then in the OnCreate handler of your form that contains the speedbuttons do

the following:



 SpeedButton.Glyph.Handle := LoadBitmap(HInstance, 'BITMAP_NAME');



or use '#999' where 999 is the numeric resource id if you used numbers instead

of a string to identify bitmap resources in your .res file. The bitmaps for

each of the button states must be in the same bitmap resource.

Changing a forms icon at runtime

Question

I have an app that checks for new incoming files, which is basically a form

with a timer on it. When the timed event happens, if new files are found I want

to change the forms icons to something else.

I've tried the LoadFromFile routine, even assigning it from another form that's

hidden. Nothing changes the icon at runtime.

Also, what's the best way of storing multiple icons in the exe?  If it's a

resource file, how can I read the particular Icon I want?

Answer

A:

Set the Application.Icon property.

Store them in a Resource file then get them as needed using the WinAPI

LoadIcon function:  IE:



  if FileExists( 'Some Darn File Name Here' ) then  begin

    Application.Icon.Handle := LoadIcon( hInstance, 'ICON_NAM' );

 end;



 etc..



Note: The 'ICONNAME' is a PChar rerfereing to the Icon's Resource ID.

Load a BMP in a EXE file

Question

How i can load in an TImage a BMP stored as bytes at the end of a file EXE?

Answer

A:

Use Resource Workshop (workshop.exe) to put your bitmap into a

Resource file (example: BITMAP.RES) and give it a name (example:

Bitmap1) and save the resource file in your source directory.



Add this line to the unit that will load the bitmap:



{$R BITMAP.RES}



This line will tell Delphi to link the resouce file into you program

for you.



In this example I use MyImage as the name of the TImage component

that was placed on the form. The following lines show an example of

how to load the bitmap at runtime:



var

  ImageName : STRING[10];

...

MyImage.AutoSize := TRUE;

ImageName := 'Bitmap1' + #0;

MyImage.Picture.Bitmap.Handle := LoadBitmap(hInstance, @ImageName[1]);

Loading a custom cursor

Question

When I define a cursor with the image editor I cannot get my program

to use it. Even though I exactly the code used in the help-file. It is

probably very simple.



Here is the code I use to load the cursor.



procedure TForm1.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);

begin

  Screen.Cursors [crMikesCursor] := LoadCursor (form1.handle, 'MIKE');

  Cursor := crMikesCursor;

end;

Answer

Screen.Cursors [crMikesCursor] := LoadCursor (form1.handle, 'MIKE');



	use hInstance instead of form1.handle



A:

hInstance is defined in the System unit for you and is assigned by the

Windows environment when your application or DLL is created. When

you created your own variable by the same name, Delphi used the one

you declared locally to the FormCreate method which was probably not

assigned a valid value. For more details look in the on-line help

under hInstance.

Associate an Icon with a component

Question

I am creating my own components. Does anyone have an idea how to associate an

icon with a component?

Answer

A:

If you are refering to the pic on the comp palette, you create a bitmap in a

resource file (ext .dcr for delphi component resource). It should be 24

pixels square



A:

    See Adding Palette Bitmaps on page 77 of the Component

    Writer's Guide.



    IMPORTANT NOTE

    ================



    However, note the following misleading sentence in the

    middle of that page:



        "The resource names are not case-sensitive, but by

        convention, they are usually in upper case letters".



    In  my experience there's a particularly good reason for the

    convention:



    IT DOESN'T WORK IF YOU DON'T USE UPPER CASE.

Including a wave file in a Delphi EXE

Question

I would like to include a Wave file with my EXE. However, I don't want to

distribute the wave file as a separate file. Is it possible to include this

in my EXE, and call it from my Delphi program? If so, how?

Answer

A:

First,you can create foo.rc which is plain text file.

1.wav ,2.wav are example. Please write your waves name here.



--- foo.rc

// WAVES

//

WAVE1 WAVE PRELOAD FIXED PURE "1.WAV"

WAVE2 WAVE PRELOAD FIXED PURE "2.WAV"

WAVE3 WAVE PRELOAD FIXED PURE "3.WAV"

WAVE4 WAVE PRELOAD FIXED PURE "4.WAV"



The first words are wave resource names. You must remember these names.

The last words are wave file names.



--- foo.rc



Next,run delphi\bin\brcc.exe for making foo.res.



Last,you must the following code in your source code:



--- unit1.pas (your code)

Unit1

 :

 :

implementation



{$R foo.res}    (* your waves resources here *)

 :

 :

--- unit1.pas (your code)



  Then,I show the code how to load the wave resources.



# How to load



      hrsr := FindResource(hinst, resname, 'WAVE');

      if hrsr = 0 then begin

          (* ERROR *)

      end

      else begin

        wave[num].hglb := LoadResource(hinst, hrsr) ;

        wave[num].lpstr := LockResource(wave[num].hglb) ;

        if wave[num].lpstr <> nil then

         wave[num].load := True

      end;



  (notes)

    resname : 'WAVE1','WAVE2',... wave resource name

    hinst   : value of System.HInstance

    num     : wave number. You can manage waves by number. 



# How to play waves



   if wave[num].load = True then begin

       sndPlaySound(wave[num].lpstr, SND_ASYNC or SND_MEMORY)

   end;





A:

You will need a resource editor such as Resource Workshop to load the

.WAV file into a resource file. In the example below, I called my

resource type "SOUND", but you could call it "WAV" or whatever you 

like. I think it needs to be all uppercase, as does the resource name 

itself.



BTW -- don't use the resource file made by Delphi. Make a new one, 

and add a resource statement for it in your file.



{$R SOUNDS.RES}



procedure PlayMyNoise;

var

  rhMyNoise : THandle;

  pMyNoise : Pointer;

  hMyNoise : THandle;



begin

  rhMyNoise := FindResource(HInstance, 'MYNOISE', 'SOUND');

  hMyNoise := LoadResource(HInstance, rhMyNoise);

  pMyNoise := LockResource(hMyNoise);

  sndPlaySound(pMyNoise, SND_SYNC or SND_MEMORY);

  FreeResource(hMyNoise);

end;



A:

If you have Resource Workshop, you're in luck. You

need to create a new resource type and load in the wave file and save the 

resource with a filename that's different from your project. Then in your unit, 

following the {R *.DFM) add the line {R WHATEVERYOUNAMEDYOURFILE.RES}. Then 

comes the fun part of how to use it. I worked on this a long time but finally 

got it right. 



Following is a short unit that will load a wave file as a resource and play it 

for as long as you hold your mousebutton down. Hope it helps!



Syl



unit Wavemain;



interface



uses

  SysUtils, WinTypes, WinProcs, Messages, Classes, Graphics, Controls,

  Forms, Dialogs, Buttons, MMSystem;



type

  TForm1 = class(TForm)

    SpeedButton1: TSpeedButton;

    procedure FormCreate(Sender: TObject);

    procedure SpeedButton1MouseDown(Sender: TObject; Button: TMouseButton;

      Shift: TShiftState; X, Y: Integer);

    procedure SpeedButton1MouseUp(Sender: TObject; Button: TMouseButton;

      Shift: TShiftState; X, Y: Integer);

    procedure FormDestroy(Sender: TObject);

    procedure FormClose(Sender: TObject; var Action: TCloseAction);

  private

    { Private declarations }

    p : pointer;

    HResource : THandle;

  public

    { Public declarations }

  end;



var

  Form1: TForm1;



implementation



{$R *.DFM}

{$R LAUGH.RES}



procedure TForm1.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);

var

  RName : array[0..20] of char;

  RType : array[0..20] of char;

begin

  StrPCopy(RName,'LAUGH');     {the name you gave the resource in Workshop}

  StrPCopy(RType,'WAVSOUND');  {the name you gave the new 'type' in Workshop}

  try

    HResource := LoadResource(HInstance,(FindResource(HInstance,RName,RType)));

    P := LockResource(HResource);

  except

    GlobalFree(HResource);

  end;

end;



procedure TForm1.SpeedButton1MouseDown(Sender: TObject;

  Button: TMouseButton; Shift: TShiftState; X, Y: Integer);

begin

  SndPlaySound(P,snd_Async or snd_Loop or snd_Memory);  

end;



procedure TForm1.SpeedButton1MouseUp(Sender: TObject; Button: TMouseButton;

  Shift: TShiftState; X, Y: Integer);

begin

  SndPlaySound(nil,0);

end;



procedure TForm1.FormDestroy(Sender: TObject);

begin

  try

    GlobalUnlock(HResource);

  except

    abort;

  end;

  try

    GlobalFree(HResource);

  except

    abort;

  end;



end;



procedure TForm1.FormClose(Sender: TObject; var Action: TCloseAction);

begin

  SndPlaySound(nil,0);

end;



end.

Loading a bitmap from .res without losing palette

Question

Loading a bitmap from .res without losing palette?

Answer

A:

I'm going to manipulate your code a little bit in my explanation. Here goes:



procedure loadgraphic(naam:string);

var

  { I've moved these in here, so they exist only during the lifetime of the

    procedure. }

  HResInfo: THandle;

  BMF: TBitmapFileHeader;

  MemHandle: THandle;

  Stream: TMemoryStream;

  ResPtr: PByte;

  ResSize: Longint;

  null:array [0..8] of char;

  

begin

  { In this first part, you are retrieving the bitmap from the resource.

    The bitmap that you retrieve is almost, but not quite, the same as a

    .BMP file (complete with palette information). }



  strpcopy (null, naam);

  HResInfo := FindResource(HInstance, null, RT_Bitmap);

  ResSize := SizeofResource(HInstance, HResInfo);

  MemHandle := LoadResource(HInstance, HResInfo);

  ResPtr := LockResource(MemHandle);



  { Think of a MemoryStream almost as a "File" that exists in memory.

    With a Stream, you can treat either the same way! }



  Stream := TMemoryStream.Create;



  try

    Stream.SetSize(ResSize + SizeOf(BMF));



    { Next, you effectively create a .BMP file in memory by first writing

      the header (missing from the resource, so you add it)... }

    BMF.bfType := $4D42;

    Stream.Write(BMF, SizeOf(BMF));



    { Then the data from the resource. Now the stream contains a .BMP file }

    Stream.Write(ResPtr^, ResSize);



    { So you point to the beginning of the stream... }

    Stream.Seek(0, 0);



    { ...and let Delphi's TBitmap load it in }

    Bitmap:=tbitmap.create;

    Bitmap.LoadFromStream(Stream);



    { At this point, you are done with the stream and the resource. }

  finally

    Stream.Free;

  end;

  FreeResource(MemHandle);

end;

Custom cursor

Question

Could someone send me a sample program that uses a custom cursor...

Answer

A:

const

  SpinC_1    = MakeIntResource(10005);

  SpinC_2    = MakeIntResource(10006);

  SpinC_3    = MakeIntResource(10007);

  SpinC_4    = MakeIntResource(10008);



initialization

  Screen.Cursors[101] := LoadCursor(HInstance, SpinC_1);

  Screen.Cursors[102] := LoadCursor(HInstance, SpinC_2);

  Screen.Cursors[103] := LoadCursor(HInstance, SpinC_3);

  Screen.Cursors[104] := LoadCursor(HInstance, SpinC_4);

end;



to use them in side your code just:



  Screen.Cursor:=101; { or which one you want }

Resource problems encountered with TTabbedNotebook and TNotebook

Question

Everybody knows about the resource problems encountered with TTabbedNotebook

and TNotebook. How can the be overcome?

Answer

A:

I use the following code. I have tested it by checking which TWinControls

have handles allocated at run time, and it does deallocate handles for

controls on inactive pages.

However, If I load ~6 forms, all with TTabbedNotebooks, I still get 'Unable

to create window' errors. Before this code, I could only open 2 windows. (I

have LOTS of controls on each page)

Does anybody know how many window handles are normally available? Also,

anybody have a way to find out how many are available/used ??



{in the OnChange event of TTabbedNotebook}



if AllowChange then

begin

        {Deallocate unneccessary window handles}

	with TTabbedNotebook(Sender) do

        	if PageIndex <> NewTab then

		begin

			LockWindowUpdate(Handle);

			THintWindow(Pages.Objects[PageIndex]).ReleaseHandle;

			TWinControl(Pages.Objects[NewTab]).HandleNeeded;

			LockWindowUpdate(0);



		end;

end;

Adding new cursor to my application

Question

How i can add a new cursor to my application ?

Answer

In order to simplify this explanation I will use LoadCursor instead of

CreateCursor. The main difference is with LoadCursor you must have a

previous defined cursor inside a .RES file (with Resource Workshop you

can create it), and with CreateCursor you must define the bitmap in

RunTime.

The code looks like this:



const

  MyCursor = 5;



procedure TMyForm.FormCreate(Sender:TObject);

begin

  Screen.Cursors[MyCursor]:=LoadCursor( Hinstance,

'NameOfCursorInResourceFile' );

  Cursor := MyCursor;

end;



Hinstance is a predefined variable containing the application instance

in Windows. Simply write Hinstance and Delphi will understand you.



Be sure to bind the resource file containing the cursor to the EXE by

doing a {$R FILENAME.RES} in order to use the LoadCursor.

Edit field cursor

Question

Does any one knows how to change the cursor (not mouse cursor) in the edit

fields to a custom cursor.

Answer

1. Design a cursor with the image editor. Make it part of a .RES

file and give the cursor resource a name.

2. Include {$R filename} in the implementation part of your unit,

where filename is the name of the file you created in step one. This

includes your cursor resource in the unit and finally in the .EXE.

2. Define a constant that identifies your cursor, for example

crMyCursor = 5.

3. Load the cursor into the Cursors property of the Screen component

with the following API function:

  Screen.Cursors[crMoveExpression] :=

    LoadCursor(HInstance, 'CURSORRESOURCE');



where CURSORRESOURCE is the name of the cursor resource you assigned

with the image editor. The call to LoadCursor will make the cursor

available to your program.

4. Assign the constant (crMyCursor, or whatever you named it) to the

Cursor property of the controls you want to be using the cursor.

5. Watch the result!