How to Load a Bitmap from a Resource (Windows Imaging Component)

This topic demonstrates how to load an IWICBitmapFrameDecode from an application resource.

1. In the application resource definition (.rc) file , define the resource. The following example defines an Image resource named IDR_SAMPLE_IMAGE.

   IDR_SAMPLE_IMAGE IMAGE "turtle.jpg"
   

   The resource will be added to the application's resources when the application is built.

2. Load the resource from the application.

   HRESULT hr = S_OK;
   
   // WIC interface pointers.
   IWICStream *pIWICStream = NULL;
   IWICBitmapDecoder *pIDecoder = NULL;
   IWICBitmapFrameDecode *pIDecoderFrame = NULL;
   
   // Resource management.
   HRSRC imageResHandle = NULL;
   HGLOBAL imageResDataHandle = NULL;
   void *pImageFile = NULL;
   DWORD imageFileSize = 0;
   
   // Locate the resource in the application's executable.
   imageResHandle = FindResource(
      NULL,             // This component.
      L"SampleImage",   // Resource name.
      L"Image");        // Resource type.
   
   hr = (imageResHandle ? S_OK : E_FAIL);
   
   // Load the resource to the HGLOBAL.
   if (SUCCEEDED(hr)){
      imageResDataHandle = LoadResource(NULL, imageResHandle);
      hr = (imageResDataHandle ? S_OK : E_FAIL);
   }
   
   

3. Lock the resource and get the size.

   // Lock the resource to retrieve memory pointer.
   if (SUCCEEDED(hr)){
      pImageFile = LockResource(imageResDataHandle);
      hr = (pImageFile ? S_OK : E_FAIL);
   }
   
   // Calculate the size.
   if (SUCCEEDED(hr)){
      imageFileSize = SizeofResource(NULL, imageResHandle);
      hr = (imageFileSize ? S_OK : E_FAIL);
   }
   
   

4. Use the CreateStream method to create an IWICStream object and initialize it by using the image memory pointer.

   // Create a WIC stream to map onto the memory.
   if (SUCCEEDED(hr)){
      hr = m_pIWICFactory->CreateStream(&pIWICStream);
   }
   
   // Initialize the stream with the memory pointer and size.
   if (SUCCEEDED(hr)){
      hr = pIWICStream->InitializeFromMemory(
            reinterpret_cast<BYTE*>(pImageFile),
            imageFileSize);
   }
   

5. Create an IWICBitmapDecoder from the new stream object by using the CreateDecoderFromStream method.

   // Create a decoder for the stream.
   if (SUCCEEDED(hr)){
      hr = m_pIWICFactory->CreateDecoderFromStream(
         pIWICStream,                   // The stream to use to create the decoder
         NULL,                          // Do not prefer a particular vendor
         WICDecodeMetadataCacheOnLoad,  // Cache metadata when needed
         &pIDecoder);                   // Pointer to the decoder
   }
   

6. Retrieve an IWICBitmapFrameDecode from the decoded image.

   // Retrieve the initial frame.
   if (SUCCEEDED(hr)){
      hr = pIDecoder->GetFrame(0, &pIDecoderFrame);
   }
   

   This code only retrieves the first (0) frame of the image. For multi-framed images, use GetFrameCount to determine the number of frames in the image.

See Also

Programming Guide

Reference

Samples