LoadBitmapA function (winuser.h)

Article
02/09/2023

[LoadBitmap is available for use in the operating systems specified in the Requirements section. It may be altered or unavailable in subsequent versions. Instead, use LoadImage and DrawFrameControl.]

The LoadBitmap function loads the specified bitmap resource from a module's executable file.

Syntax

HBITMAP LoadBitmapA(
  [in] HINSTANCE hInstance,
  [in] LPCSTR    lpBitmapName
);

Parameters

[in] hInstance

A handle to the instance of the module whose executable file contains the bitmap to be loaded.

[in] lpBitmapName

A pointer to a null-terminated string that contains the name of the bitmap resource to be loaded. Alternatively, this parameter can consist of the resource identifier in the low-order word and zero in the high-order word. The MAKEINTRESOURCE macro can be used to create this value.

Return value

If the function succeeds, the return value is the handle to the specified bitmap.

If the function fails, the return value is NULL.

Remarks

If the bitmap pointed to by the lpBitmapName parameter does not exist or there is insufficient memory to load the bitmap, the function fails.

LoadBitmap creates a compatible bitmap of the display, which cannot be selected to a printer. To load a bitmap that you can select to a printer, call LoadImage and specify LR_CREATEDIBSECTION to create a DIB section. A DIB section can be selected to any device.

An application can use the LoadBitmap function to access predefined bitmaps. To do so, the application must set the hInstance parameter to NULL and the lpBitmapName parameter to one of the following values.

Bitmap name	Bitmap name
OBM_BTNCORNERS	OBM_OLD_RESTORE
OBM_BTSIZE	OBM_OLD_RGARROW
OBM_CHECK	OBM_OLD_UPARROW
OBM_CHECKBOXES	OBM_OLD_ZOOM
OBM_CLOSE	OBM_REDUCE
OBM_COMBO	OBM_REDUCED
OBM_DNARROW	OBM_RESTORE
OBM_DNARROWD	OBM_RESTORED
OBM_DNARROWI	OBM_RGARROW
OBM_LFARROW	OBM_RGARROWD
OBM_LFARROWD	OBM_RGARROWI
OBM_LFARROWI	OBM_SIZE
OBM_MNARROW	OBM_UPARROW
OBM_OLD_CLOSE	OBM_UPARROWD
OBM_OLD_DNARROW	OBM_UPARROWI
OBM_OLD_LFARROW	OBM_ZOOM
OBM_OLD_REDUCE	OBM_ZOOMD

Bitmap names that begin with OBM_OLD represent bitmaps used by 16-bit versions of Windows earlier than 3.0.

For an application to use any of the OBM_ constants, the constant OEMRESOURCE must be defined before the Windows.h header file is included.

The application must call the DeleteObject function to delete each bitmap handle returned by the LoadBitmap function.

Examples

For an example, see Example of Menu-Item Bitmaps in Using Menus.

Note

The winuser.h header defines LoadBitmap as an alias which automatically selects the ANSI or Unicode version of this function based on the definition of the UNICODE preprocessor constant. Mixing usage of the encoding-neutral alias with code that not encoding-neutral can lead to mismatches that result in compilation or runtime errors. For more information, see Conventions for Function Prototypes.

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Minimum supported client	Windows 2000 Professional [desktop apps only]
Minimum supported server	Windows 2000 Server [desktop apps only]
Target Platform	Windows
Header	winuser.h (include Windows.h)
Library	User32.lib
DLL	User32.dll
API set	ext-ms-win-ntuser-draw-l1-1-1 (introduced in Windows 8.1)

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