How to: List Installed Decoders

You may want to list the image decoders available on a computer, to determine whether your application can read a particular image file format. The ImageCodecInfo class provides the GetImageDecoders static methods so that you can determine which image decoders are available. GetImageDecoders returns an array of ImageCodecInfo objects.

Example

The following code example outputs the list of installed decoders and their property values.

Private Sub GetImageDecodersExample(ByVal e As PaintEventArgs)
    ' Get an array of available decoders.
    Dim myCodecs() As ImageCodecInfo
    myCodecs = ImageCodecInfo.GetImageDecoders()
    Dim numCodecs As Integer = myCodecs.GetLength(0)

    ' Set up display variables.
    Dim foreColor As Color = Color.Black
    Dim font As New Font("Arial", 8)
    Dim i As Integer = 0

    ' Check to determine whether any codecs were found.
    If numCodecs > 0 Then
        ' Set up an array to hold codec information. There are 9
        ' information elements plus 1 space for each codec, so 10 times
        ' the number of codecs found is allocated.
        Dim myCodecInfo(numCodecs * 10) As String

        ' Write all the codec information to the array.
        For i = 0 To numCodecs - 1
            myCodecInfo((i * 10)) = "Codec Name = " + myCodecs(i).CodecName
            myCodecInfo((i * 10 + 1)) = "Class ID = " + myCodecs(i).Clsid.ToString()
            myCodecInfo((i * 10 + 2)) = "DLL Name = " + myCodecs(i).DllName
            myCodecInfo((i * 10 + 3)) = "Filename Ext. = " + myCodecs(i).FilenameExtension
            myCodecInfo((i * 10 + 4)) = "Flags = " + myCodecs(i).Flags.ToString()
            myCodecInfo((i * 10 + 5)) = "Format Descrip. = " + myCodecs(i).FormatDescription
            myCodecInfo((i * 10 + 6)) = "Format ID = " + myCodecs(i).FormatID.ToString()
            myCodecInfo((i * 10 + 7)) = "MimeType = " + myCodecs(i).MimeType
            myCodecInfo((i * 10 + 8)) = "Version = " + myCodecs(i).Version.ToString()
            myCodecInfo((i * 10 + 9)) = " "
        Next i
        Dim numMyCodecInfo As Integer = myCodecInfo.GetLength(0)

        ' Render all of the information to the screen.
        Dim j As Integer = 20
        For i = 0 To numMyCodecInfo - 1
            e.Graphics.DrawString(myCodecInfo(i), _
                font, New SolidBrush(foreColor), 20, j)
            j += 12
        Next i
    Else
        e.Graphics.DrawString("No Codecs Found", _
            font, New SolidBrush(foreColor), 20, 20)
    End If
End Sub

private void GetImageDecodersExample(PaintEventArgs e)
{
    // Get an array of available decoders.
    ImageCodecInfo[] myCodecs;
    myCodecs = ImageCodecInfo.GetImageDecoders();
    int numCodecs = myCodecs.GetLength(0);

    // Set up display variables.
    Color foreColor = Color.Black;
    Font font = new Font("Arial", 8);
    int i = 0;

    // Check to determine whether any codecs were found.
    if (numCodecs > 0)
    {
        // Set up an array to hold codec information. There are 9
        // information elements plus 1 space for each codec, so 10 times
        // the number of codecs found is allocated.
        string[] myCodecInfo = new string[numCodecs * 10];

        // Write all the codec information to the array.
        for (i = 0; i < numCodecs; i++)
        {
            myCodecInfo[i * 10] = "Codec Name = " + myCodecs[i].CodecName;
            myCodecInfo[(i * 10) + 1] = "Class ID = " +
                myCodecs[i].Clsid.ToString();
            myCodecInfo[(i * 10) + 2] = "DLL Name = " + myCodecs[i].DllName;
            myCodecInfo[(i * 10) + 3] = "Filename Ext. = " +
                myCodecs[i].FilenameExtension;
            myCodecInfo[(i * 10) + 4] = "Flags = " +
                myCodecs[i].Flags.ToString();
            myCodecInfo[(i * 10) + 5] = "Format Descrip. = " +
                myCodecs[i].FormatDescription;
            myCodecInfo[(i * 10) + 6] = "Format ID = " +
                myCodecs[i].FormatID.ToString();
            myCodecInfo[(i * 10) + 7] = "MimeType = " + myCodecs[i].MimeType;
            myCodecInfo[(i * 10) + 8] = "Version = " +
                myCodecs[i].Version.ToString();
            myCodecInfo[(i * 10) + 9] = " ";
        }
        int numMyCodecInfo = myCodecInfo.GetLength(0);

        // Render all of the information to the screen.
        int j = 20;
        for (i = 0; i < numMyCodecInfo; i++)
        {
            e.Graphics.DrawString(myCodecInfo[i],
                font,
                new SolidBrush(foreColor),
                20,
                j);
            j += 12;
        }
    }
    else
        e.Graphics.DrawString("No Codecs Found",
            font,
            new SolidBrush(foreColor),
            20,
            20);
}

Compiling the Code

This example requires:

• A Windows Forms application.

• A PaintEventArgs, which is a parameter of PaintEventHandler.

See Also

Tasks

How to: List Installed Encoders

Other Resources

Using Image Encoders and Decoders in Managed GDI+