[RESOLVED] Changing the Small and Big icons of a window using LoadImage... How to?

[Arianax]

So another question since I've hit another stumbling block...

Tried about 7 different guides and many different forum posts, none of which are working, I must be doing something obvious wrong...

Trying to change the 'small' icon (upper-left icon in a window) and the 'Big' icon (icon that appears in the taskbar) of a Window I've created with Win32.

I'm using LoadImage() and placing the result into an 'HICON' Handle. I'm not using LoadIcon().

Here's the relevant code:

Under WNDCLASSEX wc in WinMain:

WNDCLASSEX wc;

 wc.hIconSm       = LoadIcon(NULL, IDI_APPLICATION);

and then, later, under a custom function I made that appears under WM_CREATE in WndProc function:

void LoadVisuals()
{

HICON hIconSm = (HICON)LoadImage(NULL, L"Icon.ico", IMAGE_ICON, 16, 16, LR_LOADFROMFILE);
SendMessage(hWnd, WM_SETICON, ICON_SMALL, (LPARAM)hIconSm);

}

The icon doesn't change, it remains the same.

I run some error checking. The LoadImage() part reports Error Code 0 (function successful) but the SendMessage() part reports 'Error 1813: The specified resource type cannot be found in the image file.'

I have confirmed the .ico icon's file path and have tried specifying the FULL PATH ("C:\\files\\to\\icon.ico").

Can anyone explain what I'm doing wrong? Am I placing LoadVisuals() in the wrong part of WndProc? Am I casting LoadImage() to the wrong handle-type? Is wc.hIconSm overriding the SendMessage()?

Appreciate your help - I've checked lots of other forum posts but nothing has worked so far.

[VictorN]

HICON hIconSm = (HICON)LoadImage(NULL, L"Icon.ico", IMAGE_ICON, 16, 16, LR_LOADFROMFILE);
SendMessage(hWnd, WM_SETICON, ICON_SMALL, (LPARAM)hIconSm);

I run some error checking. The LoadImage() part reports Error Code 0 (function successful) but the SendMessage() part reports 'Error 1813: The specified resource type cannot be found in the image file.'

1. There is no error checking in your code snippet.
2. If LoadImage returns NULL then you have to call GetLastError.
3. WM_SETICON message cannot report any error. It just returns the HICON of the previous icon (or NULL if there was not the icon of the given type).

[Arianax]

1. There is no error checking in your code snippet.
2. If LoadImage returns NULL then you have to call GetLastError.
3. WM_SETICON message cannot report any error. It just returns the HICON of the previous icon (or NULL if there was not the icon of the given type).

Error checking:

if(!hIcon)
{

DWORD dLastError = GetLastError();

LPCTSTR strErrorMessage = NULL;

FormatMessage( FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM | FORMAT_MESSAGE_IGNORE_INSERTS | FORMAT_MESSAGE_ARGUMENT_ARRAY | FORMAT_MESSAGE_ALLOCATE_BUFFER,
NULL,
dLastError,
0,
(LPWSTR) &strErrorMessage,
0,
NULL);

MessageBox(hWnd, strErrorMessage, L"Error", MB_OK);

}

and:

if(!SendMessage(hWnd, WM_SETICON, ICON_SMALL, (LPARAM)hIconSm))
{

DWORD dLastError = GetLastError();

LPCTSTR strErrorMessage = NULL;

FormatMessage( FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM | FORMAT_MESSAGE_IGNORE_INSERTS | FORMAT_MESSAGE_ARGUMENT_ARRAY | FORMAT_MESSAGE_ALLOCATE_BUFFER,
NULL,
dLastError,
0,
(LPWSTR) &strErrorMessage,
0,
NULL);

MessageBox(hWnd, strErrorMessage, L"Error", MB_OK);

}

[VictorN]

Please, read the documentation!
WM_SETICON message may return NULL if no icon was previously set. And it does not mean any error.
Moreover, SendMessage does NOT SetLastError. So it does not make any sense to call GetLastError independing on the SendMessage return value.

[VictorN]

'Error 1813: The specified resource type cannot be found in the image file.'

If it was the error after LoadImage returned NULL, then it means that your icon file does not contain the icon 16x16.

[Arianax]

I see... but I'm still not sure where to find a clue as to why the Icon is not appearing...

I have read the documentation for LoadImage() and it says it sets GetLastError() but it returns '0'. Is that the same as NULL?

[VictorN]

... it returns '0'. Is that the same as NULL?

yes.

[Arianax]

yes.

So it's an error, but I don't know what type of error or what is causing it... so it's not much help.

Any further ideas as to what I should try to fix this? I have done lots of research but answers have not yielded results.

[VictorN]

So it's an error, but I don't know what type of error or what is causing it... so it's not much help.

Any further ideas as to what I should try to fix this? I have done lots of research but answers have not yielded results.

I already wrote about the possible reason:

If it was the error after LoadImage returned NULL, then it means that your icon file does not contain the icon 16x16.

You could try to open your icon file with the VS and see which icon types this file contains.

[Arianax]

I already wrote about the possible reason:


You could try to open your icon file with the VS and see which icon types this file contains.

hIcon = 16x16, 24-Bit, BMP with file extension '.ico'

Do I need to convert it to .ico? It already has that file extension...

[Arianax]

I have specified:

wc.hIconSm       = LoadIcon(NULL, IDI_APPLICATION);

Under WNDCLASSEX;

Does LoadImage() and SendMessage() override this?

I have placed LoadImage() and SendMessage() under the case WM_CREATE: in WndProc.
Is this the right place?

[VictorN]

I have specified:

wc.hIconSm       = LoadIcon(NULL, IDI_APPLICATION);

Under WNDCLASSEX;

Does LoadImage() and SendMessage() override this?

I have placed LoadImage() and SendMessage() under the case WM_CREATE: in WndProc.
Is this the right place?

1. Did you mean "override" or "overwrite"?
2. You may want to show the code snippets including WM_CREATE and WNDCLASSEX

[Arianax]

HICON hIconSm = (HICON)LoadImage(NULL, L"Icon.ico", ICON_IMAGE, 0, 0, LR_LOADFROMFILE | LR_DEFAULTSIZE);

if(hIconSm == NULL)
{
MessageBox(hWnd, L"Icon returned NULL!!", L"Error", MB_OK);

Above code is still returning NULL, so I guess hIconSm isn't accepting the call to LoadImage()....?

[VictorN]

Try:

HICON hIconSm = (HICON)LoadImage(NULL, L"Icon.ico", ICON_IMAGE, 0, 0, LR_LOADFROMFILE );

[Arianax]

Try:

HICON hIconSm = (HICON)LoadImage(NULL, L"Icon.ico", ICON_IMAGE, 0, 0, LR_LOADFROMFILE );

No improvement.