Load GIF/JPG File From Resource File
You can use resource file to save
multiple Images files, Cursors, Sound files, and all other files in one single
This example will show you how to save
and load BMP, Cur, Ico, GIF and JPG files from Resource Files.
Add 1 Picture Box to your form.
Add the Resource
Editor Add-in To your project: From VB Menu (VB 6.0) choose Add-Ins->Add-In
Manager, then select the VB6 Resource Editor, mark the Loaded/Unloaded check
Box, and press OK.
Now, to launch
the Resource Editor, from the VB Menu choose Tools -> Resource
To add BMP, Ico or Cur files, simply select from the
Resource Editor menu Add Cursor, Add Icon or Add Bitmap. Then select your BMP,
Ico or Cur file, and press Open.
By default it will be saved under 101 ID. You can change the ID to other name, for
example "Door-Image" Via the Properties option in the Resource Editor menu.
repeat the last operation to add more files to the resource file. Every file has its own
ID, so you will be able to access it by its unique
If you will add Bitmap, it will be
saved in the resource file under the Bitmap "Folder" (It's not really folder,
because it's one single file), If you will add Icon, it will be saved under Icon
"Folder", and so on.
To add GIF or JPG file to the resource file, Choose in the Resource Editor Menu 'Add Custom Resource' And
choose your GIF\JPG File. It will be saved under CUSTOM "Folder".
Now press 'Save' in the Resource Editor Menu,
Enter your wanted resource file name and press Save.
As you can see, the
resource file has been added to your project: From VB menu choose
View->Project Explorer, and by default under the Related Documents folder,
you will see the file Project1.RES (or if you saved the resource file in other
If you start a new project, and you want to add this
specific resource file to your project, choose from VB Menu Project->Add new
resource file, and select this file. Note that "Add new resource file" menu item
will appear only if you add the Resource Editor Add-in (That I'd explained how
to add it in the beginning of this article).
To load BMP file from the
resource file to a picture box (named Picture1), simply
Picture1.Picture = LoadResPicture(101, vbResBitmap)
- because it's Bitmap file.
101 - because it's the ID of this specific Bitmap.
If the ID was "MyImage", you should have been use:
To load Icon file (With the ID
101) from the resource file simply type:
To load Cursor file from the resource file
to your Form MouseIcon property:
Form1.MouseIcon = LoadResPicture(101,
(don't forget to set the form MousePointer property to
There is no Built-In option to load GIF and JPG files. There
is no vbResGIF or vbResJPG. So to load these files you'll have to use the
Private Sub Form_Load()
'Replace '101' with your File ID.
'c:\tmp\mytmp' with the name of the Temporary file you want to save
LoadDataIntoFile 101, "c:\tmp\mytmp"
Picture1.Picture = LoadPicture("c:\tmp\mytmp")
Public Sub LoadDataIntoFile(DataName As Integer, FileName As String)
Dim myArray() As Byte
If Dir(FileName) = "" Then
myArray = LoadResData(DataName,
myFile = FreeFile
Open FileName For Binary Access Write As #myFile
Put #myFile, , myArray