LoadImage

[Now Supported on Windows NT]

The LoadImage function loads an icon, cursor, or bitmap.

HANDLE LoadImage(

HINSTANCE hinst, // handle of the instance that contains the image
LPCTSTR lpszName, // name or identifier of image
UINT uType, // type of image
int cxDesired, // desired width
int cyDesired, // desired height
UINT fuLoad // load flags
);  

Parameters

hinst

Identifies an instance of the module that contains the image to be loaded. To load an OEM image, set this parameter to zero.

lpszName

Identifies the image to load.

If the hinst parameter is non-NULL and the fuLoad parameter does not include LR_LOADFROMFILE, lpszName is a pointer to a null-terminated string that contains the name of the image resource in the hinst module.

If hinst is NULL and LR_LOADFROMFILE is not specified, the low-order word of this parameter must be the identifier of the OEM image to load. The OEM image identifiers are defined in WINUSER.H and have the following prefixes:

Prefix Meaning
OBM_ OEM bitmaps
OIC_ OEM icons
OCR_ OEM cursors

Windows 95: If the fuLoad parameter includes the LR_LOADFROMFILE value, lpszName is the name of the file that contains the image.

Windows NT: LR_LOADFROMFILE is not supported.

uType

Specifies the type of image to be loaded. This parameter can be one of the following values:

Value Meaning
IMAGE_BITMAP Loads a bitmap.
IMAGE_CURSOR Loads a cursor.
IMAGE_ICON Loads an icon.

cxDesired

Specifies the width, in pixels, of the icon or cursor. If this parameter is zero and the fuLoad parameter is LR_DEFAULTSIZE, the function uses the SM_CXICON or SM_CXCURSOR system metric value to set the width. If this parameter is zero and LR_DEFAULTSIZE is not used, the function uses the actual resource width.

cyDesired

Specifies the height, in pixels, of the icon or cursor. If this parameter is zero and the fuLoad parameter is LR_DEFAULTSIZE, the function uses the SM_CYICON or SM_CYCURSOR system metric value to set the height. If this parameter is zero and LR_DEFAULTSIZE is not used, the function uses the actual resource height.

fuLoad

Specifies a combination of the following values:

Value Meaning
LR_DEFAULTCOLOR The default flag; it does nothing. All it means is "not LR_MONOCHROME".
LR_CREATEDIBSECTION When the uType parameter specifies IMAGE_BITMAP, causes the function to return a DIB section bitmap rather than a compatible bitmap. This flag is useful for loading a bitmap without mapping it to the colors of the display device.
LR_DEFAULTSIZE Uses the width or height specified by the system metric values for cursors or icons, if the cxDesired or cyDesired values are set to zero. If this flag is not specified and cxDesired and cyDesired are set to zero, the function uses the actual resource size. If the resource contains multiple images, the function uses the size of the first image.
LR_LOADFROMFILE Loads the image from the file specified by the lpszName parameter. If this flag is not specified, lpszName is the name of the resource.
LR_LOADMAP3DCOLORS Searches the color table for the image and replaces the following shades of gray with the corresponding 3D color:

Color Replaced with
Dk Gray, RGB(128,128,128) COLOR_3DSHADOW
Gray, RGB(192,192,192) COLOR_3DFACE
Lt Gray, RGB(223,223,223) COLOR_3DLIGHT

LR_LOADTRANSPARENT Retrieves the color value of the first pixel in the image and replaces the corresponding entry in the color table with the default window color (COLOR_WINDOW). All pixels in the image that use that entry become the default window color. This value applies only to images that have corresponding color tables.

If fuLoad includes both the LR_LOADTRANSPARENT and LR_LOADMAP3DCOLORS values, LRLOADTRANSPARENT takes precedence. However, the color table entry is replaced with COLOR_3DFACE rather than COLOR_WINDOW.

LR_MONOCHROME Loads the image in black and white.
LR_SHARED Shares the image handle if the image is loaded multiple times. If LR_SHARED is not set, a second call to LoadImage for the same resource will load the image again and return a different handle.

Do not use LR_SHARED for images that have non-standard sizes, that may change after loading, or that are loaded from a file.


Return Values

If the function succeeds, the return value is the handle of the newly loaded image.

If the function fails, the return value is NULL.

See Also

CopyImage, GetSystemMetrics, LoadBitmap, LoadCursor, LoadIcon