Best way to make a component icon in Delphi XE using only the built in tools

Question

In Delphi 7, an image editor program is included, which can read and write .dcr files, which are merely binary resource files (.res files) with a different extension, which by convention indicates that the .dcr file contains a compiled resource with named bitmap resources that have names corresponding to your component names (a bitmap resource named TMYCOMPONENT for a component named TMyComponent). These bitmaps are where the "icons" used to put an icon on the delphi component palette, and on your form or data-module when you drop a non-visual component on it, come from.

Fast forward 10 years to Delphi XE, and I am trying to make component icons using a bitmap file, and an RC file, and have that build to a .DCR file, as part of the Delphi IDE.

It should be simply a matter of adding an .Rc file and a declaration like this in the .dpk (package source) file, like this:

{$R mypackageicons.rc mypackageicons.dcr}

A sample .rc file containing a component icon:

 // COMPONENT ICON RESOURCES
 TMYCOMPONENT BMP "TMYCOMPONENT.BMP"

However I can not get this to work. It seems that you get some bizarre RLINK32 errors, and IDE crashes in borlandmm.dll, when I try it:

[DCC Error] E2161 Error: RLINK32: Unsupported 16bit resource in file "C:\temp\compicon\COMPONENTICONS.rc"
[DCC Fatal Error] F2084 Internal Error: AV21515155-W06000D07-1

The bitmap file in question is a simple 256 color bmp file size 24x24 pixels, and I have also tried 16 color bitmaps, with no luck. It seems to me that the ImageEdit program is the only way that I know of that I can use to create Delphi component icons.

What am I missing out on?

Update: The external tools are a nice solution for people who don't have access to the Delphi 7 image editor, and may in fact be superior, but I would prefer to do this using only what ships with Delphi, because it seems that it should be possible using just one {$R} declaration, a text file, and a bmp file made with paintbrush. Surely they didn't omit to make a way to make component icons, with this great big 1.5 gigabyte developer tool! .. update2: And there is a way; Rudy V. found it.

Answer 1

I have used and had great success with:

• Colin Wilson's XN Resource Editor
• Anders Melander's Resource Editor

Update

I just tried the following, in XE, and was successful.

• I created a new component, TNewAnimate, in NewAnimates.pas.
• I added TNewAnimate.pas to dclusr.dpk.
• I added a bitmap (called TMRUComboBox.bmp, I just had that around anyway) using the Project → Resources and Images... dialog to the .dpk and gave it the name TNEWANIMATE.
• I re-installed dclusr.dpk.

The source file for dclusr.pdk got a new entry {$R *.dres} (note the extension). I could see the TNewAnimate in the Samples palette with the glyph in TMRUComboBox.bmp.

I located dclusr.dres in the same directory as dclusr.dpk (which is normally under C:\Program Files, but not in my setup). I tried to open it with XN Resource Editor, but that refused to open it with a cryptic error message. It is not a normal .res file, it seems.

Answer 2

Try Resource Editor. A nice replacement for old Image Editor.

Answer 3

First add 'mypackageicons.rc' file to the project, this produces 'mypackageicons.res' at compile time (see related SO answer to the question "Including resource file in a project by .RC file rather than .RES file").

Also include {$R mypackageicons.res mypackageicons.dcr} to the component unit (or to the .dpk). This does not produce a '.dcr file', but sets the icon for the component.

Note that my test with a 'BMP' resource failed. I used 'BITMAP' as resource type.

Answer 4

I have investigated the previous responses using Delphi XE5 upd2. Not much success. So I tried to build a new solution and found one derived from previous answers.

In short: 1. Create your bitmap using Windows Paint program. 2. Create a resource script file with the bitmap. 3. Compile the script with BRCC32 to produce the dcr file 4. Include the dcr file into the package source 5. Recompile/Install the package

To automate this, it is enough to add the BRCC32 command line into the package project "pre-build events". This way, you dcr file will be recreated before each build.

For a detailed description, see my blog at http://francois-piette.blogspot.be/2014/02/howto-create-dcr-file-for-your-delphi.html