How to reference icons inside .resx files from xaml?

Question

I am working on a C# WPF application, using .resx files for resource management. Now, I'm trying to add icons (.ico) to the project but I'm running into some problems.

<Image Name="imgMin" Grid.Column="0"
       Stretch="UniformToFill"
       Cursor="Hand" 
       MouseDown="imgMin_MouseDown">
    <Image.Style>
        <Style TargetType="{x:Type Image}">
            <Setter Property="Source" Value="\Images\minimize_glow.ico"/>
            <Style.Triggers>
                <Trigger Property="IsMouseOver" Value="True">
                    <Setter Property="Source" Value="\Images\minimize_glow.ico"/>
                </Trigger>
            </Style.Triggers>
        </Style>
    </Image.Style>
</Image>

This works fine, but when I move the icon into AppResources.resx I run into problems with referencing it in the xaml code. What should I be using instead of the Setter Property=... lines above? This:

<Setter Property="Source" Value="{x:Static res:AppResources.minimize}"/>

doesn't work, I think I probably need to use a different Property than "Source" because Value isn't a string pointing to the icon but the icon itself now. I can't figure out which one to use though - some help, please?

Answer 1

The Source property does not "want" a string, it just converts it when it gets one. If you add an icon to the resources it will be of the type System.Drawing.Icon. You will need to convert it to an ImageSource via converter.

You can do a static access to resources but it needs to comply with the expected syntax of x:Static.

e.g.

xmlns:prop="clr-namespace:Test.Properties"

<Image MaxHeight="100" MaxWidth="100">
    <Image.Source>
        <Binding Source="{x:Static prop:Resources.icon}">
            <Binding.Converter>
                <vc:IconToImageSourceConverter/>
            </Binding.Converter>
        </Binding>
    </Image.Source>
</Image>

public class IconToImageSourceConverter : IValueConverter
{
    public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
    {
        var icon = value as System.Drawing.Icon;
        var bitmap = icon.ToBitmap();

        //http://stackoverflow.com/questions/94456/load-a-wpf-bitmapimage-from-a-system-drawing-bitmap/1069509#1069509
        MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream();
        bitmap.Save(ms, System.Drawing.Imaging.ImageFormat.Png);
        ms.Position = 0;
        BitmapImage bi = new BitmapImage();
        bi.BeginInit();
        bi.StreamSource = ms;
        bi.EndInit();

        return bi;
    }

    public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
    {
        throw new NotSupportedException();
    }
}

Notes:

• The resource access modifier must be public
• If the image is added as "Image" you end up with a Bitmap instead of an Icon, which requires a different converter