Iterating through App Resources

Question

 

Again, I am quite new to .NET & WPF so please be patient... I am trying to figure out different ways in which resources can be stored and accessed in a WPF project.

 

Method 1: Adding a folder to the Project and adding resources to this folder

example: add folder named "images". add 2 images to folder, "image1.png" & "image2.png".

These images can then be accessed in XAML like:

<Image Source="images/image1.png"/>

 

Method 2: Adding resources to the project using the resource manager, i.e. goto the project properties and select the "Resources" tab and add a couple images : "image3.png" and "image4.png". This method creates a "Resources" folder and creates a Resources.Designer.cs file and some methods for accessing the images.

However, I am not able to programmatically access the images this way - or at least I do not know the correct way to access the images.

interestingly,

int c  = Resources.Count;

returns a value of 0 - even though I would assume there are 2 resources.

Also the call to this.FindResource("image3") - causes an exception

All I am interested in are the ways to enumerate the resources in each method. Nothing I have tried has worked...

Answer 1

I did something similar to what you suggest in your first approach:

<Application.Resources>

     <Image Source="winter.jpg" Width="800" Height="600" x:Key="winter" />

...

Then in the c# code, to access it:

Image winter = Application.Current.FindResource("winter") as Image;

(you can use Application.Current.Resources to access the collection)

 

Answer 2

Ok, so I have figured out how to iterate through resources added using Method 2 (Project Resource Manager):

---

ResourceManager myResMgr = AssembliesAndResources.Properties.Resources.ResourceManager;

if (myResMgr != null)
{
   ResourceSet myResSet = myResMgr.GetResourceSet(Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture, true, false);

   if (myResSet != null)
   {
       IDictionaryEnumerator myEnum = myResSet.GetEnumerator();
       if (myEnum != null)
       {
           while (myEnum.MoveNext())
           {
               Console.WriteLine("key = {0}", myEnum.Key.ToString());
               Console.WriteLine("value type = {0}", myEnum.Value.GetType().ToString());

               // pngs = System.Drawing.Bitmap
           }
       }
   }
}

---

However, there is still the mystery of iterating through resources added using Method 1 (adding a folder to the project). Also, how would you refer to resources added using Method 2 in XAML?

The weird thing is that

<Window x:Class="AssembliesAndResources.Window1"
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
    Title="AssembliesAndResources" Height="300" Width="300"
    >
    <Grid>
       <Image Source="Resources/image3.png"/>
    </Grid>
</Window>

works in "Design" mode (i.e., the image shows up) - however when you run the app, no image shows up. The following (accessing Method 1 resources) - works in both Design mode and when the app is run:

<Window x:Class="AssembliesAndResources.Window1"
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
    Title="AssembliesAndResources" Height="300" Width="300"
    >
    <Grid>
       <Image Source="images/image1.png"/>
    </Grid>
</Window>

 

 

Answer 3

Did my previous post not answer how to iterate through resources using method 1?

Answer 4

I've no interest in resources other than baml resources, so several days ago, I write a simple collection which can hold up the baml resources defined by a specified assembly:

public class XamlResourceCollection : ObservableCollection<XamlResourceItem>

{

    public XamlResourceCollection(Assembly assembly)

    {

        foreach (String resourceName in assembly.GetManifestResourceNames())

        {

            if (resourceName.ToLower().EndsWith(".g.resources"))

            {

                using (Stream stream = assembly.GetManifestResourceStream(resourceName))

                {

                    using (ResourceReader reader = new ResourceReader(stream))

                    {

                        foreach (DictionaryEntry entry in reader)

                        {

                            if (entry.Key.ToString().ToLower().EndsWith(".baml"))

                            {

                                XamlResourceItem item = new XamlResourceItem(entry.Key.ToString(), assembly.GetName().Name);

                                this.Add(item);

                            }

                        }

                    }

                }

            }

        }

    }

}

public class XamlResourceItem

{

    private String resourceName;

    private Uri resourceUri;

    public XamlResourceItem(String resourceName, String containingAssemblyName)

    {

        this.resourceName = resourceName;

        this.resourceUri = new Uri("/" + containingAssemblyName + ";component/" + resourceName.ToLower().Replace(".baml", ".xaml"), UriKind.RelativeOrAbsolute);

    }

    public String ResourceName

    {

        get { return resourceName; }

    }

    public Uri ResourceUri

    {

        get { return resourceUri; }

    }

}

When you can grab the ResourceUri off the XamlResourceItem, you can use LoadComponent() method to instantiate it.

Sheva

Answer 5

Musclehead, I guess when I say "iterate" through resources, what I mean is that I am looking for a way to "enumerate" all of the resources - i.e., be able to access the resources in a list without not knowing what the actual resource names or "key" values are - and step through the list one-by-one. Your example was referencing a resource "explicitly" by its name.

 I guess for now I will just make sure that all the resources that I want to access this way are included as "embedded" resources in the .resx file and not simply in a folder added to the project.

Thanks

 

Answer 6

Maybe you missed the last line in my post?

(you can use Application.Current.Resources to access the collection)