Q:
Is there another approach to convert an image to IPictureDisp than using the deprecated namespace method "Microsoft.VisualBasic.Compatibility.VB6.Support.IconToIPicture"?
A:
The following utility class lets you get rid of that namespace functionality
It’s pretty straightforward to use, juts call the static method “PictureDispConverter.ToIPictureDisp”, however even if the return type is the same, IPictureDisp, an image for a button needs to be created from an Icon resource and an image for a browser node, from a Bitmap resource.
Here is VB.Net code for that utility:
Public NotInheritable Class PictureDispConverter
<DllImport("OleAut32.dll",
EntryPoint:="OleCreatePictureIndirect",
ExactSpelling:=True, PreserveSig:=False)>
Private Shared Function OleCreatePictureIndirect(
ByVal picdesc As Object,
ByRef iid As Guid,
ByVal fOwn As Boolean) As stdole.IPictureDisp
End Function
Shared iPictureDispGuid As Guid = GetType(stdole.IPictureDisp).GUID
Private NotInheritable Class PICTDESC
Private Sub New()
End Sub
'Picture Types
Public Const PICTYPE_UNINITIALIZED As Short = -1
Public Const PICTYPE_NONE As Short = 0
Public Const PICTYPE_BITMAP As Short = 1
Public Const PICTYPE_METAFILE As Short = 2
Public Const PICTYPE_ICON As Short = 3
Public Const PICTYPE_ENHMETAFILE As Short = 4
Public Class Icon
Friend cbSizeOfStruct As Integer =
Marshal.SizeOf(GetType(PICTDESC.Icon))
Friend picType As Integer = PICTDESC.PICTYPE_ICON
Friend hicon As IntPtr = IntPtr.Zero
Friend unused1 As Integer
Friend unused2 As Integer
Friend Sub New(ByVal icon As System.Drawing.Icon)
Me.hicon = icon.ToBitmap().GetHicon()
End Sub
End Class
Public Class Bitmap
Friend cbSizeOfStruct As Integer =
Marshal.SizeOf(GetType(PICTDESC.Bitmap))
Friend picType As Integer = PICTDESC.PICTYPE_BITMAP
Friend hbitmap As IntPtr = IntPtr.Zero
Friend hpal As IntPtr = IntPtr.Zero
Friend unused As Integer
Friend Sub New(ByVal bitmap As System.Drawing.Bitmap)
Me.hbitmap = bitmap.GetHbitmap()
End Sub
End Class
End Class
Public Shared Function ToIPictureDisp(
ByVal icon As System.Drawing.Icon) As stdole.IPictureDisp
Dim pictIcon As New PICTDESC.Icon(icon)
Return OleCreatePictureIndirect(pictIcon, iPictureDispGuid, True)
End Function
Public Shared Function ToIPictureDisp(
ByVal bmp As System.Drawing.Bitmap) As stdole.IPictureDisp
Dim pictBmp As New PICTDESC.Bitmap(bmp)
Return OleCreatePictureIndirect(pictBmp, iPictureDispGuid, True)
End Function
End Class
You may also want to check this post from Mod The Machine blog, where my colleague Wayne took time to produce a full sample demonstrating how to use that in an Inventor add-in.
And here is the C# version:
public sealed class PictureDispConverter
{
[DllImport("OleAut32.dll",
EntryPoint = "OleCreatePictureIndirect",
ExactSpelling = true,
PreserveSig = false)]
private static extern stdole.IPictureDisp
OleCreatePictureIndirect(
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.AsAny)] object picdesc,
ref Guid iid,
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)] bool fOwn);
static Guid iPictureDispGuid = typeof(stdole.IPictureDisp).GUID;
private static class PICTDESC
{
//Picture Types
public const short PICTYPE_UNINITIALIZED = -1;
public const short PICTYPE_NONE = 0;
public const short PICTYPE_BITMAP = 1;
public const short PICTYPE_METAFILE = 2;
public const short PICTYPE_ICON = 3;
public const short PICTYPE_ENHMETAFILE = 4;
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public class Icon
{
internal int cbSizeOfStruct =
Marshal.SizeOf(typeof(PICTDESC.Icon));
internal int picType = PICTDESC.PICTYPE_ICON;
internal IntPtr hicon = IntPtr.Zero;
internal int unused1;
internal int unused2;
internal Icon(System.Drawing.Icon icon)
{
this.hicon = icon.ToBitmap().GetHicon();
}
}
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public class Bitmap
{
internal int cbSizeOfStruct =
Marshal.SizeOf(typeof(PICTDESC.Bitmap));
internal int picType = PICTDESC.PICTYPE_BITMAP;
internal IntPtr hbitmap = IntPtr.Zero;
internal IntPtr hpal = IntPtr.Zero;
internal int unused;
internal Bitmap(System.Drawing.Bitmap bitmap)
{
this.hbitmap = bitmap.GetHbitmap();
}
}
}
public static stdole.IPictureDisp ToIPictureDisp(
System.Drawing.Icon icon)
{
PICTDESC.Icon pictIcon = new PICTDESC.Icon(icon);
return OleCreatePictureIndirect(
pictIcon, ref iPictureDispGuid, true);
}
public static stdole.IPictureDisp ToIPictureDisp(
System.Drawing.Bitmap bmp)
{
PICTDESC.Bitmap pictBmp = new PICTDESC.Bitmap(bmp);
return OleCreatePictureIndirect(pictBmp, ref iPictureDispGuid, true);
}
}
