compile with icon???

[Jörg Richter]

I want to add an icon to my source code, so that it is displayed in the exe file of my
16bit application. How can I do this?
Is it possible to place the icon in the source before compiling or is there a possibility to add this icon after compiling?
Any software that do this?
Is this possible with 16bit application(windows 3.1 compatibel)?
Any help would be great.
Thanks

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[Clay Clear]

To my knowledge, it is not possible to embed an icon in a
16-bit *DOS* program. I think it is possible with a 16-bit
*Windows* program.


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mailto:[email protected][email protected]</A>

[Lance Edmonds]

Correct -- DOS does not support linked resource files, whereas Windows does, so there is no reason for Windows to show anything other than the standard DOS-executable icon for the DOS application.

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Lance
PowerBASIC Support
mailto:[email protected][email protected]</A>

[Lubos Svoboda]

I think that is possible placed myprog.ico and myprog.pif into
myprog.exe in "crypto form". Myprog.exe
then creates both files in same directory after first run. I did
some experiments of this type. Similar efect can be obtained
with help an instalation program.

Lubos

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[Mike Luther]

Lance ..

I wonder if this is not an option?

Correct -- DOS does not support linked resource files, whereas Windows does, so there is no reason for Windows to show
anything other than the standard DOS-executable icon for the DOS application.

WordStar 7 and SuperCalc 5.21 both are straight DOS programs and were
distributed with the Icon's for them, even though they are just DOS
appliations. Whenever you use OS/2 and ask for the Desktop to search
for new programs and add them to the Desktop, if there is an .ICO file
of the same name as the executable, in this case WS.ICO and SC5.ICO,
OS/2 cheerfully knows how to pick up that Icon and use it. That as
well as understand the embedded Icon operation.

I have no experience at all with WIN-upwards. Thus do not know if a
parallel distribution of the .ICO file would be of help here. But it
was a technique in the 16 bit world which does work with OS/2. Thus
if a more upwardly mobile WIN operating system knows how to handle
WIN 3.1 suites, one would think that the early incantation of all
this would still be in it's bag of tricklettes?




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Mike Luther
[email protected]

[keith shelton]

But those icons were not part of the main exe file. They were unpacked
during the installation.
Keith Shelton

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[Mike Luther]

How does the user get the application, Keith?

I uderstand this doesn't address the issue of 'distribution' of an
executable with a built-in Icon. We have these in OS/2 native operations
as well. All I was trying to do is point out that package distribution can
be made with an Icon which works well. The user, in the OS/2 scenario,
never knows whether the it is a 16 bit application with a separate
packaged Icon, or a 'better' more modern version with it embedded. The
operating system is smart enough to know what to do with the issue from
the get-go and the user has the same look and feel no matter what the
method was to get it there!

I said I have no experience at all with whether WIN can do this as well.


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Mike Luther
[email protected]

[keith shelton]

Hi Mike, in windows you have to create a pif file for the 16-bit program. This specifies where
the icon file is. If you are using pure dos you will not have a graphical shell to display
any icons. Which brings us back to what Lance said.

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[Mike Luther]

Thanks Keith. So much to learn. So little time.. ;(


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Mike Luther
[email protected]

[Amos Vryhof]

The Portable Executable file format supports containing the DOS
and Windows version of a program, which also means you could
add an Icon into the executable.... but PowerBASIC does not
produce such creatures, so your out of luck there.

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Amos
mailto:[email protected][email protected]</A>

[Lance Edmonds]

Amos, off hand, do you know of any <U>DOS</U> compilers that produce such EXE files, and that Windows Explorer can/does display the icon for such an app? (curious minds enquire...!)

Thanks!


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Lance
PowerBASIC Support
mailto:[email protected][email protected]</A>

[Criss French]

Sorry, but it looks like the PE format won't work under DOS
From http://www.windowsitlibrary.com/Content/356/11/toc.html :

If you look at the hex dump of a PE file, the first 2 bytes: might look familiar. Aren’t they M and Z? Yes, a PE file starts with the DOS executable header. It is followed by a small program that prints an error message saying that the program cannot be run in DOS mode. It’s the same idea that was used in 16-bit Windows executables. This program code is executed, if the PE image is run under DOS.

I had my hopes up too.


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What can go wrong will go wrong.
Anything can go wrong.
What hasn't?!?!

[Joep van Steen]

Hello,

Anyone of you ever looked at SpinRite ... In Windows you get
this very cool looking icon. But Spinrite is a DOS program. So,
if you run it, it will throw up a nice looking splash-screen and
tell it'll goto DOS.

Now, if you run this exact same exe in DOS, it just runs
Spinrite!

So, one 'exe' that does different things depending upon the OS ..

It is ONE exe, that can be run from DOS AND Windows, it really
looks very cool ... so, there must be way to do this ...

Another detail, if you right click the spirite.exe in Windows,
it does not list the typical properties you get for an DOS exe,
instead it looks like a pure Windows program.

regards,
Joep

------------------
Joep

http://www.diydatarecovery.nl

[Joep van Steen]

Hahaaah, found something that may do the trick ...

http://www8.pair.com/dmurdoch/programs/#glue

It is called Glue and does something with the STUB whatever it is

Normally this STUB throws up the message "this program cannot be
run in DOS bla, bla" Glue replaces this and points to your DOS
program instead.

I am gonna try it.

Joep

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Joep

http://www.diydatarecovery.nl

[Mike Luther]

Yep ..

It is called Glue and does something with the STUB whatever it is

Normally this STUB throws up the message "this program cannot be
run in DOS bla, bla" Glue replaces this and points to your DOS
program instead.

And what I want is a switcher that will determine that the operating
system is DOS - WIN(whatever) - LINUX - or grin OS/2 .. and switch to
the appropriate bundled executable all distributed as one even if
gigantic distro. Not that different file systems etc., might get in the
way, but surely there is a way to play this game...

That way we really could start an iconoclastic movement

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Mike Luther
[email protected]

[Joep van Steen]

Yep,

Works! The version of Glue on the website is an older version and
works with win3.x stuff only. I contacted the author as the website
states that Glue 2.0 will combine DOS and Windows 32 exes and will
be received upon registration of Glue 1.0 ...

Since the author no longer supports the program he sent me a copy
of Glue 2.0. If you want I can sent it. Contact me at
[email protected]

I tested and it works ... combined a DOS exe with a Windows one,
and if I run DOS it executes the DOS program, If I run the same
exe in Windows it starts the Windows program.

Of course you can write a Windows program that will display just
a splash screen stating "Sorry, this program requires DOS..." and
combine that with your DOS exe. You could even gracefully exit,
reboot and run DOS (On Win9x systems).

And, to get back the original post, it has an icon now ....

Kind regards,
Joep



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Joep

http://www.diydatarecovery.nl

[Joep van Steen]

Hmm ... Update:

I have now discovered I can not get it wo work on XP ...

I have a DOS exe and a Windows one glued together now. If I right
click the new executable I can get properties like version,
copyright info etc. It also has an icon.

In other words, so far it behaves like a Win32 application. If I
start it though I get the message that this is not a valid Win32
application.

I can run the same exe from 98 and ME though.

I even was able to pack both the DOS and the windows executables
with UPX! (No if I do NOT pack I still can't run from XP ...)

Kind regards,

------------------
Joep

http://www.diydatarecovery.nl

[Amos Vryhof]

Wow.... haven't been here in awhile... The answer to your
question Lance, is in the original post.

The Out of luck part would imply that I do not know of such a
thing.

On Seal (sealsystem.sourceforge.net) we appended the icons to
the end of some files as an extended resource, but we also used
a custom (DLX based) executable format to execute calling Seal
API functions. This was done with DJGPP and Grabber.

As far as the "Glued" executables, and XP I would imagine it
could be solved by changing the compatibility level settings
for your program. It's possible that malforming executables in
such a way would skew the checksum causing XP to think it's a
corrupted file.

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Amos
mailto:[email protected][email protected]</A>