C# - Resources – Binary Typed Resources

A Text-Based Typed Resources (.resx xml file) can be compiled into Binary Typed Resources with the following command:

 resgen [resource filename.resx]

 resgen BinaryResourcesForm.resx

The above command will produce a Binary Typed Resources file with extension .resources. The application can load and enumerate the Binary Typed Resources with ResourceReader object from the System.Resources namespace:

using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Resources;
using System.Collections;

namespace BinaryResourcesApplication {
 public class BinaryResourcesForm: Form {

  // Constructor
  public BinaryResourcesForm() {
   this.SuspendLayout();

   // Load the resources from the resource file 
   // BinaryResources.resources assuming this file 
   // located at the same folder as the application 
   // executable
   using (ResourceReader reader = 
      new ResourceReader(@"BinaryResources.resources")) {

    // Enumerate with a Dictionary object
    foreach (DictionaryEntry entry in reader) {
     string temp = string.Format("
      Name: {0}, // Resource Name (name attribute)
      Value: {1}, // Resoutce Value (value attribute)
      Type: {2}", // Resource Type (type attribute)
      entry.Key, 
      entry.Value,
      entry.Value.GetType());
     MessageBox.Show(temp);
    }
   }

   this.ResumeLayout(false);
  }

  public static void Main() {
   Application.Run(new BinaryResourcesForm());
  }
 }
}

The code above is similar to the Text-Based Typed Resources application, and there is no random access provided by the ResourceReader class. So the application has to loop through all the resources to find the matching entry. The Binary Typed Resources file (.resources file) can be embedded into the application assembly like other resources:

 csc [source file name.cs] /resource:[resource file name]

 csc BinaryResourcesApplication.cs /resource:BinaryResources.resources

The above code will embed the resources into the assembly as Nested Resources. Nested Resources are resources grouped into a named container:

Above example generated by running ildasm:

 ildasm BinaryResourcesApplication.exe

The example shows there are 2 resources embedded into the assembly:

…
.mresource public BinaryResources.resources
{
  // Offset: 0x00000000 Length: 0x00002683
}
.mresource public ufo.gif
{
  // Offset: 0x00002688 Length: 0x00000A01
}
…

The first entry, BinaryResoures.resources is a Named Container for the Binary Typed Resources. Following code shows how to retrieve the resources embedded into this Named Container:

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Resources;
using System.Collections;
using System.Reflection;

namespace BinaryResourcesApplication {
 public class BinaryResourcesForm: Form {

  private Assembly assembly;

  // Constructor
  public BinaryResourcesForm() {
   this.assembly = this.GetType().Assembly;
    
   this.SuspendLayout();
     
   // Load stream from the Named Container (binary resources)
   Stream  stream = 
      this.assembly.GetManifestResourceStream("BinaryResources.resources");
    
   // Pass the stream object to the ResourceReader Constructor
   using (ResourceReader reader = new ResourceReader(stream)) {
     
    // Enumerate the resources container with a Dictionary object 
    foreach (DictionaryEntry entry in reader) {
       
     // Matching entry for Form Caption
     if (entry.Key.ToString() == "FormCaption") {
      this.Text = (string) entry.Value;
     }
    }
   }
        
   // Close Stream object
   stream.Close();
     
   this.ResumeLayout(false);
  }

  public static void Main() {
   Application.Run(new BinaryResourcesForm());
  }
 }
}

C# - Resources – Text-Based Typed Resources

.Net supports two types of extended set of resources that includes Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) type information: Text and Binary.

ResX is a .Net specific XML format file for Text-Based Typed Resources. Following is a sample of this file:

<root>
  <xsd:schema id="root" xmlns=""
      xmlns:xsd=http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema
      xmlns:msdata="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xml-msdata">
    <xsd:element name="root" msdata:IsDataSet="true">
      <xsd:complexType>
        <xsd:choice maxOccurs="unbounded">
          <xsd:element name="data">
            <xsd:complexType>
              <xsd:sequence>
                <xsd:element name="value" type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0" msdata:Ordinal="1" />
                <xsd:element name="comment" type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0" msdata:Ordinal="2" />
              </xsd:sequence>
              <xsd:attribute name="name" type="xsd:string" />
              <xsd:attribute name="type" type="xsd:string" />
              <xsd:attribute name="mimetype" type="xsd:string" />
            </xsd:complexType>
          </xsd:element>
          <xsd:element name="resheader">
            <xsd:complexType>
              <xsd:sequence>
                <xsd:element name="value" type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0" msdata:Ordinal="1" />
              </xsd:sequence>
              <xsd:attribute name="name" type="xsd:string" use="required" />
            </xsd:complexType>
          </xsd:element>
        </xsd:choice>
      </xsd:complexType>
    </xsd:element>
  </xsd:schema>
  <resheader name="ResMimeType">
    <value>text/microsoft-resx</value>
  </resheader>
  <resheader name="Version">
    <value>1.0.0.0</value>
  </resheader>
  <resheader name="Reader">
    <value>System.Resources.ResXResourceReader, System.Windows.Forms, 
        Version=1.0.5000.0, Culture=neutral,
        PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089</value>
  </resheader>
  <resheader name="Writer">
    <value>System.Resources.ResXResourceWriter, System.Windows.Forms,
        Version=1.0.5000.0, Culture=neutral, 
        PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089</value>
  </resheader>
  <data name="FormCaption">
    <value>Sample Text-Based Resources</value>
  </data>
  <data name="ButtonCaption">
    <value>OK</value>
  </data> 
</root>

The above file can be created manually, but it’s advisable to create it by using Visual Studio, as .resx file is not meant to be read or edited by humans. To add a new .resx file in Visual Studio, select Add New Item from the project menu and choose the Assembly Resource File template. Visual Studio also provide an editor for .resx file.

Most of the codes shown above are schema information. Only the section shown below is for the resources data:

…
<data name="FormCaption">
  <value>Sample Text-Based Resources</value>
</data>
<data name="ButtonCaption">
  <value>OK</value>
</data>
…

Above codes added two entries for the Form Caption and the Button Caption, and both are string entries. If image is require to be added to the .resx resources, the Base64 data encoding will be required. Following is an example for adding an image to the resx file:

<data name="FormBackgroundImage" type="System.Drawing.Bitmap, System.Drawing,
    Version=1.0.5000.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a"
    mimetype="application/x-microsoft.net.object.bytearray.base64">
    <value>
        R0lGODlh5gBlAPYAAAAAAP////7r7P7r7f/q7f3n6/fr7f7o7fzo7fvg6Pvk7fzj7fjT4/nf6vng7fTl
        7ffg7fTZ6vfW7fTY7e/n7fjD7fTO7fHZ7fHN7e/B7e3T7em67enO7ebH7dmo5uCz7dmd7eLB7ePL7c6L
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        7f3u7fvt7fnt7QAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
        AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
        AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACwAAAAA5gBlAAAH/4BKgoOEhYaHiImK
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  </data>

Once the .resx file is created, the application can load it and enumerate it using the ResXResourceReader class from System.Resources namespace:

using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Resources;
using System.Collections;

namespace TextResourcesApplication {
 public class TextResourcesForm: Form {
  
  // Constructor
  public TextResourcesForm() {
   this.SuspendLayout();

   // Load the resources from the resource file TextResources.resx
   using (ResXResourceReader reader = new ResXResourceReader(@"TextResources.resx")) {
    // Enumerate with a Dictionary object
    foreach (DictionaryEntry entry in reader) {
     string temp = string.Format("
      Name: {0}, // Resource Name (name attribute)
      Value: {1}, // Resoutce Value (value attribute) 
      Type: {2}", // Resource Type (type attribute)
      entry.Key, 
      entry.Value, 
      entry.Value.GetType());
     MessageBox.Show(temp);
    }
   }

   this.ResumeLayout(false);
  }

  public static void Main() {
   Application.Run(new TextResourcesForm());
  }
 }
}

The above codes will loop through each entry in the resources file, and display the entry name, value and type with a message box. The ResXResourceReader class will parse the XML file (.resx file) and return a set of names, typed values, and the value types. The limitation of ResXResourceReader is unable to provides random access to the resources, so in order to access a particular entry, the system have to loop through all the resources and find the matching entry:

…
using (ResXResourceReader reader = new ResXResourceReader(@"TextResources.resx")) {
foreach (DictionaryEntry entry in reader) {
 // if entry is FormCaption, retrieve it's value and cast to string
  if (entry.Key.ToString() == "FormCaption") {
   this.Text = (string) entry.Value;
  }
  // if entry is FormBackgroundImage, retrieve it's value and cast to Bitmap
  if (entry.Key.ToString() == "FormBackgroundImage") {
   this.BackgroundImage = (Bitmap) entry.Value;
  }
 }
}
…

The type information for the resources is embedded along with the data itself, so retrieving the resources just requiring a simple cast to get the typed values of the data. Below is a sample form generated from above codes:

C# - Resources – Manifest Resources

Image can be loaded into the application from the file system, for example:

 // Load image from a file path
 Bitmap image = new Bitmap(@"c:\ufo.gif");

But the problem with this method is the application cannot guarantee the file it's looking for will be there. The reasons could be the user removed or moved the file to other location. If the image file the application expecting does not exists, it will cause the application not functioning properly.

The only safe way to make sure that the image, or any file, stays with code is to embed it and load it as a resource, a named piece of data embedded in the assembly itself.

Following command line shows how to embed a file into the assembly:

 csc [source file name.cs] /resource:[resource file name]

 csc ufo.cs /resource:UFOApplication.ufo.gif

The image file will embedded in the assembly’s set of manifest resources. The manifest of an assembly is composed of a set of metadata that’s part of the assembly. Part of that metadata is the name and data associated with each embedded resource.

Following codes shows how to retrieve resources from the assembly manifest:

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Reflection;

namespace UFOApplication {
 public class Form1: Form {

  private Assembly assembly;
  private Bitmap image;

  // Constructor
  public Form1() {

   // Get current object type's assembly.
   this.assembly = this.GetType().Assembly;

   // Load the image binary stream from the assembly manifest.
   // Stream stream = this.assembly.GetManifestResourceStream("UFOApplication.ufo.gif");
   Stream stream = this.assembly.GetManifestResourceStream(this.GetType(), "ufo.gif");

   // Construct the bitmap from stream.
   this.image = new Bitmap(stream);  

   this.Paint += new PaintEventHandler(Form1_Paint);
  }

  private void Form1_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e) {
   // Draw the bitmap on the form.
   e.Graphics.DrawImage(this.image, 0, 0); 
  }

  // The main entry point for the application.
  public static void Main() {
   Application.Run(new Form1());
  }
 }
}

Although manifest resources are useful, but there are some limitations. For example, manifest resources are embedded with no type information. So there will be no difference to the Bitmap class for ufo.gif, ufo.jpg, or ufo.xyz, which looking for data itself for the type like JPEG, PNG, GIF and etc.

The proper type of object will be needed to load the relevant type of each resource.

C# - Graphics – Double Buffering

The codes below is to load a gif image from the local path and draw it on the form, and the image will “animated” by moving 1 step down and right at certain interval. The image must exist in the same path as the application executable. This program has a timer component that executes the codes to increase the X and Y values (for the image), and refresh the screen by calling the form’s Invalidate method. Invalidate will trigger the form’s Paint Event to redraw the form’s client area. The Paint Event will draw the image on the form’s client area with the newly updated X and Y values (the horizontal point, X-axis, and the vertical point, Y-axis).

using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Drawing;

public class Form1: Form {
 private Timer timer1;
 private Image imgUFO;

 private int x = 0;
 private int y = 0;

 // Constructor
 public Form1() {
  this.SuspendLayout();

  // Load UFO bitmap from the same path as the running application.
  this.imgUFO = new Bitmap(@"ufo.gif");

  // Setting up the Timer control.
  this.timer1 = new Timer();
  this.timer1.Interval = 50;
  this.timer1.Enabled = true;
  this.timer1.Tick += new EventHandler(timer1_Tick);

  // Setting up Form control.
  this.Text = "UFO Program";
  this.BackColor = Color.White;
  this.Paint += new PaintEventHandler(Form1_Paint);

  this.ResumeLayout(false);
 }

 private void timer1_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e) {
  // Update image position
  newPositions();

  // Refresh screen
  Invalidate();
 }

 private void Form1_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e) {
  // Draw bitmap on the form.
  Graphics g = e.Graphics;
  g.DrawImage(this.imgUFO, this.x, this.y); 
 }

 private void newPositions() {
  // Move Right & Down for 1 step.
  this.x += 1;
  this.y += 1;
 }

 // The main entry point for the application.
 public static void Main() {
  Application.Run(new Form1());
 }
}

The program seems to work perfectly. But when notice carefully, the image draw on screen will look a bit flickering. The image flashes on and off most unpleasantly. This is due to the way that the screen is drawn. When the Paint Event redraws the form, the screen is drawn with white, and then the image is drawn separately. This process is very visible and looks terrible.

This problem can be solved by a technique known as double buffering. The idea is that the program doesn't draw on the frame the user can see. Instead, it draws on a buffer in memory. Then, when the picture is complete, it is copied into the visible screen. The copy process is very quick, and the flicker is removed.

The following codes create another bitmap area, draw onto that, and then copy the new bitmap into position:

using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Drawing;

public class Form1: Form {
 private Timer timer1;
 private Image imgUFO;

 private int x = 0;
 private int y = 0;

 // Constructor
 public Form1() {
  this.SuspendLayout();

  // Load UFO bitmap from the same path as the running application.
  this.imgUFO = new Bitmap(@"ufo.gif");

  // Setting up the Timer control.
  this.timer1 = new Timer();
  this.timer1.Interval = 50;
  this.timer1.Enabled = true;
  this.timer1.Tick += new EventHandler(timer1_Tick);

  // Setting up Form control.
  this.Text = "UFO Program";
  this.BackColor = Color.White;
  this.Paint += new PaintEventHandler(Form1_Paint);

  this.ResumeLayout(false);
 }

 private void timer1_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e) {
  // Update image position
  newPositions();

  // Refresh screen
  Invalidate();
 }

 // This is a very important method overriding for double buffering.
 // By overriding this method, it will disable the background painting.
 protected override void OnPaintBackground(PaintEventArgs e) {
 }

 private void Form1_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e) {
  // Temporary bitmap to hold the backbuffer image
  Bitmap backBuffer = new Bitmap(this.ClientSize.Width, this.ClientSize.Height);

  using (Graphics g = Graphics.FromImage(backBuffer)) {
   g.Clear(Color.White);
   g.DrawImage(this.imgUFO, this.x, this.y);
  }

  e.Graphics.DrawImage(backBuffer, 0, 0);
 }

 private void newPositions() {
  // Move Right & Down for 1 step.
  this.x += 1;
  this.y += 1;
 }

 // The main entry point for the application.
 public static void Main() {
  Application.Run(new Form1());
 }
}