How to get resource as byte array in c#?

Question

I added image to my c# project from Project settings -> Resources
How can i get this image at runtime?
I trying this:

public byte[] GetResource(string ResourceName)
{
    System.Reflection.Assembly asm = Assembly.GetEntryAssembly();

    // list all resources in assembly - for test
    string[] names = asm.GetManifestResourceNames(); //even here my TestImg.png is not presented

    System.IO.Stream stream = asm.GetManifestResourceStream(ResourceName); //this return null of course

    byte[] data = new byte[stream.Length];

    stream.Read(data, 0, (int)stream.Length);

    return data;
}

I call this function this way:

byte[] data = GetResource("TestImg.png");

But I see my image in Resources folder in project explorer.

Could anyone tell what's wrong there?

Solution 1

You need to set the file TestImg.png as an "Embedded Resource." The resource name would then be Resources/TestImg.png.

Solution 2

You can access the image with Properties.Resources.TestImg.

Solution 3

This works:

    var info = Application.GetResourceStream(uri);
    var memoryStream = new MemoryStream();
    info.Stream.CopyTo(memoryStream);
    return memoryStream.ToArray();

In additional, if you want to save the image to your drive:

    var b =
    new Bitmap(namespace.Properties.Resources.image_resouce_name);
    b.Save("FILE LOCATION");

Solution 4

You can edit the Resources.resx file and change:

  <data name="ResourceKey" type="System.Resources.ResXFileRef, System.Windows.Forms">
    <value>..\Resources\Image.jpg;System.Drawing.Bitmap, System.Drawing, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a</value>
  </data>

to (replace the type and assembly definition after the file name):

  <data name="ResourceKey" type="System.Resources.ResXFileRef, System.Windows.Forms">
    <value>..\Resources\Image.jpg;System.Byte[], mscorlib, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089</value>
  </data>

Now you can access the image as byte array using Properties.Resources.ResourceKey. I don't know if this can be done without manually editing the resource file.

View more solutions

Comments

[Kosmo零]

TestImg.png is not even presented in asm.GetManifestResourceNames(); What the difference then if changing name of resource I search for? And anyway, i tried, no luck

[Cole Tobin]

Anyways, can you tell us what asm.GetManifestResourceNames returns? That would help.

[Kosmo零]

wow, this is so easy and really works :O thank you. Too sad it not at runtime

[Kosmo零]

Where I can set TestImg.png as embedded resource? I don't see this in Project settings -> Resources

[Kosmo零]

What I want is to show this image in WebBrowser by using data protocol msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc848897(v=vs.85).aspx

[Kosmo零]

This is ok, but it at design time only... The web page may require any other name of image

[Dustin Kingen]

@Kosmos Right-click either the text file or the bitmap, and then select Properties. In the Properties dialog box, locate the Build Action property. By default, this property is set to Content. Click the property and change the Build Action property to Embedded Resource.

[Kosmo零]

Thank you, finally in can be seen in names. To sad, the name is kinda weird - VLab_1_new.Resources.TestImg.png

[Mike Rosoft]

Visual Studio by default causes the image resource to be returned as Bitmap rather than as a byte array. See my response.