How to Create a Custom Program Icon for a Console Mode Application

by Curtis Krauskopf

Q:  How can I specify a custom program icon in a console-mode application? The default C++ Builder icon is always used whenever I build a console-mode application. The "Load Icon" button on the Application tab in the project options panel is grayed out so I can't set it there.

A:  To change the icon for a console-mode application, load its resource file into the image editor, make the changes and then save the new resource file. The new icon will be incorporated into the executable after the resource file has been re-added to the project or the Borland C++ Builder IDE has been restarted.

Here are some step-by-step instructions:

The Console-Mode Application

Let's say your console-mode application is called ConsoleApp and it's located in c:\cpp\ConsoleApp, like this

:

By default, the resource file is located in the same directory as your console-mode application. In the above example, the resource file we need to open is called c:\cpp\ConsoleApp\ConsoleApp.res.

Launch the Image Editor

Find the Image Editor in the Borland C++ Builder 6 program menu:

Open the Console-Mode Application Resource File

In the Image Editor, select File and Open and then navigate to the .res file for your console-mode application. In the below example, the project is named ConsoleApp and so the resource file name is ConsoleApp.res.

Open the Icon

In a default console-mode application resource file, the icon embedded in the resource file is called MAINICON. To open the MAINICON icon, expand the Icon tree branch and double-click on MAINICON.

That will open the icon editing window in the Image Editor. The icon editing window has two parts: a pixel editor in the left panel and a full-size icon in the right-hand panel. The icon itself is a 32x32 bit, 16 color icon.

When you're done modifying the icon and customizing it, you'll notice on the File menu that the Save and Save As menu choices are greyed-out. In order to save the icon, you need to click on the ConsoleApp.res resource window (the one with the Contents | Icon | MAINICON tree). Then you'll be able to Save the icon (and the resource file).

Seeing Your Icon

If you go back to C++ Builder and then make and execute your application, you'll be disappointed to see the old icon. Even if you force the application to build, you'll still see the old icon! The reason for this is because the linker apparently caches the .res file. In order for C++ Builder to recognize the new .res file, you need to remove it from the project and then add it back again. Then you will be able to build or make a console-mode application with your custom icon.

Creating 16-Bit Icons

Many parts of Windows use 16x16 bit icons (called a 16-bit icon) to display application icons and other parts of Windows use 32x32 bit (called 32-bit) icons. If the only icon available is a 32-bit icon, Windows will try to use it when a 16-bit icon is required. Sometimes the 32-bit icon doesn't render very well when it's being used in a 16-bit icon situation. Likewise, if the resource file only defines a 16-bit icon, it can have a 'jagged' look when it's rendered as a 32-bit icon.

On the Icon Editing Window In the Image Editor, click on the New button to add a 16-bit icon to the 32-bit icon. The Icon Properties window will appear.

Choose the 16x16 (small icon) size and then click OK. A new, empty 16-bit icon is displayed in the Icon Editing Window.

You can easily switch back and forth between the 16-bit icon and the 32-bit icon by clicking on the combo box in the Icon Editing Window.

Installation of the resource file (.res) with the 16-bit custom icon is the same as when installing the resource file with the customized 32-bit icon:

1. save the resource file
2. remove the resource file from the project
3. add it back into the project
4. make the application

Conclusion

Custom icons help to differentiate your console-mode applications at runtime and when they are picked from Windows Explorer. Creating a custom icon is easy. When you’re ready to distribute your executable, the Borland C++ compiler incorporates the icon resource into the executable so you don’t need to provide any other files.

This article was written by Curtis Krauskopf (email at ).

Curtis Krauskopf is a software engineer and the president of The Database Managers (www.decompile.com). He has been writing code professionally for over 25 years. His prior projects include multiple web e-commerce applications, decompilers for the DataFlex language, aircraft simulators, an automated Y2K conversion program for over 3,000,000 compiled DataFlex programs, and inventory control projects. Curtis has spoken at many domestic and international DataFlex developer conferences and has been published in FlexLines Online, JavaPro Magazine, C/C++ Users Journal and C++ Builder Developer's Journal.

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