Create ico/dll image file for windows (explorer) - windows

so i looked for official sources on this but couldn‘t find any.
I‘d like to create custom windows/explorer icons that change not just their size but sometimes whole look depending on usage (just like the standard windows/microsoft/explorer icons do). From what i have read gimp can create .ico files, but i guess they‘re just the same image in different resolutions?!
So the question is how to PROGRAMICALLY/by hand create an .ico (or .dll) image file (of the descriped ‚type‘)?
An official source on the structure of an .ico file would be a nice additon.
And please don’t recommend any software..

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Extract images from .swf viewer?

I'm wondering how it possible to extract images from .swf viewer?
Note that .swf file have not images itself.
For example I'm trying extract images from AVON catalogue from this link - http://avon.com.ua/PRSuite/eBrochure.page?index=1&cmpgnYrNr=201404&pageNo=0
Any ideas?
Best way is to put the .swf file in a decompiler for image extraction. Decompilers are smart enough to extract images for you and arrange them.
JPEXS Free Flash Decompiler is a more popular one
http://www.free-decompiler.com/flash/
You can extract other useful content from it as well.
Just download the .swf file from the website
A while back (like around 1999) I wrote a set of tools for Flash animations.
One of the tools is swf_dump which can be used to extract objects (i.e. write the objects in a form of script that sswf can nearly recompile...)
The tool also allows for extracting images that are inline (not downloaded dynamically by the flash animation, if so, anyway, you could as well download those images manually, you'd need the URL, though.)
The command line you can use is:
swf_dump -d my-animation.swf
Then your current folder will be littered with all the images that were found in the flash file. It extracts JPEGs and PNGs. The source can be compressed (SWF or CWF are supported.)
Now, you're on your own to compile that thing... The project is here and is in great need of updating (but Flash is kind of going out too...)
https://sourceforge.net/projects/sswf/

Where to Host a .cur image

.cur is an image extension for mouse Cursors
I have purchased a custom domain via Blogger.Unlike Wordpress,blogger does not have any directory of webfiles or something where things can be uploaded
I need to change the default cursor of my mouse in my website.Unfortunately,Google's Picassa or Imageshack/phobucket do not support .cur files.
I found some other image sites while googling,but all are old image hosting services which no longer exist.
I tried dropbox,google code,but they provide a link to download the .cur image and not actually give a url which i can link in my css.
Is there any way to host .cur Images.Please Help.Thanks.
Do you really need to keep this file in the cur format? Isn't converting it to, say, PNG an option?
I'm not even sure every browser/OS out there supports cur (though I've seen examples online with this format, so I might be mistaken). Converting to a more standard format might ensure better portability, besides saving you the hassle of looking for a host with such specific requirements.

Delphi - Want an automated way of maintaining the link between a "source" image file and images in my project

One thing I find Delphi doesn't manage well is the link between image "source" files and the image components in my project (D2006 here but I'm assuming it applies to all versions).
Say I have various static images in my project - backgrounds, toolbar button glyphs, various bits of eye candy, etc. I have a corresponding collection of PNG/BMP etc. files that I have sourced, scraped or created, and these have been loaded into the image components at design time.
One problem is that there seems to be no automated way of finding out three months later what source image file was used to load an image component. This becomes more of an issue when you need to edit one or more images.
So what I would really like, is some way of including the image source files in a build of a project. I.e. when I did a build, all of the image components would be reloaded from the sources first. At present, when I modify some of my images with PhotoShop or similar, I'm faced with a lengthy and error-prone process to reload the altered images into their respective image containers.
Is creating a resource with all of the images bound into it and adding code to load the image components at startup a viable way to go? Do others have this problem, and how do you manage it?
None of the standard components support what you are asking for. However, Thany's TPngImageList component does support the ability to associate a user-defined string with each image in the list.
Otherwise, to know which file belongs with which image, I would suggest using an .rc file to compile the external image files into the app's resources at compile-time, and then you can load the image resources into your components dynamically at run-time instead of at design-time. That way, you can manage the image files however you want. When you change a file, it will automatically be linked into the app on the next compile.
You might load the same images in runtime, and add these images in version control to ease maintenance. There are also command line tools for Lazarus (I guess you might find similar for Delphi too) which can put files into resources that you app can later use.
I load the images from ico files, populate a imagelist and then use it in my Virtual string tree for various nodes. Easy to change the ico files.
/Mikael

Previews of matlab figures in Windows explorer (utility to set an image as the thumbnail for another file)

Has anyone come up with a way to make thumbnail type previews for matlab figures in windows?
I'm getting tired of saving a .png along with the .fig file just so I know what was in it.
A useful helper for this would be a command line utility for windows that can be provided with an image file and told to use that as the basis for the preview for a given file.
I could write a helper function in matlab that saved the .fig, made a temporary image file, then pushed that into the thumbnail using the command line utility.
You can write a function in C++ that tells Windows how to generate thumbnails from your file.
This link explains about it. Check out the section about Thumbnail Image handler. This is the function that you will need to implement.
From what I managed to understand, the procedure is this:
Write a in-process COM server (DLL) that implements IThumbnailProvider interface
Put the DLL file somewhere on your computer.
Write an entry to the registry, by using the procedure described in this page.
That still leaves you with the problem of thumbnail extraction from .fig file. As far as I know, fig files are nothing but mat files. I am fairly sure that it is possible.
You will need a custom save function for all figures. It will print a thumbnail of the image (by using the print command), and save it inside the figure.
I know that it isn't much information, but it can help you to get started. You might as well ask someone who is highly proficient in COM technology for more help. Thus, I recommend adding a COM tag to the question.
Edit(1) - I've found a good tutorial on the subject:

How to use the existing Png-Shell-Thumbnail for my file types?

I am currently writing an application working with specially prepared image data. Another tool prepares the images (basically PNGs with additional data stored in the meta-data section). Now my tool works with these files, but not with all PNGs, so "we" decided to use a different file extension. So far, so good.
Now, because I am a lazy sack I implemented some file type registration to allow double-clicking on the file and opening it in my application (no problem at all).
And here is my Question:
It would be cool if the windows explorer could still show me the thumbnail previews for my files. Since they basically are still PNG files, it should be possible without writing my own shell extension (at least I believe so).
I quickly tried to copy all registry keys and values from HKCR.png to HKCR.mInDat (my file name ext) and it worked. However, I would prefere knowning what I am doing ;-)
Which of the registry settings are responsible for the thumbnail preview control and which can I use to get the preview for my file types?
I tried to google it, but I failed, since it seems I am unable to come up with the right buzz-words to find the info I need. Please, help me.
Thank you!
Yours,
3of4
Simple:
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.apng]
#="apng"
"Content Type"="image/png"
"PerceivedType"="image"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\apng\shellex\{BB2E617C-0920-11d1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}]
#="{3F30C968-480A-4C6C-862D-EFC0897BB84B}"

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