cRes class

A helper class that loads a binary resource from the compiled executable and converts it to bytes, a string, hex, Base64, or a picture.

Call Read to load a resource by ID and type; it returns the same cRes instance so further conversion calls can be chained immediately. The loaded bytes are held internally and can be retrieved in multiple formats without reloading the resource.

Dim res As New cRes
res.Read 101, "BINARY"
Debug.Print res.ReturnHex(" ")

Enum: Base64Prefix
Methods
Example
See Also

Enum: Base64Prefix

Controls the data-URI prefix prepended to the Base64 string returned by ReturnBase64. Pass a member to ReturnBase64 when the result will be used directly in an HTML src or CSS url() attribute.

Member	Data-URI prefix
Base64Prefix_None	(none — raw Base64 only)
Base64Prefix_ImagePNG	`data:image/png;base64,`
Base64Prefix_ImageJPEG	`data:image/jpeg;base64,`
Base64Prefix_ImageGIF	`data:image/gif;base64,`
Base64Prefix_ImageBMP	`data:image/bmp;base64,`
Base64Prefix_ImageICO	`data:image/x-icon;base64,`
Base64Prefix_ImageWebP	`data:image/webp;base64,`
Base64Prefix_VideoMP4	`data:video/mp4;base64,`
Base64Prefix_VideoWebM	`data:video/webm;base64,`
Base64Prefix_VideoOGG	`data:video/ogg;base64,`
Base64Prefix_AudioMP3	`data:audio/mpeg;base64,`
Base64Prefix_AudioWAV	`data:audio/wav;base64,`
Base64Prefix_AudioOGG	`data:audio/ogg;base64,`

Methods

Read

Loads resource bytes from the compiled executable.

Syntax: object.Read ( id, Type ) As cRes

id: required A Variant identifying the resource — typically a Long resource ID or a String resource name.
Type: required A Variant identifying the resource type — typically a String such as "BINARY", "RCDATA", or a numeric type constant matching the resource’s declared type.

Returns the same cRes instance, so calls can be chained:

Dim r As New cRes
Dim png As String
png = r.Read(101, "PNG").ReturnBase64(Base64Prefix_ImagePNG)

The bytes are loaded with the LoadResData function. If no resource in the compiled binary matches the ID and type, LoadResData raises a run-time error.

ReturnBytes

Returns the loaded resource as a raw byte array.

Syntax: object.ReturnBytes ( ) As Byte()

Returns a Byte array containing the raw bytes loaded by Read. The array is a copy — modifying it does not affect the internal buffer.

ReturnString

Converts the loaded bytes to a String.

Syntax: object.ReturnString ( [ Conversion ] ) As String

Conversion: optional A VbStrConv constant passed to StrConv together with the byte array. Default: vbUnicode, which reads the bytes as text in the default ANSI code page of the system and converts it to a String.

Pass vbFromUTF8 for a resource that holds UTF-8 text. vbFromUnicode converts in the opposite direction (a String to the ANSI code page) and does not suit a byte array. ReturnString has no option for UTF-16 LE text: assign the array from ReturnBytes to a String variable instead.

ReturnHex

Returns the loaded bytes as a hex string.

Syntax: object.ReturnHex ( [ Separator [, LineBreak ] ] ) As String

Separator: optional A String inserted between each byte’s two-character hex value — for example, " " for space-separated output or "-" for hyphen-separated. Default: "" (no separator).
LineBreak: optional A Long specifying the number of bytes per line. After every LineBreak bytes a vbCrLf is appended instead of Separator. Default: 0 (no line breaks).

Each byte is formatted as a two-character uppercase hex string (zero-padded). When both Separator and LineBreak are non-zero, the LineBreak threshold takes precedence at the end of each line.

' Print 16 bytes per line, space-separated.
Dim r As New cRes
Debug.Print r.Read(101, "BINARY").ReturnHex(" ", 16)

ReturnBase64

Returns the loaded bytes encoded as a Base64 string, with an optional data-URI prefix.

Syntax: object.ReturnBase64 ( [ Prefix ] ) As String

Prefix: optional A member of the Base64Prefix enumeration. Default: Base64Prefix_None (raw Base64 with no prefix).

Base64 encoding is performed via the MSXML2 DOM: an XML element is created, its DataType is set to "bin.base64", the byte array is assigned to nodeTypedValue, and the resulting text is read back. This requires MSXML2.DOMDocument to be available on the target machine. MSXML puts a line feed (vbLf) after every 72 characters of Base64, and ReturnBase64 does not remove them.

' Embed a PNG resource as a Base64 data-URI for an HTML img tag.
Dim r As New cRes
Dim src As String
src = r.Read(101, "PNG").ReturnBase64(Base64Prefix_ImagePNG)
' src is now: "data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgo..."

ReturnPicture

Converts the loaded bytes to an IPictureDisp object.

Syntax: object.ReturnPicture ( ) As IPictureDisp

Passes the internal byte array to Global.LoadPicture, the twinBASIC form of LoadPicture that accepts a byte array, and returns the resulting IPictureDisp. The resource must contain a valid image in a format that LoadPicture supports (for example BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, ICO, WMF, or EMF).

The returned IPictureDisp can be assigned directly to the Picture property of a PictureBox, Image, or Form:

Sub ShowLogo(ByVal Target As PictureBox)
    Dim r As New cRes
    Set Target.Picture = r.Read(101, "PNG").ReturnPicture()
End Sub

Example

This example loads a PNG resource by ID, displays it in a picture box, and also logs the Base64 representation to the immediate window.

Private Sub Form_Load()
    Dim res As New cRes

    ' Load resource ID 101 of custom type "PNG".
    res.Read 101, "PNG"

    ' Display in a PictureBox.
    Picture1.Picture = res.ReturnPicture()

    ' Log a data-URI suitable for an HTML img src attribute.
    Debug.Print res.ReturnBase64(Base64Prefix_ImagePNG)

    ' Log all the bytes as hex, space-separated, 16 bytes per line.
    Debug.Print res.ReturnHex(" ", 16)
End Sub