Home » Eclipse Projects » Rich Client Platform (RCP) » How to Specify Launcher Icons for Product
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| Re: How to Specify Launcher Icons for Product [message #442461 is a reply to message #442423] |
Tue, 17 January 2006 15:09   |
 Daniel Krügler
Messages: 853
Registered: July 2009 |
Senior Member |
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Kenneth Evans wrote:
> When the Eclispe Product Export Wizard exports an RCP product (on Windows),
> it makes a .exe file. The icon associated with the .exe is an Eclipse icon
> (as displayed in Explorer, for example).
>
> On the Branding tab of the Product Configuration Editor, there are entries
> for customizing the launcher icons. I have tried both a .ico file and
> separate .bmp files. They don't appear to change the icon on the .exe.
>
> So the question is how do you change the icon, and what do the icons
> specified on the Branding tab do?
>
> Note that these are different from the Window Images, specified on the same
> tab. The images specified there appear in the upper left of the title bar
> and in other places (like with Alt-Tab to change windows).
For Windows you need a "combined" .ico file, which contains multiple
icons in different resolutions. Windows XP has one added further
resolution, read
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/e n-us/dnwxp/html/winxpicons.asp
to understand the problem. There exist not many free tools to create
such a combined .ico file, I used IconoMaker
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/iconomaker.html
to realize this task.
Greetings from Bremen,
Daniel Krügler
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| Re: How to Specify Launcher Icons for Product [message #442599 is a reply to message #442461] |
Tue, 17 January 2006 19:35 |
Kenneth Evans, Jr.
Messages: 77
Registered: July 2009 |
Member |
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Daniel,
Thanks for your reply. The Microsoft link to icon information was very
interesting.
However, that is not the problem. I know how to make .ico files, and
have been doing so for years. I usually use Visual Studio. The tab in the
product editor indicates you can use either .bmp files *or* a .ico file for
win32. I have tried both. Neither changes the icon next to the .exe file
in Explorer. Neither seems to override the "Window Images" I specified,
either. These latter do appear on the Title Bar and as a result of Alt-Tab,
for example, and replace the Eclipse icons you get if you don't do that.
(They are .gif images.) Nothing so far replaces the icon next to the .exe
file as seen in Explorer. Thus, if you make 10 RCP applications, they will
all have the same icon on the .exe file. Normally people distinguish
executables with individual icons.
In fact I have discovered this .exe file is really exactly the same
file as eclipse.exe, the same one that runs Eclipse. It just has the name
you specify in the branding. There is only one icon resource in that file,
the Eclipse one, so it is hard to see how it could be changed in any event.
So the question remains what is "Customizing the launcher icons" in the
Product Editor supposed to do. Do you do that in place of specifying "Window
Images"? The documentation in Help is very limited and doesn't say.
Thanks,
-Ken
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| Re: How to Specify Launcher Icons for Product [message #442617 is a reply to message #442599] |
Wed, 18 January 2006 08:40 |
Daniel Krügler
Messages: 853
Registered: July 2009 |
Senior Member |
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Kenneth Evans wrote:
> Daniel,
>
> Thanks for your reply. The Microsoft link to icon information was very
> interesting.
>
> However, that is not the problem. I know how to make .ico files, and
> have been doing so for years. I usually use Visual Studio. The tab in the
> product editor indicates you can use either .bmp files *or* a .ico file for
> win32. I have tried both. Neither changes the icon next to the .exe file
> in Explorer. Neither seems to override the "Window Images" I specified,
> either. These latter do appear on the Title Bar and as a result of Alt-Tab,
> for example, and replace the Eclipse icons you get if you don't do that.
> (They are .gif images.) Nothing so far replaces the icon next to the .exe
> file as seen in Explorer. Thus, if you make 10 RCP applications, they will
> all have the same icon on the .exe file. Normally people distinguish
> executables with individual icons.
>
> In fact I have discovered this .exe file is really exactly the same
> file as eclipse.exe, the same one that runs Eclipse. It just has the name
> you specify in the branding. There is only one icon resource in that file,
> the Eclipse one, so it is hard to see how it could be changed in any event.
>
> So the question remains what is "Customizing the launcher icons" in the
> Product Editor supposed to do. Do you do that in place of specifying "Window
> Images"? The documentation in Help is very limited and doesn't say.
Which Eclipse version are you using? To my opinion the Visual Studio
icon editor is not able to create the required layered .ico for Windows
XP, so I switched to IconoMaker. I can definitely affirm, that my
Eclipse 3.1.1 export does create a properly named executable which
contains the .ico file and does properly present that in any reasonable
file explorer (even Windows Explorer ;-)). I can't tell you anything
corresponding a .bmp file, I don't think that that should work. I assume
that these .bmp files are converted into .ico files but since you need
**nine** icons in one .ico for Win XP, these six entries in the product
editor cannot be sufficient.
You should also ensure, that your Eclipse export is set to your own
..product file and maybe you have to activate synchronization during
that process.
Hope that helps,
Daniel Krügler
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| Re: How to Specify Launcher Icons for Product [message #442734 is a reply to message #442617] |
Wed, 18 January 2006 23:56 |
Kenneth Evans, Jr.
Messages: 77
Registered: July 2009 |
Member |
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Daniel,
My .ico files do not have all the "levels" filled in. I have never had to do
that for any C program. I , in fact, used an existing one from a working C
program, to see what would happen. I will try to make some more levels when
I get a chance.
>> can't tell you anything corresponding a .bmp file, I don't think that
that should work
Well, if you look at the Product Editor, Branding Tab, there is "Customizing
launcher icons varies per platform" item. That is where I specified the
..ico file and the .bmp files for win32. There is a radio button to "Use a
single ICO file". I assume that switches between BMP and ICO. If you look
at the text version, you can see what the equivalent XML is. (I am using
3.1.1, the same as you are.) I also didn't specify all the possible BMP
values.
I am pretty sure it is synchronized. I've rebuilt, run, and exported it
several times.
Some documentation wouldn't hurt.
Thanks,
-Ken
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| Re: How to Specify Launcher Icons for Product [message #442742 is a reply to message #442734] |
Thu, 19 January 2006 07:53 |
Daniel Krügler
Messages: 853
Registered: July 2009 |
Senior Member |
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Kenneth Evans wrote:
> Daniel,
>
> My .ico files do not have all the "levels" filled in. I have never had to do
> that for any C program. I , in fact, used an existing one from a working C
> program, to see what would happen. I will try to make some more levels when
> I get a chance.
>
>
>>> can't tell you anything corresponding a .bmp file, I don't think that
>
> that should work
>
> Well, if you look at the Product Editor, Branding Tab, there is "Customizing
> launcher icons varies per platform" item. That is where I specified the
> .ico file and the .bmp files for win32. There is a radio button to "Use a
> single ICO file". I assume that switches between BMP and ICO. If you look
> at the text version, you can see what the equivalent XML is. (I am using
> 3.1.1, the same as you are.) I also didn't specify all the possible BMP
> values.
>
> I am pretty sure it is synchronized. I've rebuilt, run, and exported it
> several times.
>
> Some documentation wouldn't hurt.
That is true, as well as your statement, that in principle its not
necessary to provide all possible levels of the .ico file. But as far as
I remember these icon layers where needed at least for Eclipse 3.1 to
guarantee a successful Eclipse export process which ends with a
properly named executable with properly integrated ico file on XP ;-)
Please feel free to disprove this assertion. And yes: I have chosen the
mentioned settings in my Eclipse 3.1.1, which leads to
<launcher name="MyExeName">
<solaris/>
<win useIco="true">
<ico path="/myclient.ui/icons/MyIconName.ico"/>
<bmp/>
</win>
</launcher>
in the .product file (Btw.: I don't understand, why the product editor
does not have tab similar to the plugin editor which allows editing the
raw xml structure). Don't ask me why the line
<solaris/>
exists, the file works, if it is removed.
HTH,
Daniel
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| Re: How to Specify Launcher Icons for Product [message #442980 is a reply to message #442734] |
Sat, 21 January 2006 23:12 |
Kenneth Evans, Jr.
Messages: 77
Registered: July 2009 |
Member |
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OK, I [also] captured the Eclipse .ico in the exported .exe file with
IconJack32 (PC Magazine Utility) then opened it in Visual Studio. It has 7
images (16x16-256, 16x16-XP, 24x24-256, 32x32-256, 32x32-XP, 48x48-256, and
48x48-XP) for me. Visual Studio says the XP type is 32-bit and cannot be
edited in Visual Studio. (I did all this before reading Ian's message.)
I changed the ones I could and saved it with a new name,
Eclipse.rcp.new.ico. On export I did not see my changes in Explorer. I
also assumed the one it was using might not be one of the ones I changed, so
I captured it again and it is the original one, not the one I specified.
It looks to me as if Eclipse just copies the exported .exe file. (Mine are
all alike.) It would be a lot more work to rebuild it, as would be
necessary to change the icon. I am skeptical they do that. In any event
this whole thing is frustrating.
This is from the text version of the .product file:
<launcher name="JProbe SWT RCP">
<solaris/>
<win useIco="true">
<ico path="/JProbe SWT RCP/icons/Eclipse.rcp.new.ico"/>
<bmp
winSmallHigh="/JProbe SWT RCP/icons/xrays16-256.bmp"
winSmallLow="/JProbe SWT RCP/icons/xrays16-16.bmp"
winMediumHigh="/JProbe SWT RCP/icons/xrays32-256.bmp"
winMediumLow="/JProbe SWT RCP/icons/xrays32-16.bmp"
winLargeHigh="/JProbe SWT RCP/icons/xrays48-256.bmp"
winLargeLow="/JProbe SWT RCP/icons/xrays48-16.bmp"/>
</win>
</launcher>
As you can see, I also made the required .bmp files, and they did not work
either, (when useIco was false). Note that there are 6 (not 7) of them and
none is supposed to be 32-bit (or 24x24).
I also have the solaris markup though I do not have Eclipse installed on
Solaris, yet..
I have not tried IconoMaker, yet. There are only so many hours in the day.
I really don't expect it to work, in spite of Daniel's experience. I could
be doing something else wrong, but I don't see what. My .product file
excerpt is above, and I don't get any warnings.
Finally, I have been making icons for programs for years. I usually do
16x16 and 32x32 and feel this is adequate. Windows expands the 32x32 if it
needs 48x48 (I can't remember when it does). No one uses 16-bit color these
days. It should not be required to have all the images (we don't even know
how many are required), and the documentation needs to be improved, if not
the implementation. (But the price is right. ;-)
Thanks to all of you for all the info,
-Ken
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