How to: Define an Icon for a ToolBar Button

Article
04/23/2007

Note
The ToolStrip control replaces and adds functionality to the ToolBar control; however, the ToolBar control is retained for both backward compatibility and future use, if you choose.

ToolBar buttons are able to display icons within them for easy identification by users. This is achieved through adding images to the ImageList Component (Windows Forms) component and then associating the ImageList component with the ToolBar control.

In a procedure, instantiate an ImageList component and a ToolBar control.
In the same procedure, assign an image to the ImageList component.

In the same procedure, assign the ImageList control to the ToolBar control and assign the ImageIndex property of the individual toolbar buttons.

In the following code example, the path set for the location of the image is the My Documents folder. This is done, because you can assume that most computers running the Windows operating system will include this directory. This also allows users with minimal system access levels to safely run the application. The example below assumes a form with a PictureBox control already added.

Following the steps above, you should have written code similar to that displayed below.

Public Sub InitializeMyToolBar()
' Instantiate an ImageList component and a ToolBar control.
   Dim ToolBar1 as New ToolBar
   Dim ImageList1 as New ImageList
' Assign an image to the ImageList component.
' You should replace the bold image
' in the sample below with an icon of your own choosing.
   Dim myImage As System.Drawing.Image = _ 
      Image.FromFile Image.FromFile _
      (System.Environment.GetFolderPath _
      (System.Environment.SpecialFolder.Personal) _
      & "\Image.gif")
   ImageList1.Images.Add(myImage)
' Create a ToolBarButton.
   Dim ToolBarButton1 As New ToolBarButton()
' Add the ToolBarButton to the ToolBar.
   ToolBar1.Buttons.Add(toolBarButton1)
' Assign an ImageList to the ToolBar.
   ToolBar1.ImageList = ImageList1
' Assign the ImageIndex property of the ToolBarButton.
   ToolBarButton1.ImageIndex = 0
End Sub

public void InitializeMyToolBar()
{
   // Instantiate an ImageList component and a ToolBar control.
   ToolBar toolBar1 = new  ToolBar(); 
   ImageList imageList1 = new ImageList();
   // Assign an image to the ImageList component.
   // You should replace the bold image 
   // in the sample below with an icon of your own choosing.
   // Note the escape character used (@) when specifying the path.
   Image myImage = Image.FromFile
   (System.Environment.GetFolderPath
   (System.Environment.SpecialFolder.Personal)
   + @"\Image.gif");
   imageList1.Images.Add(myImage);
   // Create a ToolBarButton.
   ToolBarButton toolBarButton1 = new ToolBarButton();
   // Add the ToolBarButton to the ToolBar.
   toolBar1.Buttons.Add(toolBarButton1);
   // Assign an ImageList to the ToolBar.
   toolBar1.ImageList = imageList1;
   // Assign ImageIndex property of the ToolBarButton.
   toolBarButton1.ImageIndex = 0;
}

public:
   void InitializeMyToolBar()
   {
      // Instantiate an ImageList component and a ToolBar control.
      ToolBar ^ toolBar1 = gcnew  ToolBar(); 
      ImageList ^ imageList1 = gcnew ImageList();
      // Assign an image to the ImageList component.
      // You should replace the bold image 
      // in the sample below with an icon of your own choosing.
      Image ^ myImage = Image::FromFile(String::Concat
         (System::Environment::GetFolderPath
         (System::Environment::SpecialFolder::Personal),
         "\\Image.gif"));
      imageList1->Images->Add(myImage);
      // Create a ToolBarButton.
      ToolBarButton ^ toolBarButton1 = gcnew ToolBarButton();
      // Add the ToolBarButton to the ToolBar.
      toolBar1->Buttons->Add(toolBarButton1);
      // Assign an ImageList to the ToolBar.
      toolBar1->ImageList = imageList1;
      // Assign ImageIndex property of the ToolBarButton.
      toolBarButton1->ImageIndex = 0;
   }

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