How to Use GetStockIcon for WinForms in .NET 8

Scouring the features that WinForms got in .NET 8, I found one slipped in near the very bottom of the list under "miscellaneous improvements" called GetStockIcon. It's a new method for grabbing Windows stock icons (i.e. save, folder, etc) at runtime, to use in the UI.

When I've wanted to add system icons to buttons, toolbars, etc in the past, it usually meant extracting them from shell32.dll, imageres.dll.mun, the Visual Studio Image Library, etc, and then copying them into the project. Then I'd add them to an ImageList and hook that up to various UI elements. So I'm wondering.. does this new method give us an easier way to use system icons?

Usage

The way it's called is simple enough. We just pass a StockIconId enum value to tell it which icon to retrieve, and then do whatever we like with the icon:

Icon driveIcon = SystemIcons.GetStockIcon(StockIconId.DriveNet);

Once we have it, we could add it to an ImageList and then use that on a Button or other controls. We could also specify a size in the second parameter, like I did here with a PictureBox to display a larger icon that's still sharp:

// Populate image list with default size, which should be 32 px
imageList1.Images.Add("Conn", SystemIcons.GetStockIcon(StockIconId.DriveNet));
imageList1.Images.Add("Disconn", SystemIcons.GetStockIcon(StockIconId.DriveNetDisabled));

button1.ImageKey = "Conn";
pictureBox1.Image = SystemIcons.GetStockIcon(StockIconId.DriveNet, 128).ToBitmap();

Or we could loop through all of them, adding each to an ImageList, and then use that to create the world's busiest toolbar: 😏

foreach (StockIconId icon in Enum.GetValues(typeof(StockIconId)))
    imageList2.Images.Add(icon.ToString(), SystemIcons.GetStockIcon(icon, 64));

toolStrip1.Items.AddRange(imageList2.Images.Keys.Cast<string>().Select(x =>
    new ToolStripButton(imageList2.Images[x]) { ToolTipText = x }).ToArray());

Pros and Cons

The biggest limitation is only being able to call this at runtime. Of course, that's just the nature of this being a method call, but one of the best things about WinForms is its drag-and-drop designer and this definitely works against that. I'm not sure how much usage this will get if it means having a designer with blank toolbars, incomplete buttons, etc. Maybe I'm missing an obvious use case?

A nice feature, though, is that this method "returns icons that are themed for the running version of Windows". If we copy icons into the project, they are what they are, unchanged no matter what version of Windows someone happens to be running. But with this new call, when someone runs our app in a different version of Windows from the one we designed it in, they'll see the icons that are normal for their OS.

Learning More

If you want to learn more, check out the GetStockIcon docs, the StockIconId enum that lists all the available images, and the StockIconOptions enum that lets us set a few options like adding a link overlay to the image. Since a couple of the options involve resizing the icon, we're not allowed to specify a size and options, but that also means it's not possible to request a larger image that has a link overlay.. seems like an odd choice.

Lastly, since the StockIconId page doesn't include the actual images of the icons, here's a list so you can see what they look like, at least in Windows 11:

Name	Value	Description	Image
DocumentNoAssociation	0	Document (blank page), no associated program.
DocumentWithAssociation	1	Document with an associated program.
Application	2	Generic application with no custom icon.
Folder	3	Closed folder.
FolderOpen	4	Open folder.
Drive525	5	5.25" floppy disk drive.
Drive35	6	3.5" floppy disk drive.
DriveRemovable	7	Removable drive.
DriveFixed	8	Fixed drive.
DriveNet	9	Network drive.
DriveNetDisabled	10	Disabled network drive.
DriveCD	11	CD drive.
DriveRam	12	RAM disk drive.
World	13	Entire network.
Server	15	A computer on the network.
Printer	16	Printer.
MyNetwork	17	My network places.
Find	22	Find.
Help	23	Help.
Share	28	Overlay for shared items.
Link	29	Overlay for shortcuts to items.
SlowFile	30	Overlay for slow items.
Recycler	31	Empty recycle bin.
RecyclerFull	32	Full recycle bin.
MediaCDAudio	40	Audio CD media.
Lock	47	Security lock.
AutoList	49	AutoList.
PrinterNet	50	Network printer.
ServerShare	51	Server share.
PrinterFax	52	Fax printer.
PrinterFaxNet	53	Networked fax printer.
PrinterFile	54	Print to file.
Stack	55	Stack.
MediaSVCD	56	SVCD media.
StuffedFolder	57	Folder containing other items.
DriveUnknown	58	Unknown drive.
DriveDVD	59	DVD drive.
MediaDVD	60	DVD media.
MediaDVDRAM	61	DVD-RAM media.
MediaDVDRW	62	DVD-RW media.
MediaDVDR	63	DVD-R media.
MediaDVDROM	64	DVD-ROM media.
MediaCDAudioPlus	65	CD+ (Enhanced CD) media.
MediaCDRW	66	CD-RW media.
MediaCDR	67	CD-R media.
MediaCDBurn	68	Burning CD.
MediaBlankCD	69	Blank CD media.
MediaCDROM	70	CD-ROM media.
AudioFiles	71	Audio files.
ImageFiles	72	Image files.
VideoFiles	73	Video files.
MixedFiles	74	Mixed files.
FolderBack	75	Folder back.
FolderFront	76	Folder front.
Shield	77	Security shield. Use for UAC prompts only.
Warning	78	Warning.
Info	79	Informational.
Error	80	Error.
Key	81	Key / secure.
Software	82	Software.
Rename	83	Rename.
Delete	84	Delete.
MediaAudioDVD	85	Audio DVD media.
MediaMovieDVD	86	Movied DVD media.
MediaEnhancedCD	87	Enhanced CD media.
MediaEnhancedDVD	88	Enhanced DVD media.
MediaHDDVD	89	HD-DVD media.
MediaBluRay	90	BluRay media.
MediaVCD	91	VCD media.
MediaDVDPlusR	92	DVD+R media.
MediaDVDPlusRW	93	DVD+RW media.
DesktopPC	94	Desktop computer.
MobilePC	95	Mobile computer.
Users	96	Users.
MediaSmartMedia	97	Smart media.
MediaCompactFlash	98	Compact Flash.
DeviceCellPhone	99	Cell phone.
DeviceCamera	100	Camera.
DeviceVideoCamera	101	Video camera.
DeviceAudioPlayer	102	Audio player.
NetworkConnect	103	Connect to network.
Internet	104	Internet.
ZipFile	105	ZIP file.
Settings	106	Settings.
DriveHDDVD	132	HD-DVD drive.
DriveBD	133	BluRay drive.
MediaHDDVDROM	134	HD-DVD-ROM media.
MediaHDDVDR	135	HD-DVD-R media.
MediaHDDVDRAM	136	HD-DVD-RAM media.
MediaBDROM	137	BluRay-ROM media.
MediaBDR	138	BluRay-R media.
MediaBDRE	139	BluRay-RE media.
ClusteredDrive	140	Clustered disk.

If you found this content useful, and would like to learn more about a variety of C# features, check out my CSharpDotNetFeatures repo, where you'll find links to plenty more blog posts and practical examples!

GitHub - grantwinney/CSharpDotNetExamples: Discovering and learning about the various features of the C# programming language and .NET Framework.

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