Solved How can i pack several png files into a dll as icons?

Hi everyone,​

I've recently written a minimal file manager called cabinet using GTK3 and MSYS2, and I'm trying to figure out how to pack PNG icons into a DLL so that they can be accessed by my application at runtime. I would appreciate any guidance or examples on how to achieve this. Below are the details of my setup and what I've tried so far.

Current Setup​

• Operating System: Windows 11
• Development Environment: MSYS2
• Graphics Library: GTK3
• Programming Language: C/C++

Requirements​

1. Pack PNG Icons: I want to bundle several PNG icons into a single DLL file.
2. Load Icons at Runtime: The application should be able to load these icons during runtime.

What I Have Tried​

1. As a temporary solution, I placed the PNG files in the same directory as the executable. However, this isn't ideal for deployment.

I would appreciate if someone could guide me through the process of creating a DLL with embedded PNG icons. Specifically:

1. Creating the DLL:
   • What tools and commands should I use in MSYS2 to create a DLL?
   • How should I structure the project directory?
2. Embedding PNG Files:
   • What is the best way to embed PNG files into the DLL?
   • Are there specific tools or libraries I should use?
3. Loading Icons in GTK:
   • How can I access and load these icons from the DLL at runtime?
   • Are there specific GTK functions or techniques I should be aware of?

Using the windows api just will not wirk as SII_COPY or STD_COPY and so on is broken on windows 11 due to gui redesign and msys2 mi9ngw compiler.

Best regards,
bluedxca93

Got it working somehow: