IconFactory

IconFactory is a utility for importing PNG images from a directory into a class developed by Peter Uhnak and maintained by Stéphane Ducasse.

Principle

Each file will be compiled into the class-side of the target class as <fileName>Icon selector in base64 format. (Icon suffix will not be duplicated.).

This enables you to distribute the images directly with your source code. Once imported, you can access the Form (Pharo's image representation) by sending the appropriate selector, e.g. MyIcons myCoolIcon. Only PNG files are currently supported.

Installation

Metacello new
    baseline: #IconFactory;
    repository: 'github://pharo-graphics/IconFactory/repository';
    load

Loading images into a class

If MyIcons class doesn't exist, it will be created in a category of the same name. This method will install all images not present in #MyIcons and remove all selectors representing images that are not longer present in the directory.

IconFactory
	syncDirectory: '/home/some/path/myIcons'
	intoClass: #MyIcons

Note that the paths below can also be given as file reference. For example, if you want to load all the png in your working directory.

IconFactory
	syncDirectory: FileSystem workingDirectory
	intoClass: #MyIcons

You can use a bit of GUI too.

d := UIManager default chooseDirectory.
IconFactory syncDirectory: d intoClass: #MyIcons

It effectively combines the following two options.

Add only images

Add all images from the directory into the class.

IconFactory
	loadDirectory: 'd:\some\path\myIcons'
	intoClass: #MyIcons

Remove old selectors

Remove all selectors (images) from the class that are not present in the directory.

IconFactory
	removeFromClass: #MyIcons
	notInDirectory: 'd:\some\path\myIcons'

Creating icon for a single file

There are private methods that you can use at your own risk. Adding manually images one by one suggests a flaw in a workflow (that was the case for me anyway); but feel free to open a issue with your use case.

Performance note

The data is stored as base64 in one <name>IconContents method and is converted to Form in <name>Icon. Because the conversion is slow, it is automatically cached by a Dictionary.

Depending on the size of the image (tested on 24x24) it can easily be 1000x times faster.

"Without dictionary"
[ BormEditorIcons personIcon ] bench. "'2,271 per second'"

"With dictionary"
[ BormEditorIcons personIcon ] bench. "'3,228,827 per second'"