Standard icons set in C with Win32 - c

Question

I am looking for the normal way (that is, the way Microsoft thought about when creating its API) to load standard icons for commands in a pure C program, like the floppy disc image for saving, etc.
The Internet doesn't seem to contain the answer. I know the toolbars of commctl32 can receive a TB_LOADIMAGES message that fills an image list with standard icons, but what if I don't need toolbars in my app? I want icons in another control, let's say on an owner-draw button, or a menu item. Is there a way to fill the image list without creating a useless toolbar? Or even better, getting HICON or HBITMAP handles to avoid the commctl32 dependency?
The loud silence about it in Microsoft's docs, and on the web, makes me think there is no such feature. Maybe when an application is developed with Microsoft tools, the application creator injects as resources in the executable files the default icons the developer chooses in a predefined list? I cannot check it because I only use Unix-like compilers, can somebody confirm that and/or tell me more about default icon usage under Windows?
Also, would it be reliable to assume we can load libraries like shell32.dll to use its embedded icons (like all the good old functions that are available since an eternity in kernel32.dll, `user32.dll, ...)? I mean, is there a guarantee that icons in libraries will keep their semantics and indexes in future versions of Windows?

Answer 1

Coming some days later to post the final solution I opted for, just in case somebody would need to use the same. The most normal way to show command icons is to embed them in the application, so despite being unhappy with the creation of a dummy control, I use a temporary toolbar to load the icons in global image lists. This would unlikely fail, but since icons may sometimes be the only thing that indicates to the user what a widget does, I reinforced the conditions with the ability to run a fallback code when something is wrong.
The function that loads the icons is named WIN32_initIcons(), because it is supposed to be implemented alongside with something like a GTK_initIcons() or X11_initIcons() counterpart for Unix-like platforms.
HIMAGELIST WIN32_imglst16 = NULL;
HIMAGELIST WIN32_imglst24 = NULL;
bool WIN32_initIcons(void) {
bool def16 = false;
bool def32 = false;
HWND hWnd;
WIN32_imglst16 = ImageList_Create(16, 16, ILC_COLOR32 | ILC_MASK, 80, 16);
WIN32_imglst32 = ImageList_Create(24, 24, ILC_COLOR32 | ILC_MASK, 80, 16);
if (hWnd = CreateWindowA("ToolbarWindow32", NULL, TBSTYLE_LIST, 0, 0, 0, 0, NULL, (HMENU)0, GetModuleHandle(NULL), NULL)) {
if (WIN32_imglst16) {
SendMessage(hWnd, TB_SETIMAGELIST, (WPARAM)0, (LPARAM)WIN32_imglst16);
if (!SendMessage(hWnd, TB_LOADIMAGES, (WPARAM)IDB_STD_SMALL_COLOR, (LPARAM)HINST_COMMCTRL)) def16 = true;
if (SendMessage(hWnd, TB_LOADIMAGES, (WPARAM)IDB_VIEW_SMALL_COLOR, (LPARAM)HINST_COMMCTRL) != 15) def16 = false;
if (SendMessage(hWnd, TB_LOADIMAGES, (WPARAM)IDB_HIST_SMALL_COLOR, (LPARAM)HINST_COMMCTRL) != 27) def16 = false;
if (ImageList_GetImageCount(WIN32_imglst16) != 32) def16 = false;
}
if (WIN32_imglst24) {
SendMessage(hWnd, TB_SETIMAGELIST, (WPARAM)0, (LPARAM)WIN32_imglst24);
if (!SendMessage(hWnd, TB_LOADIMAGES, (WPARAM)IDB_STD_SMALL_COLOR, (LPARAM)HINST_COMMCTRL)) def24 = true;
if (SendMessage(hWnd, TB_LOADIMAGES, (WPARAM)IDB_VIEW_SMALL_COLOR, (LPARAM)HINST_COMMCTRL) != 15) def24 = false;
if (SendMessage(hWnd, TB_LOADIMAGES, (WPARAM)IDB_HIST_SMALL_COLOR, (LPARAM)HINST_COMMCTRL) != 27) def24 = false;
if (ImageList_GetImageCount(WIN32_imglst24) != 32) def24 = false;
}
DestroyWindow(hWnd);
}
if (WIN32_imglst16 && !def16) {
// Load your custom 16x16 fallback icons in the list "WIN32_imglst16" here
// Don't forget to set "def16 = true" on success
}
if (WIN32_imglst24 && !def24) {
// Load your custom 24x24 fallback icons in the list "WIN32_imglst24" here
// Don't forget to set "def24 = true" on success
}
if (!def16) {
// Trigger your error management here because 16x16 icons cannot be loaded
// Maybe, call "ImageList_Destroy(WIN32_imglst16)" and set "WIN32_imglst16 = NULL"
}
if (!def24) {
// Trigger your error management here because 24x24 icons cannot be loaded
// Maybe, call "ImageList_Destroy(WIN32_imglst24)" and set "WIN32_imglst24 = NULL"
}
return (def16 && def24);
}
Note: In simple C, use <stdbool.h> to define the bool value.