Compiling image into executable

I've been using gtk and was wondering how images are put into executables so that it's self contained rather than referencing an image from a different location.
For example, how would this icon be compiled into an executable? Currently the code just references it from an image called Ban.jpg in the same directory the executable is in. Any help would be appreciated.

Code:

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GdkPixbuf *create_pixbuf(const gchar * filename)
{
  GdkPixbuf *pixbuf;
  GError *error = NULL;
  pixbuf = gdk_pixbuf_new_from_file(filename, &error);
  if(!pixbuf) {
      fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", error->message);
      g_error_free(error);
  }

  return pixbuf;
}

gtk_window_set_icon(GTK_WINDOW(window), create_pixbuf("Ban.jpg"));

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This totally depends on the file format of the executable. I don't think there's an easy way (without lots of hacking) to do it with ELF binaries, but the file format used in Mac OS X and Windows for executables allows you to embed resources that you can then use from the code.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by redruby147

I've been using gtk and was wondering how images are put into executables so that it's self contained rather than referencing an image from a different location.

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You can but it is not very advantageous for a few reasons:

1) it can drastically increase your executable size.
2) if you are going to use a compressed format, such as a jpeg, you will need to write some custom routines to both rip the jpeg data into your code, then to deal with it there.

Have a look at an .xpm file (just open it in a text editor -- xpm images are actually C code). This will give you some idea of what putting image data into your code will involve.

It is just not a worthwhile thing to do -- it is much more practical to load a file, unless for some reason you want to thoroughly hide the image from the world (which is pointless, it can be gotten with a screenshot).

Code:

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/* XPM */
static char *Toaster[] = {
/* columns rows colors chars-per-pixel */
"48 48 90 1",
"  c #020202",
". c #0C0C0C",
"X c #141414",
"o c #181916",
"O c #151518",
"+ c #1B1B1C",
"@ c #1F201E",

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ad nauseum