LoadFromFile() causes Windows 98 to freeze?

Okay I have narrowed down my problems. I know, I know, I am not the best coder. But here goes:

To change pictures in my game, I am using LoadFromFile().

ex:

Code:

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Image1->Picture->LoadFromFile("ExampleFolder/ExamplePicture.bmp");

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As you much smarter than I people (meaning everyone) can tell, this loads the bitmap file "ExamplePicture.bmp" into TImage1.

I have found that the reason my program freezes on Windows 98, is because of this way of loading bitmaps that I use.

For example, if I use that line of code to show 20 or 30 different pictures, one after the other, a Windows 98 or Windows ME computer will freeze. This exact same program on a Windows 2000 or Windows XP computer wil run just fine.

So:

1. Is there any known conflict between Windows 98/ME and Windows 2000/XP that might be arising from the LoadFromFile function?

2. If there is no "cure" for this, what different way of loading bitmaps could I use.

Thank you all for any help!

I would say that you're not freeing some resource or other as you move from one picture to the next.

If you load more pictures on 2K/XP, no doubt the same problem will appear.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Salem

I would say that you're not freeing some resource or other as you move from one picture to the next.

If you load more pictures on 2K/XP, no doubt the same problem will appear.

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I agree with that assessment.
However, what is this "LoadFromFile" function? It does not seem to exist in MSDN?

Can you observe the memory usage of your program as you load successive images and tell us if there is anything unexpected?

Other than that, you can try:

Code:

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m_hImage = LoadImage(GetModuleHandle(0), filename, IMAGE_BITMAP, 0, 0, LR_LOADFROMFILE);

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Thanks for the help guys.

The "LoadFromFile" function is found in the Borland Library. Yes I know this is probably a horrible way of doing things.

Thanks for the code iMalc. I will try that out to see if I can replace the old code and get it working on Windows 98.

Quote:

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I would say that you're not freeing some resource or other as you move from one picture to the next.

If you load more pictures on 2K/XP, no doubt the same problem will appear.

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It is possible that I am not freeing the resources properly, I will check on that. However, loading more pictures on 2K/XP does not cause the problem to appear. I'm guessing that this is due to 2K/XP handling resources MUCH better than 98/ME.

I will be trying this advice today. I will leave an update later on.

This is for my job hehe, so any additional help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to all!

ugh working all day on this and no solution.

What would be a good way to observe the memory usage as I load different files at a time?

iMalc, I'm a little confused on how to use that line of code you supplied.

Stick with what you know - if you're using Borland's vcl 'TPicture'/'TImage' object(s) then look for some sort of 'Release' or 'free' method to free the resources associated with it (it might be 'delete', I'm not sure as I've not used Borland Builder in a long time - check the documentation). If it has no explicit method to do that then its destructor is probably responsible; you then need to look at the way you have written your code to ensure that one picture/image object is used for one image only or, if it's used mutliple times, that you free image resources between uses.

If you're going to go down the winapi route then you're still going to have to use DeleteObject eventually on whatever gets returned from each LoadImage call.

Ken, thanks alot for your reply. I was thinking about this problem all day yesterday even though I was off of work, and you read my mind, only a little better.

I did an experiment and created a program that simply loaded images into the image holder, and found that when they loaded VERY slowly one after the other, the entire system crashes in Windows 98 and Windows ME. (Testing the program and Windows 2000 and Windows XP).

This has to be due to Windows 98/ME not handling resources correctly, which means that I have to make sure that the resources used for loading an image are freed after each load. Exactly what you said.

Thanks for the input, I will be working on this during the day today, (I also have other things to work on before the projects first release, my boss is wanting it sooner and sooner each day lol.)

I will keep updating my progress, even if it's only for my enjoyment hehe.

http://www.delphifaq.com/faq/f100.shtml

im getting closer! Even though that is delphi it still helped me get a little closer.

Now I am about to test a version using a fix which I think might work, wish me luck! (Even though I doubt anyone is reading this now).

Nope, haven't fixed it yet :(