Display Images using READ_IMAGE_FILE in 10g forms

Question

Hello all, i have a simple question that I'm trying to resolve really quick.
I've created a field on a form in 10g forms that is of IMAGE type. I've given it a name and has given it a FILE_TYPE of GIF.
I've put some code in a POST-QUERY trigger of a block that calls the READ_IMAGE_FILE command, where I enter the filename, file_type, and block.item name. When I leave the path off the image name, forms runtime acts like it cannot find it. I get an FRM message displayed at runtime that says it "Cannot read image file". However, if I put the full path (like something pointing to a hard-coded directory on my C drive where the image file resides), the image displays fine at runtime.
I added the images to my JAR file where I have other images stored so they get opened at runtime under the ORACLE_HOME/forms/java directory. I was thinking that when I gave the filename, runtime would know to pull it out of there. But obviously, that's not what is happening.
Has anyone got ideas on what I could do to get the READ_IMAGE_FILE to display the image without hard-coding a path in?
Any help is appreciated!
Regards,
Chris

Answer 1

Here are some things to check:
1) Alll the images in the JAR file should have the same extension
2) In formsweb.cfg, include the JAR file in the ARCHIVE parameter and set imageBase=codebase
3) In registry.dat, leave iconpath blank and set iconextension=gif
4) In your READ_IMAGE_FILE call, use URL as the file type and don't use the extension on the file name. So if the image in your JAR is my_picture.gif, it would be something like READ_IMAGE_FILE('my_picture','URL','myblock.my_image_item');
If it still doesn't work, enable the Java console and when it comes up, enter the number 5 in the console to enable the highest level of logging. Then have a look at the console to see if the JAR is getting downloaded and where it's attempting to read the image from.