Why does ESTK get hung up when setting ListItem.image to a string?

Question

The following code seems to hang up ESTK whether the target is ESTK or InDesign.
try{
var warning_icon = "\x89PNG\r\n\x1A\n\x00\x00\x00\rIHDR\x00\x00\x00\x10\x00\x00\x00\x10\x08\x06\x00\x00\x00\x1F\xF3\xFF\x61\x00\x00\x00\x19\x74\x45\x58\x74\x53\x6F\x66\x74\x77\x61\x72\x65\x00\x41\x64\x6F\x62\x65\x20\x49\x6D\x61\x67\x65\x52\x65\x61\x64\x79\x71\xC9\x65\x3C\x00\x00\x01\x86\x49\x44\x41\x54\x78\xDA\xA4\x52\xBB\x4A\x03\x51\x10\x9D\x48\xC8\x03\x05\x05\x5D\x88\xA8\x85\x8F\x8D\x11\xAC\x4C\x3A\x41\x4C\x95\x0F\x90\x68\xE1\x0F\x58\x58\x5A\xD9\xEC\xDA\xF8\x19\xDA\x18\x11\x82\x1F\x90\x42\xB4\x09\x56\x06\x4B\x41\x62\xAB\x12\xC1\x22\x45\xDE\x59\xE7\x4C\xF6\xDE\xE4\xAE\x16\x42\x06\xCE\xEE\x99\x33\x67\x66\x6F\x32\x77\xC2\xF3\x3C\x1A\x07\x61\xE2\x78\x2B\x86\xE8\x8F\xD8\x65\xDC\xFB\x3C\xCB\x78\x08\x1A\x56\xF2\x1E\xC9\x94\xD7\x1B\xBC\xAB\x06\x58\xE3\x52\x55\xE0\xF3\x60\x5D\x7A\x27\x30\xA9\xDB\xE5\x47\xAF\xAE\xF1\x52\x58\x75\x67\x52\x47\x3A\x07\x87\x36\xEA\x91\x1E\x0E\x19\xD0\xEB\x61\xCA\xB7\x06\xE7\xCE\x5C\xEA\x40\xE7\xE0\xD0\x02\x9E\xE1\x80\x4E\x07\x8F\x2F\xC1\xF3\x55\xD6\x9D\x5D\xDF\x17\x5E\x74\xB2\x94\xD9\x3E\x11\x0E\x0D\x35\xE5\x93\x1E\x35\x40\x8E\xD3\xF9\x14\x30\x77\x12\xC9\x9D\x41\xAE\x82\x39\x34\xD4\x46\x7C\x81\x13\xB4\xDF\xE9\xB1\x70\xEC\x4A\x33\x73\x81\x0A\x3F\x47\x0D\x1E\x70\xE3\x04\x83\x9F\x20\xA2\xB3\x68\xAF\x09\x07\xAC\x85\x79\x4A\x6F\x4E\xE9\x1C\x35\x78\x7C\xAF\x39\xE0\xEE\xFA\xC2\x5D\xB2\xED\xE1\xD7\x19\x56\x62\x92\xD2\x1B\x9E\xA1\xC1\x03\xAF\x1A\x10\xC2\x2E\x4B\xE7\x72\x91\xBC\xDC\xDE\x16\xFD\x27\x4A\xB7\x15\xE9\xCD\x9D\x7A\xFA\x04\xEE\xB2\x3D\xAD\x37\xA1\x50\xBC\xAC\x50\xE6\x30\xF4\x4B\x87\x17\x3D\xA3\xF7\xC0\x49\xDA\x7D\xE3\x2E\x08\x54\x04\x74\x78\xE5\x5E\x70\x84\xD5\x1A\x6B\x1F\x75\xB2\x2C\xF3\xA8\xF9\x3C\xF0\xC4\x5F\x30\xF5\x5A\x8D\xF4\x1A\x65\x40\xBF\x4F\x67\xE5\x32\x39\xB1\x18\x11\x10\x8F\x13\x45\xA3\x44\x91\x88\xBF\xC5\x36\x51\xAB\x45\xD4\x68\x10\x35\x9B\x03\xA0\x47\xFF\x89\xE3\xC4\x8F\x00\x03\x00\x96\x57\x59\x74\xF3\xF4\xB0\x1A\x00\x00\x00\x00\IEND\xAEB`\x82";
var w = new Window('palette');
var l = w.add('listbox');
l.minimumSize = w.minimumSize = [200,-1];
var item = l.add('item', 'test');
item.image = warning_icon;
w.show();
}catch(e){$.writeln(e);}
I'm basing this on the fabulously helpful work by Marc Autret: Re: get swatches in dropdown list with color preview...
The code runs and the dialog shows up with the working icon, but ESTK gets stuck afterwards. I can't edit the code and do anything useful without restarting ESTK.

Answer 1

Hi Peter & Justin,
I general if the target is ESTK and not ID the png strings will cause problems like hanging or not being able to use keyboard shortcuts.
ID has no problems with the strings, although it could be quicker to define the variable as warningIcon = ScriptUI.newImage("\u0089PNG..........")  Ai has some issues so for Ai scripts I include a string and create a resource file from it if the file does not exist. You could try the same for ESTK.
Trevor