On 27.08.2009, at 08:18, Colin Putney wrote:

>
> On 26-Aug-09, at 10:22 PM, Ronald Spengler wrote:
>
>> I have a Form (for use as a button) that I would like to serialize  
>> in a way that allows me to keep it as text in a method. I would  
>> like to do this the simplest way possible, optimizing for speed  
>> (not space.) Ideally it would look as much like this as possible:
>>
>> Foo>>someIcon
>>    ^ #( ... ) asForm
>>
>> What's the best way to do this?
>
> Create your form, then send #storeString to it. It will answer a  
> Smalltalk expression that recreates the form. Then just answer that  
> expression from your #someIcon method. OmniBrowser has a few  
> examples of this in the class OBMorphicIcons.


This is the simplest way, no doubt. If you care for the code size you  
might use something like the stuff below.

In this case, #storeString is 9371 bytes vs. 1580 bytes using a base64- 
encoded PNG (that compresses well).

- Bert -

biggerNormal
	"self biggerNormal show"
	"(Base64MimeConverter mimeEncode: ((FileStream readOnlyFileNamed:  
'EtoysCursor.png') binary)) upToEnd"

	^self constants at: #biggerNormal ifAbsentPut: [
		| form cursor |
		form := (PNGReadWriter on: (Base64MimeConverter mimeDecodeToBytes:
			'iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAABsAAAArCAYAAACJrvP4AAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwY
			AAAEF0lEQVRYCb2XS0hcVxjHj2/ 
G8ZWMQQbSGO2iRhERwRALBmJNoOOqwUXtYtxOTQJxI8SN
			CyXJqggVEghusrAuBB8IddUWF64CvnCj+AJrsYKio6JJOPn/j+dc5s6MztyZMR/ 
857v3PL7f
			/ 
c4595w7QmiTUvrN9ZV7wGhfB3jOunpgOoYtPQQm19fXn6DsulY2PJUSi4ARvLm5+SuiE5hS
			 
mAsBXSYzv99vLuXExMRL1H2jlRKoDYbAMhS4uLj4PJUwN4K5TTqEhQPHxsZeayCzTCrDqLC0
			tLQryTAqjNmFA1OR4YWwaMBk5/ 
BSWDRgMhnGhEUDJpphXDACqdDXIpEMHcHCF43TDB3Bks0w
			IVj4kMabYcKwcGA8c 
+gIlp2drRaKGc5wYKwMHcFycnIiYOHACzLkhi9SAgsHRsnQOSzaMBJk
			 
FPoejo6OvkJ5iZY67R1lZoJe5kOBKysrzxzBCgoKrCcnpKysTO7v75sjMKafmZl5gX6uNPww
			 
M4EeQXrsEAJDJc7Ozngr8vPzRVVVldjZ2RGrq6uqrLi4WPT394u2tjZxeHj4P8C7qiLkJzMz
			8zNvc3NzT+jR/ 
yl9xDBmZWWpTAoLC2V9fb3c29uTXV1dtuwaGxtVRgcHBzuI0QY91vLBUw+0
			voOnXPyyijBEUWWVlZViampKFBUVCcyDKC8vt9pitYnp6WlmfqO7u/ 
uOVRHjIiKzjIwM2dDQ
			oDIKnZCWlhZbdoFAQFUvLCz8Bcb3WrfgqWItFR/ 
XKrEIWG1trQWam5v7Z3Bw8C2jjoyMyNLS
			UgvIYeYQ05A5h5HA+GE1NTVWgPn5+b/RubWiosJ/enoaZNDq6moLhjrZ19fHYjk7O/ 
sO9/eg
			G1oZ8JTNbJmZJ9Wgn9GyleJQMWhPT48NhnllsTw+Pv4X7WLCuI1YX8TsuLy8/ 
CfKmrXuwt9t
			b2// 
iXX4LJder9cCut1uOT4+zio5PDz8G9pWaqm4uLaZDaZBXLY2GO4bdnd3PzAowDZYc3Mz
			i+X29vY82l0K4ypR/ 
2JOTk7e49qsIuMLUEbdXFpaes6gk5OT0uPxWECeBGtra6ySvb29v6Bt
			 
ve7DfjZTsKOjo99RyvkzEOMtGOpuBoPBbQblQsK9Ejfnzs5OFsuNjY0JlF8IQ11clodWeVgo
			bxh0YGDABmOmNGxzh2j3EPJqRV2VqLvUFKyjo+NHBuWqxb4nS0pKVFZmGFG 
+gihJw8wTerHx
			/kEgXng6y7a2thYxnAHAHkHfavEcoxyZBcOh+AOHixS+7HwnfT4f/ 
6nynSQoaZh5MjWcTU1N
			94aGhtrr6up8qLgPcVFQd7SuwVPmIdN5njk1wmi31a8QHu3VuYVrLhDaf 
+dOHGgvE4Gp3RsB
			cnUQMx+f9P1H7c9PXyHUIcoy01HXX637AibwgHAnFRPGAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC'
				readStream)) nextImage.
		cursor := CursorWithAlpha extent: form extent depth: 32.
		form displayOn: cursor.
		cursor offset: -2 at -1.
		cursor preMultiplyAlpha.
		cursor]