HICON LoadIcon(hInstance,lpIconName)
This function loads the icon resource named by the lpIconName parameter from the executable file associated with the module specified by the hInstance parameter. The function loads the icon only if it has not been previously loaded. Otherwise, it retrieves a handle to the loaded resource.
| Parameter | Type/Description |
| hInstance | HANDLE Identifies an instance of the module whose executable file contains the icon. | |
| lpIconName | LPSTR Points to a character string that names the icon resource. The string must be a null-terminated character string. |
The return value identifies an icon resource if the function is successful. Otherwise, it is NULL.
Use the LoadIcon function to access the predefined icons used by Windows. To do this, the hInstance parameter must be set to NULL, and the lpIconName parameter must be one of the following values:
| Value | Meaning |
| IDI_APPLICATION | Default application icon. | |
| IDI_ASTERISK | Asterisk (used in informative messages). | |
| IDI_EXCLAMATION | Exclamation point (used in warning messages). | |
| IDI_HAND | Hand-shaped icon (used in serious warning messages). | |
| IDI_QUESTION | Question mark (used in prompting messages). |
The lpIconName parameter can also contain a value created by the MAKEINTRESOURCE macro. If it does, the ID must reside in the low-order word of lpIconName, and the high-order word must be set to zero.