Using images as resources in C# WPF

To use images as embedded resouces in C# WPF (Visual Studio 2017):

1. Go to Project properties / Resources tab.
2. At the tab top menu, click the down arrow to the right of Add Resource and click Add Existing File.
3. Select image files on disk. The files will be displayed on resouces tab. You will also notice that a Resources folder has been created in solution explorer.
4. In solution explorer, select the image files under Resources and right click, select Properties
5. Change Build Action to Resource
6. In your code: MyImage.Source = new BitmapImage(new Uri("pack://application:,,,/Resources/" + imgFileName)
7. Clean Solution, Build Solution
8. Now your code will run correctly. The image files will be embedded into the exe file, you won't need to distribute the images as separate files.

Software in the loop simulation

When developing software that will interact with electronic hardware, it is important to have abstractions for hardware, i.e. software modules that mimic hardware behavior. Electronic components can have many problems that are not related to logic, e.g. loose components, need to reset from time to time, delays and data loss. With software abstraction, you can test 90% of logic without dealing with hardware complexities. Even better, you can easily automate your tests.

Once you establish that you are 90% correct, you can start testing with hardware to tease out the remaining 10% of bugs (real time issues etc.). The cost of software abstraction is that your design gets a little more complex and you need to write a couple of additional classes and interfaces to simulate the hardware logic. But it is well worth the effort because it decouples you from the hardware, saving you lots of work and frustration.

As an example, I am currently developing a desktop software that will be used to configure an electronic card through the serial port. I wrote a CardSimulator class and implemented the response of the electronic card to inputs from desktop in that class. On startup, my software can be configured to run in simulated or real mode, real mode meaning working with the real card. I have unit tests providing me with confidence that the desktop side of the equation is correct and when there is a problem, we only need to focus on the electronic card side.