BBC BASIC Programmers' Reference

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=====Setting the Desktop wallpaper=====

//by Jon Ripley, July 2007//\\ \\ 
==== Setting the Desktop wallpaper ====
\\  To set the current Desktop wallpaper use the following code:

<code bb4w>
        SPIF_UPDATEINIFILE = 1
        SPI_SETDESKWALLPAPER = 20
        SYS "SystemParametersInfo", SPI_SETDESKWALLPAPER, 0, filename$, SPIF_UPDATEINIFILE
</code>

Here the **filename$** parameter is the full path to a bitmap image (.BMP) to set as the Desktop wallpaper. To use images in unsupported file formats - such as .GIF and .PNG - as Desktop wallpaper they must first be converted to Window bitmap (.BMP) format. Under Windows Vista **filename$** can point to a JPEG image (.JPG or .JPEG).

==== Removing the Desktop wallpaper ====

To remove the current Desktop wallpaper use code similar to the following:

<code bb4w>
        SPIF_UPDATEINIFILE = 1
        SPI_SETDESKWALLPAPER = 20
        SYS "SystemParametersInfo", SPI_SETDESKWALLPAPER, 0, "", SPIF_UPDATEINIFILE
</code>

Here the only difference is that the file name parameter is empty.

==== Retrieving the current Desktop wallpaper ====

To retrieve the full path to the current Desktop wallpaper use code similar to the following:

<code bb4w>
          MAX_PATH = 260
          DIM wp% MAX_PATH - 1
          SPI_GETDESKWALLPAPER = 115
          SYS "SystemParametersInfo", SPI_GETDESKWALLPAPER, MAX_PATH, wp%, 0
          BackDrop$ = $$wp%
</code>

Here **BackDrop$** will contain the full path to the current Desktop wallpaper or NUL if no wallpaper is in use. As always, make sure you execute the **DIM** statement only once, or use **DIM LOCAL**, to avoid a memory leak and an eventual **No room** error.