Using MIF files in Symbian OS (Part 1)

What is a Mif File

.mif files - Machine-readable files with all the SVG-t/bmp icons packed into them.

How to create a MIF File.

There are at least three ways.
1. The easiest way is to buy Adobe Illustrator CS2 to draw icons. Illustrator CS2 can save to SVG-Tiny format. It costs some money but it will save you a lot of time. If you're not great at drawing - there's a feature that will convert a photo to an SVG line drawing with color fills. So, make a photo of an object with your phone and have illustrator convert it to a line drawing.

2. You can download a free editor named Inkscape. Inkscape saves to SVG format but not SVG-Tiny. You'll have to use the SVG2SVGT tool to convert the icon (found under S60Tools folder in SDK). But there's a problem. If you use certain draw object types then Inkscape will produce SVG code that will not work. Start with a very simple image such as a box - test it - and then add some details. (Inkscape is open source Java so anyone of us could fix it to directly generate SVG-T for S60.)

3. You can type an SVG file into a text editor. It's XML syntax. {not recomended}

How to create a MIF file.

1. Direct mifconv call method
go to your folder where your SDKs tools folder then run following command

c:\Symbian\9.1\S60_3rd_MR\Epoc32\tools>mifconv MyNewApp.mif /c32 C:\TestIConPrj\gfx\Test_Icon1.svg ...
in this case the mif is created in the tools folder.

2. Using Make File Method
a) Edit bld.inf File

        PRJ_MMPFILES
       gnumakefile Test_Icon.mk
       TestIConPrj.mmp

b) Create Test_Icon.mk file
You can use the Templete as given below.

  
       ifeq (WINS,$(findstring WINS, $(PLATFORM)))
       ZDIR=$(EPOCROOT)epoc32\release\$(PLATFORM)\$(CFG)\Z
       else
       ZDIR=$(EPOCROOT)epoc32\data\z
       endif
      
       TARGETDIR=$(ZDIR)\resource\apps
       ICONTARGETFILENAME=$(TARGETDIR)\Test_Icon.mif
      
       HEADERDIR=$(EPOCROOT)epoc32\include
       HEADERFILENAME=$(HEADERDIR)\Test_Icon.mbg
      
       ICONDIR=..\gfx
      
       do_nothing :
           @rem do_nothing
      
       MAKMAKE : do_nothing
      
       BLD : do_nothing
      
       CLEAN : do_nothing
      
       LIB : do_nothing
      
       CLEANLIB : do_nothing
      
       # In the below lines the c32,8 the 32 is for the image and
       # 8 is for it's mask. See how the BMP file is mentioned
       # below the SVG's here.
      
       RESOURCE :  
           mifconv $(ICONTARGETFILENAME) /h$(HEADERFILENAME) \
               /c32,8 $(ICONDIR)\Test_Icon1.svg\
               /c32,8 $(ICONDIR)\Test_Icon2.svg\
               /c32,8 $(ICONDIR)\Test_IconN.svg\
               /c24  $(ICONDIR)\Test_BMPIcon1.bmp\
               /c8  $(ICONDIR)\Test_BMPIcon1_Mask.bmp\
               /c24  $(ICONDIR)\Test_BMPIcon2.bmp\
               /c8  $(ICONDIR)\Test_BMPIcon2_Mask.bmp\
               /c24  $(ICONDIR)\Test_BMPIconN.bmp\
               /c8  $(ICONDIR)\Test_BMPIconN_Mask.bmp
      
             
       FREEZE : do_nothing
      
       SAVESPACE : do_nothing
      
       RELEASABLES :
           @echo $(HEADERFILENAME)&& \
           @echo $(ICONTARGETFILENAME)
      
       FINAL : do_nothing

c) Clean build your project.
(note: you can't do this step from carbide.c++ or carbide.vs you have to use commandline).

        bldmake bldfiles
       abld reallyclean
       abld build gcce urel

Note:
1. Make your icon on a 44x44 pixel canvas. This might not be necessary in some cases but it is not clear whether S60 will scale your icon in all the places it can be used.

2. Keep in mind that S60 caches icons between runs of your application - so sometimes when you update an icon you still see the previous version. Do not losing your mind - it's caching the icon. Try restarting the phone when updating icons.