C++ SFML Failed to load image, reason: Unable to open file

Question

I am trying to display an empty window in C++ using the SFML library. However, it gives me an error when I am loading an image with loadFromFile.

Failed to load image "enemy.png". Reason: Unable to open file

The image, "enemy.png" is in the source files directory (Using Visual Studio 2019), as well as the main.cpp file. I have downloaded the SFML x64-bit files and used dynamic linking through the project properties. I have tried to remove the load image part, and that successfully loads the window. But this isn't good because it won't work if I need to load a picture next time.

Here is the code:

#include <SFML/Graphics.hpp>

int main() {
    float windowHeight = 400;
    float windowWidth = 400;

    sf::RenderWindow window(sf::VideoMode(windowWidth, windowHeight), "Rougelike");
    
    sf::Texture texture;
    if (!texture.loadFromFile("enemy.png")) {
        return 0;
    }
    sf::Sprite sprite;
    sprite.setTexture(texture);

    while (window.isOpen()) {
        sf::Event event;
        while (window.pollEvent(event)) {
            if (event.type == sf::Event::Closed) {
                window.close();
            }
        }

        window.clear();
        window.draw(sprite);
        window.display();
    }
}

After running the code, this is what I get from the output:

Build started...
1>------ Build started: Project: Project1, Configuration: Debug x64 ------
1>main.cpp
1>D:\XXX\XXX\Project1\Project1\main.cpp(7,56): warning C4244: 'argument': conversion from 'float' to 'unsigned int', possible loss of data
1>D:\XXX\XXX\Project1\Project1\main.cpp(7,43): warning C4244: 'argument': conversion from 'float' to 'unsigned int', possible loss of data
1>Project1.vcxproj -> D:\XXX\XXX\Project1\x64\Debug\Project1.exe
1>Done building project "Project1.vcxproj".
========== Build: 1 succeeded, 0 failed, 0 up-to-date, 0 skipped ==========

And this is what I get from the command prompt:

Failed to load image "enemy.png". Reason: Unable to open file
D:\XXX\XXX\Project1\x64\Debug\Project1.exe (process 19768) exited with code 0.
Press any key to close this window . . .

Thanks.

Answer 1

I had the same problem. I placed the image in the root of my project and it didn't work. Then I searched for the file in the explorer in windows and copied the complete path like C:\Users\myname\project\graphics\yourimage.png, then it worked.