[ANN] PyInstaller 1.3 released

[Giovanni Bajo]

Hello,

PyInstaller 1.3 is out!

Grab latest version at:
http://pyinstaller.python-hosting.com/


Description
-----------
PyInstaller is a program that converts (packages) Python programs into
stand-alone executables, under Windows, Linux and Irix. Its main advantages
over similar tools are that PyInstaller works with any version of Python since
1.5, it builds smaller executables thanks to transparent compression, it is
multi-platform (so you can build one-file binaries also under Linux), and use
the OS support to load the dynamic libraries, thus ensuring full compatibility.


Features
--------
* Packaging of Python programs into standard executables, that
work on computers without Python installed.
* Multiplatform: works under Windows, Linux and Irix. (Mac port
in development. See /branches/mac on SVN)
* Multiversion: works under any version of Python since 1.5.
* Dual packaging mode:
o Single directory: build a directory containing an
executable plus all the external binary modules (.dll,
.pyd, .so) used by the program.
o Single file: build a single executable file, totally
self-contained, which runs without any external
dependency.
* Support for automatic binary packing through the well-known
UPX compressor.
* Optional console mode (see standard output and standard error
at runtime).
* Selectable executable icon (Windows only).
* Fully configurable version resource section in executable
(Windows only).
* Support for building COM servers (Windows only).


ChangeLog
---------
+ Fix bug with user-provided icons disappearing from built executables
when these were compressed with UPX.
+ Fix problems with packaging of applications using PIL (that was broken
because of a bug in Python's import machinery, in recent Python
versions). Also add a workaround including Tcl/Tk with PIL unless
ImageTk is imported.
+ (Windows) When used under Windows XP, packaged programs now have
the correct look & feel and follow user's themes (thanks to the manifest
file being linked within the generated executable). This is especially
useful for applications using wxPython.
+ Fix a buffer overrun in the bootloader (which could lead to a crash)
when the built executable is run from within a deep directory (more than
70-80 characters in the pathname).
* Bootstrap modules are now compressed in the executable (so that they
are not visible in plaintext by just looking at it with a hex editor).
* Fixed a regression introduced in 1.1: under Linux, the bootloader does
not depend on libpythonX.X.so anymore.


We've moved
-----------
PyInstaller has a new home:
http://pyinstaller.python-hosting.com/
(thanks to the guys at webfaction.com for top-notch free hosting!)

We also own a domain name (http://pyinstaller.org) which can be used as a
permanent redirector to our home.

The mailing list moved as well, it's now at
http://groups.google.com/group/PyInstaller. Join us for discussion!

 

[Robin Becker]

Hello,

PyInstaller 1.3 is out!

Grab latest version at:
http://pyinstaller.python-hosting.com/

.......

I just tried this on something which we currently use py2exe+nsis to package and
it certainly seems to produce a small exe, but when run I see a cryptic message
on two message boxes

! msvcr71.dll

! could not be extracted

the program then exits.



When run with -X I saw output from the upx process
Ultimate Packer for eXecutables
Copyright (C) 1996,1997,1998,1999,2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006
UPX 2.03w Markus Oberhumer, Laszlo Molnar & John Reiser Nov 7th 2006

File size Ratio Format Name
-------------------- ------ ----------- -----------
348160 -> 165888 47.65% win32/pe MSVCR71.dll

Packed 1 file.

So I'm just guessing there might be a case sensitivity issue in the unpacking
somewhere.

 

[Giovanni Bajo]

I just tried this on something which we currently use py2exe+nsis to
package and it certainly seems to produce a small exe, but when run I
see a cryptic message on two message boxes

! msvcr71.dll

! could not be extracted

the program then exits.

yeah that's pretty cryptic. It's a known bug which I need to come around and
fix it. Anyway, the message itself is harmless: if the program then exits,
there is *another* problem.

If you want to help with that, you could enable the console+debug mode and see
what the traceback is. I'd be very glad to fix the problem for you.

 

[Robin Becker]

Giovanni Bajo wrote:
.........

yeah that's pretty cryptic. It's a known bug which I need to come around
and fix it. Anyway, the message itself is harmless: if the program then
exits, there is *another* problem.

If you want to help with that, you could enable the console+debug mode
and see what the traceback is. I'd be very glad to fix the problem for you.

No problem I'll give it a whirl tomorrow.

 

[Robin Becker]

Giovanni Bajo wrote:
.........

yeah that's pretty cryptic. It's a known bug which I need to come around
and fix it. Anyway, the message itself is harmless: if the program then
exits, there is *another* problem.

If you want to help with that, you could enable the console+debug mode
and see what the traceback is. I'd be very glad to fix the problem for you.

No problem I'll give it a whirl tomorrow.

 

[Robin Becker]

Giovanni Bajo wrote:
........

No problem I'll give it a whirl tomorrow.

........

OK I found the problem. First off I still see this message about

msvcr71.dll could not be extracted!

in the debug output.

Secondly I found that the icon I specified in the Makespec.py invocation is
actually being added to the distribution exe. I actually want to put the icon
onto the running Tk app.

We're using this code to do that

self.tk.call('wm','iconbitmap', self._w, '-default', 'rptlabw.ico')

ie it's assumed that the icon has been extracted into the runtime folder.

I guess I either need to put the icon in as a resource or figure out some way to
find the original exe and extract the icon from it.

 

[Giovanni Bajo]

OK I found the problem. First off I still see this message about
msvcr71.dll could not be extracted!

in the debug output.

Secondly I found that the icon I specified in the Makespec.py invocation
is actually being added to the distribution exe. I actually want to put
the icon onto the running Tk app.

We're using this code to do that

self.tk.call('wm','iconbitmap', self._w, '-default', 'rptlabw.ico')

ie it's assumed that the icon has been extracted into the runtime folder.

I guess I either need to put the icon in as a resource or figure out
some way to find the original exe and extract the icon from it.

If you specify it as icon (--icon to Makespec), it means you want it as icon
of the executable.

If you just want to add it as an additional data file, read the manual about
that. It will be extracted to the runtime directory and you should be able to
access it through _MEIPASS2 (manual should be clear about that). You can't
just read it from the "current directory" because the current directory is
where your exectuable is run (which could even be off a CDROM...).