options to shrink-wrap a perl script

D

dan baker

I would like to "shrink-wrap" a simple perl utility to install on a
client PC. preferably something they can run without installing perl.
The intent is not to protect source from reverse engineering, but just
to simplify installation and execution by a user that doesnt need
*all* of perl.

The specific application will be to create a hardwired little script
to FTP a couple files from a remote webserver, to a local PC, just to
back up a couple files without them having to know anything about FTP.
The plan would be to have the Windows task manager fire up the script
nightly, like a cron job.

any ideas on free/cheap software to allow my to "compile" a simple
script into something that can be easily installed and executed in
Windows on a PC without installing Perl?

thanks,
d
 
D

dan baker

Thomas Kratz said:
Didn't it occur to you that it could be a module?
-----------------

wow, what a passive-aggressive bunch! excuse me for not being a mind
reader. I suppose PAR could be a module, or some third party software,
or some acronym for something I hesitate to guess at.

doesn't occur to YOU that something like "check the PAR module
available on CPAN.org" would have demonstrated knowledge AND good
manners?

Now that I've poked around a little more.... any further comments on
the useability of pp versus perl2exe versus other choices?

d
 
J

Jim Keenan

dan said:
wow, what a passive-aggressive bunch! excuse me for not being a mind
reader. I suppose PAR could be a module, or some third party software,
or some acronym for something I hesitate to guess at.

Googling "Perl PAR" got me the answer right away.
 
J

J. Romano

any ideas on free/cheap software to allow my to "compile"
a simple script into something that can be easily installed
and executed in Windows on a PC without installing Perl?


Dear Dan,

I've needed to do the same thing on several occasions. Creating a
stand-alone executable allows Win32 users who haven't installed Perl
(or who are unable to install Perl for some obscure reason that you
can't figure out because their computer system lies several states
away) to run your Perl script as if Perl were correctly installed on
their systems.

To create a stand-along executable for Win32, I recommend you try
the PAR module with ActiveState Perl.

To use it, you first need ActiveState ActivePerl for Win32. You
can download it at http://www.activestate.com/ . Once you have
downloaded and installed ActivePerl, you can easily install the PAR
module using ActiveState's ppm installer by typing (at a shell
prompt):

ppm install PAR

This should download and install the "pp.bat" executable, which will
allow you to convert a Perl script (for example, one named
"myscript.pl") to a stand-alone executable (for example, one named
"myscript.exe") with a command like:

pp myscript.pl -o myscript.exe

Note: if it complains that the Module::ScanDeps module is missing,
you can install it with the shell command:

ppm install Module-ScanDeps

Also note that the resulting executable will be extremely large in
size... about 1.5 Megabytes for just a simple little Perl script!
This is due in part because so much of Perl functionality has to be
included in the executable, whether you think you need it or not. As
a side-effect, the stand-alone executable runs just about as fast as
invoking the perl interpreter on your Perl script. In other words,
don't think that just because the executable no longer depends on
perl.exe it will all of a sudden run much faster.

So you may not get the benefits of speed and efficiency by
converting your Perl script into a stand-alone executable, but at
least you'll be able to distribute your program to Win32 users who are
unable (or too lazy) to install Perl on their machines.

(And please don't be upset by the brevity of the other responses
posted by other regulars of this newsgroup. Quite a lot of questions
are posted to this newsgroup, and if every response was as detailed as
the one I just gave you, few people would ever get responses. So it's
common to see just a minimal response to a problem, and nothing more
than what was asked. If you want more advice, sometimes you need to
be more specific as to what you're looking for, even if that means
posting another question to the newsgroup.)

I hope this helps, Dan.

-- Jean-Luc
 
D

dan baker

Tad McClellan said:
typing "perl PAR" into the little box at www.google.com finds it
just fine.

Do you want us to hold your hand?
----------------

I dont need hand-holding, but I do appreciate polite and complete
answers that dont require additional fishing around to figure out what
they are about. With 5 more seconds of effort the original response
would have been help, complete, and friendly without requiring an
additional google to figure it out.

I'd like to think that this group is to get/give answers as
efficiently as possible, not create mysteries crafted as personal
growth projects.

It continues to amaze me that some of the arguably most knowledgable
posters in this newsgroup spend more energy flaming people for
ignorance than they do composing reasonable responses.

d
 
U

Uri Guttman

db> ----------------

db> I dont need hand-holding, but I do appreciate polite and complete
db> answers that dont require additional fishing around to figure out what
db> they are about. With 5 more seconds of effort the original response
db> would have been help, complete, and friendly without requiring an
db> additional google to figure it out.

that is called hand holding. with 5 seconds of google searching you
would have found plenty on PAR. but you want hundreds of others to do
your work for you and then you complain about not having your hand
held. how sweet!

db> I'd like to think that this group is to get/give answers as
db> efficiently as possible, not create mysteries crafted as personal
db> growth projects.

we like to think of it not as a help desk but as a perl discussion
group. what you think about it doesn't matter. and what is the mystery
when you are directly given the answer? oh, that you don't get spoon
fed. sorry, your mother doesn't know enough perl for that.

db> It continues to amaze me that some of the arguably most
db> knowledgable posters in this newsgroup spend more energy flaming
db> people for ignorance than they do composing reasonable responses.

ignorance is fully accepted here. laziness and wanting their work done
for them is not. learn the difference.

uri
 
E

Eric Bohlman

ignorance is fully accepted here. laziness and wanting their work done
for them is not. learn the difference.

s/laziness/false laziness/;

True Laziness is the virtue of reducing the amount of work you have to do
by reducing the amount of work *everyone* has to do. False Laziness is the
vice of reducing (or trying to reduce) the amount of work you have to do by
shifting the burden to everyone else. True Laziness turns Your Problems
into Non-Problems; false laziness turns Your Problems into Other People's
Problems.
 
U

Uri Guttman

EB> s/laziness/false laziness/;

EB> True Laziness is the virtue of reducing the amount of work you
EB> have to do by reducing the amount of work *everyone* has to do.
EB> False Laziness is the vice of reducing (or trying to reduce) the
EB> amount of work you have to do by shifting the burden to everyone
EB> else. True Laziness turns Your Problems into Non-Problems; false
EB> laziness turns Your Problems into Other People's Problems.

yep. but i think the OP won't care either way.

uri
 
T

Tad McClellan

Yet here you are insisting on hand-holding!

but I do appreciate polite and complete
answers that dont require additional fishing around to figure out what
they are about. With 5 more seconds of effort the original response
would have been help, complete, and friendly without requiring an
additional google to figure it out.


And we appreciate polite posters who do not object to spending
5 seconds of *their* time at Google.

I'd like to think that this group is to get/give answers as
efficiently as possible, not create mysteries crafted as personal
growth projects.


Learning how to fish is more valuable than being given a fish.

It continues to amaze me that some of the arguably most knowledgable
posters in this newsgroup spend more energy flaming people for
ignorance than they do composing reasonable responses.


It continues to amaze me that some of the arguably least knowledgable
posters in this newsgroup spend more energy flaming people for
answering their question than they do Googling.
 
D

dan baker

Now THIS is a truely killer response. actually answered more than I
needed to know, and threw in comments about the actual usability of
the solution which I found enlightening. Anyone reading this post
later has a lot more information to work with and some idea of the
potential pitfalls.

All I really needed to know was that there is a module PAR on CPAN.org
that includes a pp utility. It was informative to know that the
results are generally quite large... I may re-think my distribution
plan to several clients and just run the backup utility from MY
computer.

Thank you J. Romano.

You have renewed my faith that there are people in this group capable
of demonstrating not only knowledge, but are interested in giving
complete and thoughtful answers.

D
 
U

Uri Guttman

db> You have renewed my faith that there are people in this group capable
db> of demonstrating not only knowledge, but are interested in giving
db> complete and thoughtful answers.

and you have renewed my faith in that there will always be those who
need hand holding and then whine about it.

uri
 
D

dan baker

Uri Guttman said:
db> You have renewed my faith that there are people in this group capable
db> of demonstrating not only knowledge, but are interested in giving
db> complete and thoughtful answers.

and you have renewed my faith in that there will always be those who
need hand holding and then whine about it.

uri
------------------


didn't your mother ever teach you to keep your mouth shut if you dont
have anything nice (or helpful) to say?

d
 
U

Uri Guttman

db> ------------------


db> didn't your mother ever teach you to keep your mouth shut if you dont
db> have anything nice (or helpful) to say?

pot. kettle. black.

at least i help others here with perl stuff and don't whine.

uri
 
T

Tad McClellan

dan baker said:
------------------


didn't your mother ever teach you to keep your mouth shut if you dont
have anything nice (or helpful) to say?


Where is the nice or helpful part in *your* followup, huh?
 
D

dan baker

Tad McClellan said:
Where is the nice or helpful part in *your* followup, huh?

-----------------

in that I am attempting to clue you guys into acceptable public
behavior. You might get a lot further in life and have more friends.

d
 
U

Uri Guttman

db> -----------------

db> in that I am attempting to clue you guys into acceptable public
db> behavior. You might get a lot further in life and have more friends.

you are so wise in the ways of good behavior! i will fly to your side
and sit at your feet absorbing such nuggets of wisdom. do you teach perl
as well as life lessons? can you handle the hordes of acolytes you so
richly deserve? can i be your friend too?

uri

ps. tad IS a friend of mine. we have broken bread and code together. so
we each have at least one friend. does that count?
 
D

David Combs

It already worked for me. Maybe you should try it more often ;-)

Geez, guys -- isn't that being just a bit rough?

(that is, assuming that "plonk" means to kill-list someone;
[due to technical reasons due being on vacation and having
to use wife's pc win2k hyperterminal to connect to my shell
acct, instead of my sun back home, can't get lynx to run
due to screen-screwup, thus can't google plonk -- sorry
] )

, just because he asked what PAR was, he got a somewhat high-handed
response -- and it escalated, small piece by small piece, from
there.

Well, let me back off a bit: you guys sure donate a *huge* amount
of time and brainpower to clpm, day after day after day -- so I guess
we mostly-lurkers here got to cut you some slack for a once-in-a-while
quick, angry response -- esp after an hours-long session of
answering all these posts!

So, from a mostly-lurker, THANK YOU ALL for all the work
you put into this group!

David

PS: just wondering -- when you *do* "plonk" someone,
is that like a death penalty (ie, permanent,
never removed), or is the general practice
to, every so often, to let them out -- but
on parole?

D.
 

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