CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythoncompilationexesetuptools
panda-34
panda-34

Reputation: 4209

How can I use setuptools to create an exe launcher

I can install a python script as an exe file into "scripts" folder on windows.

  1. How can I just create an exe launcher for a script without installing it?

  2. Using 64-bit python, can I create an exe that will work with 32-bit python?

Upvotes: 3

Views: 3632

Answers (2)

Jeronimo
Jeronimo

Reputation: 2387

A bit late, but since this is the first result on google, I'll add my findings.

What creates the scripts is in fact not setuptools, which only registers the config, but pip when it installs a package. And there again, it's distlib shipped inside pip. The little script.exe's can be found in your pip installation folder in

pip\_vendor\distlib

For example, the t64.exe will be the terminal (no gui), 64 bit version.

Long story short, those exe headers can be concatenated with a shebang text file and a zip file into a new exe file, where the shebang file contains a commmand to call this exe file with. When called with python.exe, it will recognize the attached zip file and run the __main__.py inside that.

The good news is, you can use the API to do all this for you. Assuming you want to create an exe myexe.exe that runs myfunc out of a module mypackage.mymodule on the same python.exe you are currently using, then you can do this:

import sys
from pip._vendor.distlib.scripts import ScriptMaker

sm = ScriptMaker(
    None,    # source_dir - not needed when using an entry spec
    target_dir = ".", # folder that your exe should end up inside
    add_launchers = True   # create exe launchers, not just python scripts
)
# set the python executable manually
sm.executable = sys.executable.replace("pythonw", "python")

# create only the main variant (not the one with X.Y suffix)
sm.variants = [""]   

# provide an entry specification string here, just like in pyproject.toml
sm.make("myexe = mypackage.mymodule:myfunc")

The exe should now be in the target_dir that you provided above.

Upvotes: 4

dot.Py
dot.Py

Reputation: 5157

Instead of using setuptools, you can use py2exe to create your executable files.

Just read the tutorial page to understand how to create them.

  1. Install it by typing in your terminal:

    pip install py2exe

  2. Create your .exe script (hello.py)

    print "hello world!"

  3. Create your setup config script (setup.py)

    from distutils.core import setup
import py2exe

setup(console=['hello.py'])

  4. Run your setup script by typing in your terminal

    python setup.py py2exe

    After that, 2 folders will be created inside the scripts folder.

    They'll be called 'dist' and 'build' folder.

    Inside the 'dist' folder you'll find an executable of your script.

    In our example, we compiled the hello.py file, correct? So, inside the dist folder we should find a hello.exe file.

Q: Also, using 64-bit python, can I create an exe that will work with 32-bit python?

A: No! You'll have to install a 32-bit python and compile using the 32-bit version.

Hint: create a virtual machine to compile your 32-bit programs.

Also you can take a look at:

Upvotes: 1

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