If I create a gui for windows using python 2.6 and Qt, and then want to running in solaris or linux world.
What do I need on both systems, I'm guessing 2.6 and Qt for both platforms.
Is this correct or would there be a better solution.
If wxpython, the same right?
To run a Python application, one obviously need to have the Python interpreter installed, usually at least the same version used for developement (but sometimes you didn't use features new to that version, so the code is backwards-compatible). A newer version should work, too - only Python 3 isn't backwards compatible to 2.x versions.
Also, all third party libraries need to be installed, of course. So if your GUI uses PyQt, users need PyQt installed. If you use wxPython, users need wxPython installed.
Apart from that, it is possible, although much harder than with certain other languages, to break compability with other platforms, especially when dealing with files and paths manually (e.g. joining an absolute with a relative path with "\\" instead of using the cross-platform os.path.join).
It is possible (and especially for applications aimed at casual users, especially on Windows) to "freeze" a Python program and libraries it uses into an executable file (ideally without dependencies, I don't know if that's always the case in practice). There are a few tools that work for one platform, and the supposedly cross-platform cx_Freeze. Although I don't know if one can produce a Linux executable on a windows machine...
Related
I'm writing a program in python using PySide(PyQt) and I want to distribute it to friends and family when I'm finished. I have looked at other posts in stack overflow, but I can't seem to find any good ones showing an easy solution(command line or otherwise) that will create an executable for my program to be run on other computers who don't have python or Qt etc. I'm running Ubuntu right now, however I would like to be able to package for windows as well.
Edit: I wrote all the Qt interface in my python script, so the whole project is contained in the one script.
I have used PyInstaller to create executables for scripts using PyQt4 under Windows without any trouble. Though I have not used it on Linux, it claims Linux (and OSX) support as well. You may need to create your Windows binaries in a Windows system or through Wine according to the FAQ:
Can I package Windows binaries while running under Linux?
No, this
is not supported. Please use Wine for this, PyInstaller runs fine in
Wine. You may also want to have a look at this thread in the
mailinglist. In version 1.4 we had build in some support for this, but
it showed to work only half. It would require some Windows system on
another partition and would only work for pure Python programs. As
soon as you want a decent GUI (gtk, qt, wx), you would need to install
Windows libraries anyhow. So it's much easier to just use Wine.
I have written a program in Python 3 that relies on another program in Python 2.7 for some core tasks. It works seamlessly on gnunux since most distribution have already 2.7 installed, I just have to require Python 3, and it's all good.
But now I want to port the bundle to Windows, and I don't know how to manage this. I have the following issues
Most Windows don't have Python installed, never mention both 2.7 and 3 series.
The scripts invoke various utilities (executables, Python 2.7 & 3 scripts) with subprocess.call(... shell=True) and relies on Python scripts' shebangs to use the right version. As far as I know, there is no way to emulate such behaviour on Windows.
I use dynamic imports to implement some kind of plugin behavior, it is perhaps not the best possible design, but it would be sweet if I had not to refactor this for now
I have the source code for everything I use, and everything is under libre licenses, so I don't have issues with compiling to PE or porting 2.7 scripts to 3, but it would be a tedious work. The only solution I have found so far is to port everything to Python 3. Can you think of another one?
The recent Python Launcher for Windows (see also PEP 397) could be used to simulate the shebang/version behaviour. However, if you want to do this, the different versions of python must be installed on the system of course (and the launcher as well, registered as the default application for .py files)
Tools like PyInstaller and py2exe can bundle dynamically imported modules, only not discover them all by itself: you'll have to specify them yourself. I think your problem with these tools will be that they do not make applications with different versions of Python at the same time.
So I guess you're left with either requiring installation of python 2.7 and python 3 on the target system, or making separate exe's for your 2.7 and 3 scripts, and changing your subprocess calls to call these instead. (you could bundle the python installations with your own instead of using standard system-wide python installs, but you'd still have to
change your subprocess calls instead of relying on windows default application for file extensions)
How about using PyInstaller? Never used it myself but:
PyInstaller is a program that converts (packages) Python programs into stand-alone executables, under Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.
http://www.pyinstaller.org/
So you could convert both your programs to executables and then call one from inside the other.
I hope my title was clear. I'm using wxpython for making a GUI and I want it to be able to be opened, extracted, and have it work on all operating systems. I was able to include twill by finding a folder called twill inside the twill archive, which worked fine. However, I'm unable to figure out how to correctly package wxpython.
EDIT: I'm not using either. py2exe is only for windows, and bbfreeze doesn't seem to work on mac (so it's not cross platform)
Unfortunately, there's just no one stop solution so that a single installable executable will work across all operating systems. The right solution is really to provide a different installer or executable for each OS; For windows, use py2exe, for mac, py2app is a good choice, and for linux you should just provide a tarball with a reasonable setup.py (that you will need for the first two, anyway).
You should go with the recommendation of TokenMacGuy. But I preferrably would use a tool which is able to freeze the application for all OS instead of using different ones.
cx_freeze is a good choice regarding these terms.
This is another fine alternative:
PyInstaller is a program that converts (packages) Python programs into stand-alone executables, under Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. Its main advantages over similar tools are that PyInstaller works with any version of Python since 2.2, it builds smaller executables thanks to transparent compression, it is fully multi-platform, and use the OS support to load the dynamic libraries, thus ensuring full compatibility.
Have you tried http://cx-freeze.sourceforge.net/ ?
I have a lovely Macbook now, and I'm enjoying coding on the move. I'm also enjoying coding in Python. However, I'd like to distribute the end result to friends using Windows, as an executable.
I know that Py2Exe does this, but I don't know how portable Python is across operating systems. Can anyone offer any advice? I'm using PyGame too.
Many thanks
The Python scripts are reasonably portable, as long as the interpreter and relevant libraries are installed. Generated .exe and .app files are not.
Py2exe generates Windows executables, so they will only work on the Windows Platform. The FAQ at http://www.py2exe.org/index.cgi/FAQ has more information on how it all works. Essentially it provides what is needed to run on Win9x as well as more current platforms. NOTE: the FAQ mentions some potential gotchas with character encodings and the work arounds.
With python, it is common enough on Unix based systems, as several Linux distributions have their custom maintenance scripts written in the language. So the Python scripts will be just as portable as Ruby scripts, etc. As long as the target machine has the interpreter and you are not using external programs that are only on one type of platform, others will be able to use your work.
Personally I experienced huge difficult with all the Exe builder, py2exe , cx_freeze etc. Bugs and errors all the time , keep displaying an issue with atexit module.
I find just by including the python distro way more convinient. There is one more advantage beside ease of use.
Each time you build an EXE for a python app, what you essential do is include the core of the python installation but only with the modules your app is using. But even in that case your app may increase from a mere few Kbs that the a python module is to more than 15 mbs because of the inclusion of python installation.
Of course installing the whole python will take more space but each time you send your python apps they will be only few kbs long. Plus you want have to go to the hussle of bundling the exe each time you change even a coma to your python app. Or I think you do , I dont know if just replacing the py module can help you avoid this.
In any case installing python and pygame is as easy as installing any other application in windows. In linux via synaptic is also extremly easy.
MACOS is abit tricky though. MACOS already come with python pre installed, Snow leopard has 2.6.1 python installed. However if you app is using a python later than that and include the install of python with your app, you will have to instruct the user to set via "GET INFO -> open with" the python launcher app which is responsible for launcing python apps to use your version of python and not the onboard default 2.6.1 version, Its not difficult and it only takes a few seconds, even a clueless user can do this.
Python is extremely portable, python pygame apps cannot only run unchanged to the three major platform , Windows , MACOS ,Linux . They can even run on mobile and portable devices as well. If you need to build app that runs across platform , python is dead easy and highly recomended.
If you are planning to include Linux in your portability criteria, it's worth remembering that many distributions still package 2.6 (or even 2.5), and will probably be a version behind in the 3.x series as well (I'm assuming your using 2.x given the PyGame requirement though).
Versions of PyGame seem to vary quite heavily between distros as well.
I'm trying to write an application that should work both on Windows 98 and XP. I decided to go with Python, but I'm having trouble even installing it on Win'98 (Python 2.7 installer says something about missing features of Windows Installer, but AFAIK 2.0 is the latest Windows Installer version compatible with '98).
Does anyone have a working Windows 98 environment with Python and wxPython? How did you make it work? I don't need Python 2.7, but a 2.4 or 2.5 would be nice.
If not, what other high-level language would you suggest that is actively maintained, can display Windows widgets and works with Windows 98? (asm/C/C++ and other low-level languages are out of question -- this is a simple application whose main job is to display windows and dialogs).
I'm pretty sure we used Python2.4 and wxPython on '98 way back when.
I don't have a win98 machine to test it on, but it looks like at least Python2.5.4 binaries are available for win98
I think win98 support may have been dropped for 2.6
wxPython download page says this
Microsoft Windows
The Win32 version of wxPython is
distributed as a set of standard
self-installing executables. This
allows you the convenience of using
the Start Menu and Add/Remove Programs
just like any other Windows software.
There are two versions of wxPython for
each of the supported Python versions
on Win32. They are nearly identical,
except one of them has been compiled
with support for the Unicode version
of the platform APIs. Unless you've
been told differently, you probably
want to get the Unicode build of
wxPython. Although they are not
nativly Unicode like NT-based systems,
the Unicode build of wxPython will
also mostly work on Windows 98/Me
systems using a Microsoft hack called
MSLU (or unicows.dll) that translates
unicode API calls to ansi API calls.
However the coverage of the API is not
complete so there are some difficult
bugs lurking in there, so the best
thing to do is to upgrade your
machines if possible, otherwise
Windows 98/Me users may want to try
the ANSI build instead.
and they are still release installers for Python2.5
Yes, Python droped Win9x/NT support at version 2.5.4.
However there are alternates builds: http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/162317-python-27-for-windows-95/