Using cx_freeze to freeze your application
The following will explain how to freeze a Python/wxPython application using the cx_freeze tool.
What Objects are Involved
You will need a working development environment including
* Python
* wxPython
Process Overview
A small sample wxPython "Hello world" application will be used to demonstrate the process. I created the tiny application using Boa Constructor but you could use any other IDE you use for your wxPython development. I did the initial creation of the setup.py file with Gui2Exe and then keep maintaining it and running it from the IDE (Boa in my case).
Special Concerns
Python 2.5x
- you will need the MS C run time dll 'msvcr71.dll', included with Python
- the dll 'gdiplus.dll' might also be needed depending on what wxPython widgets you use
the appname.manifest file (needed to get the nice themed widgets on XP+) can be generated by checking the appropriate option in Gui2Exe
Python 2.6x
- you will need the MS C run time dll's (msvcr90.dll, msvcp90.dll, msvcm90.dll), included with Python (additional information provided below)
- you will need a copy of the Microsoft.VC90.CRT.manifest file, additional information provided below
- the dll 'gdiplus.dll' might also be needed depending on what wxPython widgets you use
do not check the manifest option in Gui2Exe - to be verified
The setup.py
Save the following code in your working folder as a file called 'setup.py'.
I selected the "Compressed" option which created two .zip files to reduce the number of files to distribute, it also automagically copied the required dll's needed by Python and wxPython into the "dist" folder.
To deliver a single file to your end-users check out the InnoSetup page.
To "freeze" the application you run the following command from the command line in your working folder.
\python26\python setup.py build
1 # Let's start with some default (for me) imports...
2
3 from cx_Freeze import setup, Executable
4
5
6
7 # Process the includes, excludes and packages first
8
9 includes = []
10 excludes = ['_gtkagg', '_tkagg', 'bsddb', 'curses', 'email', 'pywin.debugger',
11 'pywin.debugger.dbgcon', 'pywin.dialogs', 'tcl',
12 'Tkconstants', 'Tkinter']
13 packages = []
14 path = []
15
16 # This is a place where the user custom code may go. You can do almost
17 # whatever you want, even modify the data_files, includes and friends
18 # here as long as they have the same variable name that the setup call
19 # below is expecting.
20
21 # No custom code added
22
23 # The setup for cx_Freeze is different from py2exe. Here I am going to
24 # use the Python class Executable from cx_Freeze
25
26
27 GUI2Exe_Target_1 = Executable(
28 # what to build
29 script = "simplewx.py",
30 initScript = None,
31 base = 'Win32GUI',
32 targetDir = r"dist",
33 targetName = "simplewx.exe",
34 compress = True,
35 copyDependentFiles = True,
36 appendScriptToExe = False,
37 appendScriptToLibrary = False,
38 icon = None
39 )
40
41
42 # That's serious now: we have all (or almost all) the options cx_Freeze
43 # supports. I put them all even if some of them are usually defaulted
44 # and not used. Some of them I didn't even know about.
45
46 setup(
47
48 version = "0.1",
49 description = "No Description",
50 author = "No Author",
51 name = "cx_Freeze Sample File",
52
53 options = {"build_exe": {"includes": includes,
54 "excludes": excludes,
55 "packages": packages,
56 "path": path
57 }
58 },
59
60 executables = [GUI2Exe_Target_1]
61 )
62
63 # This is a place where any post-compile code may go.
64 # You can add as much code as you want, which can be used, for example,
65 # to clean up your folders or to do some particular post-compilation
66 # actions.
67
68 # No post-compilation code added
69
70
71 # And we are done. That's a setup script :-D
The MS manifest
Following is the content of the Microsoft manifest file ("Microsoft.VC90.CRT.manifest"), note that the content of "version" and "publicKeyToken" are specific to the version of the dll files.
Installing Python 2.6 on Windows with the option "for this user only" this manifest file is created in the Python26 folder, note the Py26 installer does not offer the "for this user only" option on Vista.
If you install Python 2.6 for all users then these files are found in "C:\Windows\winsxs", i.e. in "C:\Windows\winsxs\Manifests" you will find guess what the manifest and it would be called "x86_microsoft.vc90.crt_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b_9.0.21022.8_none_bcb86ed6ac711f91.manifest" and then in "C:\Windows\winsxs\x86_microsoft.vc90.crt_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b_9.0.21022.8_none_bcb86ed6ac711f91" you will find the dll's.
Note that the folder names contain the version number, so with Python 2.6.2 you should use version 9.0.21022.8 manifest and dll's.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?> <!-- Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. --> <assembly xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" manifestVersion="1.0"> <noInheritable/> <assemblyIdentity type="win32" name="Microsoft.VC90.CRT" version="9.0.21022.8" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b" /> <file name="msvcr90.dll" /> <file name="msvcp90.dll" /> <file name="msvcm90.dll" /> </assembly>
Sample wxPython application
Save the following code in your working folder as a file called 'simplewx.py'.
1 #Boa:Frame:Frame1
2
3 import wx
4
5 def create(parent):
6 return Frame1(parent)
7
8 [wxID_FRAME1, wxID_FRAME1BUTTON1, wxID_FRAME1BUTTON2, wxID_FRAME1PANEL1,
9 wxID_FRAME1STATICTEXT1,
10 ] = [wx.NewId() for _init_ctrls in range(5)]
11
12 class Frame1(wx.Frame):
13 def _init_coll_bsPanel_Items(self, parent):
14 # generated method, don't edit
15
16 parent.AddWindow(self.staticText1, 0, border=10,
17 flag=wx.ALIGN_CENTER_VERTICAL | wx.ALIGN_CENTER_HORIZONTAL | wx.ALL | wx.EXPAND)
18 parent.AddSizer(self.fgsButtons, 1, border=2, flag=wx.ALL | wx.EXPAND)
19
20 def _init_coll_fgsButtons_Items(self, parent):
21 # generated method, don't edit
22
23 parent.AddWindow(self.button1, 1, border=2, flag=wx.ALL | wx.EXPAND)
24 parent.AddWindow(self.button2, 1, border=2, flag=wx.ALL | wx.EXPAND)
25
26 def _init_coll_bsFrame_Items(self, parent):
27 # generated method, don't edit
28
29 parent.AddWindow(self.panel1, 1, border=2,
30 flag=wx.EXPAND | wx.ALL | wx.ALIGN_CENTER_VERTICAL | wx.ALIGN_CENTER_HORIZONTAL)
31
32 def _init_coll_fgsButtons_Growables(self, parent):
33 # generated method, don't edit
34
35 parent.AddGrowableCol(0)
36 parent.AddGrowableCol(1)
37
38 def _init_sizers(self):
39 # generated method, don't edit
40 self.bsPanel = wx.BoxSizer(orient=wx.VERTICAL)
41
42 self.bsFrame = wx.BoxSizer(orient=wx.VERTICAL)
43
44 self.fgsButtons = wx.FlexGridSizer(cols=2, hgap=0, rows=0, vgap=0)
45
46 self._init_coll_bsPanel_Items(self.bsPanel)
47 self._init_coll_bsFrame_Items(self.bsFrame)
48 self._init_coll_fgsButtons_Items(self.fgsButtons)
49 self._init_coll_fgsButtons_Growables(self.fgsButtons)
50
51 self.SetSizer(self.bsFrame)
52 self.panel1.SetSizer(self.bsPanel)
53
54 def _init_ctrls(self, prnt):
55 # generated method, don't edit
56 wx.Frame.__init__(self, id=wxID_FRAME1, name='', parent=prnt,
57 pos=wx.Point(642, 279), size=wx.Size(236, 106),
58 style=wx.DEFAULT_FRAME_STYLE, title='Frame1')
59 self.SetClientSize(wx.Size(220, 70))
60
61 self.panel1 = wx.Panel(id=wxID_FRAME1PANEL1, name='panel1', parent=self,
62 pos=wx.Point(2, 2), size=wx.Size(216, 66),
63 style=wx.TAB_TRAVERSAL)
64
65 self.staticText1 = wx.StaticText(id=wxID_FRAME1STATICTEXT1,
66 label=u'Hello world!', name='staticText1', parent=self.panel1,
67 pos=wx.Point(10, 10), size=wx.Size(196, 13),
68 style=wx.ALIGN_CENTRE)
69
70 self.button1 = wx.Button(id=wxID_FRAME1BUTTON1, label='button1',
71 name='button1', parent=self.panel1, pos=wx.Point(4, 37),
72 size=wx.Size(100, 23), style=0)
73
74 self.button2 = wx.Button(id=wxID_FRAME1BUTTON2, label='button2',
75 name='button2', parent=self.panel1, pos=wx.Point(116, 37),
76 size=wx.Size(100, 23), style=0)
77
78 self._init_sizers()
79
80 def __init__(self, parent):
81 self._init_ctrls(parent)
82
83
84 if __name__ == '__main__':
85 app = wx.PySimpleApp()
86 frame = create(None)
87 frame.Show()
88
89 app.MainLoop()
Other wiki pages to check
Comments
Please feel free to provide any feedback on this page either here, on the wxPython-user list or to werner.bruhin at free.fr.