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| author | Jack Jansen <jack.jansen@cwi.nl> | 1998-06-26 15:01:52 (GMT) |
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| committer | Jack Jansen <jack.jansen@cwi.nl> | 1998-06-26 15:01:52 (GMT) |
| commit | d969061744885195448d92b40c965d6785d91b73 (patch) | |
| tree | c4a2d4d9e8e8d3b4ae3d07630c4a60f01eb9c968 /Mac/Demo/freezing.html | |
| parent | 1118c44369d277d883e38d3233f07d51ac9b9429 (diff) | |
| download | cpython-d969061744885195448d92b40c965d6785d91b73.zip cpython-d969061744885195448d92b40c965d6785d91b73.tar.gz cpython-d969061744885195448d92b40c965d6785d91b73.tar.bz2 | |
Initial documentation on freezing.
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| -rw-r--r-- | Mac/Demo/freezing.html | 124 |
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diff --git a/Mac/Demo/freezing.html b/Mac/Demo/freezing.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..02556d8 --- /dev/null +++ b/Mac/Demo/freezing.html @@ -0,0 +1,124 @@ +<HTML> +<HEAD> +<TITLE>Creating standalone applications with Python</TITLE> +</HEAD> +<BODY> +<H1>Creating standalone applications with Python</H1> +<HR> +With the <EM>macfreeze</EM> script you can <i>freeze</i> a Python +script: create a fullblown Macintosh application that is completely +self-contained. A frozen application is similar to an applet (see <a +href="example2.html">Example 2</a> for information on creating applets), +but where an applet depends on an existing Python installation for its +standard modules and interpreter core, a frozen program does not, +because it incorporates everything in a single binary. This means you +can copy a frozen program to a machine that does not have Python +installed and it will work, which is not true for an applet. <p> + +There are two ways to create a frozen application: through the +CodeWarrior development environment or without any development +environment. The former method is more versatile and may result in +smaller binaries, because you can better customize what is included in +your eventual application. The latter method builds an application by +glueing together the various <em>.slb</em> shared libraries that come +with a binary Python installation into a single file. This method of +freezing, which does not require you to spend money on a development +environment, is unique to MacPython, incidentally, on other platforms +you will always need a C compiler and linker. <p> + +<h2>Common steps</h2> + +The two processes have a number of steps in common. When you start +<code>Mac:Tools:macfreeze:macfreeze.py</code> you are asked for the +script file, and you can select which type of freeze to do. The first +time you should always choose <em>report only</em>, which will produce a +listing of modules and where they are included from in the console +window. Macfreeze actually parses all modules, so it may crash in the +process. If it does try again with a higher debug value, this should +show you where it crashes. <p> + +For more elaborate programs you will often see that freeze includes +modules you don't need (because they are for a different platform, for +instance) or that it cannot find all your modules (because you modify +<code>sys.path</code> early in your initialization). It is possible to +include directives to tell macfreeze to add items to the search path and +include or exclude certain modules. All your directives should be in the +main script file. <p> + +Directives have the following form: +<pre> +# macfreeze: command argument +</pre> +The trigger <code>macfreeze:</code> must be spelled exactly like that, +but the whitespace can be any combination of spaces and tabs. Macfreeze +understands the following directives: + +<DL> +<DT> <code>path</code> +<DD> Prepend a folder to <code>sys.path</code>. The argument is a +pathname, which should probably be relative (starting with a colon) and +is interpreted relative to the folder where the script lives. + +<DT> <code>include</code> +<DD> Include a module. The module can either be given by filename or by +module name, in which case it is looked up through the normal method. + +<DT> <code>exclude</code> +<DD> Exclude a module. The module must be given by modulename. Even when +freeze deems the module necessary it will not be included in the +application. + +</DL> + +There is actually a fourth way that macfreeze can operate: it can be used +to generate only the resource file containing the compiled <code>PYC</code> +resources. This may be useful if you have embedded Python in your own +application. The resource file generated is the same as for the CodeWarrior +generation process. <p> + +<h2>Freezing with CodeWarrior</h2> + +To freeze with CodeWarrior you need CodeWarrior, obviously, and a full +source distribution of Python. You select the <em>Codewarrior source and +project</em> option. You specify an output folder, which is by default +the name of your script with <code>.py</code> removed and +<code>build.</code> prepended. If the output folder does not exist yet +it is created, and a template project file and bundle resource file are +deposited there. Next, a source file <code>macfreezeconfig.c</code> is +created which includes all builtin modules your script uses, and a +resource file <code>frozenmodules.rsrc</code> which contains the +<code>PYC</code> resources for all your Python modules. <p> + +The project expects to live in a folder one level below the Python root +folder, so the next thing you should do is move the build folder there. +It is a good idea to leave an alias with the same name in the original +location: when you run freeze again it will regenerate the +<code>frozenmodules.rsrc</code> file but not the project and bundle +files. This is probably what you want: if you modify your python sources +you have to re-freeze, but you may have changed the project and bundle +files, so you don't want to regenrate them. <p> + +An alternative is to leave the build folder where it is, but then you +have to adapt the search path in the project. <p> + +The project is set up to include all the standard builtin modules, but +the CW linker is smart enough to exclude any object code that isn't +referenced. Still, it may be worthwhile to remove any sources for +modules that you are sure are not used to cut back on compilation time. +You may also want to examine the various resource files (for Tcl/Tk, for +instance): the loader has no way to know that these aren't used. <p> + +You may also need to add sourcefiles if your script uses non-standard +builtin modules, like anything from the <code>Extensions</code> folder. <p> + +The <code>frozenbundle.rsrc</code> resource file contains the bundle +information. It is almost identical to the bundle file used for applets, +with the exception that it sets the <code>sys.path</code> initialization +to <code>$(APPLICATION)</code> only. This means that all modules will only +be looked for in PYC resources in your application. <p> + +<h2>Freezing without CodeWarrior</h2> + +This does not work yet. +</BODY> +</HTML> |