I am currently working on a C++ gui application. The application uses the Python/C API to call some python scripts. The scripts are located in the solution directory, and I call them by simply providing the path. This is currently working fine while debugging the application or even running the generated .exe file, but I am wondering how this could work if I want to release and distribute the application onto a different computer for someone to use. How can these scripts be deployed with the application?
I also have a .ttf font file with the same situation. How can this resource file be deployed with the application?
In other words, I want to deploy/release a C++ application with the scripts and resource files.
FYI: the C++ application is a Visual Studio project.
Thanks for the help in advance, and let me know if any more information is needed!
Update:
I just wanted to clear up the way my project is working currently:
PyObject* pArgs = PyTuple_New(5); // I setup the arguments the python function needs
PyImport_ImportModule("requests"); // imports...
// make python call
PyObject* pResult = PyObject_CallObject(pFunc, pArgs);
So this is (for the most part) how I call the scripts with the C++ source code. The scripts are located in a folder that is located in the solution directory.
I hope this explains my problem a little better.
Update:
Just another little update... Using some answers to other similar questions got me to the following point:
I need to obtain a python library, compile and link it with my C++ application, and then bundle the dependencies with the application (How to distribute C++ application which calls Python?)
So I guess my question is now shifting to how I would be able to get this done. What are the specific steps to do this? I also got a link (https://docs.python.org/3.5/using/windows.html#embedded-distribution) to an embedded distribution of a python environment (maybe this should somehow be used?). Also, I am able to statically link python into the application. I just don't know how to bundle and deploy the scripts I created and use in the application.
PyImport_ImportModule("requests")
The parameter is "requests".
Put the py file aside exe file when distributing.
So, you need to make sure that the C++ application can still access the python libraries when its released and those libraries/dependencies arent necessarily available on other systems.
You'll need to, like another commenter suggested, use one of the importing modules utilities, like PyImport_ImportModule("library name").
You can see these utilities here: https://docs.python.org/3/c-api/import.html
You'll also need to either
Put the libraries that you want with the exe (in the same directory) or
put them in the system environment path ( which is probably less straightforward).
Hope that helps and that I understood you're question correctly.
Related
I am currently trying to basically expose a native C++ library, that I not have the code for, as a WebApi. To do that, I created a managed C++ wrapper library, that allows my web application to communicate with the native code.
So the dependencies of the project look something like this:
Web application (ASP.NET)
Managed C++ Wrapper
Native C++ Library (DLL)
Native Dependencies (DLLs)
My problem is now, that I always get the error message "Could not load file or assembly [ManagedWrapper.dll] or one of its dependencies. The specified module could not be found."
Since the managed wrapper library is in the same solution, it is listed as reference and even copied to the shadow copies, so I assume that the problem lies in the native dependencies. I am well aware that there are problems with loading native DLLs in ASP.NET as no shadow copies will be made of them and they can not be added to the GAC. I tried to tackle this problem by just adding them to my %PATH%, but the error still remains. Dependency walker did not show any additional dependencies and adding the native DLLs to system32/inetsvr fixed the problem, but this is obviously not the way this should be done.
So here my question: What could be the reason that the PATH variable is not working? (And is there maybe another way to get this to work?)
Using loadLibrary to load with an absolute path is not really a possible solution as I have no influence on the native C++ library and how it will load further dependencies.
I think I found my own a solution to my problem and hope this might help someone else as well:
My native DLLs where somewhere in my home folder. Moving them to a more accessible place, i.e. C:\temp\, and adding this folder to the path seemed to do the trick. My guess is, that this was a permission based problem, even though I added rights for IUSR for that folder in my home directory before.
I developed a Qt application in MacBook (El-Capitan 10.11.2) and it is ready now to be released.
What i want now, is to create the standalone executable file for both Mac and Windows OS.
But I don't know how !
I found this link but I am unable to follow it is guidance, it looks different from what my system is showing me.
If you have any idea, please help me.
Thank you
Well, to compile an application for windows, you will need a windows machine (or at least a virtual machine). You can't compile for windows on mac.
Regarding the "standalone": The easy way is to deploy your application together with all the required dlls/frameworks and ship them as one "package". To to this, there are the tools windeployqt and macdeployqt. However, those will not be "single file" applications, but rather a collection of files.
If you want to have one single file, you will have to build Qt statically! You can to this, but you will have to do it on your own. And if you do, please notice that the LGPL-license (the one for the free version of Qt) requires you to make the source-code of your program public! That's not the case if you just link to the dynamic libraries.
EDIT:
Deployment
Deployment can be really hard, because you have to do it differently for each platform. Most times you will have 3 steps
Dependency resolving: In this step, you collect all the exectuables/lirabries/translations/... your application requires and collect them somewhere they can find each other. For windows and mac, this can be done using the tools I mentioned above.
Installation: Here you will have to create some kind of "installer". The easiest way is to create a zip-file that contains everyhing you need. But if you want to have a "nice" installation, you will have to create proper "installers" for each platform. (One of many possibilities is the Qt Installer Framework. Best thing about it: It's cross platform.)
Distribution: Distribution is how to get your program to the user. On Mac, you will have the App-Store, for windows you don't. Best way is to provide the download on a website created for this (like sourceforge, github, ...)
I can help you with the first step, but for the second step you will have to research the possibilities and decide for a way to do it.
Dependencies
Resolving the dependencies can be done by either building Qt statically (this way you will have only one single file, but gain additional work because you will have to compile Qt) or using the dynamic build. For the dynamic build, Qt will help you to resolve the dependencies:
macdeployqt is rather easy to use. Compile your app in release mode and call <qt_install_dir>/bin/macdeployqt <path_to_your_bundle>/<bundle>.app. After thats done, all Qt libraries are stored inside the <bundle>.app folder.
For windeployqt is basically the same: <qt_install_dir>\bin\windeployqt --release <path_to_your_build>\<application>.exe. All dependencies will be inside the build folder. (Hint: copy the <application>.exe in an empty directoy and run windeployqt on that path instead. This way you get rid of all the build-files).
Regarding the static build: Just google it, you will find hundreds of explanations for any platform. But unless you have no other choice but to use one single file (for whatever reason) it would recommend you to use dynamic builds. And regarding the user experience: On mac, they won't notice a difference, since in both cases everything will be hidden inside the app bundle. On windows, it's normal to have multiple files, so no one will bother. (And if you create an installer for windows, just make sure to add a desktop shortcut. This way the user will to have "a single file" to click.)
Currently I am messing around with a Click-Once WPF application. That application is some third-party application that was not developed by me. I also do not have access to its sources.
It is run on a Windows server periodically and automatically (using a self made launcher written in standard C++) by executing the corresponding *.appref-ms link that was placed in the start menu path on installation of the application. This works fine.
Due to periodically arising problems with that application my launcher needs to wipe all configuration files before starting it so I get a well defined run at all times. Those files are placed in one of the application's folders. That config path for its settings reads like this (I found it by searching the AppData tree manually):
C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Local\Apps\2.0\Data\WM4WPKCW.P5Z\67QVXD6C.0NT\<app>_f6187a2321850a68_0003.0004_1a67f9f1633c43fc\Data\AppFiles\
Please note that this config path is pretty different from the application path (which uses differently named folders):
C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Local\Apps\2.0\5HN2CKMO.MPL\YOL20MYR.O8L\<app>_f6187a2321850a68_0003.0004_f6ab8c93b3a43b7c\
Since this config path changes on each update of the Click-Once application I need to find it by code (preferably C++) automatically. Unfortunately I could not figure out a way to do this.
How can I make my launcher find the config path of the Click-Once application based on its *.appref-ms file?
From Raghavendra Prabhu’s blog entry “Client Settings FAQ”:
” If you want to get to the path programmatically, you can do it using the Configuration Management API (you need to add a reference to System.Configuration.dll). For example, here is how you can get the local user.config file path:
Configuration config =
ConfigurationManager.OpenExeConfiguration(ConfigurationUserLevel.PerUserRoamingAndLocal);
Console.WriteLine("Local user config path: {0}", config.FilePath);
The code is C# (evidently), but shouldn't be that hard to translate to C++/CLI.
Raghavendra Prabhu further writes:
” If you need to store the settings in a different location for some reason, the recommended way is to write your own SettingsProvider. This is fairly simple to implement and you can find samples in the .NET 2.0 SDK that show how to do this. Keep in mind however that you may run into the same isolation issues mentioned above .
Disclaimer: I have not tested any of this.
I am currently working on a Windows desktop application that uses JNI to call methods located inside a jar file.
I need to know the best way to package my application so that it can link to jvm.dll. I am not sure if I should package all the binaries found inside the JDK's bin directory into my setup file (not sure if I am allowed to do so)?
The problem is all examples found online links directly the jvm.dll found in the JDK installation path. And since my application is a commercial one, I cannot rely or ask that every user should install the JDK along side my app because that would be ridiculous.
Please can someone clarify the best method to package such application?
Regards
jvm.dll is also installed with the normal java runtime (bin/client subdirectory). By checking some registry values, you can find the path to it, load it from there and check whether the correct version is installed. If you have already linked jvm.lib, you'll then need to add jvm.dll to the list of delay loaded dlls, so you can load it at runtime.
See my recent answer to another question for details:
https://stackoverflow.com/a/14434203/93652
I am a Java programmer and have come across a very nasty situation. For POC purposes, I need to write down a small segment of my solution that will run as a standalone application doing something very specific.
I have 2 questions:-
I can write the code, but what I don't know is how do I create an installer and exe out of that C++ code.
Secondly, I need to parse a sqlite db file and show its data in the application. Is there a sqlite windows dll or some C++ library or something that I can use, instead of asking the user to install sqlite (or doing it myself through the installer)? So basically, I don't want an extra program to be pushed in, just a dll or some C++ library..
Please let me know if you have an answer to either or both the issues that I'm facing.
Thanks
Compiling your code will turn it in to an executable. For distribution, you'll want to build it in Release mode. I'm not sure what version of Visual Studio you are using, but you might have a "Setup and Deployment" Project type which will enable you to create an installer. Failing that, you may have to look at InstallShield or a tool like that to ensure that the installer has all necessary files (such as the runtime libraries).
SQLLite is called light for a reason! The source code for it can be incorporated directly in to your project and compiled alongside the rest of the files (see: http://www.sqlite.org/selfcontained.html ). This means no external libraries are necessary to link against, and no extra DLLs need to be redistributed alongside your executable.