in reply to Is it possible to compile a Perl program into a .exe?

actually, the activestate tool to use is probably perlctrl. i've used it a few times and the resultant exes can get quite large, but if the machine has access to the perl libraries you can compile it that way, which minimizes the exe size. these are, of course, part of the activestate developers kit, which costs money, but i think you can still download a 10-day eval version.
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Re: Re: Is it possible to compile a Perl program into a .exe?
by Zucan (Beadle) on Aug 28, 2001 at 16:34 UTC
    Why use PerlCtrl? It creates ActiveX controls. I always use PerlApp, which is the one that converts Perl into EXEs. However, both (and more) are available in the PerlDevKit, which can be found at the following link:

    ActiveState Perl Development Kit

    As Ralphie states, it does cost money, and you can get a 10 day eval version. However, Perl2Exe also costs money, you just have a 30 day time period (I believe) and you are not allowed to distribute anything made from Perl2Exe until you have payed for it. Both programs are good, both have drawbacks, but when you need to distribute an EXE due to the fact you don't want other people to install Perl to use your tools, they work.

[reply]
      Thanks everyone, while it's not the response I hoped for (I was hopeing it was a practical solution to my problem... I can't distribute a program that big... and I would have needed Tk... which seems to have some problems as an exe...)
      I guess all I can do is wait and hope that Perl6 has better compile support... or go learn C/C++/VBasic...

      Thanks again


      "Wierd things happen, get used to it"

      Flame ~ Lead Programmer: GMS
      http://gms.uoe.org
[reply]
        Can you describe to us a little about your program? Apparently, it must have a GUI, if you think you needed TK. Perhaps you should look at Win32::GUI instead of Tk? Anyways, I have written some apps in PerlTK on Win32, used PerlApp to convert it to EXE and really haven't had any problems with it. The size of the EXE's really aren't *that* big. What would you consider too big?

        I still haven't run into any real problems with Tk and exe's. What problems have you heard? I read up on the threads previously mentioned above and don't see any issues there either.

        In any the case, I just wouldn't rule it out. The principle I follow is to program for the user base you will be distributing too. If the majority of users will not have Perl on their systems, then convert to EXE. If it is for your local company, and not many machines, stick with perl script. Anywhere in between, just think about your decision carefully. :-)

        Good luck.
        Zucan

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