perltux has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Given the following script:

use strict;
use warnings;
use Tk;
my $mw=MainWindow->new();
print STDOUT "PerlTk server: [". $mw->server() ."]\n";

[download]

If I run the above script on Windows 10 using StrawberryPerl I get the following output which is as expected:

PerlTk server: [Windows 10.0 10586 Win32]

but if I create an exe of the above script with Par::Packer on the same system I get the following wrong output when running the exe:

PerlTk server: [Windows 6.2 9200 Win32]

Why does Par::Packer change the output of the Tk 'server()' command making it incorrect and what do I have to do to get the correct output when using an exe created by Par::Packer?

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: why does par packer cause incorrect Perl-Tk server() output?
by marto (Cardinal) on Feb 16, 2018 at 11:36 UTC

    Release NT 6.2 is Windows 8, the latest build of which is 9200 (source). Run the following perl script:

    #!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;

use feature 'say';
use Win32;

say Win32::GetOSName();
say Win32::GetOSVersion();

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    package (pp -x -o OSver.exe script.pl), execute and compare the output.

    Update: see issue with a depreciated API.

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[d/l]
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      Output from your script:

      Win10Business (64-bit)
100105862002561

      [download]


      output from par packed exe of your script: 

      Win8Professional (64-bit)
6292002002561

      [download]


      so same issue with the Win32 module, when par packed.
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[d/l]
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        Time to start digging through pp, PAR to find the root cause.

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Re: why does par packer cause incorrect Perl-Tk server() output?
by Discipulus (Canon) on Feb 16, 2018 at 11:38 UTC
    > Why does Par::Packer..

    sorry I dont know the cause and I tried to investigate a bit without success..

    I confirm the same behaviour on my machine (win10 strawberry perl 5.26): it returns 6.2.9200 aka Windows Server 2012 or Windows 8

    But, if I recall it correctly when I read Mastering Perl Tk in paragrhap 13.11.6. Server Type it was a sentences similar to: 

    An ancient Win32 machine has a server type of "Windows 4". Anyway  thi
+s information is generally inconsistent, if not wrong, so think of  i
+t as suspecious data.

    [download]

    L*

    There are no rules, there are no thumbs..
    Reinvent the wheel, then learn The Wheel; may be one day you reinvent one of THE WHEELS.
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[d/l]
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      Thanks for confirming the issue, at least I now know it's not just my machine or software setup.
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Re: why does par packer cause incorrect Perl-Tk server() output?
by perltux (Monk) on Feb 16, 2018 at 18:57 UTC
    I found a solution that fixes the problem, not sure if it's just a workaround or a 'proper' solution as I don't know much about Windows specific programming.

    I added the <compatibility> section of the manifest file found here:
    https://msdn.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/operating-system-version-changes-in-windows-8-1
    to the myldr/winres/pp.manifest file in the PAR-Packer-1.041 source, and then rebuilt and reinstalled PAR-Packer from the modified source.

    Any exe built with this modified PAR-Packer displays the Windows version info correctly (tested on Win 10 and 8.1).

    For the record, this is the section I added to the pp.manifest file:

        <compatibility xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:compatibility.v1">
        <application>
            <!-- Windows 8.1 -->
            <supportedOS Id="{1f676c76-80e1-4239-95bb-83d0f6d0da78}"/>
            <!-- Windows Vista -->
            <supportedOS Id="{e2011457-1546-43c5-a5fe-008deee3d3f0}"/>
            <!-- Windows 7 -->
            <supportedOS Id="{35138b9a-5d96-4fbd-8e2d-a2440225f93a}"/>
            <!-- Windows 8 -->
            <supportedOS Id="{4a2f28e3-53b9-4441-ba9c-d69d4a4a6e38}"/>
            <!-- Windows 10 -->
            <supportedOS Id="{8e0f7a12-bfb3-4fe8-b9a5-48fd50a15a9a}"/>
        </application>
    </compatibility>

    [download]
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[d/l]
Re: why does par packer cause incorrect Perl-Tk server() output?
by perltux (Monk) on Feb 16, 2018 at 11:45 UTC
    The point that puzzles me is that the PerlTK server() call does provide the correct output when run directly, but not when packed inside a Par::Packer exe, so it's not a matter of depreciated APIs or ancient warnings from a 16 year old book.

    It appears like a Par::Packer bug to me, but I don't have enough knowledge or skill to pinpoint the root cause.
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      It appears like a Par::Packer bug to me, but I don't have enough knowledge or skill to pinpoint the root cause.

      You don't have to. All you need is enough knowledge or skill to raise a bug report. The maintainer will then investigate for you.

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        I have submitted the bug report now: https://rt.cpan.org/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=124445
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Re: why does par packer cause incorrect Perl-Tk server() output?
by Anonymous Monk on Feb 16, 2018 at 11:22 UTC
    Its just baked in exe meaningless strings? Use Win32 module for real info?
[reply]
      Why would Par::Packer mess with the Perl-Tk server() function output?

      Besides a quick grep through the Par::Packer source does not reveal a matching baked in string.

      And I don't want to use the Win32 module because the program is supposed to run on Linux too, the PerlTk server() function is platform independent.
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        How does tk generate that string(source)? It uses some %env or some exe property... Thats all par could possibly mess with as is its job... Unless it comes from windir dll which shouldnt have been ppacked...
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