stu96art has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I would like to make my Perl application, a standalone application. I am using Windows, and have found that using PerlApp would be a good way to go, but I do not know how to use it and cannot find too much documentation about converting a Perl file into an .exe. I have one file that is my input, and then I create 2 more and then use those as input again. All of this leads to an output file. I include all of this information because I think that it is needed inside PerlApp. What I am trying to figure out is when I get to the DOS prompt, I type in "PerlApp" and it begins. Then when I try a command (i.e. --help, --exe) nothing happens. Am I doing something wrong? Could someone please lead me in the right direction. Thanks

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
•Re: Perl to stand alone
by merlyn (Sage) on Feb 18, 2003 at 01:17 UTC
      I hear you're a prominent figure in the Perl community, and I would enjoy hearing what your pro's and con's are of both products which lead to your recommendation.

      -Nitrox

        If you check out a recent thread (namely perl2exe - no more secrets), I think you will understand merlyn's point of view. :)


        If the above content is missing any vital points or you feel that any of the information is misleading, incorrect or irrelevant, please feel free to downvote the post. At the same time, reply to this node or /msg me to tell me what is wrong with the post, so that I may update the node to the best of my ability. If you do not inform me as to why the post deserved a downvote, your vote does not have any significance and will be disregarded.

      PAR is very cool, but I've had problems using it with more complex dependency chains -- i.e., modules using PerlTk, or if the perl on the compiling box uses shared libraries and the target box doesn't have the shared libraries. That's perhaps not surprising.

      Would suggest that the monk first try PAR, yes, but if he really needs an executable and PAR doesn't work, ActiveState does make a fine product...

Re: Perl to stand alone
by Jenda (Abbot) on Feb 17, 2003 at 23:39 UTC

    Go to Start Menu\Programs\ActiveState Perl Dev Kit and select "Documentation". If something is not clear from the docs tell us what and we will try to help.

    Usualy the whole thing you have to do is to run

    perlapp yourScript.pl
    on the Command Prompt and you get a freestanding yourScript.exe.

    Jenda

Re: Perl to stand alone
by gmpassos (Priest) on Feb 19, 2003 at 07:21 UTC
    Take a look at TinyPerl. You can genereate binarys from it too. See the option: tinyperl -bin for help.

    http://tinyperl.sf.net

    Graciliano M. P.
    "The creativity is the expression of the liberty".