Creating a windows EXE from Perl script

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

Hi!

I work at a university in Natural Language Processing. Most of my potencial users use windows with no knowledge to install cygwin or Active-Perl. The best solution would be to create an exe file from the perl script and modules.

I've listen to a presentation about PAR at YAPC::EU::2004. Also, someone told me about something named Perl DevKit.

My question is: what do you, great mongers, suggest? Is there any solution where I can create the EXE files from my linux box?

Alberto Simões

Comment on Creating a windows EXE from Perl script

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Re: Creating a windows EXE from Perl script by jplindstrom (Monsignor) on Mar 29, 2005 at 18:44 UTC
All of PAR, PerlApp (which is part of the Perl Dev Kit) and perl2exe work very well. All share the same problem of sometimes having trouble to determine what modules to package (solution: manually "use" the problematic modules in your script ) Start with PAR, it's free and most likely everything you need. Don't forget to put a nice icon on the binary. Non-geeks care for that. /J	[reply]
Re: Creating a windows EXE from Perl script by Corion (Patriarch) on Mar 29, 2005 at 16:51 UTC
You could either send your files to a knowledgeable Windows user to package them, or try packaging them yourself. From what I know/expect, an `.exe` file created by `pp` is merely a stub executable together with a `.par` archive at its end. So you could create the `.par` archive and copy it together with the stub executable. Some testing will have to be done :)	[reply]
Re: Creating a windows EXE from Perl script by FitTrend (Pilgrim) on Mar 29, 2005 at 18:28 UTC
ActiveState also makes the perl development kit that allows you to make stand-alone or dependent EXE files. I personally use it and am very happy with it. ActiveState Website /- M a r c -/	[reply]
Re^2: Creating a windows EXE from Perl script by ambs (Pilgrim) on Mar 29, 2005 at 18:30 UTC
Ok, then my friend was talking about ActiveState development kit. Thanks. Alberto Simões	[reply]
Re: Creating a windows EXE from Perl script by cbrandtbuffalo (Deacon) on Mar 29, 2005 at 17:08 UTC
There is a product called perl2exe that might be of interest if you need to do this often. Check out Indigo Star Software. I think there is a free and paid version.	[reply]
Re: Creating a windows EXE from Perl script by sekitan (Beadle) on Mar 30, 2005 at 17:08 UTC
I too enjoy PAR very much. AFAIK, PAR is useful for creating the EXE file to use on the same OS you create it on. To create an EXE that will run on a windows box as you desire, the easiest way is to use PAR on a windows box. If it is possible use PAR to create an EXE for win32 using a *nix box, please enlighten us.	[reply]