Is there a way to package the project using pyinstaller without all of these files?

[zSynctic]

I really like customtkinter and the design is so good but I'm trying to make the project public and the program is so simple but there are all of these files tcls and libraries and many other things

[Akascape]

@zSynctic I know what the problem is, you want to provide a clean looking executable version of your program but pyinstaller is packing too much files in the package.
I have researched a lot about pyinstaller and I have the possible solutions for you.

First of all use the latest pyinstaller only, there are some few bugs recently fixed in the latest version.

Solution 1

Do a fresh installation of a different python version on your system and download only the required modules that your python program needs like customtkinter and pyinstaller. Use pyinstaller in that version to make your executable.
By this, unnecessary cache and modules will never be included.

Solution 2

If you use one-folder mode for your application, then you can delete some folders like the dist-info folders. Those folders just contains the module information which are not that important. I don't recommend to remove other folders like tk or tcl8 because those are interconnected with customtkinter. Most of them don't take much size on the disk. You can distribute that folder in zip format directly.

Solution 3

Even after you remove some unnecessary folders, there will still be lots of files in that package. If you want to give a cleaner version then use a Installer maker to pack all the files in one executable. It will be a very clean experience for the end user. It will just work like a professional software installation. You can use Inno Setup or Install Forge to make your installer.

(Note: You may have to sign the installer otherwise it may show false positives by antiviruses in many cases (specially windows defender). Its because of those unsigned dll files made by pyinstaller. You can warn the user if you don't want to sign it otherwise there is a different solution I can recommend)

Solution 4

If you don't want to use installers but still want to give a clean executable, then use the one-file mode of Pyinstaller which will create only one executable file. It actually packs the folders in one executable and unpacks them to a temporary folder every time the user opens it. The main issue is that it is a little bit slower than the one-folder mode because it needs to extract the files in a temporary folder. One thing I will recommend everyone is to specify a unique temp folder using the --runtime-tmpdir parameter. You can name it just Temp. By doing this, it will not create a mess in the default temporary folder of your OS. Windows generally warns the user whenever an application wants to access the main OS temp folder but using a unique temp folder removes that warning message which is a plus point. You can then simply zip that executable version and distribute it.

This is what I like to use every time, there is no need to sign the exe. To my experiments, I never got any false positives (by antiviruses) with the one-file mode.

Conclusion

That's all the solutions I came up with. There are still some limitations though.
If you are making a open source public project then I will recommend you to just upload the main python script in your repo and distribute the executable zip through the releases.

Hope it will help, please mark this as answer if you are satisfied.

[zSynctic]

Thanks, but I only have one last question: can I use the one-file mode of pyinstaller when I'm using customtkinter or not?

[Akascape]

@zSynctic Yes, it works the same. One file mode is just a compressed version of one folder.

[zSynctic]

How can I do that? Because when I read in the wiki of customtkinter it says that only one directory mode works?

[Akascape]

@zSynctic I have written a new answer for you related to the one file, hope it will clear the doubts. No need to make one-file if you are happy with the installers.
Please mark the answer as solution for this QnA.

[zSynctic]

Ok sure thanks for the help

[Akascape]

@zSynctic Yes, the one-file mode works with customtkinter, I have built my own customtkinter app in one-file mode only.

First make sure to add this function in you main python code for the assets/images you use.

import sys, os
def resource_path(relative_path):
    base_path = getattr(
        sys,
        '_MEIPASS',
        os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
    return os.path.join(base_path, relative_path)

Then use it like this for every asset:

Suppose this is your asset variable

asset = "Icon.ico"

Then change it to this:

asset = resource_path("Icon.ico")

We are doing this because in one-file it will have to search the assets within the temp folder only.

How to make the One-File executable

I will recommend you to use Auto-py-to-exe which is a interface for Pyinstaller. It will make the work easier for you.

So first choose the py file in the script location. Then select One File with either Console Based or Window Based mode. "Window based" will not show any console when we will start our executable. (But sometimes it depends on the type of program)

You can then choose the icon.ico file for your program in the Icon section.

The next section is very important, In the Additional Files you have to choose all the required files/folders related to your python script like any assets or images including the icon file. For customtkinter applications, you have to manually choose the customtkinter module folder/location under the add folder option. Other modules will automatically be packed.

Then under the Settings section, specify the output directory for your exe.

Thats all you have to do, then just click on Convert .py to .exe.

Tip: I will recommend you to also use an advanced option under the Advanced tab which is --runtime tmpdir and add Temp word in it. It will then create temporary folder only in a specific location instead of any OS defined temp folder.

This is the whole process I use to make my applications.

[Akascape]

@zSynctic
You don't have to do anything for the exe icon that you put using "--icon" in pyinstaller. You don't even need to pack it.

But the icon file that your script uses internally needs to be packed and used with the method that I have explained.

You can use different icons like I have used in my case.

The main tv icon that I used in my application is the icon I put using '--icon' in pyinstaller options.

But the green square icon is used internally which I have packed using that method.

You can notice the difference.

[zSynctic]

The problem now is I tried the method that you used in your program pure-glitch but now when I try to run it I get this issue

[zSynctic]

The code of the icon is like this:

[Akascape]

@zSynctic
Your code is correct but you have to add that whole Asset folder in the additional folder options ('--add data') of Pyinstaller just like you did with the customtkinter folder.

[zSynctic]

thanks it works now