Re^2: Perl/Tk and PAR::Packer on OS X

[elef]

Thanks for the detailed reply.
This definitely seems doable but not easy, especially given that I would be guiding a non-coder person through the process via skype or something like that.
I found a couple of threads and other sources talking about X11 being necessary for Perl/Tk to work on OSX. Do I not need to worry about this?

My googling led me to ActiveState's perl dev kit, which supposedly includes a tool that can generate standalone OSX executables without access to a mac computer. There's a 21-day trial version so in principle I could just do this on my own (Windows) computer for free with little fuss. Later updates would be a problem but even if I only get one release out, that's better than nothing. This is free software I'm writing as a hobby so I couldn't justify buying PDK - but maybe a couple of OSX users would donate the money.
So, does anyone have experience with cross-platform packaging in PerlApp? Does the trial version have limitations in addition to the 21-day trial period?
Edit: it looks like the executables generated with the trial version of perlapp have a time bomb in them. So the trial version is only good for testing, and the full version is not that cheap. Looks like I will be trying the remote-control-the-mac-guy-to-run-pp-for-me option. I will almost certainly come back here with questions if (when) we get stuck.

[kcott]

I don't recall any issues with X11. I set this up to start automatically when the system starts. This was a couple of years ago so details are not fresh in my memory. It runs without incident: I don't imagine it's something you'll need to worry about.

I don't use ActiveState or PerlApp: can't help you with those.

[elef]

Could you share that executable here or mail it to [e-mail]?
I know nothing about this stuff but it seems possible that the compiled executable requires X11 to be running and won't work otherwise. Hopefully, it's packaged in if it's needed but you never know. If I could have a mac user test your executable, I would have some info before trying to guide somebody through packaging up my whole app.

[kcott]

Firstly, perhaps a clarification. When I wrote "It runs without incident: I don't imagine it's something you'll need to worry about.", my intention was to indicate that, once running, you'll have nothing further to worry about. Maybe you mistakenly read it as: "You don't need to worry about running it.".

Take a look at the PAR::FAQ. While some of it may not be relevant to you, it isn't long and you'd do well to at least scan through all of it; in particular, see "On what platforms can I run PAR? On what platforms will the resulting executable run?".

For what it's worth, the "X Window System" I'm running is XQuartz 2.7.0 (xorg-server 1.11.1). This is not packaged as part of Tk.

I suggest you get your user to run the script I provided (pm_test_pp_tk.pl) and resolve any issues you have with that. When you're happy with the script, move on to pp and start testing the executable. Compiling and emailing executables sets a precedent I'm not happy with: I won't be doing this.

Searching for "X11" in your search engine should provide you with much useful information on this topic.

[Anonymous Monk]

citrusperl comes with a Tk package :) http://www.citrusperl.com/helpweb/citruspackages.htm