Portable win32 perl application without PAR::Packer

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

Hello Monks,

I would like to distribute my perl application with "open directory structure", i.e., something like:

├── app.bat                          <- just launches perl.exe app.pl with additional params
├── app.pl                           <- launcher for my application 
├── lib                              <- all dependencies
├── my-lib                           <- perl modules for my application
├── perl.exe                         <- strawberry perl executable
└── resources                        <- my app resources

Are there existing modules for that or some guides?

Thanks. WBR, Basiliscos

Comment on Portable win32 perl application without PAR::Packer

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Re: Portable win32 perl application without PAR::Packer by RonW (Parson) on Oct 15, 2014 at 18:24 UTC
I have done something similar using the portable variant of Strawberry Perl as the foundation. It comes with a .BAT script to launch a CMD window with its environment setup for using Perl. This script can be modified to include the name of a .pl file to run. For my "project", I unzipped portable Strawberry and ran the .BAT script as-is. I then "installed" several modules from cpan using the cpan command as usual. Once I had the additional modules installed, I put my Perl programs and custom .BAT scripts to launch them in the base folder and tested it. Then I zipped the modified Strawberry "installation". My coworkers had no problems unzipping and running the programs. It is also possible to go a step further. With 7-Zip, I created a self-extracting archive containing a .CMD script that updated PATH in the Windows Registry. My coworkers could then just double click on the archive, which would then extract itself and "install" my programs. Update: Forgot to mention that the .CMD script just called a Perl program to do the registry update.	[reply]
Re: Portable win32 perl application without PAR::Packer by Anonymous Monk on Oct 16, 2014 at 22:34 UTC
Re^4: Advantages of Activeperl vs Strawberry Perl, Re^2: How PAR pp works? Alternaties to PAR http://www.cavapackager.com/appdocs/contents.htm, http://www.citrusperl.com/helpweb/createdistribution.htm, http://www.citrusperl.com/helpweb/createexecutable.htm	[reply]
Re: Portable win32 perl application without PAR::Packer by aitap (Curate) on Oct 18, 2014 at 21:50 UTC
Module::ScanDeps will provide you a list of dependencies of your `app.pl`. Copy them from your Perl installation to `lib/` or install a fresh copy from CPAN, specifying PERL_LOCAL_LIB_ROOT, PERL_MB_OPT, and PERL_MM_OPT accordingly. `perl.exe` will probably need its `perl5xx.dll` alongside. You can use Perl embedding features to build your own exe (with icon, manifest and everything) which launches the Perl interpreter, like this.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: Portable win32 perl application without PAR::Packer by basiliscos (Pilgrim) on Oct 19, 2014 at 18:44 UTC
Seems to be exactly what I looked for! Thanks a lot! As well as for the other monks too.	[reply]

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