= Using PyInstaller with PyQt on Mac OS-X =

!PyInstaller has only preliminary support for Mac OS-X and currently (Feb. 2010) needs some workarounds and modifications to work properly with !PyQt. Therefore this short how-to will show the steps to make the !QtWebKit based 'Minibrowser' sample app  from [[http://eric-ide.python-projects.org/tutorials/MiniBrowser/index.html | here]] into an OS-X application bundle.

== Prerequisites ==

 * Recent versions of Qt and !PyQt need to be installed.

I installed !PyQt and Eric4 according to [[http://works13.com/blog/mac/installing-eric4-on-mac-os-x-leopard.htm | this]] guide. The following versions were used: OS-X 10.6.2, Python 2.6.1, Qt 4.6.2., !PyQt 4.7, sip 4.10, QScintilla 2.4.2. Eric4 is obviously optional for the purpose of this how-to.

== Installing and patching PyInstaller ==

 * Create a working folder, for example:
    /Users/username/pywork
    * Open a Terminal window and
      {{{     
      $ mkdir pywork
      $ cd pywork
      }}}
 * Download the current pyinstaller source:
      {{{
      $ svn co http://svn.pyinstaller.org/trunk pyinstaller
      }}}
      > Checked out revision 771

 * Modify pyinstaller/source/linux/main.c by commenting out the following 'wait()' section at the end of the file:
   {{{#!
        wait(&rc);
        rc = WEXITSTATUS(rc);

        VS("Back to parent...\n");
        if (strcmp(workpath, homepath) != 0)
            clear(workpath);
   }}}

   This deals with the problem "Icon and Menu is missing from !PyQt apps, when running an OS-X App Bundle". The patch is described and can be downloaded [[http://www.pyinstaller.org/ticket/156 | here]].
   {{{
   $ cd pyinstaller/source/linux
   $ patch --verbose main.c main.patch
   }}}

 * Setup pyinstaller:
      {{{
      $ cd pyinstaller/source/linux
      $ python ./Make.py
      $ make
      $ cd ../..
      $ python Configure.py
      }}}

 * Patch Build.py, otherwise we get a 'Python image not found error'

   * Browse to Ticket #152 [[http://www.pyinstaller.org/ticket/152 | "pyinstaller onefile fails to bundle Python framework shared lib on osx"]]

   * Download [[http://www.pyinstaller.org/raw-attachment/ticket/152/pyinstaller.patch |pyinstaller.patch]] and copy it into pywork/pyinstaller
    {{{
    $ patch --verbose Build.py pyinstaller.patch
    }}}

== Making the Application into an App Bundle ==

 * Download a the Minibrowser sample project:
    * From  [[http://eric-ide.python-projects.org/tutorials/MiniBrowser/resources/minibrowser.zip | here]] into the pywork directory and unzip

 * In the main loop add window.raise_():
    * this deals with the !PyQt specific problem in OS-X, that an application window is not automatically brought to the front on launch as expected. [[http://www.pyinstaller.org/ticket/158 | link]]

    * for example in pywork/minibrowser/minibrowser.py modify as follows
   {{{#!python
    ui = MainWindow()
    ui.show()
    ui.raise_()
   }}}

 * Change to the pywork directory & make the spec file:
   {{{
   $ cd ..
   $ python pyinstaller/Makespec.py --out=MinibrowserTmp minibrowser/minibrowser.py
   }}}
 * Add the following to the bottom of your spec file:
    {{{
    import sys 
    if sys.platform.startswith("darwin"): 
        app = BUNDLE(exe, 
                  appname='Minibrowser', 
                  version='1.0')
    }}}
 * Build the Application Bundle:
   {{{
   $ python pyinstaller/Build.py MinibrowserTmp/minibrowser.spec
   }}}
 * Fix the Bundle:

   * Change the key in pywork/Minibrowser.app/Contents/Info.plist to
      {{{ 
         <key>LSBackgroundOnly</key>
	 <false/>
      }}}

 * To deal with the issue 'OS-X App Bundle is missing most files' described [[http://www.pyinstaller.org/ticket/155 | here]]
   * Copy the missing app files into pywork/Minibrowser.app/Contents/MacOS:
      {{{
      $ cp -rv MinibrowserTmp/dist/minibrowser/* Minibrowser.app/Contents/MacOS
      }}}

 * To prevent the Error: 'qt_menu.nib could not be loaded' described [[http://www.pyinstaller.org/ticket/157 | here]]
   * Into the pywork/Minibrowser.app/Contents/Resources folder copy qt_menu.nib from /Library/Frameworks/QtGui.framework/Versions/4/Resources/qt_menu.nib 
      {{{
      $ cp -rv /Library/Frameworks/QtGui.framework/Versions/4/Resources/qt_menu.nib Minibrowser.app/Contents/Resources
      }}}
== Test and Compress the App ==

 * You should now be able to run the application bundle just like any native OS-X application by double clicking on it.

 * Minibrowser usage: Enter a url and ''click'' the Navigate button

 * Package the app in a compressed dmg for distribution, this reduces the size to about one third.

Check the linked issue tickets and !PyInstaller [[http://www.pyinstaller.org/report/1 | tracker]] and release notes, as these issues will be resolved sometime and the steps with workarounds will hopefully not be needed any more.