Question

I have a working Python 2.6 code using matplotlib, and would like to get a working exe out of it. I am having problems getting this accomplished:

Initially I got an error for missing MSCVP90.dll, but I downloaded that and extracted the .dll to the working directory and that error went away.

I had some errors regarding a missing tkagg module, but I added that to the exceptions and edited the matplotlibrc file to default to WXAgg instead and that went away.

The exe runs normally, but at the end of the code it is supposed to display a plot, and it doesn’t. The plot is the main goal of this program, so it would be good to have this.

Just running the python code brings the plot up just fine.

Can anyone offer any suggestions or insights?

Here’s my setup.py:

from distutils.core import setup
import py2exe
import matplotlib
matplotlib.use('wxagg') # overrule configuration
import pylab


setup(
    console=['test1.py'],
    options={
             'py2exe': {
                        'excludes': ['_gtkagg', '_tkagg', 'backend_tkagg'],
                       }
            },
    data_files=matplotlib.get_py2exe_datafiles(),

)

Thanks in advance!

---

---

Alright, I used pyinstaller and reverted the matplotlibrc file back to its original state where TkAgg was the default and everything works on my computer, but when I try to run it on another computer the plot still does not appear…

I can use pyinstaller to compile an exe out of a very simple matplotlib code, like:

from pylab import *
t = arange(0.0, 2.0, 0.01)
s = sin(2*pi*t)
plot(t, s, linewidth=1.0)
show()

But when I take that exe to another computer, it does not work.

Has anyone else had a similar issue? Any ideas?
Thanks

Answer 1

If the executable runs in your computer but doesn’t work in another computer, the most likely problem is the lack of one or more of the required dlls that py2exe doesn’t pack because license problems.

Very often these dlls are

gdiplus.dll
msvcp90.dll

Look for them in the computer where the exe works and copy them to the failing computer.
If the exe still doesn’t work, check for other dll’s. Py2exe gives the list of binary dependencies:

*** binary dependencies ***
Your executable(s) also depend on these dlls which are not included,
you may or may not need to distribute them.

Make sure you have the license if you distribute any of them, and
make sure you don't distribute files belonging to the operating system.

   OLEAUT32.dll - C:\Windows\system32\OLEAUT32.dll
   USER32.dll - C:\Windows\system32\USER32.dll
   gdiplus.dll - gdiplus.dll
   SHELL32.dll - C:\Windows\system32\SHELL32.dll
   ole32.dll - C:\Windows\system32\ole32.dll
   RPCRT4.dll - C:\Windows\system32\RPCRT4.dll
   WSOCK32.dll - C:\Windows\system32\WSOCK32.dll
   WINMM.dll - C:\Windows\system32\WINMM.dll
   ADVAPI32.dll - C:\Windows\system32\ADVAPI32.dll
   msvcrt.dll - C:\Windows\system32\msvcrt.dll
   WS2_32.dll - C:\Windows\system32\WS2_32.dll
   WINSPOOL.DRV - C:\Windows\system32\WINSPOOL.DRV
   GDI32.dll - C:\Windows\system32\GDI32.dll
   IMM32.dll - C:\Windows\system32\IMM32.dll
   MSVCP90.dll - C:\Python26\programas\test\MSVCP90.dll
   KERNEL32.dll - C:\Windows\system32\KERNEL32.dll
   ntdll.dll - C:\Windows\system32\ntdll.dll
   COMCTL32.dll - C:\Windows\system32\COMCTL32.dll
   COMDLG32.dll - C:\Windows\system32\COMDLG32.dll
   VERSION.dll - C:\Windows\system32\VERSION.dll

C:\Python26\programas\test>

Finally, I succesfully got a functional matplotlib program executable with py2exe. I only needed to add an 'includes' to setup.py and set WXAgg as the backend in matplotlib.rc (with Tk I got the same problem you described…). For it to work, I had to set WXAgg in the original matplotlib.rc (in the matplotlib/mpl-data folder). This is the one py2exe imports (not the one in the user’s matplotlib configuration directory). To be sure check the .rc file in your dist folder.

from distutils.core import setup
import py2exe
import matplotlib

setup(
    console=['test1.py'],
    options={
             'py2exe': {
                        'excludes': ['Tkconstants','Tkinter', 'tcl'],
                        'includes': ['matplotlib.backends.backend_wxagg'],
                       }
            },
    data_files=matplotlib.get_py2exe_datafiles(),

)