lua-to-exe

lua-to-exe is part of the luaToEXE project suite.

Introduction

lua-to-exe provides a Python library for packaging .lua files into standalone .exe executables.

• The conversion process is powered by srlua.
• Platform limitation: Windows 32/64-bit.
• Supports multiple Lua versions.
  The generated executable files can run without any external DLLs.
• Includes a GUI interface implemented with Tkinter.

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Installation

Install via pip:

pip install lua-to-exe

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Directory Structure

.../lua_to_exe/
    __init__.py
    lua_to_exe.py
    srlua/
        5.1.5-64/
            srlua.exe
            srglue.exe
        5.4.6-64/
            srlua.exe
            srglue.exe
        ...

You can provide multiple Lua interpreter versions under the srlua directory.

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Usage

1. Python API

Import

import lua_to_exe # Note: use underscore, not `-`

Convert Lua Script to EXE

Default conversion (using Lua 5.1.5-64)

lua_to_exe.lua_to_exe("hello.lua", "hello.exe")

Specify Lua Version

lua_to_exe.lua_to_exe("hello.lua", "hello.exe", lua_version="5.4.6-64")

• The lua_version parameter is optional.
• If not specified, "5.1.5-64" is used by default.
• The value must match a valid subdirectory under srlua/.

List All Available Lua Versions

versions = lua_to_exe.all_available()
print(versions)  # Example output: ['5.1.5-64', '5.4.6-64']

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2. Graphical User Interface (GUI)

Launch the GUI:

lua_to_exe.gui()

Features:

• Select the Lua script and output EXE path.
• Choose the Lua version (from available versions).
• View tool and Lua version info in the window.
• One-click conversion with status feedback.

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API Reference

lua_to_exe(lua_file, exe_file, lua_version='5.1.5-64')

Converts a .lua file into a standalone .exe executable.

• lua_file (str): Path to the input Lua script.
• exe_file (str): Path for the output exe file.
• lua_version (str, optional): Name of the Lua runtime folder, must exist under srlua/.
• Raises RuntimeError on error.

all_available()

Returns a list of all available Lua versions (i.e., those with both srlua.exe and srglue.exe present).

gui()

Launches the graphical interface for interactive conversion.

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Notes

• Only supports Windows 64-bit.
• Each srlua/<version>/ subdirectory must contain both srlua.exe and srglue.exe for that version.
• The available Lua versions are determined by the actual subfolders under srlua/.
• If no version is available, conversion will not be possible.

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Example

import lua_to_exe

# List all available Lua versions
print(lua_to_exe.all_available())

# Convert hello.lua to hello.exe using default Lua version
lua_to_exe.lua_to_exe("hello.lua", "hello.exe")

# Convert using a specific Lua version
lua_to_exe.lua_to_exe("hello.lua", "hello.exe", lua_version="5.4.6-64")

# Launch the graphical interface
lua_to_exe.gui()

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For more details, please refer to the GitHub repository.