script2bundle 0.3.0

Generate an application bundle (MacOS) from an executable

Short description

script2bundle is a command line Python script that bundles an executable, e.g. another (Python) script, into a MacOS application bundle. Compared to py2app, this is a minmal wrapper and allows editable installs (PEP660), but the application bundle will only work on the computer it was created. Script2bundle is of limited use for command line scripts, where Platypus might be a better option. It is intended to be used for GUI (e.g. Qt) executables.

How to use

Simply run the script without any options to generate an example file. Afterwards, you will find example.app in the same folder.

General options:

• -e The filename of the (existing) executable file to be bundled.
• -f The filename of the app to be generated (without .app).
• -i The (existing) png file to be used to generate an icon.
• -d The destination of the .app file: user (~/Applications), system (/Applications) or executable (same as -e).
• --launch Launch the app to register properly.
• --terminal Launch the app via a Terminal

Options to connect a file extension

• -x An (app specific!) file extension to be opened by the app.
• --CFBundleTypeRole The app’s role with respect to the file extension. Can be Editor, Viewer, Shell or None.

Additional modifier options:

The information above will be used to generate reasonable entries in Info.plist. However, these entries can be directly modified using the corresponding argument named according to the Apple documentation. The implemented options are:

• --CFBundleDisplayName Specifies the display name of the bundle, visible to users and used by Siri.

Notes

Due to the internal structure of some entries, they have to be formatted according to RFC 1035. If neccessary, an error is raised by script2bundle, e.g. caused by two subsequent dashes in the filename.