[Python-Dev] Request for Pronouncement: PEP 441 - Improving Python ZIP Application Support

[Paul Moore]

On 26 February 2015 at 18:23, Ethan Furman <ethan at stoneleaf.us> wrote:
> On 02/26/2015 09:28 AM, Glenn Linderman wrote:
>> On 2/26/2015 9:05 AM, Paul Moore wrote:
>
>>> ``create_archive(source, target=None, interpreter=None, main=None)``
>>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>>
>>> Create an application archive from *source*.  The source can be any
>>> of the following:
>>>
>>> * The name of a directory, in which case a new application archive
>>>   will be created from the content of that directory.
>>> * The name of an existing application archive file, in which case the
>>>   file is copied to the target.  The file name should include the
>>>   ``.pyz`` extension, if required.
>>
>> Or   ".pyzw", I presume.
>
> Hmm -- can the py launcher handle a `#!pythonw` line to properly launch a .pyz (or .py) file?

No. The launcher doesn't handle pythonw, because it won't do what you
expect. On Windows, the difference between a GUI and a console program
is baked into the executable (the "subsystem" field in the exe file
header). That's why we have python/pythonw and py/pyw executables.

A .pyz with a #!pythonw shebang would be run by py.exe, which would
launch pythonw.exe. So if you double click the file, a console window
will open (for py.exe) but the script won't use it (because it's being
run by pythonw). So you'll have a useless console window hanging
round.

Paul