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https://github.com/beeware/briefcase-windows-visualstudio-template

A template for generating Visual Studio projects for building Windows apps with Briefcase
https://github.com/beeware/briefcase-windows-visualstudio-template

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A template for generating Visual Studio projects for building Windows apps with Briefcase

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README 

        
Briefcase Windows Visual Studio Template

========================================



A `Cookiecutter `__ template for

building Python apps from a Visual Studio project, that can then be packaged

with an MSI installer.



Using this template

-------------------



The easiest way to use this project is to not use it at all - at least, not

directly. `Briefcase `__ is a tool that

uses this template, rolling it out using data extracted from a

``pyproject.toml`` configuration file.



However, if you *do* want use this template directly...



1. Install `cookiecutter`_. This is a tool used to bootstrap complex project

   templates::



    $ pip install cookiecutter



2. Run ``cookiecutter`` on the template::



    $ cookiecutter https://github.com/beeware/briefcase-windows-visualstudio-template



   This will ask you for a number of details of your application, including the

   `name` of your application (which should be a valid PyPI identifier), and

   the `Formal Name` of your application (the full name you use to describe

   your app). The remainder of these instructions will assume a `name` of

   ``my-project``, and a formal name of ``My Project``.



3. Build the project. You can do this by opening the solution file in Visual

   Studio and building the Release configuration, or by using MSBuild:



    $ MSBuild.exe "My Project.sln" -target:restore -property:RestorePackagesConfig=true -target:"My Project" -property:Configuration=Release



   In order to build the project, you will need to configure Visual Studio

   to include the following modules:



   * **.NET Desktop development** - default options

   * **Deskop Development with C++** - default options, plus the "C++/CLI Support for v143 build tools".



4. `Obtain a Python Windows Embeddable package`_, and extract it into the

   ``My Project/x64/Release`` directory generated by the template. This will give you a

   ``python3.dll`` (amongst other artefacts) in the ``My Project/x64/Release`` folder.



5. Add your code to the template, into the ``My Project/x64/Release/app`` directory.

   At the very minimum, you need to have an ``app//__main__.py`` file

   that defines an entry point that will start your application.



   If your code has any dependencies, they should be installed under the

   ``My Project/x64/Release/app_packages`` directory.



If you've done this correctly, a project with a formal name of ``My Project``,

with an app name of ``my-project`` should have a directory structure that

looks something like::



    My Project/

        x64/

            Release/

                app/

                    my_project/

                        __init__.py

                        __main__.py

                        app.py

                app_packages/

                    ...

                python3.dll

                ...

                My Project.exe

                My Project.exe.metagen

                My Project.pdb

        My Project/

            My Project.vcxproj

            My Project.vcxproj.filters

            ...

        My Project.sln

        briefcase.toml

        my-project.wxs

        unicode.wxl



The executable in ``x64/Release`` will start your application.



This project can now be compiled with `WiX `__ to

produce an MSI file. This is a three step process. Open a command prompt,

and change into the ``My Project`` directory. Then:



1. Generate a manifest of the files in your project::



    C:\...>"%WIX%\bin\heat.exe" dir x64/Release -gg -sfrag -sreg -srd -scom -dr my_project_ROOTDIR -cg my_project_COMPONENTS -var var.SourceDir -out my-project-manifest.wxs



2. Compile the ``.wxs`` files::



    C:\...>"%WIX%\bin\candle.exe" -ext WixUtilExtension -ext WixUIExtension -dSourceDir=x64/Release -arch x64 my-project.wxs my-project-manifest.wxs



3. Link the compiled output to produce the MSI::



    C:\...>"%WIX%\bin\light.exe" -ext WixUtilExtension -ext WixUIExtension -loc unicode.wxl my-project.wixobj my-project-manifest.wixobj -o "My Project.msi"



The MSI file can then be used to install your application. When installed, your

application will have an entry in your Start menu.



Next steps

----------



Of course, running Python code isn't very interesting by itself - you won't

be able to do any console input or output, because a Windows app doesn't

display a console.



To do something interesting, you'll need to work with the native Windows system

libraries to draw widgets and respond to screen taps. The `Python for .NET`_

bridging library can be used to interface with the Windows system libraries.

Alternatively, you could use a cross-platform widget toolkit that supports

Windows (such as `Toga`_) to provide a GUI for your application.



If you have any external library dependencies (like Toga, or anything other

third-party library), you should install the library code into the

``app_packages`` directory. This directory is the same as a  ``site_packages``

directory on a desktop Python install.



.. _cookiecutter: https://github.com/cookiecutter/cookiecutter

.. _Obtain a Python Windows Embeddable package: https://www.python.org/downloads/windows/

.. _Python for .NET: http://pythonnet.github.io/

.. _Toga: https://beeware.org/project/projects/libraries/toga