pythoncom and pywintypes module import issue

[marunguy]

pythoncom and pywintypes module import issue

[albertosottile]

Thanks for this detailed investigation. In general, support for bundle_files <=2 is limited to packages in the Python standard library, see:

py2exe/docs/py2exe.freeze.md

Line 69 in d34da51

- <b>``bundle_files <=2``</b>: these values are supported only for packages in the Python standard library. Issues occurring with external packages and lower values of `bundle_files` will not be investigated.

)

because I simply do not have the capacity to provide support for the whole Python ecosystem.

That being said, you are more than welcome to submit a PR with patches for py2exe.hooks that are suitable for your needs.

[marunguy]

@albertosottile Thank you for your reply.

The frozen exe with bundle_files=0,1,2 (test.exe in this case) include both pythoncom38.dll and pywintypes38.dll.
(When the frozen exe is extracted using 7zip, there are pythoncom38.dll and pywintypes38.dll.)

Although the extension of pythoncom38.dll and pywintypes38.dll is .dll, these are Python extension modules.

How to import pythoncom38.dll and pywintypes38.dll as module dynamically from the frozen exe(test.exe) in runtime?

[albertosottile]

DLL loading should be done automatically when you import win32com from Python, assuming that everything works. If you are looking for a test for pywin32, you can borrow the one I use in CI: https://github.com/py2exe/py2exe/blob/master/tests/functional/pywin32_test/pywin32_test.py

[marunguy]

I'm looking for a way to import pythoncom38.dll and pywintypes38.dll directly from frozen exe in runtime.

pywintypes_dll_mod = import_from_frozen("pywintypes38.dll", ...)

[albertosottile]

I do not follow you, why would you want to load the DLL manually? The pywin32 package has to load the DLLs when needed. If you really want to do so, I'd inspect the code of pywin32 to check how the DLLs are loaded (I suspect ctypes is used for that).

EDIT: by looking at the code you pasted above, you should inspect _win32sysloader in the pywin32 code.

[marunguy]

Following is the reason to import pythoncom38.dll and pywintypes38.dll directly from frozen exe in runtime.

• pywintypes38.dll is imported using __import_pywin32_system_module__ function pywintypes.py
• pywintypes38.dll - pywintypes.py line 123

__import_pywin32_system_module__("pywintypes", globals())

• search pywintypes38.dll in sys.path: pywintypes.py line 35-42

        for look in sys.path:
            # If the sys.path entry is a (presumably) .zip file, use the
            # directory
            if os.path.isfile(look):
                look = os.path.dirname(look)
            found = os.path.join(look, filename)
            if os.path.isfile(found):
                break

• Because pywintypes38.dll not in sys.path, ImportError raised. : pywintypes.py line 44-45

raise ImportError(
                "Module '%s' isn't in frozen sys.path %s" % (modname, sys.path)

• But, ImportError exception is swallowd by py2exe.hooks.hook_pywintypes
• As a result, pywintypes module don't have __import_pywin32_system_module__ attribute.
• pythoncom38.dll - pythoncom.py line 4

pywintypes.__import_pywin32_system_module__("pythoncom", globals())

• Because pywintypes module don't have __import_pywin32_system_module__ attribute, AttributeError is raised.

AttributeError: module 'pywintypes' has no attribute '__import_pywin32_system_module__'

• If continue by copying pywintypes38.dll to sys.path, pywintypes38.dll is directly imported using absolute path - pywintypes.py line 110-114

    # Load the DLL.
    loader = importlib.machinery.ExtensionFileLoader(modname, found)
    spec = importlib.machinery.ModuleSpec(name=modname, loader=loader, origin=found)
    mod = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
    spec.loader.exec_module(mod)

• So, I decide to try to replace __import_pywin32_system_module__ function.
• And, It need a way to import pythoncom38.dll and pywintypes38.dll directly from frozen exe in runtime.

[albertosottile]

But, ImportError exception is swallowd by py2exe.hooks.hook_pywintypes

Why do you think the hook is swallowing this exception? I cannot see an except clause in the hook nor in its chain. Unfortunately, I am on holiday and so I cannot run this myself directly. Can you show me a stack trace that points exactly where this exception is caught?

And, It need a way to import pythoncom38.dll and pywintypes38.dll directly from frozen exe in runtime.

In general, the code you pasted here:

    # Load the DLL.
    loader = importlib.machinery.ExtensionFileLoader(modname, found)
    spec = importlib.machinery.ModuleSpec(name=modname, loader=loader, origin=found)
    mod = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
    spec.loader.exec_module(mod)

should also work from "frozen exe in runtime". This works OOTB when bundle_files==3 because the DLL is in the file system, and it automatically makes use of zipextimporter when bundle_files<=2.

To facilitate debugging, I would advise you to start with bundle_files=2 (so that you can manually inspect the zip file) and adjust found to point to the path of e.g. pythoncom38.dll inside the zip file (e.g. C:\Users\yourname\Documents\test\dist\library.zip\pythoncom38.dll).

[SeaHOH]

#174 2eae517 may work with bundle_files<=2.