Py2Exe and MatPlotLib: Plot won't Appear - matplotlib

Question

I have a working Python 2.6 code using matplotlib, and would like to get a working exe out of it. I am having problems getting this accomplished:
Initially I got an error for missing MSCVP90.dll, but I downloaded that and extracted the .dll to the working directory and that error went away.
I had some errors regarding a missing tkagg module, but I added that to the exceptions and edited the matplotlibrc file to default to WXAgg instead and that went away.
The exe runs normally, but at the end of the code it is supposed to display a plot, and it doesn't. The plot is the main goal of this program, so it would be good to have this.
Just running the python code brings the plot up just fine.
Can anyone offer any suggestions or insights?
Here's my setup.py:
from distutils.core import setup
import py2exe
import matplotlib
matplotlib.use('wxagg') # overrule configuration
import pylab
setup(
console=['test1.py'],
options={
'py2exe': {
'excludes': ['_gtkagg', '_tkagg', 'backend_tkagg'],
}
},
data_files=matplotlib.get_py2exe_datafiles(),
)
Thanks in advance!
Alright, I used pyinstaller and reverted the matplotlibrc file back to its original state where TkAgg was the default and everything works on my computer, but when I try to run it on another computer the plot still does not appear...
I can use pyinstaller to compile an exe out of a very simple matplotlib code, like:
from pylab import *
t = arange(0.0, 2.0, 0.01)
s = sin(2*pi*t)
plot(t, s, linewidth=1.0)
show()
But when I take that exe to another computer, it does not work.
Has anyone else had a similar issue? Any ideas?
Thanks

Answer 1

If the executable runs in your computer but doesn't work in another computer, the most likely problem is the lack of one or more of the required dlls that py2exe doesn't pack because license problems.
Very often these dlls are
gdiplus.dll
msvcp90.dll
Look for them in the computer where the exe works and copy them to the failing computer.
If the exe still doesn't work, check for other dll's. Py2exe gives the list of binary dependencies:
*** binary dependencies ***
Your executable(s) also depend on these dlls which are not included,
you may or may not need to distribute them.
Make sure you have the license if you distribute any of them, and
make sure you don't distribute files belonging to the operating system.
OLEAUT32.dll - C:\Windows\system32\OLEAUT32.dll
USER32.dll - C:\Windows\system32\USER32.dll
gdiplus.dll - gdiplus.dll
SHELL32.dll - C:\Windows\system32\SHELL32.dll
ole32.dll - C:\Windows\system32\ole32.dll
RPCRT4.dll - C:\Windows\system32\RPCRT4.dll
WSOCK32.dll - C:\Windows\system32\WSOCK32.dll
WINMM.dll - C:\Windows\system32\WINMM.dll
ADVAPI32.dll - C:\Windows\system32\ADVAPI32.dll
msvcrt.dll - C:\Windows\system32\msvcrt.dll
WS2_32.dll - C:\Windows\system32\WS2_32.dll
WINSPOOL.DRV - C:\Windows\system32\WINSPOOL.DRV
GDI32.dll - C:\Windows\system32\GDI32.dll
IMM32.dll - C:\Windows\system32\IMM32.dll
MSVCP90.dll - C:\Python26\programas\test\MSVCP90.dll
KERNEL32.dll - C:\Windows\system32\KERNEL32.dll
ntdll.dll - C:\Windows\system32\ntdll.dll
COMCTL32.dll - C:\Windows\system32\COMCTL32.dll
COMDLG32.dll - C:\Windows\system32\COMDLG32.dll
VERSION.dll - C:\Windows\system32\VERSION.dll
C:\Python26\programas\test>
Finally, I succesfully got a functional matplotlib program executable with py2exe. I only needed to add an 'includes' to setup.py and set WXAgg as the backend in matplotlib.rc (with Tk I got the same problem you described...). For it to work, I had to set WXAgg in the original matplotlib.rc (in the matplotlib/mpl-data folder). This is the one py2exe imports (not the one in the user's matplotlib configuration directory). To be sure check the .rc file in your dist folder.
from distutils.core import setup
import py2exe
import matplotlib
setup(
console=['test1.py'],
options={
'py2exe': {
'excludes': ['Tkconstants','Tkinter', 'tcl'],
'includes': ['matplotlib.backends.backend_wxagg'],
}
},
data_files=matplotlib.get_py2exe_datafiles(),
)

Answer 2

Today I lost one day of work with this, so...
The solution is to include "FileDialog" module explicity, because the "six" module uses it. Specifically, I solved my problem by including six, dateutil, FileDialog, matplotlib, pylab, matplotlib.backends.backend_tkagg and others.
Good Luck!