Executable Packers

Archives Forums/MacOS X Discussion/Executable Packers

Tricky(Posted 2005) [#1]
In the good old DOS we had
PKLite
LZExe
DIET

Now in Windows we have
UPX

Now the question comes. Do we also have certain programs for Mac? (UPX can't pack Mac-apps).


Todd(Posted 2005) [#2]
The only option that I know of is to use the UNIX 'strip' command to remove all of the debugging symbols and such from an executable. Just open up Terminal, 'cd' to the correct folder and type 'strip MyExecutable' to run it. BlitzMax may already do this for you; if running it doesn't change the size of the executable, then it's already been stripped.


ImaginaryHuman(Posted 2005) [#3]
Reminds me of the excellent PowerPacker on the Amiga. But, that was back in the days of trying to make everything as space-saving as possible. How big is your exe that it really warrants having to compress it?


Tricky(Posted 2005) [#4]
My exe's (or apps). Depends on the project, but for my RPG games the exe and apps really tend to get extremely large, especially since my FrameWork experiences are not really that well...


Warren(Posted 2005) [#5]
When you distribute your game, odds are you'll be using the DMG format which can be compressed like an installer. I don't think it's worth worrying about the size of the EXE itself on Mac.


Koekelas(Posted 2005) [#6]
Just use the standard Mac OS X installer and put it in a disk image.


Nicolas.


DannyD(Posted 2005) [#7]
check the forums on mac.scene.org , there are packers for Mac os !


Tricky(Posted 2005) [#8]
@DannyD
Searched the site, but nothing found.
Can you gimme some direct links?


Warren(Posted 2005) [#9]
Nicolas has the right idea. Just use the MacOS itself to create a compressed DMG file.


Koekelas(Posted 2005) [#10]
Tricrokra, here you'll find an article on ADC how to get started with the Mac OS X file packer.


Nicolas.


Tricky(Posted 2005) [#11]
Thanks for the link Nicolas, but it was not exactly what I was looking for, but thanks anyway.


DannyD(Posted 2005) [#12]
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, here is a link:
http://mac.scene.org/page.aspx?link=pub.forum.topics.display&account=macscene&parent=39&realparent=1

http://mac.scene.org/page.aspx?link=pub.forum.topics.display&account=macscene&parent=1&realparent=0


Tricky(Posted 2005) [#13]
Thanks... I see this one is still in production, but it's good news anyway ;)


Warren(Posted 2005) [#14]
Again, why aren't you just using a compressed DMG?


Tricky(Posted 2005) [#15]
The simplest answer would be... Because ALL of my projects are developped in as well Windows as MacOS, and Windows doesn't support DMG at all, neither compressed nor uncompressed. Point is that when I'm at work I've a lot of time there my boss can't fill in, so I use that time to work on my BlitzMax projects, but since my boss isn't considering to switch to Mac, I'm bound to such limmitations, only at home I can get rid of the chains Windows binds me to, since only there I've a Mac. Another thing is that I want my users to have smaller exes. Using a DMG file will nearly always result into dragging the exe to the applications folder, which kills the result of the compressed DMG. And last. It's hard to predict how big my projects become before I start on them. Using a DMG requires me to estimate such things right. And if it happens to get smaller the DMG still takes up the unrequired space. Undoubtly there's a way to truncate that, I'm sure, but for the time being that's not handy.
Cut short, for the time being DMGs are not the solution. But of course I can always take those in mind as I do acknowledge that they are handy for other purposes ;)