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VLC: create single exe file

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dreamz
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VLC: create single exe file

is there a way to condense the whole package down to a single exe file? i've tried the usual methods (winrar, iexpress, bat2exe converter, etc.), but they haven't worked that well.

thanks!

John T. Haller
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Why?

The only question is why? It's not more useful than having it extracted and doesn't save a ton of space. As a single EXE it would have to extract to the local hard drive and run (which means you'd have to be sure there was that much free on the drive). And it wouldn't save any of your settings or anything.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

dreamz
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i was just wondering if it

i was just wondering if it was possible. i have a lot of programs that could, it seems, be condensed this way (starting with vlc). it's nice to have a single file, like mpc.

John T. Haller
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Appearance Only

It's only simpler in appearance (having a single EXE on your portable device). But it'll have a much slower startup time, require lots of space on a local device (which may not be there), leave files behind if the system crashes (VLC Portable does not leave anything behind in a crash), not save settings, not support additional plugins, etc.

In short, there are tons of disadvantages to packaging it up as a "single EXE"... it's not even really a single EXE, it's an installer with all the stuff in it. And the only advantage is that it appears on the disk as a single EXE rather than multiple files.

If you're concerned about space, you can delete the 'locale' directory and save 6.9MB.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

Dagenham
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Quick and dirty solution

I'll show you a quick'n dirty solution for that, for one application only.
All that you have to do is to compile a simple NSIS script.
The example app is XMPlay - a pretty cool audio player.
Put the code below to a directory, create an XMPlay directory in it than copy XMPlay files to it. The output will be an .exe file.
If you want some compression, check out the SetCompressor command.


Icon "XMPlay.ico"
OutFile "XMPlay.exe"
SilentInstall silent

Section

 InitPluginsDir
 SetOutPath "$PLUGINSDIR"

 ;adding files
 File "XMPlay\*.*"

 ;copying settings
 CopyFiles "$EXEDIR\XMPlay.ini" "$PLUGINSDIR"
 CopyFiles "$EXEDIR\XMPlay.library" "$PLUGINSDIR"
 CopyFiles "$EXEDIR\XMPlay.pls" "$PLUGINSDIR"

 ;executing app
 ExecWait "$PLUGINSDIR\XMPlay.exe"

 ;copying settings back
 CopyFiles "$PLUGINSDIR\XMPlay.ini" "$EXEDIR"
 CopyFiles "$PLUGINSDIR\XMPlay.library" "$EXEDIR"
 CopyFiles "$PLUGINSDIR\XMPlay.pls" "$EXEDIR"

SectionEnd

That's all. Maybe something like that is what you want?

dreamz
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thanks for the replies. i can

thanks for the replies. i can see the disadvantages, but i think i'll try dagenham's suggestion just to see what happens, though from the earlier reply, it is probably a futile exercise.

on an unrelated note, i seem to be having some problems with the audio skipping/dropping out. i don't think this is related to the program being portable, as it happens with the standard package. do you know of any solutions? (i've already tried the usual: changing audio output type, increasing cache value, deleting preferences, etc.).

Dagenham
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A simple how-to

About the one-exe, one-single-data-file solution, the way bit like Opera Portable works. The complete "tutorial" can be found here:

http://bluejaunte.wordpress.com/2008/06/24/using-nsis-to-create-opera-po...

portnoy256
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"LCPLAYER" (VLC Single EXE Edition)

Hi, there is my "LCPLAYER" (updated today matching vlc-2.2.6-win32) available in my website:
http://lorenzociuciat.com

It's a single exe very useful to put on media (cd/dvd/usb sticks) you give to "not-tech" friends (users that are in trouble if you tell them to download and install a program).

See you!
Lorenzo Ciuciat

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