pytables can't locate hdf5.dll when frozen using cx_freeze

[Nick Williams]

This issue sounds a lot like this one, but the fixes made to pytables there don't work in this case.

I am using cx_freeze to package up my app. cx_freeze creates an EXE and a ZIP with the required site-packages, including tables, in the distribution folder. It also copies all required DLL's, including hdf5.dll and python27.dll into the same folder as the EXE and ZIP. My app is called IPQC.exe:

dist/IPQC.exe

dist/IPQC.zip

dist/IPQC.zip/tables

...

dist/hdf5.dll

...

When I freeze the application it runs fine on a PC with the same Python distribution installed (specifically, Anaconda), but fails to run on a different PC without Python.

Despite the comment on PyTables/__init__.py#L41, my frozen app does seem to have a __file__ attribute, which points inside the ZIP file. So tables seems to only search these two explicit locations for hdf5.dll:

dllpaths in PyTables/__init__.py#L38: ('C:\\...\\Python\\pydcipqc\\IPQC\\dist\\IPQC.zip\\tables', '\\Library\\bin'). The first doesn't contain the DLL. The second doesn't exist.

I tried the following:

• Manually adding hdf5.dll to dist/IPQC.zip/tables, but that didn't work.
  
• Manually adding hdf5.dll to dist/Library/bin/ (which didn't previously exist), but that didn't work.
  
• Explicitly adding the sys.executable path to my code prior to importing tables, but that did not work (although it definitely ensured the system path pulled in PyTables/__init__.py#L47 contained the right folder)
  

However, if I explicitly add the sys.executable path to PyTables/__init__.py#L38:

dllpaths = (os.path.abspath(
                os.path.dirname(__file__)), ) + (os.path.dirname(sys.executable), ) + dllpaths

Everything works fine on all PCs, frozen, or not.

I am using Windows 8.1 64-bit with a 64-bit Python 2.7. Curiously I tried the same cx_freeze routine on a different Windows 8.1 PC with 64 bit Enthought Canopy python 2.7, and everything works fine without needing the change listed above. I know for a fact there are some package version differences between the two distributions, but both have pytables 3.2.0.  

Thanks for any help,

Nick

[Nick Williams]

Sorry, forgot to include the traceback I get when running the frozen code, without the fix:

Traceback (most recent call last):

  File "C:\Users\Nick\Anaconda\lib\site-packages\cx_Freeze\initscripts\Console.p

y", line 27, in <module>

  File "IPQCController.py", line 1, in <module>

  File "C:\Box Sync\Nick Williams\Programming\Python\pydcipqc\IPQC\model\__init_

_.py", line 3, in <module>

  File "C:\Box Sync\Nick Williams\Programming\Python\pydcipqc\IPQC\model\data.py

", line 1, in <module>

  File "C:\Users\Nick\Anaconda\lib\site-packages\tables\__init__.py", line 78, i

n <module>

ImportError: Could not load "hdf5.dll", please ensure that it can be found in th

e system path

[John David Reaver]

Hey Nick, did you ever find a solution to this? I am coming across the exact same issue.

[Nick Williams]

Nope, you're the first response. I just edit the pytables code as listed in my post. It works every time, but I have to remember to make the change.

Nick

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[Gaëtan de Menten]

This is an anaconda-specific bug (not present upstream)...
See
https://github.com/ContinuumIO/anaconda-issues/issues/444

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[Nick Williams]

Great. Thanks for confirming. As noted, the fix is easy, but good to know it might be resolved soon.

Nick