Pyinstaller adding data files - kivy

Question

I'm struggling with pyinstaller. Whenever I build this specific script with a kivy GUI and a .kv file, and run the .exe after the build, I get a fatal error:
IOError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'main.kv'
I've tried adding the .kv file, as well as a mdb and dsn file (for pypyodbc) using --add-data, but I get an error: unrecognized arguments: --add-data'main.kv'. (There were more --add-data arguments for the other files mentioned.)
Are there any solutions for this or maybe alternative methods?

Answer 1

As others (#Anson Chan, #schlimmchen) have said:
If you want to add some extra files, you should use Adding Data Files.
Two ways to implement
Command Line: add parameter to --add-data
Spec file: add parameter to datas=
Generated when running pyinstaller the first time.
Then later you can edit your *.spec file.
Then running pyinstaller will directly use your *.spec file.
Parameter Logic
Parameter in --add-data or datas=:
--add-data:
format: {source}{os_separator}{destination}
os_separator:
Windows: ;
Mac/Linux/Unix: :
source and destination
Logic:
source: path to single or multiple files, supporting glob syntax. Tells PyInstaller where to find the file(s).
destination
file or files: destination folder which will contain your source files at run time.
* NOTE: NOT the destination file name.
folder: destination folder path, which is RELATIVE to the destination root, NOT an absolute path.
Examples:
Single file: 'src/README.txt:.'
multiple files: '/mygame/sfx/*.mp3:sfx'
folder: '/mygame/data:data'
datas=
Format: list or tuple.
Examples: see the following.
added_files = [
( 'src/README.txt', '.' ),
( '/mygame/data', 'data' ),
( '/mygame/sfx/*.mp3', 'sfx' )
]
a = Analysis(...
datas = added_files,
...
)
Your case
For your (Windows OS) here is:
--add-data in command line
pyinstaller -F --add-data "main.kv;." yourtarget.py
OR:
datas= in yourtarget.spec file, see following:
a = Analysis(...
datas = ["main.kv", "."],
...
)

Answer 2

If you check pyinstaller -h for help, you can find --add-data option works like this [--add-data <SRC;DEST or SRC:DEST>]. So in your case try
pyinstaller -F --add-data "main.kv;main.kv" yourtarget.py

Answer 3

The solution is to run: pyi-makespec yourscript.py
Then edit the yourscript.spec script and add the files under datas in a= Analysis.
datas=[ ( '/pathToYourFile/main.kv', '.' )]
then run pyinstaller yourscript.spec
should be good after that.

Answer 4

Next -F or --onefile option is assumed when running pyinstaller.
Note that (MacOS Monterey, 12.2 here) the expected folder hierarchy w/in you .app file will be similar to this,
pyinstaller does not add files nor create necessary folders into any of the folders of this folder structure; at least not in any apparent way. You won't find them.
However, when the application runs, a temporary folder is used under /var/folders which is very different from the folder structure in point 1. above. print(os.path.dirname(__file__)) while running the application will reveal which exact temporary folder is used each time it runs. For convenience, let's call it my_app_tmp_folder i.e. your app runs under the folder /var/folder/my_app_tmp_folder
Then, pyinstaller adds data files or creates necessary directories w/in this temporary folder. In other words, when the application runs, all added files will be there and according to the specified folder structure (through --add-data option). print(os.listdir(os.path.dirname(__file__))) will show system and application needed files and folders.
Bottom line: Files specified w/ --add-data option will be visible w/in /var/folder/my_app_tmp_folder when running and not w/in the *.app folder.
Some useful links from documentation:
https://pyinstaller.readthedocs.io/en/stable/runtime-information.html#using-file
https://pyinstaller.readthedocs.io/en/stable/spec-files.html#adding-files-to-the-bundle
https://pyinstaller.readthedocs.io/en/stable/operating-mode.html#bundling-to-one-file

Answer 5

My application had this issue and a subsequent issue that is likely, if not inevitable.
1. --add-data for a kv file
Use --add-data as in the answer by crifan.
2. Kivy still can't find the file
Once PyInstaller has the kv file in the correct directory, Kivy still can't find the file.
Possible Symptoms:
GUI launches, but screen is black and empty.
An AttributeError error that depends on the application code.
AttributeError Examples:
This question
My own case:
AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'ids'
Fortunately, this answer solves the problem.