README

NAME

ruby2app - bundle Ruby scripts as standalone Mac application

SYNOPSIS

ruby2app [-h]

DESCRIPTION

ruby2app is a simple command-line tool, inspired by similar Mac tools like py2app for Python, that bundles a Ruby script with the Ruby runtime into a standalone Mac application. It reads a basic configuration file to find the appropriate Ruby installation, compiles a small C program that embeds the Ruby interpreter, copies the entire Ruby installation into the application bundle, and re-links the relevant libraries with the main executable.  

USAGE

ruby2app looks for a Ruby script called "main.rb" to wrap. If a file by that name is not found, the build will fail. 

ruby2app also requires a configuration file in the source directory of your application called "appconfig.cfg." The configuration file must specifies the following keys:
	
	 RUBY=prefix of Ruby installation to wrap, i.e. /usr/local
	 APPNAME=app name
	 PLIST=name of application property list file, i.e. Info.plist
	 TK=does the application bundle the Tcl/Tk frameworks, true/false
	 ICON=name of application icon file, i.e. "app.icns"
	 
With the config file and "main.rb" in place, run "ruby2app" in the source directory, and ruby2app will take care of the rest. The result will be a standalone application that does not require Ruby to be installed on the Mac system it is deployed to. 

If you want to see this user message for ruby2app, run "ruby2app -h".

ruby2app requires Ruby to be compiled with the "--enable-load-relative" flag. If Ruby is compiled without this flag, it will search a hard-coded path for its libraries and will not run in an application bundle. ruby2app's build will fail if it does not find the "--enable-load-relative" flag.

TODO

At present ruby2app does not support the inclusion of external libraries in the application bundle except for the Mac-native Tcl/Tk frameworks; this reflects the fact that no other UI toolkit on the Mac is really viable with Ruby. Patches to support additional UI toolkits are welcome.

There are no current plans to implement ruby2app as a gem, or to rewrite it in Ruby. Bash is more than sufficient for this application's tasks, which mostly focus on driving other system tools such as clang, otool, install_name_tool, and cp. 

SEE ALSO

ruby(1), install_name_tool(1), otool(1), clang(1), cp(1)

AUTHOR

Kevin Walzer, WordTech Communications LLC (kw@codebykevin.com)