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Release Notes¤

1.0.0 (2025-06-09)¤

The 32-bit server is frozen with the following versions

  • server32-windows.exe — Python 3.13.4, pythonnet 3.0.5, comtypes 1.4.11
  • server32-linux — Python 3.13.4

Added:

  • Client64 now accepts host=None which will mock the connection to the server
  • freeze32 console script to create a new 32-bit server
  • support for Python 3.12 and 3.13
  • PEP-484 type annotations

Changed:

  • convert to an implicit namespace package (PEP-420)
  • the requires_pythonnet and requires_comtypes arguments to freeze_server32.main() were removed and the imports, data skip_32bit_check, keep_spec and keep_tk arguments were added
  • all constants (e.g., IS_WINDOWS) were moved to a (private) _constants.py file
  • data type of EXAMPLES_DIR and the return type from Server32.examples_dir() changed from str to Path

Removed:

  • support for Python 2.7, 3.5, 3.6 and 3.7
  • the deprecated quiet parameter

0.10.0 (2023-06-16)¤

This release will be the last to support Python 2.7, 3.5, 3.6 and 3.7

The 32-bit server is frozen with the following versions

  • server32-windows.exe — Python 3.11.4, pythonnet 3.0.1, comtypes 1.2.0
  • server32-linux — Python 3.11.4 (built with GLIBC 2.27)

Added:

  • can now specify the destination directory when freezing the 32-bit server
  • the server32_dir keyword argument to Client64 (fixes issue #35)
  • support for Python 3.10 and 3.11
  • LoadLibrary and Client64 can now be used as a context manager (with statement)
  • LoadLibrary.cleanup() method
  • ~/.local/share/py4j to the search paths when looking for the py4j<version>.jar file

Changed:

  • utils.is_port_in_use() only checks TCP ports and it uses the ss command instead of netstat on linux
  • the example libraries for FORTRAN now depend on libgfortran5 on linux

Fixed:

  • issue #31 — suppress console popups when using pythonw.exe
  • issue #24 — starting the 32-bit server could block forever by not honouring the timeout

0.9.0 (2021-05-13)¤

The 32-bit server is frozen with the following versions

  • server32-windows.exe — Python 3.7.10, pythonnet 2.5.2, comtypes 1.1.10
  • server32-linux — Python 3.7.10, pythonnet 2.4.0

Added:

  • support for loading an ActiveX library
  • the following static methods to Server32 — remove_site_packages_64bit, is_interpreter, examples_dir
  • the utils.generate_com_wrapper function

Changed:

  • the sys.coinit_flags attribute is now set to COINIT_MULTITHREADED (only if this attribute was not already defined prior to importing msl.loadlib)

Fixed:

  • Client64.__del__ could have written a warning to stderr indicating that no self._conn attribute existed
  • sys:1: ResourceWarning: unclosed file <_io.BufferedReader name=...> warnings could be written to stderr when a Client64 object is destroyed
  • issue #23 — the useLegacyV2RuntimeActivationPolicy property was no longer created

0.8.0 (2021-02-20)¤

The 32-bit server is frozen with the following versions

  • server32-windows.exe — Python 3.7.10, pythonnet 2.5.2 and comtypes 1.1.8
  • server32-linux — Python 3.7.10 and pythonnet 2.4.0

Added:

  • support for Python 3.9
  • the protocol keyword argument to Client64
  • the ability to request non-callable attributes from the 32-bit server class (e.g., methods that use the @property decorator and class/instance variables)

Changed:

  • call clr.AddReference before clr.System.Reflection.Assembly.LoadFile when loading a .NET library
  • use PIPE's for stdout and stderr for the 32-bit server subprocess and for the py4j GatewayServer
  • Client64.shutdown_server32 now returns the (stdout, stderr) streams from the 32-bit server subprocess
  • the quiet keyword argument for Client64 is now deprecated

Fixed:

  • issue #21 — an UnsupportedOperation: fileno exception was raised when running within the Spyder IDE

Removed:

  • cygwin from the IS_WINDOWS check

0.7.0 (2020-03-17)¤

The 32-bit server is frozen with the following versions

  • server32-windows.exe — Python 3.7.7, pythonnet 2.4.0 and comtypes 1.1.7
  • server32-linux — Python 3.7.7 and pythonnet 2.4.0

Added:

  • support for Python 3.8
  • compiled the C++ and FORTRAN examples for 64-bit macOS

Changed:

  • use __package__ as the logger name
  • renamed utils.port_in_use() to utils.is_port_in_use() and added support for checking the status of a port in macOS
  • changes to how a .NET library is loaded: include the System namespace by default, do not automatically create a class instance

Removed:

  • support for Python 3.4

0.6.0 (2019-05-07)¤

The 32-bit server is frozen with the following versions

  • server32-windows.exe — Python 3.7.3, pythonnet 2.4.0 and comtypes 1.1.7
  • server32-linux — Python 3.7.3 and pythonnet 2.4.0

Added:

  • a shutdown_handler() method to Server32 (PR #19)
  • a section to the docs that explains how to re-freeze the 32-bit server
  • a kill_timeout keyword argument to Client64.shutdown_server32()
  • the rpc_timeout keyword argument to Client64 (thanks to @fake-name)
  • search HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\Wow6432Node\\CLSID in the Windows Registry for additional COM ProgID's
  • extras_require parameter to setup.py with keys: clr, java, com, all

Changed:

  • rename the optional -asp and -aep command line arguments to be -s and -e respectively
  • the current working directory where the 64-bit Python interpreter was executed from is now automatically appended to os.environ['PATH'] on the 32-bit server
  • freeze_server32.py uses an ArgumentParser instead of directly reading from sys.argv

Fixed:

  • use sys.executable -m PyInstaller to create the 32-bit server (cherry picked from PR #18)
  • the 32-bit server prints error messages to sys.stderr instead of sys.stdout
  • issue #15 — wait for the subprocess that starts the 32-bit server to terminate and set a value for the returncode
  • issue #14 — use os.kill to stop the 32-bit server if it won't stop after kill_timeout seconds

0.5.0 (2019-01-06)¤

The 32-bit server is frozen with the following versions

  • server32-windows.exe — Python 3.6.8, pythonnet 2.3.0 and comtypes 1.1.7
  • server32-linux — Python 3.6.8 and pythonnet 2.3.0

Added:

  • support for loading a Component Object Model (COM) library on Windows
  • the requires_pythonnet and requires_comtypes kwargs to freeze_server32.main()
  • "clr" as an alias for "net" for the libtype parameter in LoadLibrary
  • the utils.get_com_info() function
  • support for unicode paths in Python 2
  • examples for working with numpy arrays and C++ structs

Changed:

  • if loading a .NET assembly succeeds but calling GetTypes() fails then a detailed error message is logged rather than raising the exception - the value of lib will be None
  • the default timeout value when waiting for the 32-bit server to start is now 10 seconds
  • the Client64 class now raises Server32Error if the 32-bit server raises an exception
  • the Client64 class now inherits from object and the reference to HTTPConnection is now a property value
  • the __repr__ methods no longer include the id as a hex number

Fixed:

  • set sys.stdout = io.StringIO() if quiet=True on the server

0.4.1 (2018-08-24)¤

The 32-bit server is frozen with the following versions

  • server32-windows.exe — Python 3.6.6 and pythonnet 2.3.0
  • server32-linux — Python 3.6.6 and pythonnet 2.3.0

Added:

  • the version_info namedtuple now includes a releaselevel
  • support for Python 3.7

Fixed:

  • issue #11
  • utils.wait_for_server() raised NameError: name 'TimeoutError' is not defined for Python 2.7
  • utils.port_in_use() raised UnicodeDecodeError (PR #9)
  • setup.py is now also compatible with Sphinx 1.7+

Changed:

  • pythonnet is now an optional dependency on Windows and py4j is now optional for all OS
  • rename Dummy example to Echo

Removed:

  • support for Python 3.3

0.4.0 (2018-02-28)¤

The 32-bit server is frozen with the following versions

  • server32-windows.exe — Python 3.6.4 and pythonnet 2.3.0
  • server32-linux — Python 3.6.4 and pythonnet 2.3.0

Added:

  • Py4J wrapper for loading .jar and .class Java files
  • example on how to load a library that was built with LabVIEW

Fixed:

  • issue #8
  • issue #7
  • AttributeError("'LoadLibrary' object has no attribute '_lib'") could be raised in __repr__

Changed:

  • rename DotNetContainer to DotNet
  • use socket.socket.bind to select an available port instead of checking of calling utils.port_in_use
  • moved the static methods to the utils module:
    • Client64.port_in_use → utils.port_in_use
    • Client64.get_available_port → utils.get_available_port
    • Client64.wait_for_server → utils.wait_for_server
    • LoadLibrary.check_dot_net_config → utils.check_dot_net_config
    • LoadLibrary.is_pythonnet_installed → utils.is_pythonnet_installed

0.3.2 (2017-10-18)¤

The 32-bit server is frozen with the following versions

  • server32-windows.exe — Python 3.6.3 and pythonnet 2.3.0
  • server32-linux — Python 3.6.3 and pythonnet 2.3.0

Added:

  • include os.environ['PATH'] as a search path when loading a library
  • support that the package can now be installed by pip install msl-loadlib

Fixed:

  • remove sys.getsitepackages() error for virtualenv (issue #5)
  • RecursionError when freezing freeze_server32.py with PyInstaller 3.3
  • replaced FileNotFoundError with IOError (for Python 2.7 support)
  • recompile cpp_lib*.dll and fortran_lib*.dll to not depend on external dependencies

0.3.1 (2017-05-15)¤

  • fix ReadTheDocs build error — AttributeError: module 'site' has no attribute 'getsitepackages'
  • strip whitespace from append_sys_path and append_environ_path
  • make pythonnet a required dependency only for Windows

0.3.0 (2017-05-09)¤

NOTE: This release breaks backward compatibility

  • can now pass **kwargs from the Client64 constructor to the Server32-subclass constructor
  • new command line arguments for starting the 32-bit server: --kwargs, --append_environ_path
  • renamed the --append_path command line argument to --append_sys_path
  • Server32.interactive_console() works on Windows and Linux
  • edit documentation (thanks to @karna48 for the pull request)

0.2.3 (2017-04-11)¤

  • the frozen server32 executable (for Windows/Linux) now uses Python v3.6.1 and Python.NET v2.3.0
  • include ctypes.util.find_library and sys.path when searching for a library

0.2.2 (2017-03-03)¤

  • refreeze server32 executables

0.2.1 (2017-03-02)¤

  • fix releaselevel bug

0.2.0 (2017-03-02)¤

  • examples now working in Linux
  • fix MSL namespace
  • include all C# modules, classes and System.Type objects in the .NET loaded-library object
  • create a custom C# library for the examples
  • edit docstrings and documentation
  • many bug fixes

0.1.0 (2017-02-15)¤

  • Initial release