Proposal for a robust and simple Windows version

[newsailor]

Hi, nice to see this new version has been released publicly on exiftool.org.
One request, can the version number for the exiftool(-k).exe be changed to reflect the actual EXIFtool version?

https://i.imgur.com/Wqho2ER.png - This is what I see currently; 1.0.5.0/"Universal". The actual version should be 12.89.
I use this in an automation script to make sure I'm always running the latest version.

Cheers

[StarGeek]

This is what I see currently; 1.0.5.0/"Universal". The actual version should be 12.89.

I'm not commenting on if it can be changed or not, just the reason for the version number

Starting with version 12.88 the CFileVersionInfo won't give the ExifTool version number -- it will give the version number of the loader stub by Oliver Betz.

[Phil Harvey]

Unless someone knows of a command-line MacOS app to set .exe properties then this will be difficult for me.  As of 12.88 I now build and release all versions of ExifTool using a single script on the Mac.

- Phil

[newsailor]

Understood. Is there a "-version" flag I can pass to the EXE to get its version instead, then?

[StarGeek]

Use the -ver option

[newsailor]

Nice, thanks.

[Martin Z]

Sorry if I am missing something obvious, but I'm on Windows and haven't updated EXIFtool in a while so went to grab the latest EXIFtool(-k).exe file from the website and noticed the switch to the Oliver Betz file...

I am a bit confused, as following the link to Oliver Betz's site for the self-installer page, the first line on the page reads: "As an alternative to the "single EXE" Windows ExifTool offered at Phil Harvey's site" -- but does this single .exe version (for Windows) still exist?

Personally, I really liked the compiled, 10-ish MB, single, exiftool(-k).exe file. While the new launcher.exe + folder of ~500 tiny library files is workable, if there is a way I can get the "old" single .exe file (that requires no other files or folders to run), that would be great!... Is there a way to get this? 🤔

[Martin Z]

Unless someone knows of a command-line MacOS app to set .exe properties then this will be difficult for me.  As of 12.88 I now build and release all versions of ExifTool using a single script on the Mac.

- Phil

Does it have to be MacOS? -- I assume it does, but wanted to mention it as I use the command line app verpatch.exe on Windows to set .exe file properties, if that could work at all?

[StarGeek]

but does this single .exe version (for Windows) still exist?

No. You can read the technical details of why it is better on Betz's site.

The old version still had 500+ files on your computer. They were just in the %TEMP% directory and using a minimal Perl interpreter to run exiftool from there.

if there is a way I can get the "old" single .exe file (that requires no other files or folders to run), that would be great!... Is there a way to get this?

If you look through this thread, I think there are some details, or links to details on how to do it for yourself. But it's a bit complex. And, as I said, all the extra files were on your computer. They are in a directory that starts with "par-"+10 numbers/letters A-F.

[Martin Z]

Thanks for the confirmation.

No worries, it is a slight pain as I had written an "auto-updater" script that downloaded the latest .zip file, extracted the contents, moved the .exe to my EXIFtool folder, and then deleted the temp folder + original .zip file, and will need to update this... And all my files are synced the cloud, so it just adds a bit of noise when I go through things like version history / recycle bin logs (as it will show hundreds of files being deleted/updated, rather than just the 1 file) -- but like I say, it's not the end of the world.

Similar, I gather that you + Phil use Mac / Linux (i.e. not Windows) and therefore all of this is extra work that you are doing purely for the community, and has no benefit you at all, and I do appreciate that -- by comparison, there are a few tools that I simply can't use, as they were created by linux developers and there is no Windows EXE version of the tool.

Cheers.

[StarGeek]

Similar, I gather that you + Phil use Mac / Linux (i.e. not Windows)

I'm on Windows and this new way will actually solve some problems for me. One big problem I had was the inability to use some Perl modules with the Windows version. Specifically, anything that used a Perl .xs.dll file. I could use modules that were written in only Perl fine, but the only way to use the more powerful ones, for example, using an HTTPS connection using only Perl and not relying on cURL like I currently have to, was to use the Perl script from the main archive.

I'm still trying to figure out a way to install modules without having to install a full version of Perl anyway, but if I can, much more powerful things can be done with exiftool

by comparison, there are a few tools that I simply can't use, as they were created by linux developers and there is no Windows EXE version of the tool.

Specific tools or ones that could be consider basic to Linux? I have MSys2 installed and that adds... *checks* 336 standard Linux commands. And if you can figure out the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), you can use any Linux command line program. Add Docker Desktop and if the program is available as a docker, it can be used from that as well.

While I haven't figured out WSL myself, I think it is used by Docker Desktop, as I see some hints about that with the (few) Dockers I use on Windows.

[FrankB]

No worries, it is a slight pain as I had written an "auto-updater" script that downloaded the latest .zip file, extracted the contents, moved the .exe to my EXIFtool folder.

The installer for ExifToolGui has that option.
https://github.com/FrankBijnen/ExifToolGui/releases/tag/V6.3.5

If you dont want ExifToolGUI, but only ExifTool, you can choose a Custom installation. On the 'Select Additional Tasks' you have the option to install the latest version of ExifTool, either from Phil, or Oliver. And the option to install the latest GeoLocation DB.

If you want to create something yourself have a look at the 'Inno Setup' source.
https://github.com/FrankBijnen/ExifToolGui/blob/main/Redist/ExifToolGUI_install.iss

[obetz]

I am a bit confused, as following the link to Oliver Betz's site for the self-installer page, the first line on the page reads: "As an alternative to the "single EXE" Windows ExifTool offered at Phil Harvey's site"

thanks for mentioning this, I changed the wording.

[Martin Z]

thanks for mentioning this, I changed the wording.

No problem -- thanks for picking this up and clarifying the wording 👍🏼

The installer for ExifToolGui has that option [...] choose a Custom installation and on the 'Select Additional Tasks' you have the option to install the latest version of ExifTool, either from Phil, or Oliver.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I am not sure I understand this... If neither Phil nor Oliver no longer publish a single-exe version of ExifTool, then what exactly is the ExifToolGui installer getting? and from where? 🤔

PS: Just to let you know, the ExifToolGUI.exe* file in your repo  has multiple detections in VirusTotal btw.
*https://github.com/FrankBijnen/ExifToolGui/releases/download/V6.3.5/ExifToolGUI.exe

[FrankB]

If neither Phil nor Oliver no longer publish a single-exe version of ExifTool, then what exactly is the ExifToolGui installer getting? and from where? 🤔

It's downloading the latest (12.97 as of now) 32/64 bits version according to your Windows version.

Either the Zip from Phil https://exiftool.org/exiftool-12.97_64.zip unzips it to a temp folder, and installs it in Program files\ExifToolGui (or whatever the Install path chosen) and adds that folder to your PATH.

Or the Exe from Oliver. https://oliverbetz.de/cms/files/Artikel/ExifTool-for-Windows/ExifTool_install_12.97_64.exe
That Exe file is started after installation. The result will be the same. An installed ExifTool in the Install path chosen.

Both methods support installing as admin, or as non-admin. 

PS: Just to let you know, the ExifToolGUI.exe* file in your repo  has multiple detections in VirusTotal btw.
*https://github.com/FrankBijnen/ExifToolGui/releases/download/V6.3.5/ExifToolGUI.exe

Thanks.
Yes I know. A lot of these Antivirus products dont like InnoSetup, or other home-brew programs. The only things that seems to help is report it as a false-positive.

My post was meant to give you an idea how your auto-updater script could be modified. Have a look at the source code.