Using --add-data in PyInstaller to Bundle External Files

The --add-data option allows you to include additional non-code files (such as data files, configuration files) in your packaged application.

When the program runs, PyInstaller's bootloader will extract these files to a temporary directory, with the path stored in sys._MEIPASS;

Adding and Accessing Resources

Save the following content to mydata.txt to be used as program data, which will be bundled with the application:

hello world

Write code to obtain the full path of mydata.txt and read its contents:

import sys
import os

def get_source_path(relative_path):
    if hasattr(sys,'_MEIPASS'):
        # Program is running in packaged mode
        base_path = sys._MEIPASS
    else:
        # Program is running in development mode
        base_path = os.path.abspath(".")

    return os.path.join(base_path,relative_path)

# Get the correct file path
data_file_path = get_source_path('mydata.txt')

with open(data_file_path, 'r') as f:
    print(f.read())

Save the code as myscript.py;

Package it using the --add-data option:

pyinstaller -F myscript.py --add-data mydata.txt:.

You can also change the resource location:

pyinstaller -F myscript.py --add-data mydata.txt:data2

The reading path would then become:

data_file_path = get_source_path('data2/mydata.txt')