Make the name of onedir mode's _internal directory configurable.

Add a --internals-prefix CLI option and corresponding internals_prefix
spec file option to change the otherwise hard-coded name of the
directory in which all a onedir's non EXE contents are hidden.

Note that this, whilst this spec file option would make the most sense
as a parameter to BUNDLE(), it instead has to be an option to EXE()
which BUNDLE() then fishes out of the EXE()'s configuration due to EXE()
being the only place where OPTION TOC entries can go.

PyInstaller/building/api.py

@@ -387,6 +387,8 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
             entitlements_file
                 macOS only. Optional path to entitlements file to use with code signing of collected binaries
                 (--entitlements option to codesign utility).
+            internals_prefix
+                Onedir mode only. Specifies the name of the directory where all files par the executable will be placed.
         """
         from PyInstaller.config import CONF
 
@@ -407,6 +409,7 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         self.strip = kwargs.get('strip', False)
         self.upx_exclude = kwargs.get("upx_exclude", [])
         self.runtime_tmpdir = kwargs.get('runtime_tmpdir', None)
+        self.meipass_prefix = kwargs.get("internals_prefix", "_internal")
         # If ``append_pkg`` is false, the archive will not be appended to the exe, but copied beside it.
         self.append_pkg = kwargs.get('append_pkg', True)
 
@@ -456,6 +459,13 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
             logger.warning('Ignoring icon; supported only on Windows and macOS!')
             self.icon = None
 
+        if self.meipass_prefix in ("", ".", "..") \
+                or "/" in self.meipass_prefix or "\\" in self.meipass_prefix:
+            raise SystemExit(
+                f'Invalid value "{self.meipass_prefix}" passed to `--internals-prefix` or `internals_prefix`. '
+                'Exactly one directory level is required.'
+            )
+
         # Old .spec format included in 'name' the path where to put created app. New format includes only exename.
         #
         # Ignore fullpath in the 'name' and prepend DISTPATH or WORKPATH.
@@ -512,6 +522,8 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
             # no value; presence means "true"
             self.toc.append(("pyi-macos-argv-emulation", "", "OPTION"))
 
+        self.toc.append(("pyi-meipass-prefix " + self.meipass_prefix, "", "OPTION"))
+
         # If the icon path is relative, make it relative to the .spec file.
         def makeabs(path):
             if os.path.isabs(path):
@@ -898,6 +910,13 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         # DISTPATH). Old .spec formats included parent path, so strip it away.
         self.name = os.path.join(CONF['distpath'], os.path.basename(kwargs.get('name')))
 
+        for arg in args:
+            if isinstance(arg, EXE):
+                self.meipass_prefix = arg.meipass_prefix
+                break
+        else:
+            raise ValueError("No EXE() instance was passed to COLLECT()")
+
         self.toc = []
         for arg in args:
             # Valid arguments: EXE object and TOC-like iterables
@@ -963,7 +982,7 @@ def assemble(self):
             if typecode in ("EXECUTABLE", "PKG"):
                 dest_path = os.path.join(self.name, dest_name)
             else:
-                dest_path = os.path.join(self.name, "_internal", dest_name)  # Absolute destination path
+                dest_path = os.path.join(self.name, self.meipass_prefix, dest_name)
             dest_dir = os.path.dirname(dest_path)
             try:
                 os.makedirs(dest_dir, exist_ok=True)

PyInstaller/building/makespec.py

@@ -227,6 +227,11 @@ def __add_options(parser):
         "--name",
         help="Name to assign to the bundled app and spec file (default: first script's basename)",
     )
+    g.add_argument(
+        "--internals-prefix",
+        help="For onedir builds only, specify the name of the directory in which all supporting files (i.e. everything "
+        "except the executable itself) will be placed in.",
+    )
 
     g = parser.add_argument_group('What to bundle, where to search')
     g.add_argument(
@@ -615,6 +620,7 @@ def main(
     noupx=False,
     upx_exclude=None,
     runtime_tmpdir=None,
+    internals_prefix=None,
     pathex=[],
     version_file=None,
     specpath=None,
@@ -695,6 +701,7 @@ def main(
         # On Mac OS, the default icon has to be copied into the .app bundle.
         # The the text value 'None' means - use default icon.
         icon_file = 'None'
+    exe_options += "\n    internals_prefix='%s'," % (internals_prefix or "_internal")
 
     if bundle_identifier:
         # We need to encapsulate it into apostrofes.

bootloader/src/pyi_archive.c

@@ -511,6 +511,16 @@ pyi_arch_setup(ARCHIVE_STATUS *status, char const * archive_path, char const * e
     if (snprintf(status->executablename, PATH_MAX, "%s", executable_path) >= PATH_MAX) {
         return false;
     }
+
+    /* Open the archive */
+    if (pyi_arch_open(status)) {
+        /* If this is not an archive, we MUST close the file, */
+        /* otherwise the open file-handle will be reused when */
+        /* testing the next file. */
+        pyi_arch_close_fp(status);
+        return false;
+    }
+
     /* Set homepath (a.k.a. sys._MEIPASS) */
     char executable_dir[PATH_MAX];
     pyi_path_dirname(executable_dir, executable_path);
@@ -528,9 +538,13 @@ pyi_arch_setup(ARCHIVE_STATUS *status, char const * archive_path, char const * e
         pyi_path_dirname(contents_dir, executable_dir);
         pyi_path_join(status->homepath, contents_dir, "Frameworks");
     } else {
+        char * meipass_prefix = pyi_arch_get_option(status, "pyi-meipass-prefix");
+        if (!meipass_prefix) {
+            FATALERROR("pyi-meipass-prefix option not found in onedir bundle archive!");
+        }
         char root_path[PATH_MAX];
         pyi_path_dirname(root_path, archive_path);
-        pyi_path_join(status->homepath, root_path, "_internal");
+        pyi_path_join(status->homepath, root_path, meipass_prefix);
     }
 
     /*
@@ -540,14 +554,6 @@ pyi_arch_setup(ARCHIVE_STATUS *status, char const * archive_path, char const * e
     status->has_temp_directory = false;
     strcpy(status->mainpath, status->homepath);
 
-    /* Open the archive */
-    if (pyi_arch_open(status)) {
-        /* If this is not an archive, we MUST close the file, */
-        /* otherwise the open file-handle will be reused when */
-        /* testing the next file. */
-        pyi_arch_close_fp(status);
-        return false;
-    }
     return true;
 }
 

bootloader/src/pyi_launch.c

@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ _format_and_check_path(char *buf, const char *fmt, ...)
     };
     va_end(args);
 
+    VS("Checking for file %s\n", buf);
     return stat(buf, &tmp);
 }
 
@@ -206,6 +207,7 @@ _extract_dependency(ARCHIVE_STATUS *archive_pool[], const char *item)
 
     pyi_path_dirname(dirname, path);
     pyi_path_dirname(homepath_parent, archive_status->homepath);
+    char * meipass_prefix = pyi_arch_get_option(archive_pool[0], "pyi-meipass-prefix");
 
     /* We need to identify and handle three situations:
      *  1) dependencies are in a onedir archive next to the current onefile archive,
@@ -214,7 +216,7 @@ _extract_dependency(ARCHIVE_STATUS *archive_pool[], const char *item)
      */
     VS("LOADER: homepath is %s\n", archive_status->homepath);
     /* TODO implement pyi_path_join to accept variable length of arguments for this case. */
-    if (_format_and_check_path(srcpath, "%s%c%s%c%s%c%s", homepath_parent, PYI_SEP, dirname, PYI_SEP, "_internal", PYI_SEP, filename) == 0) {
+    if (_format_and_check_path(srcpath, "%s%c%s%c%s%c%s", homepath_parent, PYI_SEP, dirname, PYI_SEP, meipass_prefix, PYI_SEP, filename) == 0) {
         VS("LOADER: File %s found, assuming onedir reference\n", srcpath);
 
         if (_copy_dependency_from_dir(archive_status, srcpath, filename) == -1) {
@@ -223,7 +225,7 @@ _extract_dependency(ARCHIVE_STATUS *archive_pool[], const char *item)
         }
         /* TODO implement pyi_path_join to accept variable length of arguments for this case. */
     }
-    else if (_format_and_check_path(srcpath, "%s%c%s%c%s%c%s", homepath_parent, PYI_SEP, dirname, PYI_SEP, "_internal", PYI_SEP, filename) == 0) {
+    else if (_format_and_check_path(srcpath, "%s%c%s%c%s%c%s", homepath_parent, PYI_SEP, dirname, PYI_SEP, meipass_prefix, PYI_SEP, filename) == 0) {
         VS("LOADER: File %s found, assuming onedir reference\n", srcpath);
 
         if (_copy_dependency_from_dir(archive_status, srcpath, filename) == -1) {
@@ -235,7 +237,7 @@ _extract_dependency(ARCHIVE_STATUS *archive_pool[], const char *item)
         VS("LOADER: File %s not found, assuming onefile reference.\n", srcpath);
 
         /* TODO implement pyi_path_join to accept variable length of arguments for this case. */
-        if ((_format_and_check_path(archive_path, "%s%c%s%c%s.pkg", homepath_parent, PYI_SEP, "_internal", PYI_SEP, path) != 0) &&
+        if ((_format_and_check_path(archive_path, "%s%c%s%c%s.pkg", homepath_parent, PYI_SEP, meipass_prefix, PYI_SEP, path) != 0) &&
             (_format_and_check_path(archive_path, "%s%c%s.exe", homepath_parent, PYI_SEP, path) != 0) &&
             (_format_and_check_path(archive_path, "%s%c%s", homepath_parent, PYI_SEP, path) != 0)) {
             FATALERROR("Archive not found: %s\n", archive_path);

news/7713.breaking.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+All of onedir build's contents except for the executable are now moved into a
+sub-directory (called ``_internal`` by default). ``sys._MEIPASS`` is adjusted to
+point to this ``_internal`` directory. The breaking implications for this are:
+
+* Assumptions that ``os.path.dirname(sys.executable) == sys._MEIPASS`` will
+  break. Code locating application resources using
+  ``os.path.dirname(sys.executable)`` should be adjusted to use ``__file__``
+  or ``sys._MEIPASS`` and any code locating the original executable using
+  ``sys._MEIPASS`` should use :data:`sys.executable` directly.
+
+* Any custom post processing steps (either in the ``.spec`` file or
+  externally) which modify the bundle will likely need adjusting to
+  accommodate the new directory.

news/7713.feature.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+Restructure onedir mode builds so that everything except the executable (and
+``.pkg`` if you're using external PYZ archive mode) are hidden inside a
+sub-directory. This sub-directory's name defaults to ``_internal`` but may be
+configured with the new :option:`--internals-prefix` option. Onefile
+applications and macOS ``.app`` bundles are unaffected.

tests/functional/test_basic.py

@@ -771,3 +771,23 @@ def test_package_entry_point_name_collision(pyi_builder):
     exe, = pyi_builder._find_executables("matching_name")
     p = subprocess.run([exe], stdout=subprocess.PIPE, universal_newlines=True)
     assert re.findall("Running (.*) as (.*)", p.stdout) == expected
+
+
+def test_internals_prefix(pyi_builder):
+    """
+    Test the --internals-prefix option, including changing it without --clean.
+    """
+    if pyi_builder._mode != 'onedir':
+        pytest.skip('--internals-prefix does not affect onefile builds.')
+
+    pyi_builder.test_source("", pyi_args=["--internals-prefix=foo"])
+    exe, = pyi_builder._find_executables("test_source")
+    bundle = Path(exe).parent
+    assert (bundle / "foo").is_dir()
+
+    pyi_builder.test_source("", pyi_args=["--internals-prefix=é³þ³źć🚀", "--noconfirm"])
+    assert not (bundle / "foo").exists()
+    assert (bundle / "é³þ³źć🚀").is_dir()
+
+    with pytest.raises(SystemExit, match='Invalid value "\\." passed'):
+        pyi_builder.test_source("", pyi_args=["--internals-prefix=.", "--noconfirm"])