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README.md

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exelua

exelua is part of the luaToEXE tool suite.

Introduction

exelua provides a ready-to-use command-line tool for packaging .lua files into .exe executables.

  • exelua is available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.
  • The 32-bit version of exelua only includes 32-bit Lua interpreters and can only generate 32-bit executables.
  • The 64-bit version of exelua includes both 32-bit and 64-bit Lua interpreters, allowing you to generate either 32-bit or 64-bit executables.
  • The source code of exelua itself is written in Lua and packaged as an exe.
  • The conversion process is powered by srlua.
  • This tool statically links with different Lua versions, so the generated exe does not require any external DLLs.
  • Platform limitation: Windows 32/64-bit only.

Installation

  1. Download the appropriate version of exelua for your system architecture (32-bit or 64-bit) from the releases page.
  2. Extract it to any directory, and add the extracted exelua folder to your system PATH environment variable. Restart your computer.
  3. Run exelua -v in a terminal. If it displays the version number, the installation was successful.

Note: The srlua folder must be in the same directory as the program.

Directory Structure

exelua.exe
\srlua\
   \5.1.5-32\
      srlua.exe
      srglue.exe
   \5.1.5-64\
      srlua.exe
      srglue.exe
   \5.4.6-32\
      srlua.exe
      srglue.exe
   \5.4.6-64\
      srlua.exe
      srglue.exe
   ...

The Lua interpreter version is customizable, as long as it follows the [LuaVersion]-[Arch] naming convention.

The 32-bit version of exelua only contains folders for 32-bit Lua versions (e.g., 5.1.5-32, 5.4.6-32, etc.), while the 64-bit version contains folders for both 32-bit and 64-bit Lua versions, allowing you to choose the corresponding architecture for the generated executable.

Usage

Show Version

exelua -v

Show Help

exelua -h

List Available Lua Versions

exelua -list

Sample output:

Available Lua versions:
  5.1.5-32
  5.1.5-64
  5.4.6-32
  5.4.6-64

(The 32-bit version of exelua will only list 32-bit Lua versions, such as 5.1.5-32, 5.4.6-32, etc.)

Compile Lua Script to EXE

Use Default Lua Version (64-bit exelua defaults to 5.1.5-64, 32-bit exelua defaults to 5.1.5-32)

exelua -c hello.lua hello.exe

Specify Lua Version

exelua -c hello.lua hello.exe -lua 5.4.6-32
  • -lua <version> specifies the interpreter version (must match the subfolder name under srlua/). If not specified, the 64-bit exelua defaults to 5.1.5-64, and the 32-bit exelua defaults to 5.1.5-32. If no Lua versions are available, a corresponding message will be displayed.

Command-Line Options

Option Description
-v Show exelua version
-h Show help information
-list List all available Lua versions in the srlua folder
-c Compile the specified Lua file to exe
-lua <version> Specify Lua version (optional, used with -c)

Notes

  • exelua only supports Windows 32/64-bit systems.
  • Each subfolder under srlua/ must contain both srlua.exe and srglue.exe for that version.
  • Not supported on Linux or macOS.
  • The supported Lua versions are determined by the actual folders present under srlua/.
  • The 32-bit exelua can only generate 32-bit exes; the 64-bit exelua can generate either 32-bit or 64-bit exes depending on the selected Lua version.