How can I use pywin32 with a virtualenv without having to include the host environment's site-packages folder?
pyinstaller, python, virtualenv, winapi
Solution
OK, well since I had to find a way forward I improvised. I've internally created a git repository with a hacked-together version of pywin32 that will install within a virtualenv using the standard `setup.py` script. It took a lot of fiddling to make it work right but I managed to get it to load and the dependent code now works as I need it to. If people feel this would be of benefit to the community please post a comment: if I get enough I'll try and put something up on my github account.
Problem
I'm working with PyInstaller under Python 2.6, which is only partially supported due to the mess MS have created with their manifest nonense which now affects Python since it is now MSVC8 compiled. The problem is that the manifest embedding support relies on the pywin32 extensions in order to build which is a pain because without including the host's site-packages folder when I create the virtualenv (kinda defeats the point in a build environment) I cannot find a way to install the required extensions so they are accessible to PyInstaller. Has anyone found a solution to this issue?