Ethernet Transfer

A compact peer-to-peer file transfer application for Windows over a direct Ethernet link.

Features

• Host (send) and Receiver (receive) modes.
• Send files or an entire folder (preserving directory structure).
• Streamed TAR mode for large folder transfers (avoids temporary archives on sender).
• Manifest negotiation to skip files already present on the receiver (resume/skip).
• Parallel workers for improved throughput when sending many small files.
• Optional SHA256 manifest entries for stronger integrity checks.
• Modern PyQt5 UI with embedded SVG icons, header, watermark, and smooth progress animations.
• Optional automatic IP configuration for direct link (uses netsh; requires Administrator).

Repository layout

• main.py — Main application (PyQt5 GUI + transfer logic).
• assets.py — Embedded SVG assets used by the UI (icons, logo).
• build_exe.ps1 — PowerShell helper to build a single-file EXE using PyInstaller. Generates app.ico and builds dist\EthernetTransfer.exe.
• requirements.txt — Build/runtime dependencies used for packaging.
• create_icon.py — Helper to render the embedded SVG to app.ico during the build (optional).
• Test utilities: test_send_folder.py, gui_sim_test.py, gui_end_to_end_test.py.

Quick start (developer)

1. Clone the repository.
2. Create a clean virtual environment (recommended):

python -m venv .venv
.\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Run the app (development):

python main.py

4. Build a distributable EXE (Windows PowerShell):

cd <repo-root>
.\build_exe.ps1

The script will generate app.ico from the embedded SVG and run PyInstaller. The final executable will be placed in dist\EthernetTransfer.exe.

Troubleshooting

• The Configure IP / Reset IP features call netsh and require Administrator privileges. The app will prompt when those actions are requested.
• If the built EXE shows Qt platform plugin errors on other machines, re-run the build in a clean venv or add the --add-data argument to include the PyQt platforms plugin folder.

Distribution & signing

• For production releases, code-sign the EXE with a trusted code-signing certificate (EV or standard) to avoid SmartScreen warnings. Provide a .pfx and I can add signing to the build script.

Contributing

• Open issues or pull requests. Add tests for manifest and streaming logic where practical.

License

• Add a license (e.g., MIT) before publishing this repository.