Question: [snippet of The date format received](https://i.stack.imgur.com/23uhm.png) I want to display the date in an HTML table but unable to convert the iso8601 type date format to the date object.

```
$(document).ready(function(){

    var startDate;
    var formattedDate;
    var day;

    $(function(){
        $.ajax({
            url: "http://localhost:8080/employee/101",
            method: "Get",
            success: function(data,status){
                startDate = new Date(data.joinDate);
                day = startDate.dayOfWeek;
                console.log(startDate);
            }   
        });
    });

```

> 
> I get error : invalid date at "console.log(startDate);"
> 
> 
> 

I also need to increment the date but stuck at converting the iso8601 format to a normal date object.

Answer: 
HOLY COW ! After a few more days of headaches I FINALLY found an approach that works... here is what I did to get the program to work without requiring an external image file:

step 1: encode the image file (note that it must be a GIF. you can convert it using paint):

```
import base64
with open("MyPicture.gif", "rb") as image_file:
    encoded_string = base64.b64encode(image_file.read())
print(encoded_string)#print string to copy it (see step 2)

```

step 2: the next step is to copy and paste the string into a separate myimages.py file and 
store it as variable. for example:

```
imageString = b'R0lGODlhyADIAPcAAAA .....blah blah really long string.......'

```

step 3: then import the myimages.py into main program and call the variable

```
from myimages import *
pic=imageString#GIF decoded to string. imageString from myimages.py
render = PhotoImage(data=pic)
myLabel.config(image=render)

```

step 4: in the spec file: include the myimages.py as data

```
# -*- mode: python -*-

block_cipher = None

#instructions: pyinstaller --onefile --noconsole myProgram.spec

file_name = 'myProgram'
add_files=[('myimages.py','module')]

a = Analysis([file_name+'.py'],
             pathex=['C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Python36-32\\Scripts'],
             binaries=[],
             datas=add_files,
             hiddenimports=[],
             hookspath=[],
             runtime_hooks=[],
             excludes=exclude_list,
             win_no_prefer_redirects=False,
             win_private_assemblies=False,
             cipher=block_cipher)
pyz = PYZ(a.pure, a.zipped_data,
             cipher=block_cipher)
exe = EXE(pyz,
          a.scripts,
          a.binaries,
          a.zipfiles,
          a.datas,
          name=file_name,
          debug=False,
          strip=False,
          upx=True,
          runtime_tmpdir=None,
          console=False )

```

step 5: finally you can compile to EXE:

```
pyinstaller --onefile --noconsole myProgram.spec

```

*SIGH* If anyone has a better solution, please post it here. until then I'm glad something works...
Here's how I did it...

**To bundle the image with the executable:**

Use the following command to save your icon to a folder called "icon" that will be generated in the "C:\Users<username>\AppData\Local\Temp\_MEI123456" folder generated by pyinstaller at runtime:

```
--add-data=C:\absolute\path\to\your\ICON.ico;icon

```

My full command line, the string I type into the python terminal (i'm using pycharm IDE) to generate my EXE, looks like this:

```
pyinstaller -w -F -i=C:\absolute\path\to\your\ICON.ico --add-data=C:\absolute\path\to\your\ICON.ico;icon -n=MyEXEsNameV1 main.py

```

(For debug it is helpful to omit -w and add --debug=all)

*doc reference: <https://pyinstaller.readthedocs.io/en/stable/usage.html#options-group-what-to-bundle-where-to-search>*

**To access the image in my python script main.py:**

I used the following code to setup the tk window:

```
import tkinter as tk
from os import path

    # main widget
    self.root = tk.Tk(master)
    self.root.title('Window Title Bar Name V1.0')
    self.root.minsize(1234, 1234)

    # get icon
    try:
        # Get the absolute path of the temp directory
        path_to_icon = path.abspath(path.join(path.dirname(__file__), 'icon/GAUGE-ICON.ico')) 
        # set the icon of the tk window
        self.root.iconbitmap(path_to_icon)
    except:
        pass

```

*doc reference: <https://pyinstaller.readthedocs.io/en/stable/runtime-information.html>*