I'm doing a project involving data collection and logging. I have 2 threads running, a collection thread and a logging thread, both started in main. I'm trying to allow the program to be terminated gracefully when with Ctrl-C.
I'm using a threading.Event to signal to the threads to end their respective loops. It works fine to stop the sim_collectData method, but it doesn't seem to be properly stopping the logData thread. The Collection terminated print statement is never executed, and the program just stalls. (It doesn't end, just sits there).
The second while loop in logData is to make sure everything in the queue is logged. The goal is for Ctrl-C to stop the collection thread immediately, then allow the logging thread to finish emptying the queue, and only then fully terminate the program. (Right now, the data is just being printed out - eventually it's going to be logged to a database).
I don't understand why the second thread never terminates. I'm basing what I've done on this answer: Stopping a thread after a certain amount of time. What am I missing?
def sim_collectData(input_queue, stop_event):
''' this provides some output simulating the serial
data from the data logging hardware.
'''
n = 0
while not stop_event.is_set():
input_queue.put("DATA: <here are some random data> " + str(n))
stop_event.wait(random.randint(0,5))
n += 1
print "Terminating data collection..."
return
def logData(input_queue, stop_event):
n = 0
# we *don't* want to loop based on queue size because the queue could
# theoretically be empty while waiting on some data.
while not stop_event.is_set():
d = input_queue.get()
if d.startswith("DATA:"):
print d
input_queue.task_done()
n += 1
# if the stop event is recieved and the previous loop terminates,
# finish logging the rest of the items in the queue.
print "Collection terminated. Logging remaining data to database..."
while not input_queue.empty():
d = input_queue.get()
if d.startswith("DATA:"):
print d
input_queue.task_done()
n += 1
return
def main():
input_queue = Queue.Queue()
stop_event = threading.Event() # used to signal termination to the threads
print "Starting data collection thread...",
collection_thread = threading.Thread(target=sim_collectData, args=(input_queue, stop_event))
collection_thread.start()
print "Done."
print "Starting logging thread...",
logging_thread = threading.Thread(target=logData, args=(input_queue, stop_event))
logging_thread.start()
print "Done."
try:
while True:
time.sleep(10)
except (KeyboardInterrupt, SystemExit):
# stop data collection. Let the logging thread finish logging everything in the queue
stop_event.set()
main()
The problem is that your logger is waiting on d = input_queue.get() and will not check the event. One solution is to skip the event completely and invent a unique message that tells the logger to stop. When you get a signal, send that message to the queue.
import threading
import Queue
import random
import time
def sim_collectData(input_queue, stop_event):
''' this provides some output simulating the serial
data from the data logging hardware.
'''
n = 0
while not stop_event.is_set():
input_queue.put("DATA: <here are some random data> " + str(n))
stop_event.wait(random.randint(0,5))
n += 1
print "Terminating data collection..."
input_queue.put(None)
return
def logData(input_queue):
n = 0
# we *don't* want to loop based on queue size because the queue could
# theoretically be empty while waiting on some data.
while True:
d = input_queue.get()
if d is None:
input_queue.task_done()
return
if d.startswith("DATA:"):
print d
input_queue.task_done()
n += 1
def main():
input_queue = Queue.Queue()
stop_event = threading.Event() # used to signal termination to the threads
print "Starting data collection thread...",
collection_thread = threading.Thread(target=sim_collectData, args=(input_queue, stop_event))
collection_thread.start()
print "Done."
print "Starting logging thread...",
logging_thread = threading.Thread(target=logData, args=(input_queue,))
logging_thread.start()
print "Done."
try:
while True:
time.sleep(10)
except (KeyboardInterrupt, SystemExit):
# stop data collection. Let the logging thread finish logging everything in the queue
stop_event.set()
main()
I'm not an expert in threading, but in your logData function the first d=input_queue.get() is blocking, i.e., if the queue is empty it will sit an wait forever until a queue message is received. This is likely why the logData thread never terminates, it's sitting waiting forever for a queue message.
Refer to the [Python docs] to change this to a non-blocking queue read: use .get(False) or .get_nowait() - but either will require some exception handling for cases when the queue is empty.
You are calling a blocking get on your input_queue with no timeout. In either section of logData, if you call input_queue.get() and the queue is empty, it will block indefinitely, preventing the logging_thread from reaching completion.
To fix, you will want to call input_queue.get_nowait() or pass a timeout to input_queue.get().
Here is my suggestion:
def logData(input_queue, stop_event):
n = 0
while not stop_event.is_set():
try:
d = input_queue.get_nowait()
if d.startswith("DATA:"):
print "LOG: " + d
n += 1
except Queue.Empty:
time.sleep(1)
return
You are also signalling the threads to terminate, but not waiting for them to do so. Consider doing this in your main function.
try:
while True:
time.sleep(10)
except (KeyboardInterrupt, SystemExit):
stop_event.set()
collection_thread.join()
logging_thread.join()
Based on the answer of tdelaney I created an iterator based approach. The iterator exits when the termination message is encountered. I also added a counter of how many get-calls are currently blocking and a stop-method, which sends just as many termination messages. To prevent a race condition between incrementing and reading the counter, I'm setting a stopping bit there. Furthermore I don't use None as the termination message, because it can not necessarily be compared to other data types when using a PriorityQueue.
There are two restrictions, that I had no need to eliminate. For one the stop-method first waits until the queue is empty before shutting down the threads. The second restriction is, that I did not any code to make the queue reusable after stop. The latter can probably be added quite easily, while the former requires being careful about concurrency and the context in which the code is used.
You have to decide whether you want stop to also wait for all the termination messages to be consumed. I choose to put the necessary join there, but you may just remove it.
So this is the code:
import threading, queue
from functools import total_ordering
#total_ordering
class Final:
def __repr__(self):
return "∞"
def __lt__(self, other):
return False
def __eq__(self, other):
return isinstance(other, Final)
Infty = Final()
class IterQueue(queue.Queue):
def __init__(self):
self.lock = threading.Lock()
self.stopped = False
self.getters = 0
super().__init__()
def __iter__(self):
return self
def get(self):
raise NotImplementedError("This queue may only be used as an iterator.")
def __next__(self):
with self.lock:
if self.stopped:
raise StopIteration
self.getters += 1
data = super().get()
if data == Infty:
self.task_done()
raise StopIteration
with self.lock:
self.getters -= 1
return data
def stop(self):
self.join()
self.stopped = True
with self.lock:
for i in range(self.getters):
self.put(Infty)
self.join()
class IterPriorityQueue(IterQueue, queue.PriorityQueue):
pass
Oh, and I wrote this in python 3.2. So after backporting,
import threading, Queue
from functools import total_ordering
#total_ordering
class Final:
def __repr__(self):
return "Infinity"
def __lt__(self, other):
return False
def __eq__(self, other):
return isinstance(other, Final)
Infty = Final()
class IterQueue(Queue.Queue, object):
def __init__(self):
self.lock = threading.Lock()
self.stopped = False
self.getters = 0
super(IterQueue, self).__init__()
def __iter__(self):
return self
def get(self):
raise NotImplementedError("This queue may only be used as an iterator.")
def next(self):
with self.lock:
if self.stopped:
raise StopIteration
self.getters += 1
data = super(IterQueue, self).get()
if data == Infty:
self.task_done()
raise StopIteration
with self.lock:
self.getters -= 1
return data
def stop(self):
self.join()
self.stopped = True
with self.lock:
for i in range(self.getters):
self.put(Infty)
self.join()
class IterPriorityQueue(IterQueue, Queue.PriorityQueue):
pass
you would use it as
import random
import time
def sim_collectData(input_queue, stop_event):
''' this provides some output simulating the serial
data from the data logging hardware.
'''
n = 0
while not stop_event.is_set():
input_queue.put("DATA: <here are some random data> " + str(n))
stop_event.wait(random.randint(0,5))
n += 1
print "Terminating data collection..."
return
def logData(input_queue):
n = 0
# we *don't* want to loop based on queue size because the queue could
# theoretically be empty while waiting on some data.
for d in input_queue:
if d.startswith("DATA:"):
print d
input_queue.task_done()
n += 1
def main():
input_queue = IterQueue()
stop_event = threading.Event() # used to signal termination to the threads
print "Starting data collection thread...",
collection_thread = threading.Thread(target=sim_collectData, args=(input_queue, stop_event))
collection_thread.start()
print "Done."
print "Starting logging thread...",
logging_thread = threading.Thread(target=logData, args=(input_queue,))
logging_thread.start()
print "Done."
try:
while True:
time.sleep(10)
except (KeyboardInterrupt, SystemExit):
# stop data collection. Let the logging thread finish logging everything in the queue
stop_event.set()
input_queue.stop()
main()
I've read a lot of posts about using threads, subprocesses, etc.. A lot of it seems over complicated for what I'm trying to do...
All I want to do is stop executing a function after X amount of time has elapsed.
def big_loop(bob):
x = bob
start = time.time()
while True:
print time.time()-start
This function is an endless loop that never throws any errors or exceptions, period.
I"m not sure the difference between "commands, shells, subprocesses, threads, etc.." and this function, which is why I'm having trouble manipulating subprocesses.
I found this code here, and tried it but as you can see it keeps printing after 10 seconds have elapsed:
import time
import threading
import subprocess as sub
import time
class RunCmd(threading.Thread):
def __init__(self, cmd, timeout):
threading.Thread.__init__(self)
self.cmd = cmd
self.timeout = timeout
def run(self):
self.p = sub.Popen(self.cmd)
self.p.wait()
def Run(self):
self.start()
self.join(self.timeout)
if self.is_alive():
self.p.terminate()
self.join()
def big_loop(bob):
x = bob
start = time.time()
while True:
print time.time()-start
RunCmd(big_loop('jimijojo'), 10).Run() #supposed to quit after 10 seconds, but doesn't
x = raw_input('DONEEEEEEEEEEEE')
What's a simple way this function can be killed. As you can see in my attempt above, it doesn't terminate after 20 seconds and just keeps on going...
***OH also, I've read about using signal, but I"m on windows so I can't use the alarm feature.. (python 2.7)
**assume the "infinitely running function" can't be manipulated or changed to be non-infinite, if I could change the function, well I'd just change it to be non infinite wouldn't I?
Here are some similar questions, which I haven't able to port over their code to work with my simple function:
Perhaps you can?
Python: kill or terminate subprocess when timeout
signal.alarm replacement in Windows [Python]
Ok I tried an answer I received, it works.. but how can I use it if I remove the if __name__ == "__main__": statement? When I remove this statement, the loop never ends as it did before..
import multiprocessing
import Queue
import time
def infinite_loop_function(bob):
var = bob
start = time.time()
while True:
time.sleep(1)
print time.time()-start
print 'this statement will never print'
def wrapper(queue, bob):
result = infinite_loop_function(bob)
queue.put(result)
queue.close()
#if __name__ == "__main__":
queue = multiprocessing.Queue(1) # Maximum size is 1
proc = multiprocessing.Process(target=wrapper, args=(queue, 'var'))
proc.start()
# Wait for TIMEOUT seconds
try:
timeout = 10
result = queue.get(True, timeout)
except Queue.Empty:
# Deal with lack of data somehow
result = None
finally:
proc.terminate()
print 'running other code, now that that infinite loop has been defeated!'
print 'bla bla bla'
x = raw_input('done')
Use the building blocks in the multiprocessing module:
import multiprocessing
import Queue
TIMEOUT = 5
def big_loop(bob):
import time
time.sleep(4)
return bob*2
def wrapper(queue, bob):
result = big_loop(bob)
queue.put(result)
queue.close()
def run_loop_with_timeout():
bob = 21 # Whatever sensible value you need
queue = multiprocessing.Queue(1) # Maximum size is 1
proc = multiprocessing.Process(target=wrapper, args=(queue, bob))
proc.start()
# Wait for TIMEOUT seconds
try:
result = queue.get(True, TIMEOUT)
except Queue.Empty:
# Deal with lack of data somehow
result = None
finally:
proc.terminate()
# Process data here, not in try block above, otherwise your process keeps running
print result
if __name__ == "__main__":
run_loop_with_timeout()
You could also accomplish this with a Pipe/Connection pair, but I'm not familiar with their API. Change the sleep time or TIMEOUT to check the behaviour for either case.
There is no straightforward way to kill a function after a certain amount of time without running the function in a separate process. A better approach would probably be to rewrite the function so that it returns after a specified time:
import time
def big_loop(bob, timeout):
x = bob
start = time.time()
end = start + timeout
while time.time() < end:
print time.time() - start
# Do more stuff here as needed
Can't you just return from the loop?
start = time.time()
endt = start + 30
while True:
now = time.time()
if now > endt:
return
else:
print end - start
import os,signal,time
cpid = os.fork()
if cpid == 0:
while True:
# do stuff
else:
time.sleep(10)
os.kill(cpid, signal.SIGKILL)
You can also check in the loop of a thread for an event, which is more portable and flexible as it allows other reactions than brute killing. However, this approach fails if # do stuff can take time (or even wait forever on some event).
Does Python have a function similar to JavaScript's setInterval()?
I would like to have:
def set_interval(func, interval):
...
That will call func every interval time units.
This might be the correct snippet you were looking for:
import threading
def set_interval(func, sec):
def func_wrapper():
set_interval(func, sec)
func()
t = threading.Timer(sec, func_wrapper)
t.start()
return t
This is a version where you could start and stop.
It is not blocking.
There is also no glitch as execution time error is not added (important for long time execution with very short interval as audio for example)
import time, threading
StartTime=time.time()
def action() :
print('action ! -> time : {:.1f}s'.format(time.time()-StartTime))
class setInterval :
def __init__(self,interval,action) :
self.interval=interval
self.action=action
self.stopEvent=threading.Event()
thread=threading.Thread(target=self.__setInterval)
thread.start()
def __setInterval(self) :
nextTime=time.time()+self.interval
while not self.stopEvent.wait(nextTime-time.time()) :
nextTime+=self.interval
self.action()
def cancel(self) :
self.stopEvent.set()
# start action every 0.6s
inter=setInterval(0.6,action)
print('just after setInterval -> time : {:.1f}s'.format(time.time()-StartTime))
# will stop interval in 5s
t=threading.Timer(5,inter.cancel)
t.start()
Output is :
just after setInterval -> time : 0.0s
action ! -> time : 0.6s
action ! -> time : 1.2s
action ! -> time : 1.8s
action ! -> time : 2.4s
action ! -> time : 3.0s
action ! -> time : 3.6s
action ! -> time : 4.2s
action ! -> time : 4.8s
Just keep it nice and simple.
import threading
def setInterval(func,time):
e = threading.Event()
while not e.wait(time):
func()
def foo():
print "hello"
# using
setInterval(foo,5)
# output:
hello
hello
.
.
.
EDIT : This code is non-blocking
import threading
class ThreadJob(threading.Thread):
def __init__(self,callback,event,interval):
'''runs the callback function after interval seconds
:param callback: callback function to invoke
:param event: external event for controlling the update operation
:param interval: time in seconds after which are required to fire the callback
:type callback: function
:type interval: int
'''
self.callback = callback
self.event = event
self.interval = interval
super(ThreadJob,self).__init__()
def run(self):
while not self.event.wait(self.interval):
self.callback()
event = threading.Event()
def foo():
print "hello"
k = ThreadJob(foo,event,2)
k.start()
print "It is non-blocking"
Change Nailxx's answer a bit and you got the answer!
from threading import Timer
def hello():
print "hello, world"
Timer(30.0, hello).start()
Timer(30.0, hello).start() # after 30 seconds, "hello, world" will be printed
The sched module provides these abilities for general Python code. However, as its documentation suggests, if your code is multithreaded it might make more sense to use the threading.Timer class instead.
I think this is what you're after:
#timertest.py
import sched, time
def dostuff():
print "stuff is being done!"
s.enter(3, 1, dostuff, ())
s = sched.scheduler(time.time, time.sleep)
s.enter(3, 1, dostuff, ())
s.run()
If you add another entry to the scheduler at the end of the repeating method, it'll just keep going.
I use sched to create setInterval function gist
import functools
import sched, time
s = sched.scheduler(time.time, time.sleep)
def setInterval(sec):
def decorator(func):
#functools.wraps(func)
def wrapper(*argv, **kw):
setInterval(sec)(func)
func(*argv, **kw)
s.enter(sec, 1, wrapper, ())
return wrapper
s.run()
return decorator
#setInterval(sec=3)
def testInterval():
print ("test Interval ")
testInterval()
Simple setInterval utils
from threading import Timer
def setInterval(timer, task):
isStop = task()
if not isStop:
Timer(timer, setInterval, [timer, task]).start()
def hello():
print "do something"
return False # return True if you want to stop
if __name__ == "__main__":
setInterval(2.0, hello) # every 2 seconds, "do something" will be printed
The above method didn't quite do it for me as I needed to be able to cancel the interval. I turned the function into a class and came up with the following:
class setInterval():
def __init__(self, func, sec):
def func_wrapper():
self.t = threading.Timer(sec, func_wrapper)
self.t.start()
func()
self.t = threading.Timer(sec, func_wrapper)
self.t.start()
def cancel(self):
self.t.cancel()
Most of the answers above do not shut down the Thread properly. While using Jupyter notebook I noticed that when an explicit interrupt was sent, the threads were still running and worse, they would keep multiplying starting at 1 thread running,2, 4 etc. My method below is based on the answer by #doom but cleanly handles interrupts by running an infinite loop in the Main thread to listen for SIGINT and SIGTERM events
No drift
Cancelable
Handles SIGINT and SIGTERM very well
Doesnt make a new thread for every run
Feel free to suggest improvements
import time
import threading
import signal
# Record the time for the purposes of demonstration
start_time=time.time()
class ProgramKilled(Exception):
"""
An instance of this custom exception class will be thrown everytime we get an SIGTERM or SIGINT
"""
pass
# Raise the custom exception whenever SIGINT or SIGTERM is triggered
def signal_handler(signum, frame):
raise ProgramKilled
# This function serves as the callback triggered on every run of our IntervalThread
def action() :
print('action ! -> time : {:.1f}s'.format(time.time()-start_time))
# https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2697039/python-equivalent-of-setinterval
class IntervalThread(threading.Thread) :
def __init__(self,interval,action, *args, **kwargs) :
super(IntervalThread, self).__init__()
self.interval=interval
self.action=action
self.stopEvent=threading.Event()
self.start()
def run(self) :
nextTime=time.time()+self.interval
while not self.stopEvent.wait(nextTime-time.time()) :
nextTime+=self.interval
self.action()
def cancel(self) :
self.stopEvent.set()
def main():
# Handle SIGINT and SIFTERM with the help of the callback function
signal.signal(signal.SIGTERM, signal_handler)
signal.signal(signal.SIGINT, signal_handler)
# start action every 1s
inter=IntervalThread(1,action)
print('just after setInterval -> time : {:.1f}s'.format(time.time()-start_time))
# will stop interval in 500s
t=threading.Timer(500,inter.cancel)
t.start()
# https://www.g-loaded.eu/2016/11/24/how-to-terminate-running-python-threads-using-signals/
while True:
try:
time.sleep(1)
except ProgramKilled:
print("Program killed: running cleanup code")
inter.cancel()
break
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()
In the above solutions if a situation arises where program is shutdown, there is no guarantee that it will shutdown gracefully,Its always recommended to shut a program via a soft kill, neither did most of them have a function to stop I found a nice article on medium written by Sankalp which solves both of these issues (run periodic tasks in python) refer the attached link to get a deeper insight.
In the below sample a library named signal is used to track the kill is soft kill or a hard kill
import threading, time, signal
from datetime import timedelta
WAIT_TIME_SECONDS = 1
class ProgramKilled(Exception):
pass
def foo():
print time.ctime()
def signal_handler(signum, frame):
raise ProgramKilled
class Job(threading.Thread):
def __init__(self, interval, execute, *args, **kwargs):
threading.Thread.__init__(self)
self.daemon = False
self.stopped = threading.Event()
self.interval = interval
self.execute = execute
self.args = args
self.kwargs = kwargs
def stop(self):
self.stopped.set()
self.join()
def run(self):
while not self.stopped.wait(self.interval.total_seconds()):
self.execute(*self.args, **self.kwargs)
if __name__ == "__main__":
signal.signal(signal.SIGTERM, signal_handler)
signal.signal(signal.SIGINT, signal_handler)
job = Job(interval=timedelta(seconds=WAIT_TIME_SECONDS), execute=foo)
job.start()
while True:
try:
time.sleep(1)
except ProgramKilled:
print "Program killed: running cleanup code"
job.stop()
break
#output
#Tue Oct 16 17:47:51 2018
#Tue Oct 16 17:47:52 2018
#Tue Oct 16 17:47:53 2018
#^CProgram killed: running cleanup code
setInterval should be run on multiple thread, and not freeze the task when it running loop.
Here is my RUNTIME package that support multithread feature:
setTimeout(F,ms) : timming to fire function in independence thread.
delayF(F,ms) : similar setTimeout(F,ms).
setInterval(F,ms) : asynchronous loop
.pause, .resume : pause and resume the interval
clearInterval(interval) : clear the interval
It's short and simple. Note that python need lambda if you input direct the function, but lambda is not support command block, so you should define the function content before put it in the setInterval.
### DEMO PYTHON MULTITHREAD ASYNCHRONOUS LOOP ###
import time;
import threading;
import random;
def delay(ms):time.sleep(ms/1000); # Controil while speed
def setTimeout(R,delayMS):
t=threading.Timer(delayMS/1000,R)
t.start();
return t;
def delayF(R,delayMS):
t=threading.Timer(delayMS/1000,R)
t.start();
return t;
class THREAD:
def __init__(this):
this.R_onRun=None;
this.thread=None;
def run(this):
this.thread=threading.Thread(target=this.R_onRun);
this.thread.start();
def isRun(this): return this.thread.isAlive();
class setInterval :
def __init__(this,R_onRun,msInterval) :
this.ms=msInterval;
this.R_onRun=R_onRun;
this.kStop=False;
this.thread=THREAD();
this.thread.R_onRun=this.Clock;
this.thread.run();
def Clock(this) :
while not this.kStop :
this.R_onRun();
delay(this.ms);
def pause(this) :
this.kStop=True;
def stop(this) :
this.kStop=True;
def resume(this) :
if (this.kStop) :
this.kStop=False;
this.thread.run();
def clearInterval(Timer): Timer.stop();
# EXAMPLE
def p():print(random.random());
tm=setInterval(p,20);
tm2=setInterval(lambda:print("AAAAA"),20);
delayF(tm.pause,1000);
delayF(tm.resume,2000);
delayF(lambda:clearInterval(tm),3000);
Save to file .py and run it. You will see it print both random number and string "AAAAA". The print number thread will pause printing after 1 second and resume print again for 1 second then stop, while the print string keep printing text not corrupt.
In case you use OpenCV for graphic animation with those setInterval for boost animate speed, you must have 1 main thread to apply waitKey, otherwise the window will freeze no matter how slow delay or you applied waitKey in sub thread:
def p:... # Your drawing task
setInterval(p,1); # Subthread1 running draw
setInterval(p,1); # Subthread2 running draw
setInterval(p,1); # Subthread3 running draw
while True: cv2.waitKey(10); # Main thread which waitKey have effect
You can also try out this method:
import time
while True:
time.sleep(5)
print("5 seconds has passed")
So it will print "5 seconds has passed" every 5 seconds.
The function sleep() suspends execution for the given number of seconds. The argument may be a floating point number to indicate a more precise sleep time.
Recently, I have the same issue as you. And I find these soluation:
1. you can use the library: threading.Time(this have introduction above)
2. you can use the library: sched(this have introduction above too)
3. you can use the library: Advanced Python Scheduler(Recommend)
Some answers above that uses func_wrapper and threading.Timer indeed work, except that it spawns a new thread every time an interval is called, which is causing memory problems.
The basic example below roughly implemented a similar mechanism by putting interval on a separate thread. It sleeps at the given interval. Before jumping into code, here are some of the limitations that you need to be aware of:
JavaScript is single threaded, so when the function inside setInterval is fired, nothing else will be working at the same time (excluding worker thread, but let's talk general use case of setInterval. Therefore, threading is safe. But here in this implementation, you may encounter race conditions unless using a threading.rLock.
The implementation below uses time.sleep to simulate intervals, but adding the execution time of func, the total time for this interval may be greater than what you expect. So depending on use cases, you may want to "sleep less" (minus time taken for calling func)
I only roughly tested this, and you should definitely not use global variables the way I did, feel free to tweak it so that it fits in your system.
Enough talking, here is the code:
# Python 2.7
import threading
import time
class Interval(object):
def __init__(self):
self.daemon_alive = True
self.thread = None # keep a reference to the thread so that we can "join"
def ticktock(self, interval, func):
while self.daemon_alive:
time.sleep(interval)
func()
num = 0
def print_num():
global num
num += 1
print 'num + 1 = ', num
def print_negative_num():
global num
print '-num = ', num * -1
intervals = {} # keep track of intervals
g_id_counter = 0 # roughly generate ids for intervals
def set_interval(interval, func):
global g_id_counter
interval_obj = Interval()
# Put this interval on a new thread
t = threading.Thread(target=interval_obj.ticktock, args=(interval, func))
t.setDaemon(True)
interval_obj.thread = t
t.start()
# Register this interval so that we can clear it later
# using roughly generated id
interval_id = g_id_counter
g_id_counter += 1
intervals[interval_id] = interval_obj
# return interval id like it does in JavaScript
return interval_id
def clear_interval(interval_id):
# terminate this interval's while loop
intervals[interval_id].daemon_alive = False
# kill the thread
intervals[interval_id].thread.join()
# pop out the interval from registry for reusing
intervals.pop(interval_id)
if __name__ == '__main__':
num_interval = set_interval(1, print_num)
neg_interval = set_interval(3, print_negative_num)
time.sleep(10) # Sleep 10 seconds on main thread to let interval run
clear_interval(num_interval)
clear_interval(neg_interval)
print "- Are intervals all cleared?"
time.sleep(3) # check if both intervals are stopped (not printing)
print "- Yup, time to get beers"
Expected output:
num + 1 = 1
num + 1 = 2
-num = -2
num + 1 = 3
num + 1 = 4
num + 1 = 5
-num = -5
num + 1 = 6
num + 1 = 7
num + 1 = 8
-num = -8
num + 1 = 9
num + 1 = 10
-num = -10
Are intervals all cleared?
Yup, time to get beers
My Python 3 module jsinterval.py will be helpful! Here it is:
"""
Threaded intervals and timeouts from JavaScript
"""
import threading, sys
__all__ = ['TIMEOUTS', 'INTERVALS', 'setInterval', 'clearInterval', 'setTimeout', 'clearTimeout']
TIMEOUTS = {}
INTERVALS = {}
last_timeout_id = 0
last_interval_id = 0
class Timeout:
"""Class for all timeouts."""
def __init__(self, func, timeout):
global last_timeout_id
last_timeout_id += 1
self.timeout_id = last_timeout_id
TIMEOUTS[str(self.timeout_id)] = self
self.func = func
self.timeout = timeout
self.threadname = 'Timeout #%s' %self.timeout_id
def run(self):
func = self.func
delx = self.__del__
def func_wrapper():
func()
delx()
self.t = threading.Timer(self.timeout/1000, func_wrapper)
self.t.name = self.threadname
self.t.start()
def __repr__(self):
return '<JS Timeout set for %s seconds, launching function %s on timeout reached>' %(self.timeout, repr(self.func))
def __del__(self):
self.t.cancel()
class Interval:
"""Class for all intervals."""
def __init__(self, func, interval):
global last_interval_id
self.interval_id = last_interval_id
INTERVALS[str(self.interval_id)] = self
last_interval_id += 1
self.func = func
self.interval = interval
self.threadname = 'Interval #%s' %self.interval_id
def run(self):
func = self.func
interval = self.interval
def func_wrapper():
timeout = Timeout(func_wrapper, interval)
self.timeout = timeout
timeout.run()
func()
self.t = threading.Timer(self.interval/1000, func_wrapper)
self.t.name = self.threadname
self.t.run()
def __repr__(self):
return '<JS Interval, repeating function %s with interval %s>' %(repr(self.func), self.interval)
def __del__(self):
self.timeout.__del__()
def setInterval(func, interval):
"""
Create a JS Interval: func is the function to repeat, interval is the interval (in ms)
of executing the function.
"""
temp = Interval(func, interval)
temp.run()
idx = int(temp.interval_id)
del temp
return idx
def clearInterval(interval_id):
try:
INTERVALS[str(interval_id)].__del__()
del INTERVALS[str(interval_id)]
except KeyError:
sys.stderr.write('No such interval "Interval #%s"\n' %interval_id)
def setTimeout(func, timeout):
"""
Create a JS Timeout: func is the function to timeout, timeout is the timeout (in ms)
of executing the function.
"""
temp = Timeout(func, timeout)
temp.run()
idx = int(temp.timeout_id)
del temp
return idx
def clearTimeout(timeout_id):
try:
TIMEOUTS[str(timeout_id)].__del__()
del TIMEOUTS[str(timeout_id)]
except KeyError:
sys.stderr.write('No such timeout "Timeout #%s"\n' %timeout_id)
CODE EDIT:
Fixed the memory leak (spotted by #benjaminz). Now ALL threads are cleaned up upon end. Why does this leak happen? It happens because of the implicit (or even explicit) references. In my case, TIMEOUTS and INTERVALS. Timeouts self-clean automatically (after this patch) because they use function wrapper which calls the function and then self-kills. But how does this happen? Objects can't be deleted from memory unless all references are deleted too or gc module is used. Explaining: there's no way to create (in my code) unwanted references to timeouts/intervals. They have only ONE referrer: the TIMEOUTS/INTERVALS dicts. And, when interrupted or finished (only timeouts can finish uninterrupted) they delete the only existing reference to themselves: their corresponding dict element. Classes are perfectly encapsulated using __all__, so no space for memory leaks.
Here is a low time drift solution that uses a thread to periodically signal an Event object. The thread's run() does almost nothing while waiting for a timeout; hence the low time drift.
# Example of low drift (time) periodic execution of a function.
import threading
import time
# Thread that sets 'flag' after 'timeout'
class timerThread (threading.Thread):
def __init__(self , timeout , flag):
threading.Thread.__init__(self)
self.timeout = timeout
self.stopFlag = False
self.event = threading.Event()
self.flag = flag
# Low drift run(); there is only the 'if'
# and 'set' methods between waits.
def run(self):
while not self.event.wait(self.timeout):
if self.stopFlag:
break
self.flag.set()
def stop(self):
stopFlag = True
self.event.set()
# Data.
printCnt = 0
# Flag to print.
printFlag = threading.Event()
# Create and start the timer thread.
printThread = timerThread(3 , printFlag)
printThread.start()
# Loop to wait for flag and print time.
while True:
global printCnt
# Wait for flag.
printFlag.wait()
# Flag must be manually cleared.
printFlag.clear()
print(time.time())
printCnt += 1
if printCnt == 3:
break;
# Stop the thread and exit.
printThread.stop()
printThread.join()
print('Done')
fall asleep until the next interval of seconds length starts: (not concurrent)
def sleep_until_next_interval(self, seconds):
now = time.time()
fall_asleep = seconds - now % seconds
time.sleep(fall_asleep)
while True:
sleep_until_next_interval(10) # 10 seconds - worktime
# work here
simple and no drift.
I have written my code to make a very very flexible setInterval in python. Here you are:
import threading
class AlreadyRunning(Exception):
pass
class IntervalNotValid(Exception):
pass
class setInterval():
def __init__(this, func=None, sec=None, args=[]):
this.running = False
this.func = func # the function to be run
this.sec = sec # interval in second
this.Return = None # The returned data
this.args = args
this.runOnce = None # asociated with run_once() method
this.runOnceArgs = None # asociated with run_once() method
if (func is not None and sec is not None):
this.running = True
if (not callable(func)):
raise TypeError("non-callable object is given")
if (not isinstance(sec, int) and not isinstance(sec, float)):
raise TypeError("A non-numeric object is given")
this.TIMER = threading.Timer(this.sec, this.loop)
this.TIMER.start()
def start(this):
if (not this.running):
if (not this.isValid()):
raise IntervalNotValid("The function and/or the " +
"interval hasn't provided or invalid.")
this.running = True
this.TIMER = threading.Timer(this.sec, this.loop)
this.TIMER.start()
else:
raise AlreadyRunning("Tried to run an already run interval")
def stop(this):
this.running = False
def isValid(this):
if (not callable(this.func)):
return False
cond1 = not isinstance(this.sec, int)
cond2 = not isinstance(this.sec, float)
if (cond1 and cond2):
return False
return True
def loop(this):
if (this.running):
this.TIMER = threading.Timer(this.sec, this.loop)
this.TIMER.start()
function_, Args_ = this.func, this.args
if (this.runOnce is not None): # someone has provide the run_once
runOnce, this.runOnce = this.runOnce, None
result = runOnce(*(this.runOnceArgs))
this.runOnceArgs = None
# if and only if the result is False. not accept "None"
# nor zero.
if (result is False):
return # cancel the interval right now
this.Return = function_(*Args_)
def change_interval(this, sec):
cond1 = not isinstance(sec, int)
cond2 = not isinstance(sec, float)
if (cond1 and cond2):
raise TypeError("A non-numeric object is given")
# prevent error when providing interval to a blueprint
if (this.running):
this.TIMER.cancel()
this.sec = sec
# prevent error when providing interval to a blueprint
# if the function hasn't provided yet
if (this.running):
this.TIMER = threading.Timer(this.sec, this.loop)
this.TIMER.start()
def change_next_interval(this, sec):
if (not isinstance(sec, int) and not isinstance(sec, float)):
raise TypeError("A non-numeric object is given")
this.sec = sec
def change_func(this, func, args=[]):
if (not callable(func)):
raise TypeError("non-callable object is given")
this.func = func
this.args = args
def run_once(this, func, args=[]):
this.runOnce = func
this.runOnceArgs = args
def get_return(this):
return this.Return
You can get many features and flexibility. Running this code won't freeze your code, you can change the interval at run time, you can change the function at run time, you can pass arguments, you can get the returned object from your function, and many more. You can make your tricks too!
here's a very simple and basic example to use it:
import time
def interval(name="world"):
print(f"Hello {name}!")
# function named interval will be called every two seconds
# output: "Hello world!"
interval1 = setInterval(interval, 2)
# function named interval will be called every 1.5 seconds
# output: "Hello Jane!"
interval2 = setInterval(interval, 1.5, ["Jane"])
time.sleep(5) #stop all intervals after 5 seconds
interval1.stop()
interval2.stop()
Check out my Github project to see more examples and follow next updates :D
https://github.com/Hzzkygcs/setInterval-python
Here's something easy peazy:
import time
delay = 10 # Seconds
def setInterval():
print('I print in intervals!')
time.sleep(delay)
setInterval()
Things work differently in Python: you need to either sleep() (if you want to block the current thread) or start a new thread. See http://docs.python.org/library/threading.html
From Python Documentation:
from threading import Timer
def hello():
print "hello, world"
t = Timer(30.0, hello)
t.start() # after 30 seconds, "hello, world" will be printed