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I want to run and kill a thread on a button press

I have a program that is supposed to send a few data points over a serial connection to an arduino which will control some motors to move. I can send the control signals individually as well as by txt file which will run repeatedly until the file is complete. While running a txt file, I want to be able to exit the loop like a pause or stop button. I think the best way to do that is via a thread that I can close. I have never done any threading before and my rudimentary attempts have not worked. Here is the function that sends the file data.
def send_file():
# Global vars
global moto1pos
global motor2pos
# Set Ready value
global isready
# Get File location
program_file_name = file_list.get('active')
file_path = "/home/evan/Documents/bar_text_files/"
program_file = Path(file_path + program_file_name)
file = open(program_file)
pos1 = []
pos2 = []
speed1 = []
speed2 = []
accel1 = []
accel2 = []
for each in file:
vals = each.split()
pos1.append(int(vals[0]))
pos2.append(int(vals[1]))
speed1.append(int(vals[2]))
speed2.append(int(vals[3]))
accel1.append(int(vals[4]))
accel2.append(int(vals[5]))
# Send file values
try:
while isready == 1:
for i in range(len(pos1)):
print("Step: " + str(i+1))
data = struct.pack("!llhhhh", pos1[i], pos2[i], speed1[i], speed2[i], accel1[i], accel2[i])
ser.write(data)
try:
pos1time = abs(pos1[i]/speed1[i])
except:
pos1time = 0
try:
pos2time = abs(pos2[i]/speed2[i])
except:
pos2time = 0
time_array = (pos1time, pos2time)
time.sleep(max(time_array))
motor1pos = ser.readline()
motor2pos = ser.readline()
if i < (len(pos1)-1):
isready = ord(ser.read(1))
else:
isready = 0
except:
print("Error: data not sent. Check serial port is open")
Here is the threading command which I want the sendfile command to work from.
def thread():
try:
global isready
isready = 1
t = threading.Thread(name='sending_data', target=command)
t.start()
except:
print("Threading Error: you don't know what you are doing")
And here is the stop function I want the thread to be killed by:
def stop():
try:
global isready
isready = 0
t.kill()
except:
print("Error: thread wasn't killed")
I know you aren't supposed to kill a thread but the data isn't very important. Whats more important is to stop the motors before something breaks.
The button in tkinter is:
run_file_butt = tk.Button(master = file_frame, text = "Run File", command = thread)
When I click the button, the program runs but the stop function does nothing to stop the motion.

Question: run and kill a thread on a button press
There is no such a thing called .kill(....
Start making your def send_file(... a Thread object which is waiting your commands.
Note: As it stands, your inner while isready == 1: will not stop by using m.set_state('stop').
It's mandatory to start the Thread object inside:
if __name__ == '__main__':
m = MotorControl()
import threading, time
class MotorControl(threading.Thread):
def __init__(self):
super().__init__()
self.state = {'is_alive'}
self.start()
def set_state(self, state):
if state == 'stop':
state = 'idle'
self.state.add(state)
def terminate(self):
self.state = {}
# main function in a Thread object
def run(self):
# Here goes your initalisation
# ...
while 'is_alive' in self.state:
if 'start' in self.state:
isready = 1
while isready == 1:
# Here goes your activity
# Simulate activity
print('running')
time.sleep(2)
isready = 0
self.state = self.state - {'start'}
self.state.add('idle')
elif 'idle' in self.state:
print('idle')
time.sleep(1)
if __name__ == '__main__':
m = MotorControl()
time.sleep(2)
m.set_state('start')
time.sleep(3)
m.set_state('stop')
time.sleep(3)
m.set_state('start')
time.sleep(4)
m.terminate()
print('EXIT __main__')
Your tk.Button should look like:
tk.Button(text = "Run File", command = lambda:m.set_state('start'))
tk.Button(text = "Stop File", command = lambda:m.set_state('stop'))
tk.Button(text = "Terminate", command = m.terminate)

The answer I have gone with is simple due to my simple understanding of threading and unique circumstances with which I am using the threading. Instead of terminating the thread in a way I was hoping, I added another conditional statement to the sending line of the send_file function.
while isready == 1:
for i in range(len(pos1)):
if motorstop == False:
print("Step: " + str(i+1))
#data = struct.pack('!llllhhhhhhhh', pos1[i], pos2[i], pos3[i], pos4[i], speed1[i], speed2[i], speed3[i], speed[4], accel1[i], accel2[i], accel3[i], accel4[i])
data = struct.pack("!llhhhh", pos1[i], pos2[i], speed1[i], speed2[i], accel1[i], accel2[i])
ser.write(data)
else:
isready = 0
break
and I have updated my stop() func to the following:
def stop():
try:
global motorstop
global t
motorstop = True
t.join()
except:
print("Error: thread wasn't killed")
I'm not exactly sure how it works but it is much simpler than what was mentioned by #stovefl.
With this code, since the function is mostly just sleeping, it can run but it won't send any new information and then will .join() after the next iteration.

Python pause loop on user input

Hey I am trying to have a loop be pausable from user input like having a input box in the terminal that if you type pause it will pause the loop and then if you type start it will start again.
while True:
#Do something
pause = input('Pause or play:')
if pause == 'Pause':
#Paused
Something like this but having the #Do something continually happening without waiting for the input to be sent.

Ok I get it now, here is a solution with Threads:
from threading import Thread
import time
paused = "play"
def loop():
global paused
while not (paused == "pause"):
print("do some")
time.sleep(3)
def interrupt():
global paused
paused = input('pause or play:')
if __name__ == "__main__":
thread2 = Thread(target = interrupt, args = [])
thread = Thread(target = loop, args = [])
thread.start()
thread2.start()

You can't directly, as input blocks everything until it returns.
The _thread module, though, can help you with that:
import _thread
def input_thread(checker):
while True:
text = input()
if text == 'Pause':
checker.append(True)
break
else:
print('Unknown input: "{}"'.format(text))
def do_stuff():
checker = []
_thread.start_new_thread(input_thread, (checker,))
counter = 0
while not checker:
counter += 1
return counter
print(do_stuff())

How to stop and start a thread at will

So I'm doing some testing with threads and I realised I could not stop and then start a thread. I could stop it, but starting it again was the issue.I want a script that adds 1 to a var when it is on then its stops when off by pressing shift to turn on and off.I have the detecting shift working (it is on another part of my code), but I just need to find out how to stop and start threadsHere is my test code:
from threading import Thread as th
import time as t
var = 0
def testDef():
global var
var += 1:
t.sleep(1)
test = th(target = testDef)
test.start()
while True:
menu = input("On, Off, Show Var")
if menu == "On":
test.start()
elif menu == "Off":
test._stop():
elif menu == "S":
print(var)
I know there are a few errors, but I mainly need the on and off threading to work.
Thanks, Jeff.

As far as I know, you can't actually stop and restart a thread as you can't use test.start() when the method has been terminated. However, you may be wondering to something similar by using threading.Condition to pause and later resume the execution.
You can read more about it in the documentation.
There is also an error in var += 1:, change it to var += 1

Here's a simple example on how to use threading.Event to enable two threads to communicate. This works by setting the internal flag of the Event to either True or False. While this internal flag is False you can ask thread a to wait (effectively block, which is not very efficient by the way). Then we use the two timers (b, c) to simulate a shift press every 5 seconds. In order to release a we set the event (internal flag = True). 5 seconds later, we clear the value of the internal flag and this will make thread a to block again.
import threading
def do(event):
flag = True
while flag:
if not event.isSet():
print "blocking"
event.wait()
else:
print "resuming"
def pressShift(event, enable):
print "Shift pressed"
if enable:
event.set()
else:
event.clear()
def main():
event = threading.Event()
a = threading.Thread(target=do, args=(event,))
b = threading.Timer(5, pressShift, args=(event, True)).start()
c = threading.Timer(10, pressShift, args=(event, False)).start()
a.start()
a.join()
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()

You cannot restart a thread that has already been started. What you can do, however, is to create another thread.
from threading import Thread as th
import time as t
var = 0
def testDef():
global var
var += 1
t.sleep(1)
test = th(target = testDef)
test.start()
while True:
menu = input("On, Off, Show Var")
if menu == "On":
test = th(target = testDef)
test.start()
elif menu == "Off":
test._stop()
elif menu == "S":
print(var)

Use an event object like this post, and check that event in your target functoin. Also, you need a new thread each time you re-start. The code shown below adds some debugging that should be useful. (Another approach is to build a custom stop function.)
import logging
import threading
import time as t
var = 0
logging.basicConfig(level=logging.DEBUG,
format='[%(levelname)s] (%(threadName)-10s) %(message)s',
)
def testDef(stop_event):
global var
print 'Thread Running', var
# inThread.stop()
while not stop_event.isSet():
var += 1
logging.debug('Var is %i' % var)
t.sleep(1)
# Use an event to track user input
testStopEvent = threading.Event()
testStopEvent.clear()
test = threading.Thread(name = 'test', target=testDef, args=((testStopEvent,)))
test.setDaemon(True)
while True:
menu = input("On = 1, Off = 2, Show Var = 3")
if menu == 1:
test.start()
elif menu == 2:
testStopEvent.set()
test.join() # Wait for the thread to finish
test = threading.Thread(target=testDef, args=((testStopEvent,))) # "re-start" thread
testStopEvent.clear() # Reset the stop event
elif menu == 3:
print(var)

Python 3.4: After popen.communicate() program is lost

I'll try to connect a button on my RPi to control mplayer, first button press shall start the player, and each later button press shall play another entry in the playlist.
As a minimal example I created following script on Linux Mint 18 and Python3.4.3:
from time import sleep
from subprocess import Popen, PIPE, DEVNULL
cmd = ["mplayer", "-shuffle", "-playlist", "/path/to/playlist.m3u"]
if __name__ == '__main__':
first = False
p = None
i = 0
if first == False: # should simulate first button
print("player starting")
p = Popen(cmd, stdin=PIPE, stdout=DEVNULL)
print("player started")
first = True
while 1:
sleep(1)
i += 1
print(str(i)+ " " +str(first))
if i == 5 and first == True: # should simulate each later button
i = 0
print("sending keystroke to mplayer")
p.communicate(b"\n")[0] # mplayer plays next song, but the program is lost
print("sended keystroke to mplayer - never printed")
And the output is:
player starting
player started
1 True
2 True
3 True
4 True
5 True
sending keystroke to mplayer
And now I'm expecting a restart of the loop, but it's missing.
Debugging did not help me.
Do you have any ideas how to solve the problem and how to return into the loop?
Thank you.

I solved it with mplayer slave:
from time import sleep
from subprocess import Popen
pathtoControlFile = "/home/immi/mplayer-control"
cmd = ["mplayer", "-slave", "-input", "file="+pathtoControlFile, "-shuffle", "-playlist", "/media/immi/9A005723005705A3/Musik/playlist.m3u"]
if __name__ == '__main__':
first = False
i = 0
if first == False: # initial start
print("player starting")
p = Popen(cmd)
print("player started")
first = True
while 1:
sleep(1)
i += 1
print(str(i)+ " " +str(first))
if i == 5 and first == True: # each later button
i = 0
print("sending keystroke to mplayer")
with open(pathtoControlFile, "wb+", buffering=0) as fileInput:
p = Popen(["echo", "pt_step next"], stdout=fileInput)

Return a value from a thread function

Im trying to return a "snapshot" of information from a function running in a thread with python. I thought it would be easy, but google doesent make any sens.
import thread
import sys
import time
def counter():
count = 0
while 1:
count = count +1
# Hi screen
print('Welcome to thread example!\n')
# Avalibel commands
print('Enter [quit] to exit. enter [status] for count status')
C = thread.start_new_thread(counter ,())
while 1:
try:
command = raw_input('Command: ')
if command == 'quit':
sys.exit()
elif command == 'status':
print(time.ctime())
print(C.count + '\n')
else:
print('unknown command. [quit] or [satus]')
except KeyboardInterrupt:
print "\nKeybord interrupt, exiting gracefully anyway."
sys.exit()
This above example gives me AttributeError: 'int' object has no attribute 'count', but i have tried a few "solutions" with different no success.
In this example i want counter() to run until i enter quit. A little output example:
Welcome to thread example!
Enter [quit] to exit. enter [status] for count status
>>> Command: status
Thu Feb 25 09:42:43 2016
123567
>>> Command: status
Thu Feb 25 10:0:43 2016
5676785785768568795
Question:
How do i return a "snapshot" value from def counter?
If i let this run for a couple of hours, will i have a memory issue?

You can do it by creating your custom Thread class. But keep in mind this infinite loop will eat up your CPU core on which this thread will be running on.
class MyCounter(threading.Thread):
def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
super(MyCounter, self).__init__()
self.count = 0
self._running = True
def run(self):
while self._running:
self.count += 1
def quit(self):
self._running = False
C = MyCounter()
C.start()
while 1:
try:
command = raw_input('Command: ')
if command == 'quit':
C.quit()
sys.exit()
elif command == 'status':
print(time.ctime())
print(C.count + '\n')
else:
print('unknown command. [quit] or [satus]')
except KeyboardInterrupt:
print "\nKeybord interrupt, exiting gracefully anyway."
sys.exit()