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())
Related
I checked threads and solutions about multiprocessing on pyhton 3, but could not adapt it to my case because its containing a loop:
import time
anotherFunctionRunning = False
def anotherFunction():
global anotherFunctionRunning
anotherFunctionRunning = True
print("Another function started")
time.sleep(5)
print("Another function stopped running")
anotherFunctionRunning = False
def mainLoop():
global anotherFunctionRunning
while True:
print("running")
time.sleep(1)
if (anotherFunctionRunning == False):
anotherFunction()
else:
print("loop running, another function running")
print("loop ended")
mainLoop()
My problem here is when anotherFunction starts running, script waits it to be over (in the example 5 seconds) and continues the loop.
I want it to continue the loop while anotherFunction running.
I saw this common solution but could not adapt it to my case and dont know how to do because its becoming too complex:
from multiprocessing import Process
def func1:
#does something
def func2:
#does something
if __name__=='__main__':
p1 = Process(target = func1)
p1.start()
p2 = Process(target = func2)
p2.start()
Any ideas ?
Thanks for support
I'm not sure I understand what you want, but I think this should do the job
import time
from threading import Thread
anotherFunctionRunning = False
def anotherFunction():
global anotherFunctionRunning
anotherFunctionRunning = True
print("Another function started")
time.sleep(5)
print("Another function stopped running")
anotherFunctionRunning = False
def mainLoop():
global anotherFunctionRunning
thread = None
counter = 0
while counter < 5:
counter += 1
print("running")
time.sleep(1)
if anotherFunctionRunning == False:
thread = Thread(target= anotherFunction, name="AnotherThread")
thread.start()
else:
print("loop running, another function running")
print("loop ended")
thread.join()
mainLoop()
Beware however I have royally ignored the dangers of competitive access
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.
I have some background task that i want to start an be able to safely quit by user input.
To do that i have a thread in which a process pool with a continous task is started. There is a input lock to stop printing and to wait for user input and a event to stop the whole process.
What surprises me is that the processes seem to start and do their work if there is a time.sleep after the start of the thread with processpool (6th line in main).
import multiprocessing as mp
import time
import threading as tr
def init(e, l):
global stop_event
global input_lock
stop_event = e
input_lock = l
def stupid_task(n):
while not stop_event.is_set():
with input_lock:
print(n)
time.sleep(2)
def test_mng(n, event, lock):
with mp.Pool(n, initializer=init, initargs=(event, lock,)) as p:
print("before")
p.map(stupid_task, range(1, n + 1))
print("after")
p.close()
p.join()
def main():
i_lock = mp.Lock()
s_event = mp.Event()
thread = tr.Thread(target=test_mng, args=(3, s_event, i_lock))
init(s_event,i_lock)
thread.start()
time.sleep(1) # if this line is commented out only "before" is printed
while not stop_event.is_set():
input("")
with input_lock:
print("stopped")
eingabe = input("type q to quit")
if eingabe == "q":
stop_event.set()
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()
I ask myself what is stopping the process pool from doing it's work. Do i do something fundamentally wrong? The time.sleep seems a little bit hacky.
I my opinion, you are running your script from an IDE (like PyCharm), but not from the Console. Your IDE is catching the keyboard events.
You can simplify the processing:
The main process can wait for the user input,
The thread can do the "stupid task".
Here is a possible solution:
# coding: utf-8
import multiprocessing as mp
import threading as tr
import time
stop_event = None
def init(event):
global stop_event
stop_event = event
def stupid_task(n):
while not stop_event.is_set():
print(n)
time.sleep(2)
def test_mng(n, event):
with mp.Pool(n, initializer=init, initargs=(event,)) as p:
print("before")
p.map(stupid_task, range(1, n + 1))
print("after")
p.close()
p.join()
def main():
print("type 'q' <ENTER> to quit")
s_event = mp.Event()
init(s_event)
thread = tr.Thread(target=test_mng, args=(3, s_event,))
thread.start()
while not stop_event.is_set():
c = input("")
if c in "qQ":
stop_event.set()
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()
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)
I want to run a program that can ask for input and run threads at the same time.
For example:
import threading
def get_input():
while True:
var = input('prompt> ')
do_stuff
#main loop
while True:
input_thread = threading.Thread(target=get_input)
input_thread.start()
do_stuff_that_doesn't_work
So the problem above would be that it asks for input(prompt>) and while it's asking for input, do_stuff_that_doesn't_work won't work.
I've seen people get by this before but I don't know how to do it.
You shouldn't be creating a thread inside your while loop. Try this code...
import threading
import time
run = True
def get_input():
global run
while run:
var = input('prompt> ') #python 3 only
print('Input was ', var)
if 'q' == var:
run = False
input_thread = threading.Thread(target=get_input)
input_thread.start()
print('Type q to exit')
ctr = 0
while run:
ctr += 1
time.sleep(0.1)
print('Exiting with ctr: ', ctr)