Python multiprocessing won't work - python

Here's the relevant part of the code:
x=None
def pp():
global x
x=MyClass()
x.start()
def main():
global x
p=Process(target=pp)
p.start()
while x==None:
print("Not yet...")
while 1:
print(x.getoutput(),end="")
p.join()
if __name__=='__main__':
main()
The x.start() method opens a TKInter window, so it runs forever (or at least until the user closes the window). I'm trying to run another process that would get information from the used window, but it doesn't work.
How can i make it work?

I feel like the first thing to point out here is that each child process will import the main script and have it's own local copy. It's not possible to use global variables in the way you're trying to here, because the child processes don't use the same namespace. If you're set on using multiprocessing for this, you need to use a communication pipe of some description, as described in the following documentation:
http://pymotw.com/2/multiprocessing/communication.html#multiprocessing-queues
I am a little curious what your ultimate objective is here for using multiprocessing. Still, if you really want to do it, it's possible:
import multiprocessing
import tkinter
import time
def worker(q):
#q is a queue for communcation.
#Set up tkinter:
root = tkinter.Tk()
localvar = tkinter.StringVar()
wind = tkinter.Entry(root,textvariable=localvar)
wind.grid()
#This callback puts the contents of the entry into the queue
#when the entry widget is modified
def clbk(name,index,mode,q=q):
q.put(localvar.get())
localvar.trace_variable('w',clbk)
#Some window dressing that will signal to the main process that
#the window has been closed
def close(root=root,q=q):
q.put('EXIT')
root.destroy()
root.quit()
root.protocol("WM_DELETE_WINDOW",close)
root.mainloop()
def main():
#Make a queue to facilitate communication:
queue = multiprocessing.Queue()
p = multiprocessing.Process(target=worker,args=(queue,))
p.start()
#Wait for input...
while True:
ret = queue.get()
print(ret)
if ret=='EXIT':
break
time.sleep(0.1)
#Finally, join the process back in.
p.join()
if __name__ == '__main__':
main()
Ignoring the window dressing, that will now print text entered into your tkinter entry widget, and exits when the window is closed.

Related

PySimpleGUI doesn't reroute cprint of mulitprocessing to its Multiline element

I am using multiprocessing module along with PySimpleGUI.
Instead of Multiline everything gets printed in my IDE console. This problem only happens when I use multiprocessing. Other function with sg.cprint statement and even with simple print statement would print the result in Multiline, as it should.
Here's my code, that shows the problem
import PySimpleGUI as sg
import multiprocessing
def func(link: str):
sg.cprint(link)
sg.cprint('string')
print(link)
print('string')
def make_window():
layout = [[sg.Multiline(key='-Multiline-', reroute_stdout=True)],
[[sg.Button('Start', key='-Start-')]]]
window = sg.Window('Forum', layout, finalize=True)
sg.cprint_set_output_destination(window, '-Multiline-')
while True:
event, values = window.read()
if event == sg.WIN_CLOSED:
break
elif event == '-Start-':
sg.cprint('Process has started')
process = multiprocessing.Process(target=func,
args=('https://stackoverflow.com/questions/ask',),
daemon=True)
process.start()
window.close()
if __name__ == '__main__':
make_window()
I have tried to reroute everything to Multiline with reroute_stdout=True — doesn't work.
According to so called "Cookbook" of PySimpleGUI, it's possible to reroute print like this:
window['-Multiline-'].print('Testing 1 2 3')
It doesn't work if I put something like that in my function (I assume that is because my function is above the GUI code)
In conclusion - the issue doesn't appear when I use threading module. But multiprocessing solves other problem - it allows me to terminate a process with .terminate(). Couldn't do that with threadingas easily.
My application uses OOP and a bit more complicated than the code I provided.
When running a subprocess, you get an entirely new environment. You can't share global variables for example.
Python essentially runs a completely new Python interpreter instance whenever you start() a multiprocess.Process instance and since different processes get different stacks they don't get to share the internal memory so Python actually pickles the passed arguments, sends them to the Process and then unpickles them there creating an illusion that both processes (the parent and the child) have the same data.
I know nothing about library multiprocessing, following code work, but maybe not perfect.
from time import sleep
import threading
import multiprocessing
import PySimpleGUI as sg
def func(queue:multiprocessing.Queue, link: str):
for i in range(10):
queue.put(f'Message #{i}')
sleep(1)
def thread(window, url):
queue = multiprocessing.Queue()
process = multiprocessing.Process(target=func, args=(queue, url), daemon=True)
process.start()
while process.is_alive():
if not queue.empty():
line = queue.get()
window.write_event_value("Message", line)
while not queue.empty():
line = queue.get()
window.write_event_value("Message", line)
window.write_event_value("Message", 'Process has stopped')
def make_window():
layout = [[sg.Multiline(key='-Multiline-', size=(40, 10), reroute_stdout=True)],
[[sg.Button('Start', key='-Start-')]]]
window = sg.Window('Forum', layout, finalize=True)
sg.cprint_set_output_destination(window, '-Multiline-')
while True:
event, values = window.read()
if event == sg.WIN_CLOSED:
break
elif event == '-Start-':
sg.cprint('Process has started')
url = 'https://stackoverflow.com/questions/ask'
threading.Thread(target=thread, args=(window, url), daemon=True).start()
elif event == 'Message':
message = values[event]
print(message)
window.close()
if __name__ == '__main__':
make_window()

Stop Thread without closing GUI window

I am learning python on my own and my level is probably a poor excuse for a "script kiddie" as I kinda understand and mostly end up borrowing and mashing together different scripts till it does what I want. However this is the first time I'm trying to create a GUI for one of the scripts I have. I'm using PySimpleGUI and I've been able to understand it surprisingly well. All but one thing is working the way I want it to.
The issue is I want to stop a running daemon thread without exiting the GUI. If I get the stop button to work the GUI closes and if the GUI does not close it doesn't stop the thread. The issue is between lines '64-68'. I have tried a few things and just put a place holder on line '65' to remember that I was trying to keep the GUI ("Main Thread" in my head-speak) running. The script will run in this state but the 'Stop' button does not work.
Note: I put a lot of comments in my scripts so I remember what each part is, what it does and what I need to clean up. I don't know if this is a good practice if I plan on sharing a script. Also, if it matters, I use Visual Studio Code.
#!/usr/local/bin/python3
import PySimpleGUI as sg
import pyautogui
import queue
import threading
import time
import sys
from datetime import datetime
from idlelib import window
pyautogui.FAILSAFE = False
numMin = None
# ------------------ Thread ---------------------
def move_cursor(gui_queue):
if ((len(sys.argv)<2) or sys.argv[1].isalpha() or int(sys.argv[1])<1):
numMin = 3
else:
numMin = int(sys.argv[1])
while(True):
x=0
while(x<numMin):
time.sleep(5) # Set short for debugging (will set to '60' later)
x+=1
for i in range(0,50):
pyautogui.moveTo(0,i*4)
pyautogui.moveTo(1,1)
for i in range(0,3):
pyautogui.press("shift")
print("Movement made at {}".format(datetime.now().time()))
# --------------------- GUI ---------------------
def the_gui():
sg.theme('LightGrey1') # Add a touch of color
gui_queue = queue.Queue() # Used to communicate between GUI and thread
layout = [ [sg.Text('Execution Log')],
[sg.Output(size=(30, 6))],
[sg.Button('Start'), sg.Button('Stop'), sg.Button('Click Me'), sg.Button('Close')] ]
window = sg.Window('Stay Available', layout)
# -------------- EVENT LOOP ---------------------
# Event Loop to process "events"
while True:
event, values = window.read(timeout=100)
if event in (None,'Close'):
break
elif event.startswith('Start'): # Start button event
try:
print('Starting "Stay Available" app')
threading.Thread(target=move_cursor,
args=(gui_queue,), daemon=True).start()
except queue.Empty:
print('App did not run')
elif event.startswith('Stop'): # Stop button event
try:
print('Stopping "Stay Available" app')
threading.main_thread # To remind me I want to go back to the original state
except queue.Empty:
print('App did not stop')
elif event == 'Click Me': # To see if GUI is responding (will be removed later)
print('Your GUI is alive and well')
window.close(); del window
if __name__ == '__main__':
gui_queue = queue.Queue() # Not sure if it goes here or where it is above
the_gui()
print('Exiting Program')
From this answer: create the class stoppable_thread.
Then: store the threads on a global variable:
# [...]
# store the threads on a global variable or somewhere
all_threads = []
# Create the function that will send events to the ui loop
def start_reading(window, sudo_password = ""):
While True:
window.write_event_value('-THREAD-', 'event')
time.sleep(.5)
# Create start and stop threads function
def start_thread(window):
t1 = Stoppable_Thread(target=start_reading, args=(window,), daemon=True)
t1.start()
all_threads.append(t1)
def stop_all_threads():
for thread in all_threads:
thread.terminate()
Finally, on the main window loop, handle the events that start, stop or get information from the thread.

Threading 2 functions

I'm trying to read a very slow sensor (1-wire) while still operating other functions. I've replaced the read sensors with a sleep of 3 sec. I'd like to understand if I can have below time concurrently print accurate time every second while the sensor (wait 3sec.) occurs. This threading concept is new to me.
import time
import threading
from tkinter import Tk
def events_every_second(): #update clock every second
right_now = time.strftime("%I:%M:%S %p")#("%H:%M:%S")
print("time is now",right_now)
root.after(1000, events_every_second)
def one_wire():
time.sleep(3)
print("one_wire loop")
root.after(3010, one_wire)
root = Tk()
t_one_wire = one_wire()
thread_one_wire = threading.Thread(target = t_one_wire)
thread_one_wire.start()
t_ees = events_every_second
thread_ees = threading.Thread(target = t_ees)
thread_ees.start()
root.mainloop()
Just the function that does the lenghty sensor read needs to be
in a separate thread.
You can use a queue.Queue to obtain data from it -
in the example bellow I inserted the value fetching in the
every_one_sec function.
The every_one_sec function is handled by Tkinter scheduling events -
no need to creat a thread for it.
Other than that, the most incorrect part in your code was doing a
full call to one_wire before creating the thread in
t_one_wire = one_wire() - and the fact that it would run also require
tkinter to call it back. Tkinter wants to run all its events in the same
thread - so this would lead to problems.
I hope the comments bellow are enough for a better comprehension
import time
import threading
from queue import Queue, Empty
from tkinter import Tk
def some_ui_code():
global stop_reading
stop_reading = True
def events_every_second(): #update clock every second
right_now = time.strftime("%I:%M:%S %p")#("%H:%M:%S")
print("time is now",right_now)
try:
result = queue.get(block=False)
except Empty:
result = None
if result is not None:
# code to display the result read from the sensor in tkinter interface goes here
...
# tkinter, not a separate thread, handles this
root.after(1000, events_every_second)
def one_wire(queue):
# this is handled in a separate thread, and "does not know" about tkinter at all
while not stop_reading:
result = call_to_read_sensor() # takes 3 seconds
queue.put(result)
print("one_wire loop")
time.sleep(0.1) # actual call to time.sleep to space sensor readings, if needed.
root = Tk()
stop_reading = False
queue = Queue()
# start events_every_second - tkinter will handle the subsequent calls with the `root.after` scheduling
events_every_second()
thread_one_wire = threading.Thread(target=t_one_wire, args=(queue,))
thread_one_wire.start()
root.mainloop()
You should not use root.after(3010,one_wire) this will cause your Tk GUI to hang for 3 seconds and don't update.
You want to create a new Thread for this function so it does not stop your Tk app.
def one_wire():
time.sleep(3)
print("one_wire_loop")
create a new thread for this function.
import threading
one_wire_thread = threading.Thread(target = one_wire, args = ())
one_wire_thread.start()
Note that the code above will only run your function once. you could create a wrapper function with a while True: in there to keep it running, in the wrapper function you could also check for condition to stop and break the function and thus stop the one_wire function. you could also do this in the one_wire function:
def one_wire():
while True:
time.sleep(3)
print("one_wire_loop")
if {"condition to stop reading sensor"}:
break

tkinter gui stops responding while 2 other threads open

from pythoncom import PumpWaitingMessages
import pyHook, threading
import tkinter as tk
threadsRun = 1
token = 0
def pas():
while threadsRun:
pass
def listen(startButton):
"""Listens for keystrokes"""
def OnKeyboardEvent(event):
"""A key was pressed"""
global threadsRun
if event.Key == "R":
startButton.config(relief=tk.RAISED, state=tk.NORMAL, text="Start")
threadsRun = 0
return True
hm = pyHook.HookManager()
hm.KeyDown = OnKeyboardEvent
hm.HookKeyboard()
while threadsRun:
PumpWaitingMessages()
else:
hm.UnhookKeyboard()
def simplegui():
def threadmaker():
"""Starts threads running listen() and pas()"""
startButton.config(relief=tk.SUNKEN, state=tk.DISABLED, text="r=stop listening")
global token, threadsRun
threadsRun = 1
token += 1
t1 = threading.Thread(target=pas, name='pas{}'.format(token))
t2 = threading.Thread(target=listen, args=(startButton,), name='listen{}'.format(token))
t1.start()
t2.start()
def destroy():
"""exit program"""
global threadsRun
threadsRun = 0
root.destroy()
startButton = tk.Button(root, text="Start", command=threadmaker, height=10, width=20)
startButton.grid(row=1, column=0)
quitButton = tk.Button(root, text="Quit", command=destroy, height=10, width=20)
quitButton.grid(row=1, column=1)
root = tk.Tk()
simplegui()
root.mainloop()
Code description:
simplegui() creates two threads to run
pas() and
listen()
simultaneously.
listen() waits for keyboard presses(only r does anything: exits both threads/functions).
pas() does nothing but is needed to reproduce bug.
Problem description:
After clicking start, pressing any button on the keyboard can cause tkinter to stop responding.
~2/3rd of the time r will behave as intended.
I'm using Spyder IDE (python 3.5).
Some observations:
Using print statements, the program will go into while threadsRun loop, in listen(), before the crash, but didn't reach OnKeyboardEvent() print statement.
Can wait a long time before pressing a key and it may freeze.
Can press a key instantly after pressing start and it may function as intended.
Removing t1 = ... and t1.start() lines allows program to run bug free.
Alternatively, removing all tkinter code allows program to run bug free.
Mashing a bunch of keys all at once freezes it.
If I place a print statement inside the while threadsRun loop, r will rarely work.
I've read in other posts, tkinter is not thread safe, and to use a queue. But I don't understand how. I also think maybe something else is wrong because it works sometimes. https://www.reddit.com/r/learnpython/comments/1v5v3r/tkinter_uis_toplevel_freezes_on_windows_machine/
Thanks very much for reading.
One attempt I managed to use for threads and queues is the following (replaced used code with multiple pseudo-code entries)
The Class works as a session watchdog and uses sql commands gather logged in users, then uses threads for their location detection (geoip)
class SessionWatchdog
import Tkinter as tk
import ttk
import Queue
import Locator
class SessionWatchdog(ttk.Frame):
"""
Class to monitor active Sessions including Location in a threaded environment
"""
__queue = None
__sql = None
def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
#...
# Create the Queue
self.__queue = Queue.Queue()
def inqueue(self):
""" Handle Input from watchdog worker Thread """
if self.__queue.empty():
return
while self.__queue.qsize():
"""
Use
try:
self.__queue.get()
finally:
self.__queue.task_done()
to retrieve data from the queue
"""
pass
def gather_data(self, queue):
"""
Retrieve online users and locate them
"""
if self.__sql:
threads = []
# gather data via sql
# ....
# ....
for data in sql_result:
thread = Locator(queue, data)
threads.append(thread)
thread.start()
for thread in threads:
thread.join()
Locator to fill the queue:
class Locator
import threading
import Queue
class Locator(threading.Thread):
"""
docstring
"""
__base_url = "http://freegeoip.net/json/{}"
def __init__(self, queue, user_information):
threading.Thread.__init__(self)
self.queue = queue
self.user_information = user_information
def run(self):
""" add location information to data (self.user_information)
to improve performance, we put the localization in single threads.
"""
located_user = []
# locate the user in a function, NOT method!
self.queue.put(located_user, False)

GUI not responding after child processes finishes due to redirection of Stdout

I've spent the past few days reading various threads about making tkinter thread-safe and running children without blocking the main thread. I thought I had arrived at a solution that allowed my code to run as I wanted it to, but now my main thread becomes non-responsive when my child process finishes. I can move the window around but the GUI part shows a loading cursor, whites out, and says "Not Responding" in the title of the window. I can let it sit like that forever and nothing will happen. I know what part of the code is causing the problem but I am not sure why it's causing the GUI to freeze. I'm using Windows.
I want my GUI to run another process using multiprocess. I have sys.stdout and sys.stderr routed to a queue and I use threading to create a thread that holds an automatic queue checker that updates the GUI every 100 ms so my GUI updates in "real time". I have tried every way of sending the child's stdout/stderr to the GUI and this is the only way that works the way I want it to (except for the freezing bit), so I would like to find out why it's freezing. Or I would like help setting up a proper way of sending the child's output to the GUI. I have tried every method I could find and I could not get them to work.
My main thread:
#### _______________IMPORT MODULES_________________###
import Tkinter
import multiprocessing
import sys
from threading import Thread
import qBMPchugger
###____________Widgets__________________###
class InputBox(Tkinter.Tk):
def __init__(self,parent):
Tkinter.Tk.__init__(self, parent)
self.parent = parent
self.initialize()
def initialize(self):
# Styles
self.grid()
# Approval
self.OKbutton = Tkinter.Button(self, text=u"OK", command=self.OKgo, anchor="e")
self.OKbutton.pack(side="right")
self.view = Tkinter.Text(self)
self.view.pack(side="left")
self.scroll = Tkinter.Scrollbar(self, orient=Tkinter.VERTICAL)
self.scroll.config(command=self.view.yview)
self.view.config(yscrollcommand=self.scroll.set)
self.scroll.pack(side="left")
def write(self, text):
self.view.insert("end", text)
def OKgo(self):
sys.stdout = self
sys.stderr = self
checker = Thread(target=self._update)
checker.daemon = True
checker.start()
self.view.delete(1.0, "end")
self.update_idletasks()
print("Loading user-specified inputs...")
path = "C:/"
inarg = (q, path)
print("Creating the program environment and importing modules...")
# Starts the text monitor to read output from the child process, BMPchugger
p = multiprocessing.Process(target=qBMPchugger.BMPcode, args=inarg)
p.daemon = 1
p.start()
def _update(self):
msg = q.get()
self.write(msg)
self.update_idletasks()
self.after(100, self._update)
if __name__ == "__main__":
app = InputBox(None)
app.title("File Inputs and Program Settings")
q = multiprocessing.Queue()
app.mainloop()
My child process (qBMPchugger):
#### _______________INITIALIZE_________________###
import os
import sys
import tkMessageBox
import Tkinter
class BadInput(Exception):
pass
def BMPcode(q, path):
# Create root for message boxes
boxRoot = Tkinter.Tk()
boxRoot.withdraw()
# Send outputs to the queue
class output:
def __init__(self, name, queue):
self.name = name
self.queue = queue
def write(self, msg):
self.queue.put(msg)
def flush(self):
sys.__stdout__.flush()
class error:
def __init__(self, name, queue):
self.name = name
self.queue = queue
def write(self, msg):
self.queue.put(msg)
def flush(self):
sys.__stderr__.flush()
sys.stdout = output(sys.stdout, q)
sys.stderr = error(sys.stderr, q)
print("Checking out the Spatial Analyst extension from GIS...")
# Check out extension and overwrite outputs
### _________________VERIFY INPUTS________________###
print("Checking validity of specified inputs...")
# Check that the provided file paths are valid
inputs = path
for i in inputs:
if os.path.exists(i):
pass
else:
message = "\nInvalid file path: {}\nCorrect the path name and try again.\n"
tkMessageBox.showerror("Invalid Path", message.format(i))
print message.format(i)
raise BadInput
print("Success!")
It's the part under # Send outputs to the queue (starting with the output class and ending with sys.stderr = error(sys.stderr, q)) that is causing my program to freeze. Why is that holding up my main thread when the child process finishes executing? EDIT: I think the freezing is being caused by the queue remaining open when the child process closes... or something. It's not the particular snippet of code like I thought it was. It happens even when I change the print statements to q.put("text") in either the parent or the child.
What is a better way to send the output to the queue? If you link me to a topic that answers my question, PLEASE show me how to implement it within my code. I have not been successful with anything I've found so far and chances are that I've already tried that particular solution and failed.
Use a manager list or dictionary to communicate between processes https://docs.python.org/2/library/multiprocessing.html#sharing-state-between-processes . You can have a process update the dictionary and send it to the GUI/some code outside the processes, and vice versa. The following is a simple, and a little sloppy, example of doing it both ways.
import time
from multiprocessing import Process, Manager
def test_f(test_d):
""" frist process to run
exit this process when dictionary's 'QUIT' == True
"""
test_d['2'] = 2 ## add as a test
while not test_d["QUIT"]:
print "P1 test_f", test_d["QUIT"]
test_d["ctr"] += 1
time.sleep(1.0)
def test_f2(test_d):
""" second process to run. Runs until the for loop exits
"""
for j in range(0, 10):
## print to show that changes made anywhere
## to the dictionary are seen by this process
print " P2", j, test_d
time.sleep(0.5)
print "second process finished"
if __name__ == '__main__':
##--- create a dictionary via Manager
manager = Manager()
test_d = manager.dict()
test_d["ctr"] = 0
test_d["QUIT"] = False
##--- start first process and send dictionary
p = Process(target=test_f, args=(test_d,))
p.start()
##--- start second process
p2 = Process(target=test_f2, args=(test_d,))
p2.start()
##--- sleep 2 seconds and then change dictionary
## to exit first process
time.sleep(2.0)
print "\nterminate first process"
test_d["QUIT"] = True
print "test_d changed"
print "dictionary updated by processes", test_d
##--- may not be necessary, but I always terminate to be sure
time.sleep(5.0)
p.terminate()
p2.terminate()
For my particular problem, the main thread was trying to read from the queue when the queue was empty and not having anything else put into it. I don't know the exact details as to why the main loop got hung up on that thread (self._update in my code) but changing _update to the following stopped making the GUI non-responsive when the child finished:
def _update(self):
if q.empty():
pass
else:
msg = q.get()
self.write(msg)
self.update_idletasks()

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