I'm trying to implement a webcam using PyQt5 from an example I found (here, but not really relevant).
Getting the example to work wasn't an issue, but I wanted to modify some things and I am stuck on one particular problem.
I have two classes, one QObject Capture which has a QBasicTimer that I want to start, and a QWidget MyWidget with a button that is supposed to start the timer of the Capture object, which is inside a QThread.
If I directly connect the button click to the method that starts the timer, everything works fine.
But I want to do some other things when I click the button, so I connected the button to a method of MyWidget first and call the start method of Capture from there. This, however, doesn't work: the timer doesn't start.
Here is a minimal working example:
from PyQt5 import QtCore, QtWidgets
import sys
class Capture(QtCore.QObject):
def __init__(self, parent=None):
super(Capture, self).__init__(parent)
self.m_timer = QtCore.QBasicTimer()
def start(self):
print("capture start called")
self.m_timer.start(1000, self)
def timerEvent(self, event):
print("time event")
class MyWidget(QtWidgets.QWidget):
def __init__(self, parent=None):
super(MyWidget, self).__init__(parent)
lay = QtWidgets.QVBoxLayout(self)
self.btn_start = QtWidgets.QPushButton("Start")
lay.addWidget(self.btn_start)
self.capture = Capture()
captureThread = QtCore.QThread(self)
captureThread.start()
self.capture.moveToThread(captureThread)
# self.btn_start.clicked.connect(self.capture.start) # this works
self.btn_start.clicked.connect(self.startCapture) # this doesn't
# self.capture.start() # this doesn't either
self.show()
def startCapture(self):
self.capture.start()
def run_app():
app = QtWidgets.QApplication(sys.argv)
mainWin = MyWidget()
mainWin.show()
app.exec_()
run_app()
It is some problem with the QThread, because if I don't use threading it works. I thought maybe it has something to do with the thread not being in some way available when called from a different method than the one it was created in, but calling self.capture.start() directly from the init does not work either.
I only have a very basic grasp of threads. Can someone tell me how I can properly call self.capture.start() from MyWidget and why it works without problems when directly connecting it to the button click?
If you connect the button's clicked signal to the worker's start slot, Qt will automatically detect that it's a cross-thread connection. When the signal is eventually emitted, it will be queued in the receiving thread's event-queue, which ensures the slot will be called within the worker thread.
However, if you connect the button's clicked signal to the startCapture slot, there's no cross-thread connection, because the slot belongs to MyWidget (which lives in the main thread). When the signal is emitted this time, the slot tries to create the timer from within the main thread, which is not supported. Timers must always be started within the thread that creates them (otherwise Qt will print a message like "QBasicTimer::start: Timers cannot be started from another thread").
A better approach is to connect the started and finished signals of the thread to some start and stop slots in the worker, and then call the thread's start and quit methods to control the worker. Here's a demo based on your script, which shows how to implement that:
from PyQt5 import QtCore, QtWidgets
import sys
class Capture(QtCore.QObject):
def __init__(self, parent=None):
super(Capture, self).__init__(parent)
self.m_timer = QtCore.QBasicTimer()
def start(self):
print("capture start called")
self.m_timer.start(1000, self)
def stop(self):
print("capture stop called")
self.m_timer.stop()
def timerEvent(self, event):
print("time event")
class MyWidget(QtWidgets.QWidget):
def __init__(self, parent=None):
super(MyWidget, self).__init__(parent)
lay = QtWidgets.QVBoxLayout(self)
self.btn_start = QtWidgets.QPushButton("Start")
lay.addWidget(self.btn_start)
self.capture = Capture()
self.captureThread = QtCore.QThread(self)
self.capture.moveToThread(self.captureThread)
self.captureThread.started.connect(self.capture.start)
self.captureThread.finished.connect(self.capture.stop)
self.btn_start.clicked.connect(self.startCapture)
self.show()
def startCapture(self):
if not self.captureThread.isRunning():
self.btn_start.setText('Stop')
self.captureThread.start()
else:
self.btn_start.setText('Start')
self.stopCapture()
def stopCapture(self):
self.captureThread.quit()
self.captureThread.wait()
def closeEvent(self, event):
self.stopCapture()
def run_app():
app = QtWidgets.QApplication(sys.argv)
mainWin = MyWidget()
mainWin.show()
app.exec_()
run_app()
Related
I'm trying to modify my main layout from another thread. But the function run() is never called
and i'm having the error:
QObject::setParent: Cannot set parent, new parent is in a different
thread
Here's my code:
class FeedRetrievingThread(QtCore.QThread):
def __init__(self, parent=None):
super(FeedRetrievingThread, self).__init__(parent)
self.mainLayout = parent.mainLayout
def run(self):
# Do things with self.mainLayout
class MainWindow(QtGui.QDialog):
def __init__(self, parent=None):
super(MainWindow, self).__init__(parent)
self.mainLayout = QtGui.QGridLayout()
self.setLayout(self.mainLayout)
self.feedRetrievingThread = FeedRetrievingThread(self)
self.timer = QtCore.QTimer()
self.timer.timeout.connect(self.updateFeed)
self.timer.start(1000)
def updateFeed(self):
if not self.feedRetrievingThread.isRunning():
print 'Running thread.'
self.feedRetrievingThread.start()
if __name__ == '__main__':
app = QtGui.QApplication(sys.argv)
mainWindow = MainWindow()
mainWindow.show()
sys.exit(app.exec_())
I really don't get it, why is it so difficult to access the GUI with PyQt?
In C# you have Invoke. Is there anything of the kind in PyQt?
I tried creating the thread directly from MainWindow.__init__ (without using the timer) but it didn't work either.
In Qt you should never attempt to directly update the GUI from outside of the GUI thread.
Instead, have your threads emit signals and connect them to slots which do the necessary updating from within the GUI thread.
See the Qt documentation regarding Threads and QObjects.
I'm looking at creating a program with a PyQt5 GUI. The program will start with a UI with numerous buttons. These buttons will be used to open other programs/completed long running tasks. I know I need to use QThread, but I am unsure how to structure the programs so that it scales properly.
I've been at this for ages and have read numerous posts/tutorials. Most lean down the subclassing route. In the past, I have managed to create a working program subclassing QThread, but I have since read that this metholodogy is not preferred.
I have a feeling I should be creating a generic worker and passing in a function with *args and **kwargs, but that is not in my skillset yet.
I originally created a thread for each button during the GUI init, but that seemed like it was going to get out of hand quickly.
I am currently at the stage of creating a thread under the slot connected to the button.clicked signal. I am not sure if I then have to have a worker for each button or if I can/should make a generic worker and pass in a function. Note: I have tried to do this but have not been able to do it.
#Import standard modules
import sys
#Import third-party modles
from PyQt5.QtCore import QObject, QThread, pyqtSignal, pyqtSlot
from PyQt5.QtWidgets import QMainWindow, QApplication, QPushButton, QVBoxLayout, QWidget
class Worker(QObject):
#Custom signals?? or built-in QThread signals?
started = pyqtSignal()
finished = pyqtSignal()
def __init__(self):
super().__init__()
self.started.emit()
#pyqtSlot()
def do_something(self):
for _ in range(3):
print('Threading...')
QThread.sleep(1)
self.finished.emit()
class Window(QMainWindow):
def __init__(self):
super().__init__()
self.initUi()
def initUi(self):
#Create GUI
self.centralWidget = QWidget()
self.setCentralWidget(self.centralWidget )
self.vertical_layout = QVBoxLayout(self.centralWidget)
self.setWindowTitle('QThread Test')
self.setGeometry(300, 300, 300, 50)
self.button1=QPushButton("Task 1", self, clicked=self._task1_clicked)
self.button2=QPushButton("Task 2", self, clicked=self._task2_clicked)
self.vertical_layout.addWidget(self.button1)
self.vertical_layout.addWidget(self.button2)
self.vertical_layout.addStretch()
def _task1_clicked(self):
print('task1 clicked')
#Create the worker
self.my_worker = Worker()
#Create thread; needs to be done before connecting signals/slots
self.task1_thread = QThread()
#Move the worker to the thread
self.my_worker.moveToThread(self.task1_thread)
#Connect worker and thread signals to slots
self.task1_thread.started.connect(self._thread_started)
self.task1_thread.started.connect(self.my_worker.do_something)
self.my_worker.finished.connect(self._thread_finished)
#Start thread
self.task1_thread.start()
def _task2_clicked(self):
print('task2 clicked')
def _thread_started(self):
print('thread started')
def _thread_finished(self):
print('thread finished')
self.my_worker.isRunning = False
self.task1_thread.quit()
self.task1_thread.wait()
print('The thread is running: ' + str(self.task1_thread.isRunning()))
if __name__ == '__main__':
app = QApplication(sys.argv)
form = Window()
form.show()
app.exec_()
The above seems to work, but I feel like I have stumbled on to it and it is not the correct way of doing this. I do not want this to be my 'go-to' method if it is completely wrong. I'd like to be able to generate more complicated (more buttons doing things) programs compared to a one button/one task program.
In addition, I can't seem to get the QThread started and finished signals to fire without basically making them custom built signals. This is one reason I think I am going about this wrong.
from PyQt5 import QtCore
class AsyncTask(QtCore.QThread):
taskDone = QtCore.pyqtSignal(dict)
def __init__(self, *, task, callback=None, parent = None):
super().__init__(parent)
self.task = task
if callback != None:
self.taskDone.connect(callback)
if callback == None:
callback = self.callback
self.start()
def run(self):
try:
result = self.task()
print(result)
self.taskDone.emit(result)
except Exception as ex:
print(ex)
def callback(self):
print('callback')
Please try code above, call like this:
AsyncTask(task=yourTaskFunction, callback=yourCallbackFunction)
Problem Description
I'm trying to make an application that collects data, processes it, displays it, and some actuation (open/close valves, etc). As a practice for future applications where I have some stricter time constraints, I want to run the data capture and processing in a separate thread.
My current problem is that it's telling me I cannot start a timer from another thread.
Current code progress
import sys
import PyQt5
from PyQt5.QtWidgets import *
from PyQt5.QtCore import QThread, pyqtSignal
# This is our window from QtCreator
import mainwindow_auto
#thread to capture the process data
class DataCaptureThread(QThread):
def collectProcessData():
print ("Collecting Process Data")
#declaring the timer
dataCollectionTimer = PyQt5.QtCore.QTimer()
dataCollectionTimer.timeout.connect(collectProcessData)
def __init__(self):
QThread.__init__(self)
def run(self):
self.dataCollectionTimer.start(1000);
class MainWindow(QMainWindow, mainwindow_auto.Ui_MainWindow):
def __init__(self):
super(self.__class__, self).__init__()
self.setupUi(self) # gets defined in the UI file
self.btnStart.clicked.connect(self.pressedStartBtn)
self.btnStop.clicked.connect(self.pressedStopBtn)
def pressedStartBtn(self):
self.lblAction.setText("STARTED")
self.dataCollectionThread = DataCaptureThread()
self.dataCollectionThread.start()
def pressedStopBtn(self):
self.lblAction.setText("STOPPED")
self.dataCollectionThread.terminate()
def main():
# a new app instance
app = QApplication(sys.argv)
form = MainWindow()
form.show()
sys.exit(app.exec_())
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()
Any advice on how to get this to work would be appreciated!
You have to move the QTimer to the DataCaptureThread thread, in addition to that when the run method ends, the thread is eliminated so the timer is eliminated, so you must avoid running that function without blocking other tasks. QEventLoop is used for this:
class DataCaptureThread(QThread):
def collectProcessData(self):
print ("Collecting Process Data")
def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
QThread.__init__(self, *args, **kwargs)
self.dataCollectionTimer = QTimer()
self.dataCollectionTimer.moveToThread(self)
self.dataCollectionTimer.timeout.connect(self.collectProcessData)
def run(self):
self.dataCollectionTimer.start(1000)
loop = QEventLoop()
loop.exec_()
I'm trying (and researching) with little success to emit a signal from a working Qthread to the main window. I don't seem to understand how I should go about this in the new syntax.
Here's a simple example.
from PySide.QtCore import *
from PySide.QtGui import *
import sys
import time
class Dialog(QDialog):
def __init__(self, parent=None):
super(Dialog, self).__init__(parent)
button = QPushButton("Test me!")
layout = QVBoxLayout()
layout.addWidget(button)
self.setLayout(layout)
#self.button.clicked.connect(self.test) ----> 'Dialog' object has no attribute 'button'
self.connect(button, SIGNAL('clicked()'), self.test)
self.workerThread = WorkerThread()
def test(self):
self.workerThread.start()
QMessageBox.information(self, 'Done!', 'Done.')
class WorkerThread(QThread):
def __init__(self, parent=None):
super(WorkerThread, self).__init__(parent)
def run(self):
time.sleep(5)
print "Thread done!"
app = QApplication(sys.argv)
dialog = Dialog()
dialog.show()
app.exec_()
I understand that if I didn't have another thread I'd create the signal inside the Dialog class and connect it in the __init__ but how can I create a custom signal that can be emitted from WorkerThread and be used test()?
As a side question. You can see it commented out of the code that the new syntax for connecting the signal errors out. Is it something in my configurations?
I'm on OsX El Capitan, Python 2.7
Any help is highly appreciated! Thanks a lot
TL:DR: I'd like to emmit a signal from the WorkerThread after 5 seconds so that the test function displays the QMessageBox only after WorkingThread is done using the new syntax.
Ok, it's been a long day trying to figure this out. My main resource was this: http://www.matteomattei.com/pyside-signals-and-slots-with-qthread-example/
In the new syntax, in order to handle signals from different threads, you have to create a class for your signal like so:
class WorkerThreadSignal(QObject):
workerThreadDone = Signal()
This is how the WorkerThread end up looking like:
class WorkerThread(QThread):
def __init__(self, parent=None):
super(WorkerThread, self).__init__(parent)
self.workerThreadSignal = WorkerThreadSignal()
def run(self):
time.sleep(3)
self.workerThreadSignal.workerThreadDone.emit()
And for the connections on the Dialog class:
self.workerThread = WorkerThread()
self.buttonn.clicked.connect(self.test)
and:
self.workerThreadSignal = WorkerThreadSignal()
self.workerThread.workerThreadSignal.workerThreadDone.connect(self.success)
def success(self):
QMessageBox.warning(self, 'Warning!', 'Thread executed to completion!')
So the success method is called once the signal is emitted.
What took me the longest to figure out was this last line of code. I originally thought I could connect directly to the WorkerThreadSignal class but, at least in this case, it only worked once I backtracked it's location. From the Dialog init to WorkerThread init back to the WorkerThreadSignal. I took this hint from the website mentioned above.
I find strange that I have to create the same local variables on both classes, maybe there's a way to create one global variable I can refer to instead all the current solution but it works for now.
I hope this helps someone also stuck in this process!
PS: The syntax problem for the connection was also solved. So everything is written with the new syntax, which is great.
I'm using pyside but (I think) is a generic Qt question.
I know that QThread implementation calls ._exec() method so we should have an event loop on a started QThread. This way we can use QTimer on that thread (I've done this and it works perfectly). My problem is when QWaitCondition is also used, I'd like to have a "consumer" thread with a infinite loop waiting to be notify (from producers) on the QWaitCondition. The problem I have is that with this design I cannot use QTimer inside the consumer Thread.
This is a snippet of the scenario I'm trying to explain:
from PySide import QtGui
from PySide import QtCore
import sys
class MainWindow(QtGui.QMainWindow):
def __init__(self):
super(MainWindow, self).__init__()
self.button = QtGui.QPushButton(self)
self.button.setText("Periodical")
self.button.clicked.connect(self.periodical_call)
self.thread = QtCore.QThread()
self.worker = Worker()
self.worker.moveToThread(self.thread)
self.thread.started.connect(self.worker.loop)
self.thread.start()
def closeEvent(self, x):
self.worker.stop()
self.thread.quit()
self.thread.wait()
def periodical_call(self):
self.worker.do_stuff("main window") # this works
self.timer = QtCore.QTimer()
self.timer.timeout.connect(self.do_stuff) # this also works
self.timer.start(2000)
def do_stuff(self):
self.worker.do_stuff("timer main window")
class Worker(QtCore.QObject):
def do_stuff_timer(self):
do_stuff("timer worker")
def do_stuff(self, origin):
self.origin = origin
self.wait.wakeOne()
def stop(self):
self._exit = True
self.wait.wakeAll()
def loop(self):
self.wait = QtCore.QWaitCondition()
self.mutex = QtCore.QMutex()
self._exit = False
while not self._exit:
self.wait.wait(self.mutex)
print "loop from %s" % (self.origin,)
self.timer = QtCore.QTimer()
self.timer.setSingleShot(True)
self.timer.timeout.connect(self.do_stuff_timer)
self.timer.start(1000) # <---- this doesn't work
if __name__ == '__main__':
app = QtGui.QApplication(sys.argv)
frame = MainWindow()
frame.show()
sys.exit(app.exec_())
Once you click the button we obtain an output like this:
loop from main window
loop from timer main window
loop from timer main window
loop from timer main window
...
This means that the QTimer created inside loop() method is never executed by the event loop.
If I change the design from QWaitCondition to Signals (which is better design imho) the QTimer works, but I'd like to know why they are not working when QWaitCondition is used.
To still process events in a long running task (aka a continuous loop) you need to call QCoreApplication::processEvents().
This will essentially go through all of the queued up slots for your thread.
Calling this function is also necessary for signals (if they are a QueuedConnection signal/slot connection) to make it out of the current thread and into another one.
For PySides, you will need to call PySide.QtCore.QCoreApplication.processEvents()
Your method loop completely occupies thread.
It doesn't return control to event loop. Timer sends its events to event loop which doesn't gain control.
IMO your wile loop is faulty.
One way to fix it is add QApplication.processEvents() in loop (bad approach).
I think you want something else, here are my corrections:
def loop(self):
self.timer = QtCore.QTimer()
self.timer.setSingleShot(False)
self.timer.timeout.connect(self.do_stuff_timer)
self.timer.start(1000)
def stop(self):
self.timer.stop()
this will invoke do_stuff_timer every second until you will call stop.