Running a Python function as a background process - python

I have written the following piece of code that updates as per the value in time.sleep.
import time
class Mine:
def __init__(self, stock):
self.stock = 0
while True:
self.stock += 1
print(self.stock)
time.sleep(1)
bigmine = Mine(0)
As you can see, for each tick of the loop I want an action to happen. The problem is that as expected, the code runs nothing else while this loop is repeating.
How do I make that a background process so that I can then run other commands to reset the stock or display the stock of the mine?

Use this concept of multithreading to achieve this:
import threading
from threading import Thread
def __init__(self, stock):
self.stock = 0
while True:
self.stock += 1
print(self.stock)
time.sleep(1)
def func2():
print 'Foreground code Here!'
if __name__ == '__main__':
Thread(target = func1).start()
Thread(target = func2).start()
For further information click HERE

Related

Python 3.7 input use in threading

Please, can anyone help me to understand why in the following sample code everything I input by the console (I'm using Spyder 4) isn't taken by "input" statement? The main thread exits while the thread containing the input statement goes running forever. The only way to kill it is to reset the Python kernel. Everything goes right if I don't use the input statement.
Thanks for any hint!
import threading
import time
class myThread (threading.Thread):
def __init__(self, name, counter):
threading.Thread.__init__(self)
self.name = name
self.counter = counter
def run(self):
print (f"Starting {self.name}")
wait_input(self.name, 5, self.counter)
print (f"Exiting {self.name}")
def wait_input(threadName, counter, delay):
a = input("tell me smthg: ")
while counter:
time.sleep(delay)
print (f"{threadName}, {time.ctime(time.time())}, {counter}")
counter -= 1
# Create new threads
thread1 = myThread("Thread-1", 1)
# Start new Threads
thread1.start()
print ("Exiting Main Thread")

Sharing Time variable Between two threads

Hi i need to create 2 threads one which repeatedly writes the time of day as an
HH:MM:SS string into a global variable 100 times per second. The second thread will repeatedly read the time of day
string from that variable twice per second and try to display it to screen but code in that thread should ensure the same
string is never written twice in a row. The result is that second thread really displays to screen only once per second. i have tried following code but its not working
import threading
import time
c = threading.Condition()
flag = 0 #shared between Thread_A and Thread_B
val = ''
class Thread_A(threading.Thread):
def __init__(self, name):
threading.Thread.__init__(self)
self.name = name
def run(self):
global flag
global val #made global here
while True:
c.acquire()
if flag == 0:
time.sleep(0)
flag = 1
a=range(1,101)
for i in a:
val=time.strftime("%H:%M:%S", time.localtime(time.time()))
c.notify_all()
else:
c.wait()
c.release()
class Thread_B(threading.Thread):
def __init__(self, name):
threading.Thread.__init__(self)
self.name = name
def run(self):
global flag
global val #made global here
while True:
c.acquire()
if flag == 1:
#time.sleep(1)
flag = 0
a=range(0,2)
for i in a:
print str(val)
#val = 20
c.notify_all()
else:
c.wait()
c.release()
a = Thread_A("myThread_name_A")
b = Thread_B("myThread_name_B")
b.start()
a.start()
a.join()
b.join()
You're making this more complicated than it needs to be. You can use a simple Lock object to make sure that only one thread can access val at a time.
The code below will run on Python 2 or Python 3. To stop it, hit Enter
import time
from threading import Thread, Lock
# Rename Python 2's raw_input to input
try:
input = raw_input
except NameError:
pass
val = ''
lock = Lock()
def set_time(delay=0.01):
''' Write the current time to val '''
global val
while True:
lock.acquire()
val = time.strftime("%H:%M:%S")
lock.release()
time.sleep(delay)
def get_time(delay=0.5):
''' Read the current time from val and print
it if it hasn't been printed already
'''
oldval = ''
while True:
lock.acquire()
if val != oldval:
print(val)
oldval = val
lock.release()
time.sleep(delay)
# Start the threads
for func in (set_time, get_time):
t = Thread(target=func)
t.setDaemon(True)
t.start()
#Wait until we get some input
s = input()
some typical output
02:22:04
02:22:05
02:22:06
02:22:07
02:22:08

How to pause a thread (python)

The context:
I'm building a Graphical Interface with Qt creator and the "behaviour" file in python. A test version of my GUI is:
The expected behaviour:
I am running 2 different threads which are referred to the same function with different input arguments. With the SELECTOR button I can assign the value of 1 or 2 to a variable (and display it)
The button Start thread enables the correct thread to start (the first time).
The loop should be turned off by the stop button by modifying the global running variable.
This is my code
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
from PyQt4 import QtCore, QtGui, uic
import sys
import threading
import time
import Queue
running = False
first_thread = None
second_thread = None
form_class = uic.loadUiType("simple2.ui")[0]
q = Queue.Queue()
select = 0
def action(string, queue): #function called by threads
global running
while(running):
phrase = string
if queue.qsize() < 10:
queue.put(phrase)
#else:
# print queue.qsize()
class MyWindowClass(QtGui.QMainWindow, form_class):
def __init__(self, parent=None):
QtGui.QMainWindow.__init__(self, parent)
self.setupUi(self)
#buttons
self.startButton.clicked.connect(self.start_clicked)
self.stopButton.clicked.connect(self.stop_clicked)
self.selector.clicked.connect(self.sel_click)
#variables
self.first = False
self.second = False
#queue
self.timer = QtCore.QTimer(self)
self.timer.timeout.connect(self.update_phrase)
self.timer.start(1)
def start_clicked(self): #start button callback
global select
if select > 0:
global running
running = True
print "started"
if (not self.first) & (select == 1):
first_thread.start()
self.first = True
if (not self.second) & (select == 2):
second_thread.start()
self.second = True
self.startButton.setEnabled(False)
self.startButton.setText('Starting...')
def stop_clicked(self): #stop button callback
global running
running = False
print "stopped"
self.startButton.setEnabled(True)
self.startButton.setText('Start Thread')
def sel_click(self): #selector button callback
global select
if select < 2:
select = select + 1
else:
select = 1
self.thread_counter.setText(str(select))
def update_phrase(self): #looping function
global running
if (not q.empty()) & running:
self.startButton.setText('Thread on')
abc = q.get()
print abc
def closeEvent(self, event):
global running
running = False
if __name__ == "__main__":
first_thread = threading.Thread(target=action, args = ("first", q))
second_thread = threading.Thread(target=action, args = ("second", q))
app = QtGui.QApplication(sys.argv)
w = MyWindowClass(None)
w.setWindowTitle('Multiple threads test in python')
w.show()
app.exec_()
For now, each thread should simple print on terminal their arguments ("First" or "Second").
If threads are started for the first time, my code works. But I would like to switch between threads infinite times.
Since threads cannot be stopped, is there a way to "pause" them?
I cannot find a solution, I hope someone will help me also with a piece of code. Thank you in advance
You can use Lock class to do that, a simple example would be:
import threading
lock = threading.Lock()
//here it will be lock
lock.acquire() # will block if lock is already held
...
then in other side do
//this will wake up
lock.release()
you can read more here http://effbot.org/zone/thread-synchronization.htm

Multithreading (?): Manual interference in a loop

I've been looking into a way to directly change variables in a running module.
What I want to achieve is that a load test is being run and that I can manually adjust the call pace or whatsoever.
Below some code that I just created (not-tested e.d.), just to give you an idea.
class A():
def __init__(self):
self.value = 1
def runForever(self):
while(1):
print self.value
def setValue(self, value):
self.value = value
if __name__ == '__main__':
#Some code to create the A object and directly apply the value from an human's input
a = A()
#Some parallelism or something has to be applied.
a.runForever()
a.setValue(raw_input("New value: "))
Edit #1: Yes, I know that now I will never hit the a.setValue() :-)
Here is a multi-threaded example. This code will work with the python interpreter but not with the Python Shell of IDLE, because the raw_input function is not handled the same way.
from threading import Thread
from time import sleep
class A(Thread):
def __init__(self):
Thread.__init__(self)
self.value = 1
self.stop_flag = False
def run(self):
while not self.stop_flag:
sleep(1)
print(self.value)
def set_value(self, value):
self.value = value
def stop(self):
self.stop_flag = True
if __name__ == '__main__':
a = A()
a.start()
try:
while 1:
r = raw_input()
a.set_value(int(r))
except:
a.stop()
The pseudo code you wrote is quite similar to the way Threading / Multiprocessing works in python. You will want to start a (for example) thread that "runs forever" and then instead of modifying the internal rate value directly, you will probably just send a message through a Queue that gives the new value.
Check out this question.
Here is a demonstration of doing what you asked about. I prefer to use Queues to directly making calls on threads / processes.
import Queue # !!warning. if you use multiprocessing, use multiprocessing.Queue
import threading
import time
def main():
q = Queue.Queue()
tester = Tester(q)
tester.start()
while True:
user_input = raw_input("New period in seconds or (q)uit: ")
if user_input.lower() == 'q':
break
try:
new_speed = float(user_input)
except ValueError:
new_speed = None # ignore junk
if new_speed is not None:
q.put(new_speed)
q.put(Tester.STOP_TOKEN)
class Tester(threading.Thread):
STOP_TOKEN = '<<stop>>'
def __init__(self, q):
threading.Thread.__init__(self)
self.q = q
self.speed = 1
def run(self):
while True:
# get from the queue
try:
item = self.q.get(block=False) # don't hang
except Queue.Empty:
item = None # do nothing
if item:
# stop when requested
if item == self.STOP_TOKEN:
break # stop this thread loop
# otherwise check for a new speed
try:
self.speed = float(item)
except ValueError:
pass # whatever you like with unknown input
# do your thing
self.main_code()
def main_code(self):
time.sleep(self.speed) # or whatever you want to do
if __name__ == '__main__':
main()

Python 3, multithreading - getting data into main module as each thread finishes

The following code executes two threads (multithread), each with different time delays so that each thread will finish at a different time.
Once both threads are finished module display1.py issues a print statement saying they are BOTH finished.
I would like module display1.py to issue a 'finished' statement for EACH thread AS EACH thread finishes
How can i do this ... amendments to my working code appreciated! I'd like to change as little of the current code as possible so a better form of variable transfer between the two modules might be what I'm after
display1.py
from threads1 import *
manager = ThreadManager()
manager.start(False)
print (manager.GetResults())
threads1.py
from threading import Thread
import time
class ThreadManager:
def __init__(self):
pass
def start(self, answer):
self.answer = answer
thread_refs = []
t1 = MyThread(70, 'Not finished')
t1.daemon = True
t1.start()
t2 = MyThread(2, 'Not finished')
t2.daemon = True
t2.start()
while True:
if t1.AskFinished == 'Finished' and t2.AskFinished == 'Finished': #If I break the loop after EACH site, Only the first to finish will be sent via GetResults to display1.py
global results
results = [t1.AskFinished, t2.AskFinished]
print("Both Finished")
break
def GetResults(self):
global results
return(results)
class MyThread(Thread):
def __init__(self, SleepWait, AskFinished):
Thread.__init__(self)
self.SleepWait = SleepWait
self.AskFinished = AskFinished
def run(self):
time.sleep(self.SleepWait)
self.AskFinished = 'Finished'
What you have here (entering a very tight check loop in the main thread) is a very naive approach to threading in many languages, but especially in python where GIL contention will just slow the threads down a great bit.
What is a better idea is instead using queue.Queue to push info when a thread is completed. This allows the main thread to block on the queue instead, which is less CPU intensive as well as allowing you to know (out of order) which one is finished.
The changes you would need to make:
at the top of the module threads1.py:
import queue
finished_queue = queue.Queue()
in your start():
num_finished = 0
while True:
info = finished_queue.get()
num_finished += 1
if info is t1:
print("t1 finished")
else:
print("t2 finished")
if num_finished == 2:
global results
results = [t1.AskFinished, t2.AskFinished]
print("Both Finished")
break
and finally in run():
def run(self):
time.sleep(self.SleepWait)
self.AskFinished = 'Finished'
finished_queue.put(self)
Some more fundamental modifications I'd make is actually pushing the result into the queue and then fetching the results out, skipping the extra step before GetResults. Furthermore, if GetResults had to stay, I'd pass them through a field on self e.g. self.results = [t1.AskFinished, t2.AskFinished]
Update:
Ok, so you want to know more about how to have display1.py print the results. It would be helpful if you could explain why it matters, because that might make a difference in how you should do this, but here's a first approach:
# threads1.py
from threading import Thread
import time
class ThreadManager:
def __init__(self):
self.threads = {}
def start(self):
t1 = MyThread(4)
t1.daemon = True
t1.start()
self.threads[1] = t1
t2 = MyThread(1)
t2.daemon = True
t2.start()
self.threads[2] = t2
def is_alive(self, thread_id):
return self.threads[thread_id].is_alive()
def GetResults(self): # or you could just access results directly
return self.results
class MyThread(Thread):
def __init__(self, SleepWait):
Thread.__init__(self)
self.SleepWait = SleepWait
def run(self):
time.sleep(self.SleepWait)
And then...
# display1.py
from threads1 import *
manager = ThreadManager()
manager.start()
t1_state = t2_state = True
while manager.is_alive(1) or manager.is_alive(2):
time.sleep(1)
if manager.is_alive(1) != t1_state:
print("t1 finished")
t1_state = manager.is_alive(1)
if manager.is_alive(2) != t2_state:
print("t2 finished")
t2_state = manager.is_alive(2)
if not manager.is_alive(1) and not manager.is_alive(2):
print("Both Finished")
break
You should eventually consider using a Queue as suggested by Crast; but let's focus on getting this right first.
Original Post:
There are a number of problems with this code.
First, you should use t1.is_alive() to check if a thread is finished. There's no need to reimplement it with AskFinished.
Second, the while True: loop in threads1.py is doing nothing at a furious rate while it waits for your threads to terminate. Take a look at the cpu usage while this is running if you don't believe me. You should throw a time.sleep(1) statement in there.
Third, why are you using a global var to return your results? That's a really strange thing to do. Just store it in self!
And finally, why does display1.py have to print the messages? Why can't thread1.py do that?
With these four points in mind, here's a thread1.py that works more sensibly:
from threading import Thread
import time
class ThreadManager:
def __init__(self):
self.results = None
def start(self, answer): # why is "answer" here?
self.answer = answer
thread_refs = []
t1 = MyThread(4, 'Not finished')
t1.daemon = True
t1.start()
t2 = MyThread(1, 'Not finished')
t2.daemon = True
t2.start()
t1_state = t2_state = True
while t1.is_alive() or t2.is_alive():
time.sleep(1)
if t1.is_alive() != t1_state:
print("t1 finished")
t1_state = t1.is_alive()
if t2.is_alive() != t2_state:
print("t2 finished")
t2_state = t2.is_alive()
if not t1.is_alive() and not t2.is_alive():
self.results = [t1.AskFinished, t2.AskFinished]
print("Both Finished")
break
def GetResults(self): # or you could just access results directly
return self.results
class MyThread(Thread):
def __init__(self, SleepWait, AskFinished):
Thread.__init__(self)
self.SleepWait = SleepWait
self.AskFinished = AskFinished
def run(self):
time.sleep(self.SleepWait)
self.AskFinished = 'Finished'
Now, this still doesn't do exactly what you wanted, because you asked for display.py to do the displaying. To make that work, you'd have to put your while True loop in display.py and add an ThreadManager.is_alive() method that display.py could use to check whether a thread is alive or not. If you want to see how to do that let me know.
Im not familiar with threading but since no answers yet ill give it a shot.
In this:
Cant you just add two if statements before hand?
while True:
if t1.askFinished == 'Finished':
print("t1 Finished")
if t2.askFinished == 'Finished':
print("t2 Finished")
if t1.AskFinished == 'Finished' and t2.AskFinished == 'Finished': #If I break the loop after EACH site, Only the first to finish will be sent via GetResults to display1.py
global results
results = [t1.AskFinished, t2.AskFinished]
print("Both Finished")
break
edit: I tried changing your code as little as possible... it's not very well written though tbh. (No offense)

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