Use sched module to run at a given time - python

I'm working on a python script that needs to run between two given times. I'm required to use the build in sched module as this script needs to be able to run directly on any machine that has python 2.7 as to reduce configuration time. (SO CRON IS NOT AN OPTION)
A few variables define the settings for the time to run, here set_timer_start=0600 and set_timer_end=0900 are written in HHMM. I'm able to stop the script at the right time.
I don't know exactly how sched works (the python doc page doesn't make to much sense to me), but as far as I understand It runs at a date/time (epoch) while I only want it to run at a given time (HHMM).
Can anyone give me an example (or link) on how to use the scheduler and perhaps calculate the next run date/time?

If I got your requirements right, what you need is probably a loop, that will re-enter a task in the queue every time it will be executed. Something along the lines of:
# This code assumes you have created a function called "func"
# that returns the time at which the next execution should happen.
s = sched.scheduler(time.time, time.sleep)
while True:
if not s.queue(): # Return True if there are no events scheduled
time_next_run = func()
s.enterabs(time_next_run, 1, <task_to_schedule_here>, <args_for_the_task>)
else:
time.sleep(1800) # Minimum interval between task executions
However, using the scheduler is - IMO - overkilling. Using datetime objects could suffice, for example a basic implementation would look like:
from datetime import datetime as dt
while True:
if dt.now().hour in range(start, stop): #start, stop are integers (eg: 6, 9)
# call to your scheduled task goes here
time.sleep(60) # Minimum interval between task executions
else:
time.sleep(10) # The else clause is not necessary but would prevent the program to keep the CPU busy.
HTH!

Related

How can I say to Python to do an instruction at a given time?

I want that a specific time of the day (for example 10:00:00), one of my if condition activates.
For example:
if time is 10:00:00:
print("Hello world")
Imortant: I already read this: Python script to do something at the same time every day
But I don't want to use a function!
If you do not one to use a function but need to run a simple script at certain times, you may use crons/job schedulers for this.
Windows and Linux both supports cron operations.
If you want to do this programmatically instead of relying on operating system tools you need to write a service or a long running process for it.
You could easy use datetime to help you with that.
import datetime
from time import sleep
timing = [10, 0, 0] # Hour, minute, second, in 24 hour time
while True: # Repeat forever
now = datetime.datetime.now()
data = [now.hour, now.minute, now.second]
if data == timing:
# Code to be executed
print("Hello World")
#######
sleep(1) # To ensure the command is not repeated again
# break # Uncomment this if you want to execute the command only once
Make sure that I indented it properly, because one space can tick python off :).
The way that it works:
import datetime and from time import sleep import the necessary modules and functions that you will need.
Modules needed:
datetime
time.sleep
Now we're set.
timing = [10,0,0] sets the time that you want to use (you'll see why later)
while True repeats the loop... on and on and on.
now = datetime.datetime.now() creates a shortcut for such a long piece of text.
data == timing makes sure the time matches the timing you asked.
Note that the timing is in UTC
Go to Getting the correct timezone offset in Python using local timezone to know how to find your offset.
An offset of UTC-0200 (Or -7200 seconds) means that you need to ADD 2 hours to your time to get UTC. Or, if your time zone is UTC+0200, SUBSTRACT 2 hours from your time.

Python Scheduler vs loop + sleep

the following is:
python sched:
from time import time, sleep
from sched import scheduler
def daemon(local_handler):
print 'hi'
local_handler.enter(3, 1, daemon, (local_handler,))
if __name__ == '__main__':
handler = scheduler(time, sleep)
handler.enter(0, 1, daemon, (handler,))
handler.run()
python loop + sleep:
from time import sleep
while True:
print 'hello'
sleep(3)
What is the difference between sched and loop+sleep, and sched will stop when the system time is changed?
A big difference is that the delay between multiple tasks is calculated as necessary. That means your loop will take:
time it needs to print("hello") or do the task that you need to do
time it takes to sleep(3)
while if you change the order in your scheduler to:
local_handler.enter(3, 1, daemon, (local_handler,))
do_the_task
your next task will be run either after 3 seconds, or immediately after do_the_task if it took longer than 3 seconds.
So the decision really comes down to: do you want your task executed every X time units, or with X time units space between executions.
Assuming you're using the typical (time, sleep) parameters, if the system time is changed, you'll get the next task run after the expected amount of time (sleep takes care of this, unless some signals were received in the meantime), but your next scheduled task time will be shifted. I believe that the next execution time will not be what you'd normally expect.
The difference between the two is that scheduler is more pythonic than loop + sleep for two reasons: elegance and modularity.
Long loops easily become difficult to read and require a lot more code to be written within. However, with a scheduler, a specific function can be called on a delay, containing all of the code within. This makes code much more readable and allows for moving code into classes and modules to be called within the main loop.
Python knows what the current time is by checking the local system. If the local system's time is changed, then that will affect a currently running program or script.
Becaused the python sched is use system time for next iteration.
The sleep is use cpu time clock for next iteration.

Is it possible make this .py script time out every 20 minutes and auto run again by it self?

Is it possible make this .py script time out every 20 minutes and auto run again by it self?
Currently I'm using crontab to rerun it every 20 minutes but the thing is it's running multiple .py sometime and not actually rerunning the program. I just want it to rerun every 20 minutes not rerun another instance of it every 20 minutes.
#!/usr/bin/env python
from TwitterFollowBot import TwitterBot
my_bot = TwitterBot("/home/TwitterFollowBot/config.txt")
my_bot.sync_follows()
my_bot.auto_unfollow_nonfollowers()
my_bot.auto_rt("#RtwtKing", count=2000)
my_bot.auto_rt("#ShoutGamers", count=2000)
You have several ways to do this.
If you want to do it only with Python you can:
Use threads, it will work pretty well, but it's not really what threads are designed for.
Use Daemon (good example here)
Do a Python wrapper which will loop forever and call you script when needed. It's less clean, but less overkill too.
Example of the wrapper solution:
The goal is to create a new python script which will handle timer and so execute your Twitter code when needed.
1. Update your current code to encapsulate it in a method
let's say your current file is named core.py
core.py:
from datetime import datetime
from TwitterFollowBot import TwitterBot
def get_feed():
print "({}) LOG: get_feed starting".format(datetime.now())
my_bot = TwitterBot("/home/TwitterFollowBot/config.txt")
my_bot.sync_follows()
my_bot.auto_unfollow_nonfollowers()
my_bot.auto_rt("#RtwtKing", count=2000)
my_bot.auto_rt("#ShoutGamers", count=2000)
This just make your code in a function and add a logging line which print current time when function is executed.
2. Make a wrapper which handle timer and call your twitter code
wrapper.py:
import time
from datetime import datetime
# Import your twitter code, so you can use it by calling 'get_feed()'
from core import get_feed
# Define constants here because it's easier to find it on top of file
# Delta between the last call and the next one, bascially time between two calls: 20 minutes
DELTA = 20 * 60
# Time your wrapper will take between each verification: 5 minutes
SLEEP_TIME = 5 * 60
# Initialize timer and call for the first time your method
# last_run will store timestamp of the last time you called get_feed()
last_run = time.time()
get_feed()
# Start an inifinite loop
while True:
# Compute delta since last call
# last_run_delta will store the time in seconds between last call and now
last_run_delta = time.time() - last_run
# If last_run_delta is upper than DELTA so the number of seconds you want to separate two calls is reached.
if last_run_delta >= DELTA:
# Because time is reached you want to run again your code and reset timer to can handle next call
last_run = time.time()
get_feed()
# If you have not reach delta time yet, you want to sleep to avoid stack overflow and because you don't need to check each microseconds
else:
time.sleep(SLEEP_TIME)
Ouput with DELTA = 10 and SLEEP_TIME = 5 (core.py is called every 10 seconds and check is done each 5 seconds):
(2016-11-29 10:43:07.405750) LOG: get_feed starting
(2016-11-29 10:43:17.414629) LOG: get_feed starting
(2016-11-29 10:43:27.422033) LOG: get_feed starting
(2016-11-29 10:43:37.430698) LOG: get_feed starting
(2016-11-29 10:43:47.436595) LOG: get_feed starting
The only real good point with this method is you can't launch same process two times at once. Because it's not asynchronous, get_feed can't be called twice, but if get_feed take more time than SLEEP_TIME or DELTA you will miss some calls and so do not run it each 20min.
Last thing, because you are importing core.py in wrapper.py you have to create a __init__.py file in the same folder than the two others files. (/path/to/project/ should contains __init__.py (empty), core.py and wrapper.py).
The real good way will is to create a daemon, but it require more skills.

Python/Django: Schedule task in realtime after every X duration (secs/mins/hours?)

I want to execute some task (function) within my Django application at a specified duration from when a call is made to that. Something like:
... some code
async_run_func(time_interval=15_mins) # Async call. Code within the function
# should be executed after 15 mins.
... some more code
async_run_func is to be executed after some custom interval.
What is the correct approach to achieve this? One way is to create a separate thread and sleep it for time_duration period. But that will result into too many threads on the server. Also, in case the gunicorn process is restarted, the state will be lost. I want the information to persistent. So, I do not want to go with this approach. Currently I am using celery for executing long async and periodic tasks. But celery do not allow option to run a function single time after the specified duration.
It will be great if there is anyway to do it on distributed system. For example, function will be call from one system but the code to be executed on other system (use of queue like RabbitMQ is fine with me). Else, I can also go for executing it on the same machine. Any suggestion?
Celery has the option of enqueuing at a specific time:
your_async_function.apply_async(args=(your, args, tuple),
kwargs={your: kwargs},
countdown=15 * 60)
Or use the subtask syntax, to curry all args and then delay
your_async_function.s(your, args, tuple, your: kwargs).delay(countdown=15 * 60)
If the function has no args, you can skip them and do directly
your_async_function.delay(countdown=15 * 60)
What about using sched module? Simple and efficient.
import sched, time
sc = sched.scheduler(time.time, time.sleep)
sc.enter(15, 1, async_run_func, ())
sc.run
ETA and Countdown are options to perform this using django-celery.
From the document:
The ETA (estimated time of arrival) lets you set a specific date and time that is the earliest time at which your task will be executed. countdown is a shortcut to set ETA by seconds into the future.
For example:
>>> result = add.apply_async((2, 2), countdown=3)
>>> result.get() # this takes at least 3 seconds to return
20
The task is guaranteed to be executed at some time after the specified date and time, but not necessarily at that exact time. Possible reasons for broken deadlines may include many items waiting in the queue, or heavy network latency. To make sure your tasks are executed in a timely manner you should monitor the queue for congestion.
While countdown is an integer, eta must be a datetime object, specifying an exact date and time (including millisecond precision, and timezone information):
>>> from datetime import datetime, timedelta
>>> tomorrow = datetime.utcnow() + timedelta(days=1)
>>> add.apply_async((2, 2), eta=tomorrow)

python How to loop a function [duplicate]

This question already has answers here:
Closed 10 years ago.
Possible Duplicate:
What is the best way to repeatedly execute a function every x seconds in Python?
Hi so here is the code I have:
client = myclient(info1,info2)
sellor()
Contractor()
It works perfectly but what I would like to do is to make python launch that code every 60 seconds indefinitely...
I don't actually understand how I have to put the code together with the time loop
Any help is appreciated
Thank's
If the 60 seconds ignores the time it takes to execute your code):
from time import sleep
while True:
sleep(60)
# your code here
but if the 60 seconds takes into account the time it takes to execute your code:
from time import sleep
from os import fork
while True:
sleep(60)
fork() # create child process
# your code here
Use the sleep method. Just create a loop (while, for, whatever) and sleep for 60 secs every iteration.
import time
while True:
client = myclient(info1,info2)
sellor()
Contractor()
time.sleep(10)
hope it works,all the best mate
import time
repeat_time = 3.0
while True:
start_time = time.time()
# Your code goes here
time.sleep(max(repeat_time - (time.time() - start_time), 0.0))
And your code will be executed exactly every "repeat_time"
You could use sleep as already mentioned. But because there may be a variable amount of time needed for your own functions to run, this wouldn't necessarily mean your functions are run every 60 seconds.
If it was important that the period between each start of your functions is closer to 60 seconds, you could use time. I haven't tried this but something like
import time
while True:
# Get the current time
startTime = time.time()
# Your functions
client = myclient(info1,info2)
sellor()
Contractor()
delay = True
while delay:
if time.time() - startTime > 60:
delay = False # Break the delay
You might also think of just scheduling the task through windows scheduler. The benefit here would end the script once run and then execute the script again after scheduled interval. In the second approach it seems that the script instance process would continually run and only use the sleep function to do nothing for the specified time. I take it this way if the scripts fails at any instance you might have to keep a check to restart the script. While as a scheduled activity the script will be executed in any case at that specified intervals.
You might also not want the process thread to be kept running for the python script executed. I will research on this and you might get to hear form our other folks in the mean while.
Regards,
Harshal

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