CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythontimerpython-3.4
M. Barbieri
M. Barbieri

Reputation: 542

Running a python function after a certain time passes. Using Threading Timer, however it only runs once and then stops

I am trying to run a specific function in my python file. However, when I run the method with the timer that calls said function, it executes everything that it's supposed to, but then exits the job after the first time. I need it to continue to run the function after the specified time.

This is the function that contains the timer:

    def executor(file):
        x = datetime.today()
        y = x.replace(day=x.day, hour=x.hour, minute=x.minute, second=x.second+10, microsecond=0)
        delta_t = y-x
        secs = delta_t.seconds+1
        t = Timer(secs, parse_file, [file])
        t.start()

The function that I am trying to call, is parse_file(file_name). I am passing in the file_name when calling the executor function.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 10665

Answers (1)

Aaron
Aaron

Reputation: 2093

You haven't given enough detail of what your actual issue is, what code do you want to run more than once? Can you show the code that actually calls this function?

When you call start, the main thread will continue executing from that spot, while the task you scheduled will call the parse_file method at the specified time, and exit once complete. It sounds to me like you don't have anything that is keeping your main thread alive (that is, you don't have any more code after you call the executor).

Here is a small example showing how you can use the Timer to execute tasks while the main thread is still working. You can keep typing in input, and the print statement will show you all the threads that completed since the last time you typed an input.

from threading import Timer
import sys

def scheduled_task(arg):
    print("\ntask complete arg %s!\n"%(arg))

def run_scheduled_task(arg):
    timer = Timer(10, scheduled_task, [arg])
    timer.start()

done = False
while not done:
    user_input = input("Give me some input (exit to stop): ")
    if user_input == 'exit':
        print('Exiting')
        done = True
    else:
        run_scheduled_task(user_input)

Upvotes: 3

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