[Solved]Help with Threading

[Extra]

Hello,

I am trying to get my program to have a reminders function where I can ask it to remind me to do stuff & after a certain amount of time it will remind me about the thing I told it to remind me about.

The only problem I have is that while it's waiting to remind me about the reminder, I would like to still use my program.
Right now, I can set a reminder but it will lock me out of the program until the reminder pops up.

How do I fix it so once the reminder is set I can still use my program & after the specified amount of time, the reminder will just print to the terminal?

Thanks in advance.

Snippet:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------     #                               Set Reminders     #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------     if ('remind me' in command):         command = command.replace("remind me", "")            autoTypeAnimation("Ok, I will remind you" + command)         import threading         t =  threading.Thread(target=waiting(command))         t.start()     def waiting(command):     print("Reminder Set")     # Wait 5s then bring up reminder     time.sleep(5)     autoTypeAnimation("FYI: I was told to remind you" + command)

Full code:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208

#------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #                                  Imports #------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- import json import random import datetime import operator import os import subprocess import time import sys import webbrowser import requests from bs4 import BeautifulSoup import wikipedia import wolframalpha import pywhatkit      from BX_Intents import (greetings, farewell, thanks, noAnswer) from BX_External_Functions import (autoTypeAnimation, StartupText, ShutdownText,                                     UserInput, listen, speak) #------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #                           Commander Name (You) and A.I Name #------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Commander = "Commander" AI_Name = 'Baxter' #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   #------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #                                  WishMe Function #------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- def wishMe():     hour = int(datetime.datetime.now().hour)     if hour>=0 and hour<12:         speak("Good Morning" + Commander)     elif hour>=12 and hour<18:         speak("Good Afternoon" + Commander)       else:         speak("Good Evening" + Commander) #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------     #------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #                                       Main #------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- def BAXTER():     command = UserInput() #Take user input from terminal     command=str(command).lower()       #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------     #                       General Conversation (From Intents.py)     #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------     #Greetings     patterns, responses = greetings()     if (command in patterns):         results = (random.choice(responses))         autoTypeAnimation(results) #Print results to terminal         speak(results)       #Farewell     patterns, responses = farewell()     if (command in patterns):         results = (random.choice(responses))         autoTypeAnimation(results)         speak(results)           #Thanks     patterns, responses = thanks()     if (command in patterns):         results = (random.choice(responses))         autoTypeAnimation(results)         speak(results)           #No Response     patterns, responses = noAnswer()     if (command in patterns):         results = (random.choice(responses))         autoTypeAnimation(results)         speak(results)           #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------                             #Search Wikipedia (General Info)     #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------     if ('weather' not in command):         if ('who is' in command) or ('what is the' in command) or ('what is a' in command) or ("what is" in command):             if ('time' not in command):                 if ('news' not in command):                     speak('Searching...')                     command = command.replace("who is","")                     command = command.replace("what is the","")                     command = command.replace("what is a","")                     command = command.replace("what is","")                     results = wikipedia.summary(command, sentences = 2)                     autoTypeAnimation(results)                     speak(results)                           #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------                     #Search Wolfram Alpha (Math/Conversions, Definitions)     #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------     if ('news' not in command):         if ('weather' in command) or ('calculate' in command) or ("what's" in command) or ('define' in command) or ("what" in command):                 speak('Searching...')                 command = command.replace("calculate","")                 command = command.replace("what's","")                 command = command.replace("define","")                 # Wolframalpha App Id                 appId = 'JH9XHR-W9J76L7H5A'                 # Wolfram Instance                 client = wolframalpha.Client(appId)                 res = client.query(''.join(command))                 results = next(res.results).text                 autoTypeAnimation(results)                 speak(results)       #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------                             #Open Stuff on the Internet     #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------     #Open Youtube Videos (Ex: 'Play __ on youtube')     if ('youtube' in command):         autoTypeAnimation("Launching Youtube...")         speak('Launching Youtube')         command = command.replace("youtube","")         pywhatkit.playonyt(command)       #Open Google Maps and Find The Location of A You Want     if ('where is' in command):         command = command.replace("where is","")         autoTypeAnimation("Locating" + command + "...")         speak('Locating' + command)         webbrowser.open_new_tab("https://www.google.com/maps/place/" + command)       #Search Stuff on Google     if ('search' in command):         command = command.replace("search", "")         autoTypeAnimation("Searching" + command + " on Google")         speak('Searching' + command)         pywhatkit.search(command)           #Close Firefox     if ('close firefox' in command):         autoTypeAnimation("Terminating Firefox...")         speak('Closing Firefox')         command = command.replace("close firefox", "")         browser = "firefox.exe"         os.system("taskkill /f /im " + browser)         #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------                             #Open Stuff on the Computer     #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------     #Open Windows Media Player and Auto Play the Playlist Called Music     if ('play music' in command) or ('media player' in command) or ('drop the needle' in command):         autoTypeAnimation("Launching music...")         speak("Launching Music")         command = command.replace("play music", "")         command = command.replace("media player", "")         command = command.replace("drop the needle", "")         subprocess.Popen("C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe /Playlist Music")       #Close Windows Media Player     if ('stop music' in command):         autoTypeAnimation("Terminating music...")         speak('Closing Music')         command = command.replace("stop music", "")         mediaPlayer = "wmplayer.exe"         os.system("taskkill /f /im " + mediaPlayer)         #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------     #                               Set Reminders     #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------     if ('remind me' in command):         command = command.replace("remind me", "")            autoTypeAnimation("Ok, I will remind you" + command)         import threading         t =  threading.Thread(target=waiting(command))         t.start()         #autoTypeAnimation("FYI: I was told to remind you" + command)         #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------                             #Stop Program/Script Command     #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------     if ('stop' in command) or ('shutdown' in command) or ('quit' in command):         speak("Shutting Down...")         results = "Terminating program..."         autoTypeAnimation(results)         ShutdownText()         exit()     #------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   def waiting(command):     print("Reminder Set")     # Wait 5s then bring up reminder     time.sleep(5)     autoTypeAnimation("FYI: I was told to remind you" + command)   #------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ #                                   Run The Program #------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ StartupText() wishMe() speak("How may I be of service?")   while True:     BAXTER() #------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Gribouillis]

I would use threading.Timer instead of threading.Thread. No need to call time.sleep(). The Timer will run a function after a given time interval.

[Extra]

If I do this t = threading.Timer(5,waiting(command)) to try and pass the command to my waiting() it ignores the 5sec timer:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------     #                               Set Reminders     #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------     if ('remind me' in command):         command = command.replace("remind me", "")            autoTypeAnimation("Ok, I will remind you" + command)         import threading         t = threading.Timer(5,waiting(command))         t.start()   def waiting(command):     print("Reminder Set")     # Wait 5s then bring up reminder     # time.sleep(5)     autoTypeAnimation("FYI: I was told to remind you" + command)

& it will throw this error:

Error:
Commander: Exception in thread Thread-1:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\BX-PC\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\lib\threading.py", line 973, in _bootstrap_inner
    self.run()
  File "C:\Users\BX-PC\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\lib\threading.py", line 1286, in run
    self.function(*self.args, **self.kwargs)
TypeError: 'NoneType' object is not callable

But if I do (don't pass the command to the waiting()):

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------     #                               Set Reminders     #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------     if ('remind me' in command):         command = command.replace("remind me", "")            autoTypeAnimation("Ok, I will remind you" + command)         import threading         t = threading.Timer(5,waiting)         t.start()   def waiting():     print("Reminder Set")     # Wait 5s then bring up reminder     # time.sleep(5)     autoTypeAnimation("FYI: I was told to remind you")

It works as intended.

Is there any way to have it so I can pass the command value to the waiting function & have it work properly?

[Gribouillis]

t = threading.Timer(5,waiting(command))

Use

1	t = threading.Timer(5, waiting, args=(command,))

[Extra]

Thanks, that worked!

[Extra]

One more quick question:

How do I stop the threading.timer once the program exits?

I tried usingt.cancel()

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

#------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #                               Set Reminders #------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- if ('remind me' in command):     command = command.replace("remind me", "")     autoTypeAnimation("In how many hours should I remind you" + command +"?")     remindTime = UserInput()       remindTimerMinutes = float(remindTime)*60 #Sec->Min     remindTimerHours = remindTimerMinutes*60 #Min->Hrs     autoTypeAnimation("Ok, I will remind you" + command + " in " + str(remindTime) + " hours")     t = threading.Timer(remindTimerHours, reminderWait, args=(command,))     t.start()       #------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #                       Stop Program/Script Command #------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- if ('stop' in command) or ('shutdown' in command) or ('quit' in command):     speak("Shutting Down...")     results = "Terminating program..."     autoTypeAnimation(results)     ShutdownText()     t.cancel()     exit() #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

But get this error and the reminder still waits & pops up even when I stop the code :

Error:
line 256, in BAXTER
    t.cancel()
UnboundLocalError: local variable 't' referenced before assignment


                                              Baxter:
                                          Reminder Alert!
                                I was told to remind you to do stuff

Is there any way to cancel the threading.timer when the program exits?

[deanhystad]

Your create timer code is inside a function. The "t" variable is local to the function and is not visible to the code that cancels the timer. This doesn't matter because you don't need to keep track of active timers. Threading keeps track of timers for you.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

import threading from time import sleep   def printit(msg):   print(msg)   # Make a bunch of timers for i in range(10):   threading.Timer(i, printit, args=(str(i),)).start()   # Let a few expire sleep(3)   # Cancel all the rest for timer in threading.enumerate():   if isinstance(timer, threading.Timer):     print(timer)     timer.cancel()

Output:
0
1
2
3
<Timer(Thread-5, started 2628)>
<Timer(Thread-6, started 14644)>
<Timer(Thread-7, started 4544)>
<Timer(Thread-8, started 3752)>
<Timer(Thread-9, started 14668)>
<Timer(Thread-10, started 13564)>

Your time seems backwards to me. The user enters a time in hours, which you convert to seconds. But "remindTimerHours" is a time in seconds, not a time in hours. The time in hours is in remindTime. remindTimerMinutes is correctly named. Totally unnecessary, but correctly named. I know this is nitpicking but using good variable and function names goes a long way in making code easier to understand. Your project is likely to be several files and hundreds of lines of code when done. It will be a lot easier to maintain and modify if you take time to write good code from the start.

1 2 3

remindTime = UserInput()   remindTimerMinutes = float(remindTime)*60 #This is hours to minutes remindTimerHours = remindTimerMinutes*60 #This is minutes to seconds

I would do it this way:

1 2	remindTimerHours = UserInput() remindTime = float(remindTimerHours) * 3600

Or maybe opt for a more natural way of entering a time. How many hours is 10 minutes? 0.16?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

def hms2seconds(timestr):     """Convert timestr string to seconds.     valid timestr formats are Hours:Minutes:Seconds, Minutes:Seconds, Seconds     """     t = 0     for value in map(float, timestr.split(":")):         t = t * 60 + value     return t         while True:     timestr = input("Enter wait time (H:M:S) ")     if not timestr:         break     try:         print(hms2seconds(timestr))     except ValueError:       print("Not a valid time string")

[Extra]

Thanks! This helped out a lot! It now works properly.