Cancel timer in Python

Question

I am working on timer class in python and wrote a simple test code for the same. My purpose is to print the "hello world" message 10 times and then cancel the timer once the iterations are done. The problem is I am unable to cancel the timer and code seems to print "hello world" infinitely.

Below is my code:

from threading import Timer

class myclass():
    iteration_count = 0
    heartbeat = 1

    def printMsg(self):
        print "hello world!"

    def start_job(self):

        self.printMsg()

        self.iteration_count = self.iteration_count + 1

        if self.iteration_count == 10:
            Timer(self.heartbeat, self.start_job, ()).cancel()

        Timer(self.heartbeat, self.start_job, ()).start()


m = myclass()
m.start_job()

I am using Python 2.7 Any help would be highly appreciated

Benyamin Jafari · Accepted Answer · 2022-06-01 18:17:14Z

4

Your problem is you've made another Timer() in if condition and .cancel() it. The following code solves your problem:

from threading import Timer

class MyClass(object):
    def __init__(self):
        self.iteration_count = 0
        self.heartbeat = 1

    @staticmethod
    def print_msg():
        print "hello world!"

    def start_job(self):
        self.print_msg()
        self.iteration_count += 1

        timer = Timer(
            interval=self.heartbeat,
            function=self.start_job,
        )
        timer.start()

        if self.iteration_count >= 10:
            timer.cancel()

MyClass().start_job()

edited Jun 1, 2022 at 18:17

answered Oct 25, 2018 at 9:06

Benyamin Jafari

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1 Comment

Bhawan Over a year ago

is return 0, required at the end ?

user10455554 · Accepted Answer · 2018-10-25 09:05:04Z

2

Seems like you start your timer again right after you cancelled it.

If you change your code to return from start_job() when your end-condition is reached it should work.

    if self.iteration_count == 10:
        Timer(self.heartbeat, self.start_job, ()).cancel()
        return

Actually you don't even have to cancel the timer this way, you just don't start a new one, if the condition is reached.

edited Oct 25, 2018 at 9:05

answered Oct 25, 2018 at 9:00

user10455554

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Comments

leaf · Accepted Answer · 2018-10-25 09:27:40Z

2

cancelmethod is used to stop the created timer before its action has begun, so just return will be ok.

if self.iteration_count == 10:
    return

See Timer Objects

The timer can be stopped (before its action has begun) by calling the cancel() method.

def hello(): 
    print "hello, world"

t = Timer(30.0, hello)
t.start() # will print "hello, world" after 30 seconds

t.cancel() # stop it printing "hello, world"

edited Oct 25, 2018 at 9:27

answered Oct 25, 2018 at 9:11

leaf

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