Python periodic thread using timer. You can cancel this thread any time. Thread will live at maximum to the end of one single processing run, otherwise it will end in the same time (especially during a wait time for next run). This code avoids the problem of waiting very long for thread exiting, because it does not uses time.sleep(). Please be a…

periodic_thread.py

import logging
import threading


class PeriodicThread(object):
    """
    Python periodic Thread using Timer with instant cancellation
    """

    def __init__(self, callback=None, period=1, name=None, *args, **kwargs):
        self.name = name
        self.args = args
        self.kwargs = kwargs
        self.callback = callback
        self.period = period
        self.stop = False
        self.current_timer = None
        self.schedule_lock = threading.Lock()

    def start(self):
        """
        Mimics Thread standard start method
        """
        self.schedule_timer()

    def run(self):
        """
        By default run callback. Override it if you want to use inheritance
        """
        if self.callback is not None:
            self.callback()

    def _run(self):
        """
        Run desired callback and then reschedule Timer (if thread is not stopped)
        """
        try:
            self.run()
        except Exception, e:
            logging.exception("Exception in running periodic thread")
        finally:
            with self.schedule_lock:
                if not self.stop:
                    self.schedule_timer()

    def schedule_timer(self):
        """
        Schedules next Timer run
        """
        self.current_timer = threading.Timer(self.period, self._run, *self.args, **self.kwargs)
        if self.name:
            self.current_timer.name = self.name
        self.current_timer.start()

    def cancel(self):
        """
        Mimics Timer standard cancel method
        """
        with self.schedule_lock:
            self.stop = True
            if self.current_timer is not None:
                self.current_timer.cancel()

    def join(self):
        """
        Mimics Thread standard join method
        """
        self.current_timer.join()
        
        

Thanks! Works a treat. Was struggling to achieve this functionality with the fundamental threading.Timer, then stumbled across your work.

There should also be a self.stop = False just before line 24 so that the timer can get restarted after it was stopped with cancel().