Make program sleep for X seconds in python

Question

I am making an alarm clock program that will have to sleep (Not make noise) until 6:00AM. The problem I am having is that I cannot get the program to wait X seconds

Pseudo Code: X = 6:00AM - CurrentTime time.sleep(X)

Here is my code so far:

#Imports
import datetime
import time
import pygame

WORDS = ["Wake", "Me", "Tommorow"]

#Make J.A.R.V.I.S. Listen
mic.activeListen():

#Determine time and difference of time
x = datetime.datetime.now()
x = x.total_seconds
print(x)
x = datetime.timedelta()
x = float(x) #time.sleep() Requires a float value.
time.sleep(x) #Sleeps until 6:00 AM
pygame.mixer.init()
pygame.mixer.music.load("alarm.mp3")
pygame.mixer.music.play()
while pygame.mixer.music.get_busy() == True:

Also, `total_seconds()` is defined on `timedelta`, not `datetime` — DNA, Apr 14 '14 at 14:24
Does this answer your question? [How do I get my Python program to sleep for 50 milliseconds?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/377454/how-do-i-get-my-python-program-to-sleep-for-50-milliseconds) — Kermit, Dec 01 '20 at 21:20

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 14 '14 at 14:24

2

In order to create a datetime object representing 6:00am, you'd need to specify the date. E.g. if you want 6:00am today (assuming it happens in the future):

from datetime import datetime, date, time, timedelta
import time
d = date.today()
target_dt = datetime.combine(d, time(6,0))
td = target_dt - datetime.now()
time.sleep(td.total_seconds())

If you want 6am tomorrow, do:

d = date.today() + timedelta(days=1)
# the rest is the same...

answered Apr 14 '14 at 14:24

shx2

61,779
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I mis asked my question, I need to find the difference between CurrentTime and 6:00AM, any ideas there? – user3532319 Apr 14 '14 at 14:27
When I evaluate target_dt = datetime.combine(d, time(6,0)) In python command line it throws the error Python 3.4.0 >>> target_dt = datetime.combine(d, time(6,0)) Traceback (most recent call last): File "", line 1, in NameError: name 'datetime' is not defined >>> – user3532319 Apr 14 '14 at 19:26
@user3532319 did you run the import line? `from datetime import datetime, date, time, timedelta` – shx2 Apr 14 '14 at 20:34

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:13

0

You should not trust time.sleep() to stop waiting at the expected time, as any caught signal will terminate it (see answers to Upper limit in Python time.sleep()?).

edited May 23 '17 at 12:13

Community

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1

answered Apr 14 '14 at 14:27

tpatja

690
4
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What would you suggest instead? – user3532319 Apr 14 '14 at 14:29
Wrap the sleep() call in a loop and keep track of time manually. samtregar's answer in the mentioned question has an example trusty_sleep() function. – tpatja Apr 14 '14 at 14:43

Make program sleep for X seconds in python

2 Answers2