I am building a GUI in Python and using threads to generate multiple countdown timers that work independently. I have a minimized module for testing which i am including bellow. I want the button to start the count down and then when its clicked again stop it, then reset so that it can be started on the next click. Also reset on its own once time runs out. The only problem is that after it stops, I cannot get it to restart. I get the "cannot start a thread twice" error. I have been trying to use a conditional loop to get the thread to exit its self but it hasn't been working. I would really appreciate some insight
There are actually two things that i want this program to be able to do. 1) run all the way through the timer then automatically reset so that it can be restarted 2) be stopped in the middle of a countdown, have it automatically reset so that it can be restarted
I think that solving these issues will be valuable for the community to see because it is an example of a real world solution to the issue that a lot of people talk about on the forum which is how to get around the no restarting threads.
__author__ = 'iKRUSTY'
'''
there are two things i would like this code to be able to do
1) run all the way through the timer and then reset so that it can be restarted
2) be stopped before completing and then reset so that it can be restarted
'''
from tkinter import *
import time
import os
import threading
#Variables
global FRYER_ONE_TIME_VAR # holds the value for changing label text to update timer
global BASKET_ONE_TARGET_TIME #this is a user input that will determine the length of the countdown
global timerOneStayAlive #this is the value that i am attempting to use so that the thread closes after it is set to false
timerOneStayAlive = FALSE #initializes to false because the the invert function changes it to true once the button is clicked
FRYER_ONE_TIME_VAR=" " #used to pass time between functiuons
#Font Profiles
SMALLEST_FONT = ("Verdana", 9)
SMALL_FONT = ("Verdana", 10)
LARGE_FONT = ("Verdana", 12)
LARGEST_FONT = ("Verdana", 18)
class timer():
global BASKET_ONE_TARGET_TIME
BASKET_ONE_TARGET_TIME = 5 #Just setting it manually for now
def __init__(self):
self.s = 0 #these values are used to convert from seconds to a minute:second format
self.m = 0 #these values are used to convert from seconds to a minute:second format
def SetTime(self, seconds):
self.seconds=seconds #this is a counter that will be used to calculate remaining time
def TimerReset(self):
self.seconds = BASKET_ONE_TARGET_TIME #resets counter to target time
def StartCountdown(self, FryerLabel): #takes a label as an argumet to tell it where to display the countdown
global timerOneStayAlive
print("StartCountdown Started!") #USED FOR TROUBLE SHOOTING
self.seconds = BASKET_ONE_TARGET_TIME #set start value for seconds counter
self.seconds=self.seconds+1 #makes the full time appear upon countdown start
while self.seconds > 0:
FRYER_ONE_TIME_VAR = self.CalculateTime() #Calculate time reduces the counter by one and reformats it to a minute:second format. returns a string
FryerLabel.config(text=FRYER_ONE_TIME_VAR) #Update Label with current value
print(self.seconds) #USED FOR TROUBLE SHOOTING
time.sleep(1)
# reset label with default time
if self.seconds == 0: #Reset once counter hits zero
print("resetting time") #USED FOR TROUBLE SHOOTING
self.seconds = BASKET_ONE_TARGET_TIME + 1
FRYER_ONE_TIME_VAR = self.CalculateTime()
FryerLabel.config(text=FRYER_ONE_TIME_VAR)
break
print("TimerStayAlive before invert: ", timerOneStayAlive) #USED FOR TROUBLE SHOOTING
timerOneStayAlive = invert(timerOneStayAlive) #inverts the value back to FALSE so that Ideally the loop breaks
# and the thread completes so that it can be called again
print("TimerStayAlive after invert: ", timerOneStayAlive) #USED FOR TROUBLE SHOOTING
print("end startcountdown") #USED FOR TROUBLE SHOOTING
def CalculateTime(self):
#print("CalculateTime has been called")
lessThanTen=0
self.seconds = self.seconds - 1
self.m, self.s = divmod(self.seconds, 60)
if self.s<10:
lessThanTen=1
#create time String Variables
colonVar=':'
minutesString = str(self.m)
secondsString = str(self.s)
#insert variables into string array
timeArray = []
timeArray.append(minutesString)
timeArray.append(colonVar)
if lessThanTen == 1:
timeArray.append("0")
timeArray.append(secondsString)
#prepare for output
self.timeString = ''.join(timeArray)
return self.timeString
def invert(boolean):
return not boolean
def BasketOneButtonClicked():
print("button clicked") #USED FOR TROUBLE SHOOTING
global timerOneStayAlive
timerOneStayAlive = invert(timerOneStayAlive) #Changes from FALSE to TRUE
if timerOneStayAlive == TRUE:
print("timerOneStayAlive: ", timerOneStayAlive) #USED FOR TROUBLE SHOOTING
basketOneThread.start()
updateButtonStatus() #changes text of button depending on whether timerOneStayAlive is TRUE or FALSE
else:
print("timerOneStayAlive: ", timerOneStayAlive) #USED FOR TROUBLE SHOOTING
return
def updateButtonStatus():
global timerOneStayAlive
if timerOneStayAlive == FALSE:
basketOneStartButton.config(text="Start")
if timerOneStayAlive == TRUE:
basketOneStartButton.config(text="Stop")
def BasketOneThreadComShell(): # I used this so that i can ideally call multiple functions with a single thread
'''
This is where i think the problem may be. this is what is called when the thread is initialized and theoretically
when this completes the thread should come to a halt so that when the button is reset, the thread can be called again
I think that the function is completing but for some reason the thread keeps on running.
'''
global timerOneStayAlive
print("ComShell Started") #USED FOR TROUBLE SHOOTING
while timerOneStayAlive:
basketOneTimer.StartCountdown(countdownLabelBasket1)
updateButtonStatus()
if timerOneStayAlive == FALSE: #redundant because while loop should do it. i just tried it because i couldnt get the process to end
break
print("Threadshell has ended") #USED FOR TROUBLE SHOOTING
return
print("after return check") #USED FOR TROUBLE SHOOTING
root = Tk()
'''
the following is all just building the GUI Stuff
'''
Container = Frame(root)
Container.grid(row=1, column=0, padx=10, pady=10)
countdownContainerBasket1 = Label(Container, width=10, height=5)
countdownContainerBasket1.grid(row=2, column=0, sticky=NSEW)
countdownLabelBasket1 = Label(countdownContainerBasket1, text="Basket 1", background="white", anchor=CENTER, width=10, height=6, font=LARGE_FONT, padx=20)
countdownLabelBasket1.pack()
basketOneTimer = timer()
basketOneTimer.SetTime(5)
basketOneStartButton = Button(Container, text="Start", font=LARGE_FONT, command=BasketOneButtonClicked)
basketOneStartButton.grid(row=3, column=0, padx=10, pady=10)
basketOneThread = threading.Thread(target=BasketOneThreadComShell) #this is where the thread is initialized. start() is called in BasketOneButtonClick
print(threading.active_count) #tried to use this to see if the thread was exiting but it didnt help
root.mainloop()
You'll probly want to give this a run just to see what the GUI looks like and what i mean when i say timer. Try letting it run all the way through and resetting to get an idea of what im talking about.
Let me know if there is any other info that would be helpful, and keep in mind this is my first week with python so im no expert. Thanks all
