How to make Python not to wait for the end of the command?

Question

I am making a voice assistant and when I say "set alarm" program freezing and waiting for time that alarm set. So I can't talk to the assistant until alarm plays.
Here is the code

if 'alarm' in said:
    engine.say('Set')
    engine.runAndWait()
    now = datetime.datetime.now()
    alarm_time = datetime.datetime.combine(now.date(), datetime.time(int(said)))
    time.sleep((alarm_time - now).total_seconds())
    os.system("start alarm.mp3")

How to ignore it or make something to the program so it won't freeze? Maybe there are other ways for setting alarm?
Help will be appreciated!

Does this answer your question? [How to start a background process in Python?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1196074/how-to-start-a-background-process-in-python) — Adam.Er8, Jul 15 '20 at 12:05
Yes. `p = subprocess.Popen(["start", "alarm.mp3"])` returns immediately, running the command in the background. — chepner, Jul 15 '20 at 14:08

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 15 '20 at 12:09

0

You could create a thread that'll sleep for the specified amount of time. Sleeping threads don't block the main thread, so it'll continue executing.

import threading, time, os

def thread_func(seconds):
    time.sleep(seconds)
    os.system("start alarm.mp3")

threading.Thread(
    target=thread_func,
    args=((alarm_time - now).total_seconds(), ),
    daemon=True
).start()
# Do something else here

os.system will block the execution, but it should be fairly quick.

answered Jul 15 '20 at 12:09

ForceBru

43,482
10
63
98

It says `args=((alarm_time - now).total_seconds(), ), NameError: name 'alarm_time' is not defined` – Jul 16 '20 at 09:16
I should keep this? `alarm_time = datetime.datetime.combine(now.date(), datetime.time(int(said)))` – Jul 16 '20 at 09:17
@AlexZab, of course it does - you should specify it yourself. Just copy it from your code. – ForceBru Jul 16 '20 at 09:17
Now it says `File "Python\Python36-32\lib\threading.py", line 916, in _bootstrap_inner self.run() File "Python\Python36-32\lib\threading.py", line 864, in run self._target(*self._args, **self._kwargs) File ".py", line 124, in thread_func time.sleep(seconds) AttributeError: 'list' object has no attribute 'sleep'` – Jul 16 '20 at 11:23
@AlexZab, apparently, `time` is somehow a list in your code. That's why one shouldn't reuse the names of standard functions/modules to name their variables. – ForceBru Jul 16 '20 at 11:26
Oh, I got it. Thank You much! – Jul 16 '20 at 11:34
May I ask You another question? About timer – Jul 20 '20 at 11:42
@AlexZab, yep, sure – ForceBru Jul 20 '20 at 11:43
How to open chat here? – Jul 20 '20 at 11:44

How to make Python not to wait for the end of the command?

1 Answers1