Starting loop at exact time in the hour - 12 options

Question

I want that loop start at 00 min and 2 sec or 05 min and 2 sec or 10 min and 2 sec, etc...

I have code which work but i feel so stupid because i think this can be solved in a better way. not the gopnik style.

How can I do it?

def time_now():
    now = datetime.now()
    current_time = now.strftime("%H:%M:%S")
    print("Current Time =", current_time)


while True:
         
        now = datetime.now()
        while ( now.minute == 0 and now.second == 2) \
           or ( now.minute == 5 and now.second == 2) \
               or ( now.minute == 10 and now.second == 2) \
                   or ( now.minute == 15 and now.second == 2) \
                       or ( now.minute == 20 and now.second == 2) \
                           or ( now.minute == 25 and now.second == 2) \
                               or ( now.minute == 35 and now.second == 2) \
                                   or ( now.minute == 40 and now.second == 2) \
                                       or ( now.minute == 45 and now.second == 2) \
                                           or ( now.minute == 50 and now.second == 2) \
                                               or ( now.minute == 55 and now.second == 2):
            
            time_now()
            #print("Current Time =", current_time)
            print('Something')
            time.sleep(300)

all your values `minute` are divided by 5 so check only once `now.minutes % 5 == 0`. Or use `now.minutes in (0,5,10,...55)`. If you use `crontab` then you can use `*/5` to run when minute is divided by 5 — furas, Nov 18 '21 at 14:03
@rdas problem is that `crontab` (and `python-crontab`) can't check seconds. But code could sleep 2 seconds. — furas, Nov 18 '21 at 14:10
tnx rdas! it work like charm. the simplest solutions are the best. — Wild_rasta, Nov 18 '21 at 14:19

Haukland · Answer 1 · 2021-12-10T13:39:27.513

3

You can use the modulus operator as all your time instances are divisible by 5:

while ( now.minute % 5 == 0 and now.second == 2):
    print('Something')
    time.sleep(300)

edited Dec 10 '21 at 13:39

answered Nov 18 '21 at 14:08

Haukland

677
8
25

1

This is how it should be done, simple and no extra libraries needed. – Nathan Roberts Nov 18 '21 at 14:14

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 18 '21 at 14:15

Why the second while loop? Do you want to freeze the machine* for that second - then why apply the time.sleep? Looks kinda superfluous.

*note machine in this instance = cpu core, not the interpreter. I'm also not sure if it will sleep you for 300 seconds or 300.999 seconds if that distinction is important.

Anyway, the mod approach will work fine given your params here, but is rather fixed to params always being compatible with modulus. Could try

while True:
     
    now = datetime.now()
    if ( now.minute in [0,5,10,15,20,25,30,35,40,45,50,55] and now.second == 2):
        #Do something
        pass

Might as well use a tuple for the container: no need to modify it later (clearer on intention and saves a little ram). Or even a set, since duplicate entries in a container used for membership tests make no sense, but I don't use sets as often as I should. @Wild_rasta this is the correct *general* solution to avoiding chained literal comparisons: this pattern is used a *lot* in python. — 2e0byo, Dec 10 '21 at 13:46

Alexandru DuDu · Answer 3 · 2021-11-18T14:12:55.980

0

You can use cronjobs for this type of aproach. You can read and apply from here

Edited: For managing seconds, you can simply use sleep function in the cronjob

edited Nov 18 '21 at 14:12

answered Nov 18 '21 at 14:03

Alexandru DuDu

998
1
7
19

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problem is that `cornjob` don't check seconds. BTW: your link needs to login – furas Nov 18 '21 at 14:08
1

I've updated the link with another one. You can use `sleep` to get the seconds you need – Alexandru DuDu Nov 18 '21 at 14:13

Starting loop at exact time in the hour - 12 options

3 Answers3