I have a Python script that handles aynchronous callbacks from .NET Remoting. These callbacks execute in a dummy (worker) thread. From inside my callback handler, I need to call a function I've defined in my script, but I need the function to execute in the main thread.
The Main thread is a remote client that sends commands to a server. Some of these commands result in asynchronous callbacks.
Basically, I need the equivalent of .NET's Invoke method. Is this possible?
You want to use the Queue class to set up a queue that your dummy threads populate with functions and that your main thread consumes.
import Queue
#somewhere accessible to both:
callback_queue = Queue.Queue()
def from_dummy_thread(func_to_call_from_main_thread):
callback_queue.put(func_to_call_from_main_thread)
def from_main_thread_blocking():
callback = callback_queue.get() #blocks until an item is available
callback()
def from_main_thread_nonblocking():
while True:
try:
callback = callback_queue.get(False) #doesn't block
except Queue.Empty: #raised when queue is empty
break
callback()
Demo:
import threading
import time
def print_num(dummyid, n):
print "From %s: %d" % (dummyid, n)
def dummy_run(dummyid):
for i in xrange(5):
from_dummy_thread(lambda: print_num(dummyid, i))
time.sleep(0.5)
threading.Thread(target=dummy_run, args=("a",)).start()
threading.Thread(target=dummy_run, args=("b",)).start()
while True:
from_main_thread_blocking()
Prints:
From a: 0
From b: 0
From a: 1
From b: 1
From b: 2
From a: 2
From b: 3
From a: 3
From b: 4
From a: 4
and then blocks forever