How do I run processes in the background of a Python Rumps application?

Question

I have a Python Rumps application that monitors a folder for new files using the rumps.Timer(...) feature. When it sees new files, it transfers them offsite (to AWS s3) and runs a GET request. sometimes that transfer, and get request can take over 1 second, and sometimes up to about 5 seconds. During this time, the application is frozen and can't do anything else.

Here is the current code:

class MyApp(rumps.App):
    def __init__(self):
        super(MyApp, self).__init__("App", quit_button="Stop")
        self.process_timer = rumps.Timer(self.my_tick, 1)
        self.process_timer.start()

    def my_tick(self, sender):
        named_set = set()
        for file in os.listdir(self.process_folder):
            fullpath = os.path.join(self.process_folder, file)
            if os.path.isfile(fullpath) and fullpath.endswith(('.jpg', '.JPG')):
                named_set.add(file)

        if len(named_set) == 0:
            self.files_in_folder = set()

        new_files = sorted(named_set - self.files_in_folder)
        if len(new_files) > 0:
            for new_file in new_files:
                # upload file
                self.s3_client.upload_file(
                    new_file,
                    '##bucket##',
                    '##key##'
                )
                # GET request
                return requests.get(
                    '##url##',
                    params={'file': new_file}
                )

            self.files_in_folder = named_set


if __name__ == "__main__":
    MyApp().run()

Is there a way to have this transfer and GET request run as a background process?

I've tried using subprocess with the transfer code in a separate script

subprocess.Popen(['python3', 'transferscript.py', newfile])

and it doesn't appear to do anything. It will work if I run that line outside of rumps, but once it's in rumps, it will not run.

Edit: code provided

Please provide enough code so others can better understand or reproduce the problem. — Community, Nov 02 '22 at 18:59
code has been added. it has been summarized and simplified for brevity, but the important parts are there :) — Schmidty, Nov 03 '22 at 12:56

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered May 03 '23 at 02:47

You can use either the multiprocessing or threading module.

I find it easier to have the tick outside the rumps App. Using threading:

import time

from threading import Thread

TIME_STEP = 1.0

def transfer_timer():
    while True:
        time.sleep(TIME_STEP)
        if <need to do GET request>:
            do_get_request()

if __name__ == '__main__':
    transfer_thread = Thread(target=do_transfer, daemon=True)
    transfer_thread.start()
    MyApp.run()

How do I run processes in the background of a Python Rumps application?

1 Answers1