How to auto-run a script when a condition is true?

Question

Let's say I have the following python program:

def Is_it_Midnight(args):
    print("It's midnight!")

and I want the .py script to execute itself when a certain condition is true, say "when the clock strikes midnight".

Is that possible?

Answer 1

You can use the threading library to have the routine restart itself periodically. In this specific case, every 86400 seconds (1 day).

modify your code to:

import threading
import time

def Is_it_Midnight(args):
    threading.Timer(86400, Is_it_Midnight).start()
    print("It's midnight!")

Then you just have to get the code to run at midnight the first time. Something like:

seconds = time.time()
since_midnight = seconds % 86400
time.sleep(86400-since_midnight)
Is_it_Midnight()

I'm not sure how you'd handle passing args into the routine.

Answer 2

There are a few options to run a script.

My favorite is to create myscript.py and within it define a function, let's say def alarm()... and then in your main script:

import myscript

And when the time comes, call:

myscript.alar()

There is another way, you can call execfile("myscript.py")