How would you prompt the user for some input but timing out after N seconds?
Google is pointing to a mail thread about it at http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-list/2006-January/533215.html but it seems not to work. The statement in which the timeout happens, no matter whether it is a sys.input.readline or timer.sleep(), I always get:
<type 'exceptions.TypeError'>: [raw_]input expected at most 1 arguments, got 2
which somehow the except fails to catch.
if you dont care how it works, just
pip install inputimeout
and
from inputimeout import inputimeout, TimeoutOccurred
if __name__ == "__main__":
try:
c = inputimeout(prompt='hello\n', timeout=3)
except TimeoutOccurred:
c = 'timeout'
print(c)
Here is a portable and simple Python 3 solution using threads. This is the only one that worked for me while being cross-platform.
Other things I tried all had problems:
from threading import Thread
class myClass:
_input = None
def __init__(self):
get_input_thread = Thread(target=self.get_input)
get_input_thread.daemon = True # Otherwise the thread won't be terminated when the main program terminates.
get_input_thread.start()
get_input_thread.join(timeout=20)
if myClass._input is None:
print("No input was given within 20 seconds")
else:
print("Input given was: {}".format(myClass._input))
@classmethod
def get_input(cls):
cls._input = input("")
return
my cross platform solution
def input_process(stdin_fd, sq, str):
sys.stdin = os.fdopen(stdin_fd)
try:
inp = input (str)
sq.put (True)
except:
sq.put (False)
def input_in_time (str, max_time_sec):
sq = multiprocessing.Queue()
p = multiprocessing.Process(target=input_process, args=( sys.stdin.fileno(), sq, str))
p.start()
t = time.time()
inp = False
while True:
if not sq.empty():
inp = sq.get()
break
if time.time() - t > max_time_sec:
break
p.terminate()
sys.stdin = os.fdopen( sys.stdin.fileno() )
return inp
For Linux, I would prefer the select version by @Pontus. Here just a python3 function works like read in shell:
import sys, select
def timeout_input(prompt, timeout=3, default=""):
print(prompt, end=': ', flush=True)
inputs, outputs, errors = select.select([sys.stdin], [], [], timeout)
print()
return (0, sys.stdin.readline().strip()) if inputs else (-1, default)
Run
In [29]: timeout_input("Continue? (Y/n)", 3, "y")
Continue? (Y/n):
Out[29]: (-1, 'y')
In [30]: timeout_input("Continue? (Y/n)", 3, "y")
Continue? (Y/n): n
Out[30]: (0, 'n')
And a yes_or_no function
In [33]: yes_or_no_3 = lambda prompt: 'n' not in timeout_input(prompt + "? (Y/n)", 3, default="y")[1].lower()
In [34]: yes_or_no_3("Continue")
Continue? (Y/n):
Out[34]: True
In [35]: yes_or_no_3("Continue")
Continue? (Y/n): no
Out[35]: False
from threading import Thread
import time
def get_input():
while True:
print(input('> '))
t1 = Thread(target=get_input)
t1.setDaemon(True)
t1.start()
time.sleep(3)
print('program exceeds')
Well just simply set a new Daemon thread, and set a sleep time that whatever you want for timeout. I think that is easy to catch up XD
You can use in Python >= 3.4 the inputimeout lib. MIT License.
$ pip install inputimeout
from inputimeout import inputimeout, TimeoutOccurred
try:
something = inputimeout(prompt='>>', timeout=5)
except TimeoutOccurred:
something = 'something'
print(something)
It's been years already, but just incase someone bumps into this like I did recently trying to solve this sort of problem, there is an easy and faster way of achieving this using the func-timeout package.
It has to be installed before use for most IDEs; you can install it via pip.
The above link is self explanatory, but I will give an example on how I implemented it.
from func_timeout import FunctionTimedOut, func_timeout
try:
ans = func_timeout(5, lambda: int(input('What is the sum of 2 and 3?\n')))
print(ans)
except FunctionTimedOut:
print(5)
func_timeout returns the value of the method in its argument, the question() function in this case. It also allows for other arguments that are needed for the function (see documentation).
If the set time elapses (5 secs here) it raises a TimedOutException and runs the code in the except block.
replace str with sstr as str is a function in python
add imports
add sleep to lower cpu usage of the while loop (?)
add if name=='main': #required by multiprocessing on windows
import sys, os, multiprocessing, time
def input_process(stdin_fd, sq, sstr):
sys.stdin = os.fdopen(stdin_fd)
try:
inp = input(sstr)
sq.put(True)
except:
sq.put(False)
def input_in_time(sstr, max_time_sec):
sq = multiprocessing.Queue()
p = multiprocessing.Process(target=input_process, args=( sys.stdin.fileno(), sq, sstr))
p.start()
t = time.time()
inp = False
while True:
if not sq.empty():
inp = sq.get()
break
if time.time() - t > max_time_sec:
break
tleft=int( (t+max_time_sec)-time.time())
if tleft<max_time_sec-1 and tleft>0:
print('\n ...time left '+str(tleft)+'s\ncommand:')
time.sleep(2)
p.terminate()
sys.stdin = os.fdopen( sys.stdin.fileno() )
return inp
if __name__=='__main__':
input_in_time("command:", 17)
This is the way I approached this problem. I haven't tested it thoroughly, and I'm not sure it doesn't have some important problems, but considering other solutions are far from perfect as well, I decided to share:
import sys
import subprocess
def switch():
if len(sys.argv) == 1:
main()
elif sys.argv[1] == "inp":
print(input(''))
else:
print("Wrong arguments:", sys.argv[1:])
def main():
passw = input_timed('You have 10 seconds to enter password:', timeout=10)
if passw is None:
print("Time's out! You explode!")
elif passw == "PasswordShmashword":
print("H-h-how did you know you h-h-hacker")
else:
print("I spare your life because you at least tried")
def input_timed(*args, timeout, **kwargs):
"""
Print a message and await user input - return None if timedout
:param args: positional arguments passed to print()
:param timeout: number of seconds to wait before returning None
:param kwargs: keyword arguments passed to print()
:return: user input or None if timed out
"""
print(*args, **kwargs)
try:
out: bytes = subprocess.run(["python", sys.argv[0], "inp"], capture_output=True, timeout=timeout).stdout
except subprocess.TimeoutExpired:
return None
return out.decode('utf8').splitlines()[0]
switch()
I am using a external tool inputimeout . Source code is available at github. I know it is a external tool but it is simple and quite handy. After installing the tool use this code:
from inputimeout import inputimeout, TimeoutOccurred
try:
something = inputimeout(prompt='>>', timeout=5)
except TimeoutOccurred:
something = 'No input.'
print(something)
Solution inspired by iperov's answer which is hopefully a bit cleaner:
import multiprocessing
import sys
def input_with_timeout(prompt, timeout=None):
"""Requests the user to enter a code at the command line."""
queue = multiprocessing.Queue()
process = multiprocessing.Process(
_input_with_timeout_process, args=(sys.stdin.fileno(), queue, prompt),
)
process.start()
try:
process.join(timeout)
if process.is_alive():
raise ValueError("Timed out waiting for input.")
return queue.get()
finally:
process.terminate()
def _input_with_timeout_process(stdin_file_descriptor, queue, prompt):
sys.stdin = os.fdopen(stdin_file_descriptor)
queue.put(input(prompt))
This is a Python 3.8+ (although it can be adapted to Python 3.6+) cross-platform approach that only uses threading (so no multiprocessing or calls to shell utilities). It is intended for running scripts from the command-line and isn't very suited for dynamical use.
You can wrap the builtin input function as follows. In this case I'm redefining the built-in name input as the wrapper, since this implementation requires all calls to input to be routed through this. (Disclaimer: that's why it's probably not a very good idea, just a different one, for fun.)
import atexit
import builtins
import queue
import threading
def _make_input_func():
prompt_queue = queue.Queue(maxsize=1)
input_queue = queue.Queue(maxsize=1)
def get_input():
while (prompt := prompt_queue.get()) != GeneratorExit:
inp = builtins.input(prompt)
input_queue.put(inp)
prompt_queue.task_done()
input_thread = threading.Thread(target=get_input, daemon=True)
last_call_timed_out = False
def input_func(prompt=None, timeout=None):
"""Mimics :function:`builtins.input`, with an optional timeout
:param prompt: string to pass to builtins.input
:param timeout: how long to wait for input in seconds; None means indefinitely
:return: the received input if not timed out, otherwise None
"""
nonlocal last_call_timed_out
if not last_call_timed_out:
prompt_queue.put(prompt, block=False)
else:
print(prompt, end='', flush=True)
try:
result = input_queue.get(timeout=timeout)
last_call_timed_out = False
return result
except queue.Empty:
print(flush=True) # optional: end prompt line if no input received
last_call_timed_out = True
return None
input_thread.start()
return input_func
input = _make_input_func()
del _make_input_func
(I've defined the setup in the one-use-only _make_input_func to hide input's "static" variables in its closure, in order to avoid polluting the global namespace.)
The idea here is to make a separate thread which handles any and all calls to builtins.input, and make the input wrapper manage the timeout. Since a call to builtins.input always blocks until there is input, when the timeout is over, the special thread is still waiting for input, but the input wrapper returns (with None). At the next call, if the last call timed out, it doesn't need to call builtins.input again (since the input thread has already been waiting for input), it just prints the prompt, and then waits for said thread to return some input, as always.
Having defined the above, try running the following script:
import time
if __name__ == '__main__':
timeout = 2
start_t = time.monotonic()
if (inp := input(f"Enter something (you have {timeout} seconds): ", timeout)) is not None:
print("Received some input:", repr(inp))
else:
end_t = time.monotonic()
print(f"Timed out after {end_t - start_t} seconds")
inp = input("Enter something else (I'll wait this time): ")
print("Received some input:", repr(inp))
input(f"Last chance to say something (you have {timeout} seconds): ", timeout)
Some of the answers require to press the Enter key when the timeout occurs to continue running your code. Others seem to be convoluted, and to boot, still require to press the Enter key after timeout.
I found the answer in another thread, which works beautifully, but there's a caveat that I found. I decided to place my code in a class for portability.
I had to use keyboard to inject the Enter key press, since I had another input() statement in my code. For some reason, the subsequent input() statement wouldn't appear unless I pressed the Enter key.
import threading
import keyboard # https://github.com/boppreh/keyboard
class Utilities:
# Class variable
response = None
@classmethod
def user_input(cls, timeout):
def question():
cls.response = input("Enter something: ")
t = threading.Thread(target=question)
# Daemon property allows the target function to terminate after timeout
t.daemon = True
t.start()
t.join(timeout)
if cls.response:
# Do something
else:
# Do something else
# Optional. Use if you have other input() statements in your code
keyboard.send("enter")
Utilities.user_input(3)
This was made with Python 3.8.3 on Windows 10.
Here is one more that python 3.8+ on linux that includes a yes_no answer with default return on timeout
import signal
def alarm_handler(signum, frame):
raise TimeoutError
def input_with_timeout(prompt, timeout=30):
""" get input with timeout
:param prompt: the prompt to print
:param timeout: timeout in seconds, or None to disable
:returns: the input
:raises: TimeoutError if times out
"""
# set signal handler
if timeout is not None:
signal.signal(signal.SIGALRM, alarm_handler)
signal.alarm(timeout) # produce SIGALRM in `timeout` seconds
try:
return input(prompt)
except TimeoutError as to:
raise to
finally:
if timeout is not None:
signal.alarm(0) # cancel alarm
def yes_or_no(question, default='y', timeout=None):
""" Get y/n answer with default choice and optional timeout
:param question: prompt
:param default: the default choice, i.e. 'y' or 'n'
:param timeout: the timeout in seconds, default is None
:returns: True or False
"""
if default is not None and (default!='y' and default!='n'):
log.error(f'bad option for default: {default}')
quit(1)
y='Y' if default=='y' else 'y'
n='N' if default=='n' else 'n'
while "the answer is invalid":
try:
to_str='' if timeout is None else f'(Timeout {default} in {timeout}s)'
reply = str(input_with_timeout(f'{question} {to_str} ({y}/{n}): ',timeout=timeout)).lower().strip()
except TimeoutError:
log.warning(f'timeout expired, returning default={default} answer')
reply=''
if len(reply)==0:
return True if default=='y' else False
elif reply[0] == 'y':
return True
if reply[0] == 'n':
return False
Example of use in code
if yes_or_no(f'model {latest_model_folder} exists, start from it?', timeout=TIMEOUT):
log.info(f'initializing model from {latest_model_folder}')
model = load_model(latest_model_folder)
else:
log.info('creating new empty model')
model = create_model()
Extending the previous answer, which uses inputimeout, with a simple illustration
from inputimeout import inputimeout, TimeoutOccurred
def timed_input (user_prompt, timeout=5):
user_input = ""
timed_out = False
try:
user_input = inputimeout (prompt=user_prompt, timeout=timeout)
except TimeoutOccurred:
timed_out = True
return (timed_out, user_input)
timed_out, user_input = timed_input ("Enter something within 3s... ", timeout=3)
if timed_out:
print ("You failed to enter anything!")
else:
print (f"You entered {user_input}")
This is the code I've written. Using multiprocessing, we can timeout input.
from multiprocessing import Queue, Process
from queue import Empty
class ProcessTimedOutException(Exception):
def __init__(self, message: str):
self.message: str = message
class Terminal:
@staticmethod
def input_with_timeout(message: str = '', timeout: int = 60) -> Tuple[Optional[str], Optional[Exception]]:
queue = Queue()
err: Optional[Exception] = None
user_input: Optional[str] = None
input_thread = Process(target=Terminal._input_async, args=(queue, message), daemon=True)
input_thread.start()
try:
user_input = queue.get(timeout=timeout)
except Empty:
input_thread.terminate()
err = ProcessTimedOutException(f'process timed out')
return user_input, err
@staticmethod
def _input_async(queue, message: str = ''):
sys.stdin = open(0)
user_input = input(message).strip()
queue.put(user_input)
if __name__ == '__main__':
input_message: str = 'enter anything'
user_input, err = Terminal.input_with_timeout(message=input_message,timeout=60)
if err is not None:
raise err
print(user_input)
I had the same problem and solved it with keyboard and kthread. As soon as you press enter, the input field disappears. This was the most important thing for me, but I couldn't make it work with other approaches.
If you want, you can install it using pip:
pip install input-timeout
Here are some examples:
from input_timeout import InputTimeout
i = InputTimeout(
timeout=20,
input_message=" >> ",
timeout_message="'Sorry, you were not fast enough'",
defaultvalue="slow",
cancelbutton="esc",
show_special_characters_warning='If you want to use special characters, you have to use alt+\\d\\d\\d\\d\nPress "ctrl" to see a complete list of all combinations!',
).finalvalue
print(f"\n\nYour input was {i}")
i = InputTimeout(
timeout=5,
input_message=" >> ",
timeout_message="Sorry, you were not fast enough: ",
defaultvalue="slow",
cancelbutton="esc",
show_special_characters_warning='If you want to use special characters, you have to use alt+\\d\\d\\d\\d\nPress "ctrl" to see a complete list of all combinations!',
).finalvalue
print(f"\n\nYour input was {i}")
i = InputTimeout(
timeout=10,
input_message=" >> ",
timeout_message="Sorry, you were not fast enough",
defaultvalue="Wake up!",
cancelbutton=None,
show_special_characters_warning=None,
).finalvalue
print(f"\n\nYour input was {i}")
i = InputTimeout(
timeout=10,
input_message=" >> ",
timeout_message="Sorry, you were not fast enough",
defaultvalue="Are you sleeping?",
cancelbutton="esc",
show_special_characters_warning=None,
).finalvalue
print(f"\n\nYour input was {i}")
i = InputTimeout(
timeout=10,
input_message=" >>",
timeout_message="Sorry, you were not fast enough",
defaultvalue="you are so slow",
cancelbutton=None,
show_special_characters_warning='If you want to use special characters, you have to use alt+\\d\\d\\d\\d\nPress "ctrl" to see a complete list of all combinations!',
).finalvalue
print(f"\n\nYour input was {i}")
#output
If you want to use special characters, you have to use alt+\d\d\d\d
Press "ctrl" to see a complete list of all combinations!
>> babba
Your input was babba
If you want to use special characters, you have to use alt+\d\d\d\d
Press "ctrl" to see a complete list of all combinations!
alt+0192 -> À alt+0193 -> Á alt+0196 -> Ä alt+0194 -> Â
alt+0195 -> Ã alt+0197 -> Å alt+0198 -> Æ alt+0228 -> ä
alt+0224 -> à alt+0225 -> á alt+0226 -> â alt+0227 -> ã
alt+0229 -> å alt+0230 -> æ alt+0199 -> Ç alt+0231 -> ç
alt+0208 -> Ð alt+0240 -> ð alt+0203 -> Ë alt+0200 -> È
alt+0201 -> É alt+0202 -> Ê alt+0235 -> ë alt+0232 -> è
alt+0233 -> é alt+0234 -> ê alt+0207 -> Ï alt+0204 -> Ì
alt+0205 -> Í alt+0206 -> Î alt+0239 -> ï alt+0236 -> ì
alt+0237 -> í alt+0238 -> î alt+0209 -> Ñ alt+0241 -> ñ
alt+0214 -> Ö alt+0210 -> Ò alt+0211 -> Ó alt+0212 -> Ô
alt+0213 -> Õ alt+0216 -> Ø alt+0140 -> Œ alt+0246 -> ö
alt+0242 -> ò alt+0243 -> ó alt+0244 -> ô alt+0245 -> õ
alt+0248 -> ø alt+0156 -> œ alt+0138 -> Š alt+0223 -> ß
alt+0154 -> š alt+0222 -> Þ alt+0254 -> þ alt+0220 -> Ü
alt+0217 -> Ù alt+0218 -> Ú alt+0219 -> Û alt+0252 -> ü
alt+0249 -> ù alt+0250 -> ú alt+0251 -> û alt+0159 -> Ÿ
alt+0221 -> Ý alt+0255 -> ÿ alt+0253 -> ý alt+0168 -> ¨
alt+0136 -> ˆ alt+0180 -> ´ alt+0175 -> ¯ alt+0184 -> ¸
alt+0192 -> À alt+0193 -> Á alt+0196 -> Ä alt+0194 -> Â
alt+0195 -> Ã alt+0197 -> Å alt+0198 -> Æ alt+0228 -> ä
alt+0224 -> à alt+0225 -> á alt+0226 -> â alt+0227 -> ã
alt+0229 -> å alt+0230 -> æ alt+0199 -> Ç alt+0231 -> ç
alt+0208 -> Ð alt+0240 -> ð alt+0203 -> Ë alt+0200 -> È
alt+0201 -> É alt+0202 -> Ê alt+0235 -> ë alt+0232 -> è
alt+0233 -> é alt+0234 -> ê alt+0207 -> Ï alt+0204 -> Ì
alt+0205 -> Í alt+0206 -> Î alt+0239 -> ï alt+0236 -> ì
alt+0237 -> í alt+0238 -> î alt+0209 -> Ñ alt+0241 -> ñ
alt+0214 -> Ö alt+0210 -> Ò alt+0211 -> Ó alt+0212 -> Ô
alt+0213 -> Õ alt+0216 -> Ø alt+0140 -> Œ alt+0246 -> ö
alt+0242 -> ò alt+0243 -> ó alt+0244 -> ô alt+0245 -> õ
alt+0248 -> ø alt+0156 -> œ alt+0138 -> Š alt+0223 -> ß
alt+0154 -> š alt+0222 -> Þ alt+0254 -> þ alt+0220 -> Ü
alt+0217 -> Ù alt+0218 -> Ú alt+0219 -> Û alt+0252 -> ü
alt+0249 -> ù alt+0250 -> ú alt+0251 -> û alt+0159 -> Ÿ
alt+0221 -> Ý alt+0255 -> ÿ alt+0253 -> ý alt+0168 -> ¨
alt+0136 -> ˆ alt+0180 -> ´ alt+0175 -> ¯ alt+0184 -> ¸
Sorry, you were not fast enough:
Your input was slow
>> super
Your input was super
>> adasa
Your input was adasa
If you want to use special characters, you have to use alt+\d\d\d\d
Press "ctrl" to see a complete list of all combinations!
Sorry, you were not fast enough
Your input was you are so slow
A late answer :)
I would do something like this:
from time import sleep
print('Please provide input in 20 seconds! (Hit Ctrl-C to start)')
try:
for i in range(0,20):
sleep(1) # could use a backward counter to be preeety :)
print('No input is given.')
except KeyboardInterrupt:
raw_input('Input x:')
print('You, you! You know something.')
I know this is not the same but many real life problem could be solved this way. (I usually need timeout for user input when I want something to continue running if the user not there at the moment.)
Hope this at least partially helps. (If anyone reads it anyway :) )