[pygtk] Threads in PyGTK: keep typing while ping-ing

[Mamahita Sela]

Dear All,

I have read several howtos for threading in PyGTK. I have tried some but with no luck.

What i want is: i can keep typing in gtk.TextView while periodically doing ping some hosts.

I think, the thread part is working since i can ping so fast (even for not reply host, around 3 s for 27 no-reply-host). But, when the ping action is running, i can not typing in textview. What i type while pinging will show up after ping action is done.

(I am using 2.5.1, pygtk 2.10.6 on Linux x86)

This is my code:
import threading
import commands
import gtk
import gobject

gobject.threads_init()


class PingHost(threading.Thread):
   def __init__(self, host):
       threading.Thread.__init__(self)
       self.host = host
       self.result = ()
   def run(self):
       self.result = self.host, commands.getstatusoutput('ping %s -c1' %(self.host))[0]

class Main:
   def __init__(self):
       self.win = gtk.Window()
       self.win.connect('destroy', gtk.main_quit)
       #
       self.textb = gtk.TextBuffer()
       self.textv = gtk.TextView(self.textb)
       self.textv.set_size_request(500, 500)
       #
       self.win.add(self.textv)
       self.win.show_all()
       #
       gobject.timeout_add(5000, self.do_ping)

   def do_ping(self):
       all_threads = []
       #
       for h in range(100, 120):
           host = '192.168.0.%d' %(h)
           #
           worker = PingHost(host)
           worker.start()
           all_threads.append(worker)
       #
       for t in all_threads:
           t.join()
           print t.result
       #
       return True


if __name__ == '__main__':
   app = Main()
   gtk.main()


PS 1: some friends told me about doing ping in other ways. But, beside ping, i also want to try another case. So, working on thread, imho, is important. 

PS 2: I also have tried to not join thread, replacing:
       for t in all_threads:
           t.join()
           print t.result
       #
with:
        for t in all_threads:
            t.join(0.1)
            if not t.isAlive():
                print t.result

But, then, all i can see is result from host that reply. And, using 0.1s timeout, my GUI is still freezing a little. Any idea?


Any help would be appreciated :)
Best regards,
M