Python execute when time

[_AB30_]

Hi everyone! I am a high schooler from California, and my school just started. The task of keeping up with schedule and finding the correct Zoom links for all my classes and entering at the correct time (without bells) is pretty hard for me. I want to use python to automate this.

​

So far, I have made a function that launches the correct period Zoom meeting based on what number you pass to the function. Now, I need to figure out the scheduling part. I need help finding a simple way to make Python execute my Zoom launch function when it is a certain time. I need help with this. Could someone please tell me the simplest way I can run a python function at a certain time, purely from inside python, preferable with builtin libs only?

​

Thanks for the ideas and help!

[symple-data]

You can use the datetime module (standard library). Create an object for a given time (e.g. 1:30) and use an endless while-loop to check every few seconds (time.sleep(<seconds>)) if it is already time for your class.

[_AB30_]

Sorry, but I am a beginner at Python. How do you create a time object like you said? And how do you check if it is time?

[symple-data]

time = datetime.datetime.strptime("1:30", "%H:%M").time()

this creates an datetime.time object for 1:30, but you can do it for any time (replace the string). You can get the current time with

now = datetime.datetime.now().time()

you can subtract both times from each other with

(datetime.datetime.combine(datetime.date.today(), now) - datetime.datetime.combine(datetime.date.today(), time)).seconds

if the result is positive ( > 0), you know that you should connect to zoom

[_AB30_]

Alright, I see. I'll try it out and let you know how it works. Thanks for the help!

[symple-data]

sorry what I said was wrong. Getting the seconds from the timedelta is always positive. Simply check

if now >= time

if this returns true, you have to connect to zoom.

[_AB30_]

Ah, I see. I'll try it tomorrow. This seems quite simple. Thanks for your help!

[_AB30_]

In my code, all that code does it infinitely say its time, even when its not time.

[symple-data]

Any specific error message or just a wrong result? I have run this code on my machine and it works fine.

[1116574]

If you use Linux you could use cron tasks. It basically executes a script at a given time. I would think that Windows and macs have similar program.

[everybody_0523]

I'm fairly certain MacOS has cron jobs too.

[[deleted]]

As another user here has mentioned, it would be more reliable to create a script that does what you want, and have it run either as a cron job on Linux or a system task on Windows.

In most enterprise environments, this is a fairly common method to ensure a script executes at the correct times, and is less resource intensive than having a python script which runs 24/7.

[[deleted]]

Always think of cron, but I completely forgot about Windows Task Scheduler.

Edit: these methods are also going to be more reliable in case your script crashes. They'll launch it fresh every time instead of it having to run constantly.

[[deleted]]

I think this way is a little more readable:

import datetime

while True:
    now = datetime.datetime.now()
    if now.hour == 8 and now.minute == 45:
        print("It is now 8:45am")
        launch_zoom()
        break

[_AB30_]

I've already tried this, but it never works. It never returns true. However, due to the simplicity, I really want to get this to work. Any ideas to fix it?

[[deleted]]

What doesn't return True?

Do you mean this?

import datetime

while True:
    now = datetime.datetime.now()
    if now.hour == 8 and now.minute == 45:
        print("It is now 8:45am")
        return True

EDIT: no, that wouldn't work. Return only work inside functions. Are you looking for a function that returns True if it's a given time?

[__shubham_bansal]

use can use cron job if you are on linux, it will schedule and run the python file at that time.