How do I get a Cron like scheduler in Python? [closed]

Answer 1

None of the listed solutions even attempt to parse a complex cron schedule string. So, here is my version, using croniter. Basic gist:

schedule = "*/5 * * * *" # Run every five minutes

nextRunTime = getNextCronRunTime(schedule)
while True:
     roundedDownTime = roundDownTime()
     if (roundedDownTime == nextRunTime):
         ####################################
         ### Do your periodic thing here. ###
         ####################################
         nextRunTime = getNextCronRunTime(schedule)
     elif (roundedDownTime > nextRunTime):
         # We missed an execution. Error. Re initialize.
         nextRunTime = getNextCronRunTime(schedule)
     sleepTillTopOfNextMinute()

Helper routines:

from croniter import croniter
from datetime import datetime, timedelta

# Round time down to the top of the previous minute
def roundDownTime(dt=None, dateDelta=timedelta(minutes=1)):
    roundTo = dateDelta.total_seconds()
    if dt == None : dt = datetime.now()
    seconds = (dt - dt.min).seconds
    rounding = (seconds+roundTo/2) // roundTo * roundTo
    return dt + timedelta(0,rounding-seconds,-dt.microsecond)

# Get next run time from now, based on schedule specified by cron string
def getNextCronRunTime(schedule):
    return croniter(schedule, datetime.now()).get_next(datetime)

# Sleep till the top of the next minute
def sleepTillTopOfNextMinute():
    t = datetime.utcnow()
    sleeptime = 60 - (t.second + t.microsecond/1000000.0)
    time.sleep(sleeptime)