[help wanted] Opposite method of block_forever()?

[YI8it]

Hi! I just found this wrapper and hope to have much fun with it. Good initiative! =) I can't seem to figure out one thing though: what method has the opposite effect to "block_forever()"? That is, how can I stop "block_forever()" and let the script exit? I couldn't find anything in the documentation.

Here's what I was hoping to do:

from ahk import AHK

def my_callback():
    print('Hello callback!')

def terminate_script():
    ahk.stop_hotkeys()
    ahk.exit_app()  # <- Some method that kills block_forever()

ahk = AHK()
ahk.add_hotkey('#n', callback=my_callback)
ahk.add_hotkey('#j', callback=terminate_script)
ahk.start_hotkeys()
ahk.block_forever()`

I tried without "block_forever()" and with my own sleep function:

from ahk import AHK
import time

def my_callback():
    print('Hello callback!')

def terminate_script():
    global snooze
    snooze = False
    ahk.stop_hotkeys()

snooze = True
ahk = AHK()
ahk.add_hotkey('#n', callback=my_callback)
ahk.add_hotkey('#j', callback=terminate_script)
ahk.start_hotkeys()  # start the hotkey process thread
while snooze:
    time.sleep(2)`

This code needs more CPU-cycles than your "block_forever()", though.

[spyoungtech]

There's no builtin or intended way to stop block_forever -- but you could use ctrl+c to trigger a keyboard interrupt, which will break the loop.

try:
    ahk.block_forever()
except KeyboardInterrupt:
    pass
print('done blocking')

Beyond this, something like you've implemented would also work, but there's no builtin functionality for this. There is a plan to implement something like exit_app, but it won't stop block_forever.

As a possible alternative to what you've implemented, you could use key_wait to block until a specific key is pressed.

[YI8it]

No wonder I couldn't find it then =) Could I just change the definition from async def block_forever(self) -> NoReturn: to async def block_forever(self, run=True) -> NoReturn: and then pass 'False' when I want to terminate it?

[spyoungtech]

Hmm. I'm not sure that makes much sense in the context of asyncio, or maybe I'm not fully understanding the meaning. In any case, the block_forever methods are mostly there as a very simple convenience. I don't think we plan to add any functionality for interrupting the 'block forever' state.

But if you come up with a novel idea that may be useful to other users, feel free to share it in discussions or open a pull request :)