Chuck Connors wrote:
Hey guys. I'm trying to work up a little program that will send any
new lines written to a file (log file from my home automation
software) to me via instant message. I've gotten the instant message
sending part figured out using xmpppy.
I've done a few things with Python in the past but I am in no means
more than a beginner/hacker. Can someone tell me what commands/
modules/etc exist for monitoring and parsing a file for new
information that I can then send to my IM sending function? I am not
asking for anyone to write the code but merely a push in the right
direction.
Thanks!
I assume you have a reason not to put the logic into the program that's
creating the log file.
Tell us the Python version, and OS it's running on.
So your problem is to monitor a text file, and detect whenever it grows,
taking the new parts and incrementally doing something with them.
Here's a fragment from my tail program:
def getRest(options, filename, oldstat, stat, callback):
more = stat.st_size - oldstat.st_size #Note: this could be
negative, if the file shrank while we were waiting
if more > 0:
infile = open(filename, "rb")
infile.seek(oldstat.st_size)
buf = infile.read(more) #BUGBUG perhaps should break this
into multiple reads, if over 8k
callback(buf) #process the new text
def follow(options, filename, oldstat, callback):
while True:
stat = os.stat(filename)
if stat.st_mtime > oldstat.st_mtime or stat.st_size !=
oldstat.st_size:
getRest(options, filename, oldstat, stat, callback)
oldstat = stat
else:
time.sleep(options.sec_to_wait)
The concept here is that we only do real work when the stat() of a file
has changed. Then, if the size is larger than last time, we process the
new text.
options is an object with various optional attributes. In this case, I
think the only one used was sec_to_wait, which is how long we should
delay before re-checking the stat. If it's too small, you waste CPU time.
Your callback will have to deal with breaking things into messages,
probably at convenient line-breaks. And of course the whole thing might
want to be turned inside out, and coded as a generator. But it's a
starting point, as you asked.
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