[python] Event system in Python

What event system for Python do you use? I'm already aware of pydispatcher, but I was wondering what else can be found, or is commonly used?

I'm not interested in event managers that are part of large frameworks, I'd rather use a small bare-bones solution that I can easily extend.

This question is related to python events event-handling dispatcher

The answer is


If you wanted to do more complicated things like merging events or retry you can use the Observable pattern and a mature library that implements that. https://github.com/ReactiveX/RxPY . Observables are very common in Javascript and Java and very convenient to use for some async tasks.

from rx import Observable, Observer


def push_five_strings(observer):
        observer.on_next("Alpha")
        observer.on_next("Beta")
        observer.on_next("Gamma")
        observer.on_next("Delta")
        observer.on_next("Epsilon")
        observer.on_completed()


class PrintObserver(Observer):

    def on_next(self, value):
        print("Received {0}".format(value))

    def on_completed(self):
        print("Done!")

    def on_error(self, error):
        print("Error Occurred: {0}".format(error))

source = Observable.create(push_five_strings)

source.subscribe(PrintObserver())

OUTPUT:

Received Alpha
Received Beta
Received Gamma
Received Delta
Received Epsilon
Done!

We use an EventHook as suggested from Michael Foord in his Event Pattern:

Just add EventHooks to your classes with:

class MyBroadcaster()
    def __init__():
        self.onChange = EventHook()

theBroadcaster = MyBroadcaster()

# add a listener to the event
theBroadcaster.onChange += myFunction

# remove listener from the event
theBroadcaster.onChange -= myFunction

# fire event
theBroadcaster.onChange.fire()

We add the functionality to remove all listener from an object to Michaels class and ended up with this:

class EventHook(object):

    def __init__(self):
        self.__handlers = []

    def __iadd__(self, handler):
        self.__handlers.append(handler)
        return self

    def __isub__(self, handler):
        self.__handlers.remove(handler)
        return self

    def fire(self, *args, **keywargs):
        for handler in self.__handlers:
            handler(*args, **keywargs)

    def clearObjectHandlers(self, inObject):
        for theHandler in self.__handlers:
            if theHandler.im_self == inObject:
                self -= theHandler

Here's another module for consideration. It seems a viable choice for more demanding applications.

Py-notify is a Python package providing tools for implementing Observer programming pattern. These tools include signals, conditions and variables.

Signals are lists of handlers that are called when signal is emitted. Conditions are basically boolean variables coupled with a signal that is emitted when condition state changes. They can be combined using standard logical operators (not, and, etc.) into compound conditions. Variables, unlike conditions, can hold any Python object, not just booleans, but they cannot be combined.


I created an EventManager class (code at the end). The syntax is the following:

#Create an event with no listeners assigned to it
EventManager.addEvent( eventName = [] )

#Create an event with listeners assigned to it
EventManager.addEvent( eventName = [fun1, fun2,...] )

#Create any number event with listeners assigned to them
EventManager.addEvent( eventName1 = [e1fun1, e1fun2,...], eventName2 = [e2fun1, e2fun2,...], ... )

#Add or remove listener to an existing event
EventManager.eventName += extra_fun
EventManager.eventName -= removed_fun

#Delete an event
del EventManager.eventName

#Fire the event
EventManager.eventName()

Here is an Example:

def hello(name):
    print "Hello {}".format(name)
    
def greetings(name):
    print "Greetings {}".format(name)

EventManager.addEvent( salute = [greetings] )
EventManager.salute += hello

print "\nInitial salute"
EventManager.salute('Oscar')

print "\nNow remove greetings"
EventManager.salute -= greetings
EventManager.salute('Oscar')

Output:

Initial salute
Greetings Oscar
Hello Oscar

Now remove greetings
Hello Oscar

EventManger Code:

class EventManager:
    
    class Event:
        def __init__(self,functions):
            if type(functions) is not list:
                raise ValueError("functions parameter has to be a list")
            self.functions = functions
            
        def __iadd__(self,func):
            self.functions.append(func)
            return self
            
        def __isub__(self,func):
            self.functions.remove(func)
            return self
            
        def __call__(self,*args,**kvargs):
            for func in self.functions : func(*args,**kvargs)
            
    @classmethod
    def addEvent(cls,**kvargs):
        """
        addEvent( event1 = [f1,f2,...], event2 = [g1,g2,...], ... )
        creates events using **kvargs to create any number of events. Each event recieves a list of functions,
        where every function in the list recieves the same parameters.
        
        Example:
        
        def hello(): print "Hello ",
        def world(): print "World"
        
        EventManager.addEvent( salute = [hello] )
        EventManager.salute += world
        
        EventManager.salute()
        
        Output:
        Hello World
        """
        for key in kvargs.keys():
            if type(kvargs[key]) is not list:
                raise ValueError("value has to be a list")
            else:
                kvargs[key] = cls.Event(kvargs[key])
        
        cls.__dict__.update(kvargs)

Some time ago I've wrote library that might be useful for you. It allows you to have local and global listeners, multiple different ways of registering them, execution priority and so on.

from pyeventdispatcher import register

register("foo.bar", lambda event: print("second"))
register("foo.bar", lambda event: print("first "), -100)

dispatch(Event("foo.bar", {"id": 1}))
# first second

Have a look pyeventdispatcher


If I do code in pyQt I use QT sockets/signals paradigm, same is for django

If I'm doing async I/O I use native select module

If I'm usign a SAX python parser I'm using event API provided by SAX. So it looks like I'm victim of underlying API :-)

Maybe you should ask yourself what do you expect from event framework/module. My personal preference is to use Socket/Signal paradigm from QT. more info about that can be found here


I made a variation of Longpoke's minimalistic approach that also ensures the signatures for both callees and callers:

class EventHook(object):
    '''
    A simple implementation of the Observer-Pattern.
    The user can specify an event signature upon inizializazion,
    defined by kwargs in the form of argumentname=class (e.g. id=int).
    The arguments' types are not checked in this implementation though.
    Callables with a fitting signature can be added with += or removed with -=.
    All listeners can be notified by calling the EventHook class with fitting
    arguments.

    >>> event = EventHook(id=int, data=dict)
    >>> event += lambda id, data: print("%d %s" % (id, data))
    >>> event(id=5, data={"foo": "bar"})
    5 {'foo': 'bar'}

    >>> event = EventHook(id=int)
    >>> event += lambda wrong_name: None
    Traceback (most recent call last):
        ...
    ValueError: Listener must have these arguments: (id=int)

    >>> event = EventHook(id=int)
    >>> event += lambda id: None
    >>> event(wrong_name=0)
    Traceback (most recent call last):
        ...
    ValueError: This EventHook must be called with these arguments: (id=int)
    '''
    def __init__(self, **signature):
        self._signature = signature
        self._argnames = set(signature.keys())
        self._handlers = []

    def _kwargs_str(self):
        return ", ".join(k+"="+v.__name__ for k, v in self._signature.items())

    def __iadd__(self, handler):
        params = inspect.signature(handler).parameters
        valid = True
        argnames = set(n for n in params.keys())
        if argnames != self._argnames:
            valid = False
        for p in params.values():
            if p.kind == p.VAR_KEYWORD:
                valid = True
                break
            if p.kind not in (p.POSITIONAL_OR_KEYWORD, p.KEYWORD_ONLY):
                valid = False
                break
        if not valid:
            raise ValueError("Listener must have these arguments: (%s)"
                             % self._kwargs_str())
        self._handlers.append(handler)
        return self

    def __isub__(self, handler):
        self._handlers.remove(handler)
        return self

    def __call__(self, *args, **kwargs):
        if args or set(kwargs.keys()) != self._argnames:
            raise ValueError("This EventHook must be called with these " +
                             "keyword arguments: (%s)" % self._kwargs_str())
        for handler in self._handlers[:]:
            handler(**kwargs)

    def __repr__(self):
        return "EventHook(%s)" % self._kwargs_str()

Here is a minimal design that should work fine. What you have to do is to simply inherit Observer in a class and afterwards use observe(event_name, callback_fn) to listen for a specific event. Whenever that specific event is fired anywhere in the code (ie. Event('USB connected')), the corresponding callback will fire.

class Observer():
    _observers = []
    def __init__(self):
        self._observers.append(self)
        self._observed_events = []
    def observe(self, event_name, callback_fn):
        self._observed_events.append({'event_name' : event_name, 'callback_fn' : callback_fn})


class Event():
    def __init__(self, event_name, *callback_args):
        for observer in Observer._observers:
            for observable in observer._observed_events:
                if observable['event_name'] == event_name:
                    observable['callback_fn'](*callback_args)

Example:

class Room(Observer):
    def __init__(self):
        print("Room is ready.")
        Observer.__init__(self) # DON'T FORGET THIS
    def someone_arrived(self, who):
        print(who + " has arrived!")

# Observe for specific event
room = Room()
room.observe('someone arrived',  room.someone_arrived)

# Fire some events
Event('someone left',    'John')
Event('someone arrived', 'Lenard') # will output "Lenard has arrived!"
Event('someone Farted',  'Lenard')

You may have a look at pymitter (pypi). Its a small single-file (~250 loc) approach "providing namespaces, wildcards and TTL".

Here's a basic example:

from pymitter import EventEmitter

ee = EventEmitter()

# decorator usage
@ee.on("myevent")
def handler1(arg):
   print "handler1 called with", arg

# callback usage
def handler2(arg):
    print "handler2 called with", arg
ee.on("myotherevent", handler2)

# emit
ee.emit("myevent", "foo")
# -> "handler1 called with foo"

ee.emit("myotherevent", "bar")
# -> "handler2 called with bar"

I found this small script on Valued Lessons. It seems to have just the right simplicity/power ratio I'm after. Peter Thatcher is the author of following code (no licensing is mentioned).

class Event:
    def __init__(self):
        self.handlers = set()

    def handle(self, handler):
        self.handlers.add(handler)
        return self

    def unhandle(self, handler):
        try:
            self.handlers.remove(handler)
        except:
            raise ValueError("Handler is not handling this event, so cannot unhandle it.")
        return self

    def fire(self, *args, **kargs):
        for handler in self.handlers:
            handler(*args, **kargs)

    def getHandlerCount(self):
        return len(self.handlers)

    __iadd__ = handle
    __isub__ = unhandle
    __call__ = fire
    __len__  = getHandlerCount

class MockFileWatcher:
    def __init__(self):
        self.fileChanged = Event()

    def watchFiles(self):
        source_path = "foo"
        self.fileChanged(source_path)

def log_file_change(source_path):
    print "%r changed." % (source_path,)

def log_file_change2(source_path):
    print "%r changed!" % (source_path,)

watcher              = MockFileWatcher()
watcher.fileChanged += log_file_change2
watcher.fileChanged += log_file_change
watcher.fileChanged -= log_file_change2
watcher.watchFiles()

You can try buslane module.

This library makes implementation of message-based system easier. It supports commands (single handler) and events (0 or multiple handlers) approach. Buslane uses Python type annotations to properly register handler.

Simple example:

from dataclasses import dataclass

from buslane.commands import Command, CommandHandler, CommandBus


@dataclass(frozen=True)
class RegisterUserCommand(Command):
    email: str
    password: str


class RegisterUserCommandHandler(CommandHandler[RegisterUserCommand]):

    def handle(self, command: RegisterUserCommand) -> None:
        assert command == RegisterUserCommand(
            email='[email protected]',
            password='secret',
        )


command_bus = CommandBus()
command_bus.register(handler=RegisterUserCommandHandler())
command_bus.execute(command=RegisterUserCommand(
    email='[email protected]',
    password='secret',
))

To install buslane, simply use pip:

$ pip install buslane

I've been doing it this way:

class Event(list):
    """Event subscription.

    A list of callable objects. Calling an instance of this will cause a
    call to each item in the list in ascending order by index.

    Example Usage:
    >>> def f(x):
    ...     print 'f(%s)' % x
    >>> def g(x):
    ...     print 'g(%s)' % x
    >>> e = Event()
    >>> e()
    >>> e.append(f)
    >>> e(123)
    f(123)
    >>> e.remove(f)
    >>> e()
    >>> e += (f, g)
    >>> e(10)
    f(10)
    g(10)
    >>> del e[0]
    >>> e(2)
    g(2)

    """
    def __call__(self, *args, **kwargs):
        for f in self:
            f(*args, **kwargs)

    def __repr__(self):
        return "Event(%s)" % list.__repr__(self)

However, like with everything else I've seen, there is no auto generated pydoc for this, and no signatures, which really sucks.


I use zope.event. It's the most bare bones you can imagine. :-) In fact, here is the complete source code:

subscribers = []

def notify(event):
    for subscriber in subscribers:
        subscriber(event)

Note that you can't send messages between processes, for example. It's not a messaging system, just an event system, nothing more, nothing less.


If you need an eventbus that works across process or network boundaries you can try PyMQ. It currently supports pub/sub, message queues and synchronous RPC. The default version works on top of a Redis backend, so you need a running Redis server. There is also an in-memory backend for testing. You can also write your own backend.

import pymq

# common code
class MyEvent:
    pass

# subscribe code
@pymq.subscriber
def on_event(event: MyEvent):
    print('event received')

# publisher code
pymq.publish(MyEvent())

# you can also customize channels
pymq.subscribe(on_event, channel='my_channel')
pymq.publish(MyEvent(), channel='my_channel')

To initialize the system:

from pymq.provider.redis import RedisConfig

# starts a new thread with a Redis event loop
pymq.init(RedisConfig())

# main application control loop

pymq.shutdown()

Disclaimer: I am the author of this library


Another handy package is events. It encapsulates the core to event subscription and event firing and feels like a "natural" part of the language. It seems similar to the C# language, which provides a handy way to declare, subscribe to and fire events. Technically, an event is a "slot" where callback functions (event handlers) can be attached to - a process referred to as subscribing to an event.

# Define a callback function
def something_changed(reason):
    print "something changed because %s" % reason

# Use events module to create an event and register one or more callback functions
from events import Events
events = Events()
events.on_change += something_changed

When the event is fired, all attached event handlers are invoked in sequence. To fire the event, perform a call on the slot:

events.on_change('it had to happen')

This will output:

'something changed because it had to happen'

More documentation can be found in the github repo or the documentation.


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