Using tkinder and selenium in python (not responding)

Question

I have a project. I want to use tkinter and selenium. I'm telling a button to enter "https://stackoverflow.com" When I click it it opens but tkinter freezes. How do I get around this?

I am using the code on this site

import tkinter as tk
from selenium import webdriver

# --- functions ---

def on_open():
    global driver

    if not driver:
        driver = webdriver.Chrome()
        url = e.get()
        driver.get(url)

def on_close():
    global driver

    if driver:
        driver.close()
        driver = None

# --- main ---

driver = None

root  = tk.Tk()

e = tk.Entry(root)
e.pack()
e.insert('end', 'https://stackoverflow.com')

b = tk.Button(root, text='Selenium Open', command=on_open)
b.pack()

b = tk.Button(root, text='Selenium Close', command=on_close)
b.pack()

root.mainloop()

it works fine whats the issue you are facing whats the expected output ? — PDHide
– PDHide, Commented Mar 17, 2021 at 22:50
When I press the button, tkinter freezes until the site is opened. — Hengen Asdwdrasd
– Hengen Asdwdrasd, Commented Mar 18, 2021 at 8:34

Tim Roberts · Accepted Answer · 2021-03-17 22:21:22Z

3

The UI will be frozen until driver.get(url) returns. If the fetch takes a long time, your UI will be frozen for a long time. The way around this is to spin that fetch off into a thread, which allows the on_open function to get back to the event loop.

import threading

def on_open():
    global driver
    if not driver:
        driver = webdriver.Chrome()
        url = e.get()
        threading.Thread(target=driver.get, args=(url,), daemon=True)

EDIT -- Another one to try.

import threading

def open_chrome( url ):
    global driver
    driver = webdriver.Chrome()
    driver.get( url )

def on_open():
    if not driver:
        threading.Thread(target=open_chrome, args=(e.get(),), daemon=True)

This might not be the complete answer, either. If "webdriver.Chrome" is actually Python code, then there's nothing you can do. Python only allows one thread at a time to be running Python code. Until that function either waits for something or goes into a C module, the interpreter is tied up.

edited Mar 17, 2021 at 22:21

answered Mar 17, 2021 at 21:31

Tim Roberts

55.3k4 gold badges28 silver badges41 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

5 Comments

Hengen Asdwdrasd Over a year ago

I tried the code you wrote but got an error. """TypeError: __init__() got an unexpected keyword argument 'target_function'"""

Tim Roberts Over a year ago

Doh, my fault. I'll fix it.

Hengen Asdwdrasd Over a year ago

It works but still freezes until chrome opens after clicking the button.

Tim Roberts Over a year ago

I will add something else to try.

Hengen Asdwdrasd Over a year ago

That way, chrome won't open at all.

PDHide · Accepted Answer · 2021-03-19 04:21:54Z

2

import threading
from selenium import webdriver
import tkinter as tk

def on_open():
    global thread_lock
    global driver
    global thread
    
    #we use thread_lock to ensure clicking the start button too many times doesn't open many chromedriver instance
    #as soon as the code reaches inside this for loop , the thread_lock flag will be set preventing more chromedriver instance creation
    #Next chrome driver can be created only after clicking close
    if not driver and not thread_lock:
        thread_lock = True
        options = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
        options.page_load_strategy = 'none'
        options.add_argument("--window-position=500,500")
        driver = webdriver.Chrome(options=options)
        url = e.get()
        driver.get(url)
        


def on_close():
    global driver
    global thread
    global thread_lock

    #A this flag allows next driver to be created
    thread_lock = False
    thread.__stop = True
    if driver:
        driver.quit()
        driver = None


# --- main ---

driver = None

root = tk.Tk()

thread_lock = False

e = tk.Entry(root)
e.pack()
e.insert('end', 'https://stackoverflow.com')

thread = None

# you have to create new thread for each click , so wrapping it with a function
def start():
    global thread
    thread = threading.Thread(
    target=on_open, daemon=True)
    thread.start()


def kill():
    global thread
    thread = threading.Thread(
        target=on_close, daemon=True)
    thread.start()

b = tk.Button(root, text='Selenium Open', command=start)
b.pack()
    
b = tk.Button(root, text='Selenium Close', command=kill)
b.pack()

root.mainloop()

see the code comments

edited Mar 19, 2021 at 4:21

answered Mar 18, 2021 at 9:09

PDHide

20.1k2 gold badges43 silver badges57 bronze badges

9 Comments

Hengen Asdwdrasd Over a year ago

tried but it's still the same, it freezes.

PDHide Over a year ago

which website are you trying with the stackoverflow website i don't see any issues

Hengen Asdwdrasd Over a year ago

I'm just using stackoverflow.com . After clicking the button, until the site loads. The program (tkinter) freezes.

PDHide Over a year ago

i tried it and it works too fast , how long do you observe the freezing behavior ?

Hengen Asdwdrasd Over a year ago

It worked very well for my project, thank you. For 4 days, I could not progress due to this error.

|

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Using tkinder and selenium in python (not responding)

2 Answers 2

5 Comments

9 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

5 Comments

9 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related