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Python:signal

Example

Here is a minimal example program. It uses the alarm() function to limit the time spent waiting to open a file; this is useful if the file is for a serial device that may not be turned on, which would normally cause the os.open() to hang indefinitely. The solution is to set a 5-second alarm before opening the file; if the operation takes too long, the alarm signal will be sent, and the handler raises an exception. 

import signal, os

def handler(signum, frame):
    print('Signal handler called with signal', signum)
    raise OSError("Couldn't open device!")

# Set the signal handler and a 5-second alarm
signal.signal(signal.SIGALRM, handler)
signal.alarm(5)

# This open() may hang indefinitely
fd = os.open('/dev/ttyS0', os.O_RDWR)

signal.alarm(0)          # Disable the alarm

Disable signal 

s = signal.signal(signal.SIGINT, signal.SIG_IGN)
do_important_stuff()
signal.signal(signal.SIGINT, s)

See also