threaded.py

class ThreadXML(threading.Thread):
	def __init__(self, queue):
		threading.Thread.__init__(self)
		self.queue = queue

	def run(self):
		while True:
			#grabs file from queue
			fn = self.queue.get()
			#grabs file and processes
			xmlProcess(fn)

			#signals to queue job is done
			self.queue.task_done()	  

def main():
	#spawn a pool of threads, and pass them queue instance 
	for i in range(5):
		t = ThreadXML(queue)
		t.setDaemon(True)
		t.start()

	#populate queue with data
	for fn in os.listdir('.'):
		if fn.endswith(".xml"):
			queue.put(fn)
	#wait on the queue until everything has been processed     
	queue.join()	

main()

# credit: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/aix/library/au-threadingpython/