A handy decorator to run a function in a new thread. It came from https://arcpy.wordpress.com/2013/10/25/using-os-startfile-and-webbrowser-open-in-arcgis-for-desktop/ Tags: arcpy python arcgis

run_in_new_thread_decorator.py

import functools
import threading
 
# A decorator that will run its wrapped function in a new thread
def run_in_new_thread(function):
    # functool.wraps will copy over the docstring and some other metadata
    # from the original function
    @functools.wraps(function)
    def fn_(*args, **kwargs):
        thread = threading.Thread(target=function, args=args, kwargs=kwargs)
        thread.start()
        thread.join()
    return fn_
    
#usage:
import os, webbrowser
startfile = run_in_new_thread(os.startfile)
openbrowser = run_in_new_thread(webbrowser.open)