how to get a subprocess to not get stuck if application crashes?

If you're running a subprocess from Python using the subprocess module and you want to prevent the subprocess from getting stuck if the application it's running crashes, you can use a combination of techniques to handle such scenarios.

Here are some steps you can take:

1. Use subprocess.run or subprocess.Popen:
   When starting a subprocess, use the subprocess.run or subprocess.Popen functions. These functions provide better control over the subprocess and allow you to manage its execution and termination.

2. Set Timeout on communicate:
   If you're using subprocess.run or subprocess.Popen, you can use the timeout parameter to set a maximum execution time for the subprocess. This prevents the subprocess from getting stuck indefinitely.

3. Use a Timeout Wrapper Function:
   If you need to run the subprocess with a timeout and handle the case where the subprocess hangs or crashes, you can create a wrapper function that uses the subprocess module along with the threading module to manage the subprocess and its timeout.

   Here's an example using subprocess.run:

   pythonCopy code
   import subprocess
   
   import threading
   
   
   
   def run_with_timeout(cmd, timeout):
   
       process = subprocess.Popen(cmd, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
   
       process_thread = threading.Thread(target=process.communicate)
   
       process_thread.start()
   
       process_thread.join(timeout=timeout)
   
       if process_thread.is_alive():
   
           process.kill()  # Terminate the subprocess if it's still running
   
           process_thread.join()
   
           return None
   
       else:
   
           return process.returncode, process.stdout.read(), process.stderr.read()
   
   
   
   cmd = ["your_command_here"]
   
   timeout = 10  # seconds
   
   result = run_with_timeout(cmd, timeout)
   
   if result is None:
   
       print("Subprocess timed out or crashed.")
   
   else:
   
       returncode, stdout, stderr = result
   
       print("Subprocess completed with return code:", returncode)
   
       print("Standard Output:", stdout.decode())
   
       print("Standard Error:", stderr.decode())
   
   

By using these techniques, you can prevent your Python program from getting stuck if the subprocess crashes or hangs, and you can gracefully handle the timeouts and potential issues.