How to clear a multiprocessing queue in python

Question

I just want to know how to clear a multiprocessing queue in python like a normal python queue. For instance:

from multiprocessing import Queue  # multiproces         


        

Answer 1

Ask for forgiveness rather than permission; just try to empty the queue until you get the Empty exception, then ignore that exception:

from Queue import Empty

def clear(q):
    try:
        while True:
            q.get_nowait()
    except Empty:
        pass

Better yet: is a built-in class missing the method you want? Subclass the built-in class, and add the method you think should be there!

from Queue import Queue, Empty

class ClearableQueue(Queue):

    def clear(self):
        try:
            while True:
                self.get_nowait()
        except Empty:
            pass

Your ClearableQueue class inherits all the goodness (and behavior) of the built-in Queue class, and has the method you now want.

Simply use q = ClearableQueue() in all places where you used q = Queue(), and call q.clear() when you'd like.