Script to stop a program after a certain amount of time

Question

I created this script because the Spotify desktop app doesn't have a built in sleep timer, and I needed one. I made it as easy to use as possible, and it can close other programs because it asks for the package name at the beginning of the script.

import time
import sys
import subprocess
pkgname = input("Please set the package name: ")
tillclose = float(input("\nPlease choose the amount of time before it closes:\n\n[1.] 10 Minutes\n[2.] 30 Minutes\n[3.] 1 Hour\n[4.] 2 Hours\n[5.] 3 Hours\n[6.] 4 Hours\n[7.] 5 Hours\n"))
if tillclose == 1:
 print("Confirmed. Set to close in 10 Minutes.")
 tillclose = 600
 for remaining in range(int(tillclose), 0, -1):
 sys.stdout.write("\r")
 sys.stdout.write("{:2d} seconds remaining.".format(remaining))
 sys.stdout.flush()
 time.sleep(1)
 subprocess.call(["taskkill", "/F", "/IM", pkgname])
elif tillclose == 2:
 print("Confirmed. Set to close in 30 Minutes.")
 tillclose = 1800
 for remaining in range(int(tillclose), 0, -1):
 sys.stdout.write("\r")
 sys.stdout.write("{:2d} seconds remaining.".format(remaining))
 sys.stdout.flush()
 time.sleep(1)
 subprocess.call(["taskkill", "/F", "/IM", pkgname])
elif tillclose == 3:
 print("Confirmed. Set to close in 1 Hour.")
 tillclose = 3600
 for remaining in range(int(tillclose), 0, -1):
 sys.stdout.write("\r")
 sys.stdout.write("{:2d} seconds remaining.".format(remaining))
 sys.stdout.flush()
 time.sleep(1)
 subprocess.call(["taskkill", "/F", "/IM", pkgname])
elif tillclose == 4:
 print("Confirmed. Set to close in 2 Hours.")
 tillclose = 7200
 for remaining in range(int(tillclose), 0, -1):
 sys.stdout.write("\r")
 sys.stdout.write("{:2d} seconds remaining.".format(remaining))
 sys.stdout.flush()
 time.sleep(1)
 subprocess.call(["taskkill", "/F", "/IM", pkgname])
elif tillclose == 5:
 print("Confirmed. Set to close in 3 Hours")
 tillclose = 10800
 for remaining in range(int(tillclose), 0, -1):
 sys.stdout.write("\r")
 sys.stdout.write("{:2d} seconds remaining.".format(remaining))
 sys.stdout.flush()
 time.sleep(1)
 subprocess.call(["taskkill", "/F", "/IM", pkgname])
elif tillclose == 6:
 print("Confirmed. Set to close in 4 Hours")
 tillclose = 14400
 for remaining in range(int(tillclose), 0, -1):
 sys.stdout.write("\r")
 sys.stdout.write("{:2d} seconds remaining.".format(remaining))
 sys.stdout.flush()
 time.sleep(1)
 subprocess.call(["taskkill", "/F", "/IM", pkgname])
elif tillclose == 7:
 print("Confirmed. Set to close in 5 Hours")
 tillclose = 18000
 for remaining in range(int(tillclose), 0, -1):
 sys.stdout.write("\r")
 sys.stdout.write("{:2d} seconds remaining.".format(remaining))
 sys.stdout.flush()
 time.sleep(1)
 subprocess.call(["taskkill", "/F", "/IM", pkgname])
else:
 print("Invalid option, please run again.")

It works flawlessly, but I'm wondering if there's a shorter way to make it.

• PM 77-1: Create one function with tillclose as the parameter and then call it.
• xihtyM: in for remaining in range(int(tillclose), 0, -1): casting tillclose to an int seems to be redundant as it is already an int. I see you originally cast this to a float instead of an integer, there doesn't seem to be much point in that either so you might want to cast it originally to an int as int(input("\nPlease choose the amount of time before it closes:\n\n[1.] 10 Minutes\n[2.] 30 Minutes\n[3.] 1 Hour\n[4.] 2 Hours\n[5.] 3 Hours\n[6.] 4 Hours\n[7.] 5 Hours\n")).
• Galo do Leste: The first obvious thing on cursory examination is the repetition of code in all you elif statements. Surely all that can be put into a single function that is called in each elif.
• xihtyM: As tillclose gets changed, you might aswell have a dictionary that maps each number to the new value for tillclose. e.g. options = {1: 600, 2: 1800, ...} etc, using dict.get() you can rewrite this code to be really clean.

Answer 1

import time
import sys
import subprocess
pkgname = input("Please set the package name: ")
choice = float(input("\nPlease choose the amount of time before it closes:\n\n[1.] 10 Minutes\n[2.] 30 Minutes\n[3.] 1 Hour\n[4.] 2 Hours\n[5.] 3 Hours\n[6.] 4 Hours\n[7.] 5 Hours\n"))
secs_in_hour = 60 * 60
hour_intervals = [1/6, 1/2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
# choice - 1 for options {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7} to index transition
tillclose = hour_intervals[int(choice) - 1] * secs_in_hour
for remaining in range(int(tillclose), 0, -1):
 sys.stdout.write("\r")
 sys.stdout.write("{:2d} seconds remaining.".format(remaining))
 sys.stdout.flush()
 time.sleep(1)
subprocess.call(["taskkill", "/F", "/IM", pkgname])

• Sᴀᴍ Onᴇᴌᴀ: Bearing in mind that the OP asked "if there's a shorter way to make it." and it has since been migrated from Stack Overflow, can you please add a summary of the changes and benefits of this solution? It would likely be helpful to read (possibly first) The help center page How do I write a good answer?.