Why is Python object id different after the Process starts but the pid remains the same? - python-multiprocessing

Question

"""
import time
from multiprocessing import Process, freeze_support
class FileUploadManager(Process):
"""
WorkerObject which uploads files in background process
"""
def __init__(self):
"""
Worker class to upload files in a separate background process.
"""
super().__init__()
self.daemon = True
self.upload_size = 0
self.upload_queue = set()
self.pending_uploads = set()
self.completed_uploads = set()
self.status_info = {'STOPPED'}
print(f"Initial ID: {id(self)}")
def run(self):
try:
print("STARTING NEW PROCESS...\n")
if 'STARTED' in self.status_info:
print("Upload Manager - Already Running!")
return True
self.status_info.add('STARTED')
print(f"Active Process Info: {self.status_info}, ID: {id(self)}")
# Upload files
while True:
print("File Upload Queue Empty.")
time.sleep(10)
except Exception as e:
print(f"{repr(e)} - Cannot run upload process.")
if __name__ == '__main__':
upload_manager = FileUploadManager()
print(f"Object ID: {id(upload_manager)}")
upload_manager.start()
print(f"Process Info: {upload_manager.status_info}, ID After: {id(upload_manager)}")
while 'STARTED' not in upload_manager.status_info:
print(f"Not Started! Process Info: {upload_manager.status_info}")
time.sleep(7)
"""
OUTPUT
Initial ID: 2894698869712
Object ID: 2894698869712
Process Info: {'STOPPED'}, ID After: 2894698869712
Not Started! Process Info: {'STOPPED'}
STARTING NEW PROCESS...
Active Process Info: {'STARTED', 'STOPPED'}, ID: 2585771578512
File Upload Queue Empty.
Not Started! Process Info: {'STOPPED'}
File Upload Queue Empty.
Why does the Process object have the same id and attribute values before and after is has started. but different id when the run method starts?
Initial ID: 2894698869712
Active Process Info: {'STARTED', 'STOPPED'}, ID: 2585771578512
Process Info: {'STOPPED'}, ID After: 2894698869712

Answer 1

I fixed your indentation, and I also removed everything from your script that was not actually being used. It is now a minimum, reproducible example that anyone can run. In the future, please adhere to the site guidelines, and please proofread your questions. It will save everybody's time and you will get better answers.
I would also like to point out that the question in your title is not at all the same as the question asked in your text. At no point do you retrieve the process ID, which is an operating system value. You are printing out the ID of the object, which is a value that has meaning only within the Python runtime environment.
import time
from multiprocessing import Process
# Removed freeze_support since it was unused
class FileUploadManager(Process):
"""
WorkerObject which uploads files in background process
"""
def __init__(self):
"""
Worker class to upload files in a separate background process.
"""
super().__init__(daemon=True)
# The next line probably does not work as intended, so
# I commented it out. The docs say that the daemon
# flag must be set by a keyword-only argument
# self.daemon = True
# I removed a buch of unused variables for this test program
self.status_info = {'STOPPED'}
print(f"Initial ID: {id(self)}")
def run(self):
try:
print("STARTING NEW PROCESS...\n")
if 'STARTED' in self.status_info:
print("Upload Manager - Already Running!")
return # Removed True return value (it was unused)
self.status_info.add('STARTED')
print(f"Active Process Info: {self.status_info}, ID: {id(self)}")
# Upload files
while True:
print("File Upload Queue Empty.")
time.sleep(1.0)
except Exception as e:
print(f"{repr(e)} - Cannot run upload process.")
if __name__ == '__main__':
upload_manager = FileUploadManager()
print(f"Object ID: {id(upload_manager)}")
upload_manager.start()
print(f"Process Info: {upload_manager.status_info}",
f"ID After: {id(upload_manager)}")
while 'STARTED' not in upload_manager.status_info:
print(f"Not Started! Process Info: {upload_manager.status_info}")
time.sleep(0.7)
Your question is, why is the id of upload_manager the same before and after it is started. Simple answer: because it's the same object. It does not become another object just because you called one of its functions. That would not make any sense.
I suppose you might be wondering why the ID of the FileUploadManager object is different when you print it out from its "run" method. It's the same simple answer: because it's a different object. Your script actually creates two instances of FileUploadManager, although it's not obvious. In Python, each Process has its own memory space. When you start a secondary Process (upload_manager.start()), Python makes a second instance of FileUploadManager to execute in this new Process. The two instances are completely separate and "know" nothing about each other.
You did not say that your script doesn't terminate, but it actually does not. It runs forever, stuck in the loop while 'STARTED' not in upload_manager.status_info. That's because 'STARTED' was added to self.status_info in the secondary Process. That Process is working with a different instance of FileUploadManager. The changes you make there do not get automatically reflected in the first instance, which lives in the main Process. Therefore the first instance of FileUploadManager never changes, and the loop never exits.
This all makes perfect sense once you realize that each Process works with its own separate objects. If you need to pass data from one Process to another, that can be done with Pipes, Queues, Managers and shared variables. That is documented in the Concurrent Execution section of the standard library.