Merge pull request #223 from tiqi-group/refactor/client-lifecycle

client: allow reconnecting by moving loop and thread initialization out of constructor

src/pydase/client/client.py

@@ -101,17 +101,12 @@ class Client:
         self._path_prefix = parsed_url.path.rstrip("/")  # Remove trailing slash if any
         self._url = url
         self._sio = socketio.AsyncClient(**sio_client_kwargs)
-        self._loop = asyncio.new_event_loop()
         self._client_id = client_id
-        self.proxy = ProxyClass(
-            sio_client=self._sio, loop=self._loop, reconnect=self.connect
-        )
+        self._loop: asyncio.AbstractEventLoop | None = None
+        self._thread: threading.Thread | None = None
+        self.proxy: ProxyClass
         """A proxy object representing the remote service, facilitating interaction as
         if it were local."""
-        self._thread = threading.Thread(
-            target=asyncio_loop_thread, args=(self._loop,), daemon=True
-        )
-        self._thread.start()
         self.connect(block_until_connected=block_until_connected)
 
     def __enter__(self) -> Self:
@@ -126,17 +121,46 @@ class Client:
         self.disconnect()
 
     def connect(self, block_until_connected: bool = True) -> None:
+        if self._thread is None or self._loop is None:
+            self._loop = self._initialize_loop_and_thread()
+
         connection_future = asyncio.run_coroutine_threadsafe(
             self._connect(), self._loop
         )
         if block_until_connected:
             connection_future.result()
 
-    def disconnect(self) -> None:
-        connection_future = asyncio.run_coroutine_threadsafe(
-            self._disconnect(), self._loop
+    def _initialize_loop_and_thread(self) -> asyncio.AbstractEventLoop:
+        """Initialize a new asyncio event loop, start it in a background thread,
+        and create the ProxyClass instance bound to that loop.
+        """
+
+        loop = asyncio.new_event_loop()
+        self.proxy = ProxyClass(
+            sio_client=self._sio,
+            loop=loop,
+            reconnect=self.connect,
         )
-        connection_future.result()
+        self._thread = threading.Thread(
+            target=asyncio_loop_thread,
+            args=(loop,),
+            daemon=True,
+        )
+        self._thread.start()
+
+        return loop
+
+    def disconnect(self) -> None:
+        if self._loop is not None and self._thread is not None:
+            connection_future = asyncio.run_coroutine_threadsafe(
+                self._disconnect(), self._loop
+            )
+            connection_future.result()
+
+            # Stop the event loop and thread
+            self._loop.call_soon_threadsafe(self._loop.stop)
+            self._thread.join()
+            self._thread = None
 
     async def _connect(self) -> None:
         logger.debug("Connecting to server '%s' ...", self._url)