--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/ExternalCommandThread.py	Tue Jun 16 18:49:29 2015 +0200
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+#!/usr/bin/python
+
+# Orthanc - A Lightweight, RESTful DICOM Store
+# Copyright (C) 2012-2015 Sebastien Jodogne, Medical Physics
+# Department, University Hospital of Liege, Belgium
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or
+# modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+# License, or (at your option) any later version.
+# 
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+# WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
+# General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+
+import os
+import signal
+import subprocess
+import threading
+
+class ExternalCommandThread:
+    @staticmethod
+    def ExternalCommandFunction(arg, stop_event, command, env):
+        external = subprocess.Popen(command, env = env)
+
+        while (not stop_event.is_set()):
+            error = external.poll()
+            if error != None:
+                # http://stackoverflow.com/a/1489838/881731
+                os._exit(-1)
+            stop_event.wait(0.1)
+
+        print 'Stopping the external command'
+        external.terminate()
+
+    def __init__(self, command, env = None):
+        self.thread_stop = threading.Event()
+        self.thread = threading.Thread(target = self.ExternalCommandFunction, 
+                                       args = (10, self.thread_stop, command, env))
+        self.daemon = True
+        self.thread.start()
+
+    def stop(self):
+        self.thread_stop.set()
+        self.thread.join()