From 0a31758df1762b95ecf6cf55830d07ab41a2e87a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Esma Ali <esmasamiali82@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2026 20:46:34 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] Fix #617: run anonymize in background thread to prevent GUI
 freeze

---
 FileShuffler.qml | 20 ++++++++++++++++---
 shuffler_api.py  | 52 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-------
 2 files changed, 62 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)

diff --git a/FileShuffler.qml b/FileShuffler.qml
index 113214b6..ad842e0d 100644
--- a/FileShuffler.qml
+++ b/FileShuffler.qml
@@ -282,9 +282,9 @@ Rectangle {
 
         onAccepted: {
             console.log("Selected folder:", fileShufflerDialog.folder)
-            var output = fileShufflerGui.run_file_shuffler_program(fileShufflerDialog.folder)
-            fileShufflerView.runLog += output + "\n"
-            fileShufflerView.ranShuffle = true
+            fileShufflerView.runLog += "Starting file shuffler...\n"
+            fileShufflerView.ranShuffle = false
+            fileShufflerGui.run_file_shuffler_program(fileShufflerDialog.folder)
         }
 
         onRejected: {
@@ -326,4 +326,18 @@ Rectangle {
             console.log("Folder dialog canceled")
         }
     }
+    
+    Connections {
+        target: fileShufflerGui
+
+        function onFileShufflerFinished(output) {
+            fileShufflerView.runLog += output + "\n"
+            fileShufflerView.ranShuffle = true
+        }
+
+        function onFileShufflerError(message) {
+            fileShufflerView.runLog += message + "\n"
+            fileShufflerView.ranShuffle = false
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/shuffler_api.py b/shuffler_api.py
index b5b06a30..b925250b 100644
--- a/shuffler_api.py
+++ b/shuffler_api.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 import os
 import subprocess
 from pathlib import Path
-from PySide6.QtCore import QObject, Signal, Slot, Property, QProcess, QUrl, QTimer
+from PySide6.QtCore import QObject, Signal, Slot, QThread
 import io
 import urllib.parse
 import contextlib
@@ -15,9 +15,32 @@
 import run_file_shuffler
 import remove8channel
 
+class FileShufflerWorker(QObject):
+    finished = Signal(str)
+    error = Signal(str)
+
+    def __init__(self, path):
+        super().__init__()
+        self.path = path
+
+    @Slot()
+    def run(self):
+        try:
+            response = run_file_shuffler.main(self.path)
+            if response is None:
+                response = "File shuffler finished."
+            self.finished.emit(str(response))
+        except Exception as e:
+            self.error.emit(f"Error during file shuffling: {e}")
+
 class ShufflerAPI(QObject):
+    fileShufflerFinished = Signal(str)
+    fileShufflerError = Signal(str)
+
     def __init__(self):
         super().__init__()
+        self._thread = None
+        self._worker = None
 
     @Slot()
     def launch_file_shuffler_gui(self):
@@ -25,15 +48,30 @@ def launch_file_shuffler_gui(self):
         file_shuffler_path = Path(__file__).resolve().parent / "file-shuffler/file-shuffler-gui.py"
         subprocess.Popen(["python", str(file_shuffler_path)])
 
-    @Slot(str, result=str)
+    @Slot(str)
     def run_file_shuffler_program(self, path):
         # Need to parse the path as the FolderDialog appends file:// in front of the selection
-        path = path.replace("file://", "")
-        if path.startswith("/C:"):
-            path = 'C' + path[2:]
+        path = urllib.parse.unquote(path.replace("file://", ""))
+        
+        if os.name == "nt" and path.startswith("/"):
+            path = path[1:]
+
+        self._thread = QThread()
+        self._worker = FileShufflerWorker(path)
+        self._worker.moveToThread(self._thread)
+
+        self._thread.started.connect(self._worker.run)
+        self._worker.finished.connect(self.fileShufflerFinished)
+        self._worker.error.connect(self.fileShufflerError)
+
+        self._worker.finished.connect(self._thread.quit)
+        self._worker.error.connect(self._thread.quit)
+
+        self._worker.finished.connect(self._worker.deleteLater)
+        self._worker.error.connect(self._worker.deleteLater)
+        self._thread.finished.connect(self._thread.deleteLater)
 
-        response = run_file_shuffler.main(path)
-        return response
+        self._thread.start()
 
         # Adding Synthetic Data and Live Data Logic (Row 327 to 355) as part of Ticket 186