import multiprocessing as mp
import os

def worker(num, input_queue):
  """thread worker function"""
  print 'Worker:', num
  for inp in iter(input_queue.get, 'stop'):
    print 'executing %s' % inp
    os.popen('./mmul.x < '+inp+' >'+inp+'.out' )
  return

if __name__ == '__main__':
  #
  # build the queue
  input_queue = mp.Queue()
  #
  for i in range(4):
    input_queue.put('in'+str(i))   # the queue contains the name of the inputs  
  for i in range(4):
    input_queue.put('stop')  # add a poison pill for each consumer
  for i in range(4):
    p = mp.Process(target=worker, args=(i, input_queue))
    p.start()