C++: can you set a timeout for a system call?

BrianK · 06-03-2005, 07:46 PM

I've written a simple c++ program that creates, then executes an external script with the system() function.

The problem is that sometimes the script hangs (it's trying to get data from the interenet)... is there a way to call the script from my c++ program so that it times out after, say, 5 seconds?

grupoapunte · 06-03-2005, 08:43 PM

you can use alarm(5) it will deliver SIGALRM after 5 sec all you need to do is cach it and take contorl of your program again, i think there may be other ways to do what you want like using threads