while(1) {
   # timestamp the check
   $ffail=0;
   open (HC,"> $heartcheckfile") or $ffail=1;
   if ($ffail == 0) {
      print HC "$mypid\n";
      close (HC);
   }
   # check for heartbeat
   $res = check_filemod($margin+$interval,1,$heartfile);
    
   if ($res == 0) { # PH healthy 
      sleep ($interval*60); # otherwise, nothing to do but wait for next check
   } # exception if $res !=0 omiitted as not executed
   @lines = `tasklist /FI \"IMAGENAME eq wperl.exe\"`;
   my $found=0;
   foreach $line (@lines) {
      @words = split " ",$line;
      if (($#words > 0) && ($words[0] =~ "wperl") && ($words[1] ne $mypid)) {
         $found=1;
      }
   } # exception if found=0 omitted as not typically executed
}