alarm 5;
$SIG{ALRM} = sub { print "alarm!\n" };
my $yawn = `sleep 10 ; echo "yawn"`;
print "yawn?  $yawn\n";
__END__
alarm!
yawn?  yawn


##</code><code>##

my $yawn;
eval {
	local $SIG{ALRM} = sub { die "alarm\n" };
	alarm 5;
	$yawn = `sleep 10 ; echo "yawn"`;
	alarm 0;
};
print $@ ? 'Timed out.' : 'Finished.';
print "\n";
print "yawn? $yawn\n";
__END__
Timed out.
yawn?