I don't believe threads can be killed (sanely), so I'd recommend using child processes instead of threads.

Scenario 1: The child processes interface with the database directly and don't tell the parent when they're done.
Solution: You could use wait with a calculated timeout imposed by alarm.

Scenario 2: The child processes let the parent know when they're done, possibly sending the data to the parent instead of interfacing with the database.
Solution: You could use select with a calculated timeout.

In reply to Re: Perl Threads by ikegami
in thread Perl Threads by jpk236

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