how to automatically kill a program by itself?

lightoverhead has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: how to automatically kill a program by itself? by kennethk (Abbot) on Feb 16, 2009 at 03:12 UTC
You can set a time out using an alarm signal. Update: Fixed typo - thanks ikegami.	[reply]
Re: how to automatically kill a program by itself? by GrandFather (Saint) on Feb 16, 2009 at 03:21 UTC
Special variable $^T gives the epoch time when the application started executing. time - $^T gives the number of seconds the application has been running. True laziness is hard work	[reply]
Re: how to automatically kill a program by itself? by ikegami (Patriarch) on Feb 16, 2009 at 07:22 UTC
You could also use a watchdog if you don't trust the application to end itself. `watchdog -t 7200 script` [download] Update: Fixed `fork` error check. Update: Added command line options and moved code into its own (CUFP) node.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: how to automatically kill a program by itself? by poolpi (Hermit) on Feb 16, 2009 at 15:28 UTC
To complete ikegami's idea, you could have a look at Proc::Watchdog>MANIFEST watchd and sample.pl hth, PooLpi 'Ebry haffa hoe hab im tik a bush'. Jamaican proverb	[reply] [d/l]
Re: how to automatically kill a program by itself? by CountZero (Bishop) on Feb 16, 2009 at 06:04 UTC
And of course `exit` is the function to call to end the program cleanly once its time has come. CountZero A program should be light and agile, its subroutines connected like a string of pearls. The spirit and intent of the program should be retained throughout. There should be neither too little or too much, neither needless loops nor useless variables, neither lack of structure nor overwhelming rigidity." - The Tao of Programming, 4.1 - Geoffrey James	[reply] [d/l]
Re: how to automatically kill a program by itself? by Bloodnok (Vicar) on Feb 16, 2009 at 11:44 UTC
You don't identify the type of script - if it were `sh`/`ksh` i.e. a half decent shell :-), I'd let the OS do the work ... something like `at now + 2 hours "kill $$"` [download] A user level that continues to overstate my experience :-))	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: how to automatically kill a program by itself? by madhu.hanigadde (Novice) on Feb 16, 2009 at 10:27 UTC
use localtime() like ($sec,$min,$hour,$mday,$mon,$year,$wday,$yday,$isdst) = localtime(time); then compare the $hour with ur system time then in subrouten write this module sub kill { $pid=getpgrp(); ######## To get the Process ID system("kill $pid"); }	[reply]