timeout

gistfile1.py

import time
import signal

class death_penalty_after(object):
    def __init__(self, timeout):
        self.timeout = timeout

    def __enter__(self):
        # register alarm siganl to handler
        signal.signal(signal.SIGALRM, self.handle_death_penalty)
        signal.alarm(self.timeout)

    def handle_death_penalty(self, signum, frame):
        # use exception to stop executing jobs
        raise Exception('timeout')

    def __exit__(self, exec_type, exc_value, exc_tb):
        # remove alarm signal
        signal.alarm(0)

with death_penalty_after(3):
    time.sleep(10)