Setting a 1 second time limit does not stop the script after 1 second

Question

I am calling shell commands that might take a while and should be interrupted after 5 minutes. Anyways, this does not seem to work.

I boiled it down to the following test code:

<?php

set_time_limit(1);
echo 'TL = ' . set_time_limit(1) . PHP_EOL;
sleep(5);
echo 'finished, not interrupted';

This gives me the following output:

TL = 1 finished, not interrupted

So it looks the timelimit is set properly - but the script still runs for 5 seconds.

I am using PHP version 5.6.11 with mod_php

try `ini_set("max_execution_time", 1);` – Can O' Spam Nov 19 '15 at 15:09 — Can O' Spam, Nov 19 '15 at 15:09
@SamSwift웃 That wouldn't help. – user229044 Nov 19 '15 at 15:11 — user229044, Nov 19 '15 at 15:11
@meagar, just a thought, an idea if you would :) – Can O' Spam Nov 19 '15 at 15:11 — Can O' Spam, Nov 19 '15 at 15:11

Jon · Accepted Answer · 2015-11-19T15:11:23.620

1

The PHP time limit is only enforced when the program is actually executing. sleep delays do not necessarily count as such, as per the manual:

Note: The set_time_limit() function and the configuration directive max_execution_time only affect the execution time of the script itself. Any time spent on activity that happens outside the execution of the script such as system calls using system(), stream operations, database queries, etc. is not included when determining the maximum time that the script has been running. This is not true on Windows where the measured time is real.

edited Nov 19 '15 at 15:11

answered Nov 19 '15 at 15:10

Jon

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I don't believe this is an answer, more a comment. – Can O' Spam Nov 19 '15 at 15:11
@SamSwift웃: It's an answer that says "the observed behavior is correct, only your expectation is wrong". – Jon Nov 19 '15 at 15:12
@SamSwift웃 It totally answers my question – Alex Nov 19 '15 at 15:13

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 19 '15 at 15:10

1

Time spent sleeping does not count towards script execution time.

answered Nov 19 '15 at 15:10

user229044

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I don't believe this is an answer, more a comment. – Can O' Spam Nov 19 '15 at 15:10

Setting a 1 second time limit does not stop the script after 1 second

2 Answers2