Timeout on a function call

Question

I\'m calling a function in Python which I know may stall and force me to restart the script.

How do I call the function or what do I wrap it in so that if it takes

Answer 1

#!/usr/bin/python2
import sys, subprocess, threading
proc = subprocess.Popen(sys.argv[2:])
timer = threading.Timer(float(sys.argv[1]), proc.terminate)
timer.start()
proc.wait()
timer.cancel()
exit(proc.returncode)