SAFE(1)                                                                SAFE(1)



NAME
       safe - execute a command with timeout

SYNOPSIS
       safe [-timeout] command [args...]

DESCRIPTION
       safe  runs  the  specified command with a timeout.  If the command does
       not finish before the timeout expires, safe prints 'timeout' and  kills
       the command.  The default timeout is one second.

OPTIONS
       safe provides the following option:

       -timeout
              sets  the  timeout before the command is killed.  The timeout is
              in seconds and can be a  floating-point  number  for  sub-second
              timeouts.  If no timeout is specified then safe uses one second.

EXAMPLES
       The command

           safe sleep 10

       will kill the sleep command after one second, whereas

           safe -0.33 sleep 10

       will kill it after approximately one third of a second.

           safe -5 sleep 1

       will run the sleep command to completion.  Obviously, sleep is   not  a
       very interesting application of safe.

SEE ALSO
       kill(1).

AUTHOR
       safe  and  this manual page were written by Ian Piumarta (first-name at
       last-name dot com) based on the memory of something similar  (with  the
       same name) floating around the 'net in the late 1980s.

       Please  send bug reports and suggestions for improvements to the author
       at the above address.



Version 1.0                        May 2004                            SAFE(1)