How do I call some blocking method with a timeout in Java?
concurrency, java
Solution
You could use an Executor:
ExecutorService executor = Executors.newCachedThreadPool();
Callable<Object> task = new Callable<Object>() {
public Object call() {
return something.blockingMethod();
}
};
Future<Object> future = executor.submit(task);
try {
Object result = future.get(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
} catch (TimeoutException ex) {
// handle the timeout
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
// handle the interrupts
} catch (ExecutionException e) {
// handle other exceptions
} finally {
future.cancel(true); // may or may not desire this
}
If the `future.get` doesn't return in 5 seconds, it throws a `TimeoutException`. The timeout can be configured in seconds, minutes, milliseconds or any unit available as a constant in `TimeUnit`.
See the JavaDoc for more detail.
Problem
Is there a standard nice way to call a blocking method with a timeout in Java? I want to be able to do: ``` // call something.blockingMethod(); // if it hasn't come back within 2 seconds, forget it ``` if that makes sense. Thanks.