How to limit the time DownloadString(url) allowed by 500 milliseconds?

Question

I'm writing a program that when textBox1 change:

URL = "http://example.com/something/";
URL += System.Web.HttpUtility.UrlEncode(textBox1.Text);
s = new System.Net.WebClient().DownloadString(URL);

I want limit the time DownloadString(URL) allowed by 500 milliseconds. If more than, cancel it.

Answer 1

There is no such property, but you can easily extend the WebClient:

public class TimedWebClient: WebClient
{
    // Timeout in milliseconds, default = 600,000 msec
    public int Timeout { get; set; }

    public TimedWebClient()
    {
        this.Timeout = 600000; 
    }

    protected override WebRequest GetWebRequest(Uri address)
    {
        var objWebRequest= base.GetWebRequest(address);
        objWebRequest.Timeout = this.Timeout;
        return objWebRequest;
    }
}

// use
string s = new TimedWebClient {Timeout = 500}.DownloadString(URL);