How to add a timeout value when using Java's Runtime.exec()?

Question

I have a method I am using to execute a command on the local host. I'd like to add a timeout parameter to the method so that if the command being called doesn't finish in a reasonable amount of time the method will return with an error code. Here's what it looks like so far, without the ability to timeout:

public static int executeCommandLine(final String commandLine,
                                     final boolean printOutput,
                                     final boolean printError)
    throws IOException, InterruptedException
{
    Runtime runtime = Runtime.getRuntime();
    Process process = runtime.exec(commandLine);

    if (printOutput)
    {
        BufferedReader outputReader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(process.getInputStream()));
        System.out.println("Output:  " + outputReader.readLine());
    }

    if (printError)
    {
        BufferedReader errorReader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(process.getErrorStream()));
        System.out.println("Error:  " + errorReader.readLine());
    }

    return process.waitFor();
}

Can anyone suggest a good way for me to implement a timeout parameter?

Answer 1

public static int executeCommandLine(final String commandLine,
                                     final boolean printOutput,
                                     final boolean printError,
                                     final long timeout)
      throws IOException, InterruptedException, TimeoutException {
  Runtime runtime = Runtime.getRuntime();
  Process process = runtime.exec(commandLine);
  /* Set up process I/O. */
  ... 
  Worker worker = new Worker(process);
  worker.start();
  try {
    worker.join(timeout);
    if (worker.exit != null)
      return worker.exit;
    else
      throw new TimeoutException();
  } catch(InterruptedException ex) {
    worker.interrupt();
    Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
    throw ex;
  } finally {
    process.destroyForcibly();
  }
}

private static class Worker extends Thread {
  private final Process process;
  private Integer exit;
  private Worker(Process process) {
    this.process = process;
  }
  public void run() {
    try { 
      exit = process.waitFor();
    } catch (InterruptedException ignore) {
      return;
    }
  }  
}