From: james.d.masters@...
Date: 2007-04-15T16:05:08+09:00
Subject: Re: executing a system command and stopping it after a specified duration?

On Apr 14, 9:57 pm, Robert La Ferla <robertlafe...@comcast.net> wrote:
> I'd like to run a system command and then stop it after specified
> amount of time (in seconds or milliseconds.)  What's the best way to
> do it?

In Perl it was done by setting the signal ALRM (or using the "alarm"
command).  I'm not sure how this is done in Ruby as I haven't had a
use for signal trapping since using Ruby.

> Also, if there is a better Ruby way to do this other than "cat", I'm
> all ears...

# assuming binary file (i.e. mpg)
File.open("/dev/video", "rb") do |inf|
  File.open("test.mpg", "wb") do |outf|
    inf.each_byte {|byte| outf.putc byte}
  end
end