Need function like "raw_input", but with time limit

[Fredrik Lundh]

"Radioactive Man" <rm at rm.rm> wrote:

> anyone know of a function like "raw_input", which collects a string
> from the user entry, but one where I can set a time limit, as follows:
>
> time_limit = 10    # seconds
> user_answer = function_xyz("GIVE ME AN ANSWER:  ", time_limit)

this works on some platforms:

import signal, sys

def alarm_handler(*args):
    raise Exception("timeout")

def function_xyz(prompt, timeout):
    signal.signal(signal.SIGALRM, alarm_handler)
    signal.alarm(timeout)
    sys.stdout.write(prompt)
    sys.stdout.flush()
    try:
        text = sys.stdin.readline()
    except:
        text = ""
    signal.alarm(0)
    return text

</F>