.TH ALARM 1 ALARM
.SH NAME
alarm - Schedule an alarm for a program when starting it
.SH SYNOPSIS
.BR alarm
.IR duration
.IR command
.RI [ argument \ ...]
.SH DESCRIPTION
Schedules an
.BR alarm (3)
to best triggered after a specified
.IR duration .
The process than
.BR execvp (3)
into
.IR command .
.PP
This means that
.IR command
will be killed by
.BR SIGALRM
after a selected
.IR duration .
.PP
.IR duration
must be a non-negative integer, no larger than 18h12m15s.
Recognised patterns for
.IR duration
are:
.TP
*
.IR seconds [s]
.TP
*
.IR minutes m[ seconds s]
.TP
*
.IR hours h[ minutes m][ seconds s]
.SH RATIONALE
This program is useful when testing programs for a limited
duration. Especially when running in the background, or
there is a chance of it locking the computer.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.BR alarm (3)
.SH AUTHORS
Mattias Andrée
.RI < maandree@kth.se >