well, could be quite nice

register_tick_function() can be used.

No, you can't. :) The ticks stuff won't stop a function which
is tied up in a function call such as sleep. This does sound
like something which would be nice to have...

I've also updated the version number on this to 4.2.0-dev


Torben

Yes you can do this using ticks, because you can throw an exception from the function to interrupt the script's flow.

Here's an example. I have testes it (PHP 5.4.0) and it worked very well.
------------------
// exception class and function
class TimeoutException extends Exception {}
function time_limit($end_time){ if(time() >= $end_time) throw new TimeoutException; }

// usage example
register_tick_function('time_limit', time() + 2); // time limit is 2 seconds
try {
    
    // here goes the stuff we need to limit
    declare(ticks = 20) {
        // comment out either line to test
        /* this line will cause timeout */ while(true) { $foo = 1 + 1; }
        /* this line would finish in time */ sleep(1);
    }

    // if the script gets here the stuff finished in time
    unregister_tick_function('time_limit');
    echo "finished in time";

} catch(TimeoutException $e) {

    // if the script gets here the stuff took too long
    unregister_tick_function('time_limit');
    echo "took too long";

}

I am sorry for reviving this 12 years old report. I have completelly overlooked 
the submission date :O

The information regarding ticks is misleading.

If PHP is engaged in a blocking syscall, which sleep _is_, the process is blocked, control does not return to the script for it to invoke anything.

So, no, this cannot be done, and didn't need to be open for 10 years.