Trying to execute a method for a set time

Question

Hi all,
Propably this is easy for most of you.
How can I try to excecute a method for a set amount of time before giving up.
For example with the URL
Try to open a connection to this URL
If we can not get a connection going within the time limit eg. 5 seconds
abort trying to connect
Thanks Oscar

Answer 1

long millisToTry = 5000;
long startedTrying = System.currentTimeMillis();
boolean connected = false;
while (!connected && (System.currentTimeMillis() - startedTrying < millisToTry))
    System.out.println("Trying...");
    // do your voodoo
    try{ Thread.sleep(1000); } catch (Exception e) {} // try once per second...
}