PHP: Use set_time_limit — Limits the maximum execution time

Sometimes we have to work with huge data and data processing, data retrieval from that particular database takes long time.

In case of slow and more time consuming query, several times I have found that, my php script timed out for the slower response of database server. And I could not get the data. Therefore I had nothing to process from the database.

But, If you use set_time_limit, in your php script and set a large time limit in case of slow and time consuming query, your php script will live to get the response and further processing.

The set_time_limit() function only affect the execution time of the script itself.

Example:
set_time_limit(200);

Set the number of seconds a script is allowed to run. If this is reached, the script returns a fatal error. The default limit is 30 seconds or, if it exists, the max_execution_time value defined in the php.ini.

When called, set_time_limit() restarts the timeout counter from zero. In other words, if the timeout is the default 30 seconds, and 25 seconds into script execution a call such as set_time_limit(20) is made, the script will run for a total of 45 seconds before timing out.

From: php manual