Java native process timeout

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All other responses are correct but it can be made more robust and efficient using FutureTask.

For example, 

private static final ExecutorService THREAD_POOL 
    = Executors.newCachedThreadPool();

private static <T> T timedCall(Callable<T> c, long timeout, TimeUnit timeUnit)
    throws InterruptedException, ExecutionException, TimeoutException
{
    FutureTask<T> task = new FutureTask<T>(c);
    THREAD_POOL.execute(task);
    return task.get(timeout, timeUnit);
}

final java.lang.Process[] process = new Process[1];
try {
    int returnCode = timedCall(new Callable<Integer>() {
        public Integer call() throws Exception {
            process[0] = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(command); 
            return process[0].waitFor();
        }
    }, timeout, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
} catch (TimeoutException e) {
    process[0].destroy();
    // Handle timeout here
}

If you do this repeatedly, the thread pool is more efficient because it caches the threads.

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