Does file_get_contents() have a timeout setting?

Question

I am calling a series of links using the file_get_contents() method in a loop. Each link may take more than 15 minutes to process. Now, I worry about whether PHP's file_get_contents() has a timeout period?

If yes, it will time out with a call and move to next link. I don't want to call the next link without the prior one finishing.

So, please tell me whether file_get_contents() has a timeout period. The file which contains the file_get_contents() is set to set_time_limit() to zero (unlimited).

Answer 1

The default timeout is defined by default_socket_timeout ini-setting, which is 60 seconds. You can also change it on the fly:

ini_set('default_socket_timeout', 900); // 900 Seconds = 15 Minutes

Another way to set a timeout, would be to use stream_context_create to set the timeout as HTTP context options of the HTTP stream wrapper in use:

$ctx = stream_context_create(array('http'=>
    array(
        'timeout' => 1200,  //1200 Seconds is 20 Minutes
    )
));

echo file_get_contents('http://example.com/', false, $ctx);