Allow for argument to specify maximum time by which each expression should be allowed to run

[tomwenseleers]

Was just wondering if it would be possible to allow for an argument to specify the maximum time by which each expression should be allowed to run? If I benchmark a given expression over a grid of values I now often run into problems whereby some combinations take a very long time to finish & I would like those to be terminated after a given time.

I presume this could be done with some of the solutions mentioned here, https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7891073/time-out-an-r-command-via-something-like-try, e.g. using R.utils::withTimeout() or setTimeLimit? (though these functions may only be able to interrupt R and not C or C++ coded functions)