# TIMEOUT_AFTER_MATCH

New in version 3.6.

Change a test's timeout duration after a matching line is encountered in its output.

## Usage

    add_test(mytest ...)
    set_property(TEST mytest PROPERTY TIMEOUT_AFTER_MATCH "${seconds}" "${regex}")

## Description

Allow a test `seconds` to complete after `regex` is encountered in its output.

When the test outputs a line that matches `regex` its start time is reset to the current time and its timeout duration is changed to `seconds`. Prior to this, the timeout duration is determined by the `TIMEOUT` property or the `CTEST_TEST_TIMEOUT` variable if either of these are set. Because the test's start time is reset, its execution time will not include any time that was spent waiting for the matching output.

`TIMEOUT_AFTER_MATCH` is useful for avoiding spurious timeouts when your test must wait for some system resource to become available before it can execute. Set `TIMEOUT` to a longer duration that accounts for resource acquisition and use `TIMEOUT_AFTER_MATCH` to control how long the actual test is allowed to run.

If the required resource can be controlled by CTest you should use `RESOURCE_LOCK` instead of `TIMEOUT_AFTER_MATCH`. This property should be used when only the test itself can determine when its required resources are available.

See also `TIMEOUT_SIGNAL_NAME`.