if (-p $named_pipe_name) {

    eval {
      local $SIG{ALRM} = sub { die "alarm\n" }; # NB: \n required
      alarm $timeout;
      if (sysopen(FIFO, $named_pipe_name, O_RDONLY)) {
        while(my $this_line = <FIFO>) {
          chomp($this_line);
          $result .= $this_line;
        }
        close(FIFO);
      } else {
        $errormsg = "ERROR: Failed to open named pipe $named_pipe_name for reading: $!";
      }
      alarm 0;
    };
    if ($@) {
      if ($@ eq "alarm\n") {
        # timed out
        $errormsg = "Timed out reading from named pipe $named_pipe_name";
      } else {
        $errormsg = "Error reading from named pipe: $!";
      }
    } else {
      # didn't time out
      print STDOUT "$result\n";
    }

  }