running an executable for a specific time period

[Saz]

Hi there,
I've got an executable of my program that performs a number of different operations and eventually outputs data to a file. How would I go about inserting code into the program so that the file runs for 30 secs and then stops automatically. I can do it so that the data collection only lasts for 30 secs but would like something a little more elegant and automated

Thanks!