Internet checking?

[Graham Samuel]

I know this is a golden oldie, but I can’t find a reference… I have a script that wants to check a file on a server, and basically to do nothing if the program is offline. 

Remind me, is there an easy way to tell from within an LC standalone if the internet is not accessible? I don’t want my program to hang. I understand the URLStatus will eventually tell me if access did not occur, but I don’t understand how to limit the waiting time to something reasonable. I notice that some browsers can actually display a message saying something like “you are not connected to the internet” - how do they do that?

TIA

Graham