+;;; When a *periodic-polling-function* is defined the server will not
+;;; block for more than the maximum event timeout and will call the
+;;; polling function if it does time out.
+(declaim (type (or null symbol function) *periodic-polling-function*))
+(defvar *periodic-polling-function* nil
+ "Either NIL, or a designator for a function callable without any
+arguments. Called when the system has been waiting for input for
+longer then *PERIODIC-POLLING-PERIOD* seconds. Shared between all
+threads, unless locally bound. EXPERIMENTAL.")
+(declaim (real *periodic-polling-period*))
+(defvar *periodic-polling-period* 0
+ "A real number designating the number of seconds to wait for input
+at maximum, before calling the *PERIODIC-POLLING-FUNCTION* \(if any.)
+Shared between all threads, unless locally bound. EXPERIMENTAL.")
+
+;;; Takes timeout broken into seconds and microseconds, NIL timeout means
+;;; to wait as long as needed.