I have a PHP script that generates reports from a MySQL database. When the query returns more than about 5000 rows, the script times out at the 30 second limit. I've tried set_time_limit(0) but my host blocks that.

Any clever solutions? I can't change the php.ini settings.

Paginate the query. Instead of selecting all 5000 rows at once, use LIMIT and OFFSET to process them in batches of 500. Loop through batches and output as you go.

Also make sure you have proper indexes on the columns you're querying. A missing index on a WHERE clause column can turn a 0.1 second query into a 30 second one.

Look into mysql_unbuffered_query() instead of mysql_query(). It starts returning results immediately without buffering the whole result set in memory.