select()

hi all,

i am a little confused on how to use select() in a socket program. here is
the deal.

client connects to a server to accomplish a transaction, let us say account
balance enquiry. right now my code blocks on a send() and recv(), for e.g.
client send()s the account number and blocks on a recv() to get the balance
of the account. i would like to eliminate these blocking. i think using
select() would be the choice for that, but what would be the basis to set
values to the struct timeval which is the fifth parameter in select(). can i
use select() in a multithreaded environment. for complex transactions (like
fund transfer between two accounts) i have various send() and recv(), do i
need to code select() before each send() and recv().

please help me on this.

thanks in advance.
-srikanth d
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