How Workbooks Runs Scripts

Scripts are run “at arm’s length” in a separate environment known as a “Jail”. This page explains what that means in more detail.

How Workbooks Runs Scripts

A Workbooks Script can be very flexible, so for security reasons, Scripts are run “at arm’s length” in a separate environment known as a “Jail”. They access the main Workbooks service in the same way as any other Workbooks API program.

As well as enforcing basic security limits, the Jail gives the Workbooks Script access to a reasonable amount of memory and processor time. The Script is stopped if it runs longer than the runtime you set when creating the Process, or if it goes over the memory and processor usage limits.

PHP Libraries

Within the Jail, the Script is interpreted as PHP code and has access to a number of useful PHP libraries, including:

• Web Services: xmlrpc, curl
• Email: imap
• Databases:
  • SQLite: sqlite, sqlite3
  • Microsoft SQL: mssql
  • MySQL: mysql, mysqli, pdo_mysql
  • ODBC: odbc, pdo_odbc, pdo_mysql, pdo_pgsql, pdo_sqlite
  • PostgreSQL: pgsql, pdo_pgsql

The current PHP version is 8.4. Workbooks will update this from time to time.