In Javascript, we can use ProcessBuilder to call external commands easily. In the following example we see how an external ls command (using bash), and display the output.

<script>
    var pb = new Ax.lang.ProcessBuilder(); 
    var status = pb.directory('/tmp').command('/bin/bash', '-c', 'ls -l'); 
    if (status == 0)
        console.log(pb.getStdOut());
    else 
        console.log(pb.getStdErr());
    return status;
</script>

drwx------  3 jet  wheel  96 Dec 20 11:54 com.apple.launchd.hJTk1aPK5y
drwx------  3 jet  wheel  96 Dec 20 11:54 com.apple.launchd.ywxrIg6Iwg

The process.getInputStream is “blocking” so it will block main thread until process completed. In the case we want to run with a timeout to avoid a long running process hangs the script application you can use a timout value.

To set a timeout use setTimeout(int second) in process builder object.