| Function | run_command | Run an external command in a separate process. |
| Function | run_script | Run a Python script in a child process, using current interpreter. |
| Parameters | command | executable to run. |
| args | optional list of command-line arguments. | |
| input | optional text to feed to command's standard input. | |
| shell | passed directly to subprocess.Popen. | |
| Returns | tuple of return value, standard output, and standard error. | |
| Parameters | script | Python script to run. |
| args | optional list of command-line arguments. | |
| input | optional string to feed to standard input. | |
| Returns | tuple of return value, standard output, and standard error. | |