php script run as a cron job

[Looktrne]

I need to run a php script as a cron job

 

I wrote the script that conects to a database and sends out emails to members

 

my concern is if a robot visits this file it will run the script

 

how can I make the script run only when called as a cron job?

 

should I have it check the IP?

 

or what is the best way to do this

 

thanks for any help

 

Paul

[trq]

Put the script outside of your web root and execute it via php's command line interface if you can.