Execute a shell or perl script

Question

Is it possible to execute a unix(solaris) shell script or perl script from a stored procedure. If so, a short example would be great.
Thanks,
John

Answer 1

External Procedure Source Code
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
void sh(char *);
void sh( char *cmd )
int num;
num = system(cmd);
Issue the following commands to compile the code and generate the shared
object in Solaris:
cc -G -c shell.c
ld -r -o shell.so shell.o
You can also use the demo_rdbms.mk makefile to build shared libraries for use in external procedures. Using this method insulates you from any Operating System specific dependencies (e.g., which flags to use
for ld).
For example:
In 8.0.X,
$ make -f demo_rdbms.mk extproc_nocallback \
SHARED_LIBNAME=shell.so OBJS=shell.o
In 8.1.X,
$ make -f demo_rdbms.mk extproc_no_context \
SHARED_LIBNAME=shell.so OBJS=shell.o
Library Definition
CREATE LIBRARY shell_lib is '/u11/home/lsupport/proc/shell.so';
Note: The directory in quotes is the current of location of the library that
was created in the steps above.
PL/SQL Wrapper Procedure
create or replace procedure shell(cmd IN char)
as external
name "sh"
library shell_lib
language C
parameters (cmd string);
Execution
SQL> exec shell('ls');
cli.trc exe_prba.sql prueba.mk shell.c.old
core listener.old prueba.o shell.o
dec2bin.c listener.ora prueba.so shell.so
dec2bin.c.old nena.lst prueba.sql shell.sql
dec2bin.o p.sql sal.1 shell.sql.old
dec2bin.so pepito.lst sal.2 sqlnet.log
dec2bin.sql prb sal.3 tnsnames.ora
dec2bin.sql.old prb.c salida.lst tnsnames.ora.old
envoltorio.sql prueba.c shell.c uno.sql
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.