Script question

[Rhino]

Can anyone tell me how to make a script containing MySQL commands also execute an OS command?   For instance, given this script, called Load.sql:   -------------- use SFL;   #Load the data from the export file that was exported from Q&A as a standard #ASCII file. load data infile '/home/rhino/MySQL/SFL/FILMS.AS3' replace into table Dougs_Movies fields terminated by ';' optionally enclosed by '"' escaped by '\\' lines starting by '"' terminated by '\r\n'; ----------------   I'd like to add some 'echo' statements to the script. However, when I include:   echo "Hello"   or   !echo "Hello"   I get a syntax error when I execute the script.   I am executing the script from the Linux command line via this command:   mysql -u myid -pmypass < Load.sql > Load.out   It isn't strictly necessary to include 'echo' commands in the script as long as I can ensure that the text of my choice appears in the Load.out file in the place of my choosing, i.e. after the 'use' command has been executed but before the 'load' command has been executed.   Can anyone help me this problem? I can't believe it is hard but I can't think what to search on in the archives.....   Rhino --- rhino1 AT sympatico DOT ca "There are two ways of constructing a software design. One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies. And the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies." - C.A.R. Hoare