select sysdate from dual;
exit

##</code><code>##

#!/usr/local/bin/perl
use DBI;

my $dbh = DBI->connect('DBI:Oracle:', 'scott', 'tiger', {RaiseError => 1}) || die DBI::errstr;

my @cmd =  (
          'sqlplus',
          '-s',
          'SCOTT/tiger',
          '@test.sql'
        );

my $output = qx{@cmd};
my $retcode = $?;

if ($? == -1) {
    die "Error: $?: $!";
}

print $output;

##</code><code>##

Error: -1: No child processes at ./test.pl line 17.