exec

Execute a command

SYNTAX
      exec [-cl] [-a name] [command [arguments]]

OPTIONS
      -l   Place a dash at the beginning of the zeroth arg passed to command.
           (This is what the login program does.)
      -c   Causes command to be executed with an empty environment.
      -a    The shell passes name as the zeroth argument to command.

If command is supplied, it replaces the shell without creating a new process. If no command is specified, redirections may be used to affect the current shell environment.

If there are no redirection errors, the return status is zero; otherwise the return status is non-zero.

exec is a BOURNE shell command and a POSIX `special' builtin

To execute a shell script from the command line, prefix the script's name with ./
./myscript
You may be tempted to fix this by adding '.' to your $PATH but this is widely considered to be a bad idea (for security reasons).
If you want to execute something in the current directory, just type the "./" in front of the command name.

"In art the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can inspire" - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Related Linux Bash commands:

exit - Exit the shell
builtin - Run a shell builtin
crontab - Schedule a command to run at a later time
chroot - Run a command with a different root directory
if - Conditionally perform a command
nohup - Run a command immune to hangups
.source - Run commands from a file
su - Run a command with substitute user and group id
type - Describe a command
watch - Execute/display a program periodically

Equivalent Windows XP commands:

CMD - Start a new CMD shell