Hi,

I am new to this forum, so I apologize if my post is not correctly formatted, as I don't understand how to wrap lines.
I am trying to set up a shell script to execute an IDL program, but I fail to see what is the correct syntax to do so.
Suppose I have the following simple program

pro idl_dummy
print, 'It runs'
end

saved in a file named idl_dummy.pro, which I want to execute from the command line. I have tried two methods

1. If I use the statement

idl -e idl_dummy.pro

then I get a syntax error:

idl_dummy.pro
^
% Syntax error.

2. If I use the statement

idl idl_dummy,pro

Then the I get the following message

pro idl_dummy
^
% Programs can't be compiled from single statement mode.
At: /full/path/to/idl_dummy.pro, Line 1
It runs

end
^
% Syntax error.
At:/full/path/to/idl_dummy.pro, Line 5

What is, then, the correct way to run a program like that?