Shell Programming and Scripting

        .  filename [arguments]
       source filename [arguments]
              Read  and  execute  commands  from filename in the current shell
              environment and return the exit status of the last command  exe-
              cuted from filename.  If filename does not contain a slash, file
              names in PATH are used to find the  directory  containing  file-
              name.   The  file  searched  for in PATH need not be executable.
              When bash is  not  in  posix  mode,  the  current  directory  is
              searched  if no file is found in PATH.  If the sourcepath option
              to the shopt builtin command is turned  off,  the  PATH  is  not
              searched.   If any arguments are supplied, they become the posi-
              tional parameters when  filename  is  executed.   Otherwise  the
              positional  parameters  are unchanged.  The return status is the
              status of the last command exited within the  script  (0  if  no
              commands  are  executed),  and false if filename is not found or
              cannot be read.