using shared libraries from PL/SQL?

This doesn't seem to be in any oracle FAQ, books, or documentation I can find...

It is possible to link to a shared library or a shell command from within PL/SQL on a UNIX system?

The goal here is that a stored procedure would be able to manipulate files and run system commands in order to keep data on the filesystem in sync with the database. For example, consider a table which contains a column that references a pathname to a file. When the item is deleted by calling a stored procedure, I would also like to delete the file and get an exit status back from the rm command.

Any ideas?

--
Shannon Robert Madsen                                     madsen_at_cs.umn.edu
"Give me ambiguity or give me something else."