diff --git a/lib/gen_cmd.py b/lib/gen_cmd.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8b07125
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/gen_cmd.py
@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+r"""
+This module provides command execution functions such as cmd_fnc and cmd_fnc_u.
+"""
+
+import sys
+import subprocess
+
+robot_env = 1
+try:
+    import gen_robot_print as grp
+    from robot.libraries.BuiltIn import BuiltIn
+except ImportError:
+    robot_env = 0
+import gen_print as gp
+import gen_valid as gv
+import gen_misc as gm
+
+
+###############################################################################
+def cmd_fnc(cmd_buf,
+            quiet=None,
+            test_mode=None,
+            debug=None,
+            print_output=1,
+            show_err=1):
+
+    r"""
+    Run the given command in a shell and return the shell return code.
+
+    Description of arguments:
+    cmd_buf                         The command string to be run in a shell.
+    quiet                           Indicates whether this function should run
+                                    the pissuing()
+                  function prints an "Issuing: <cmd string>" to stdout.
+    test_mode                       If test_mode is set, this function will
+                                    not actually run
+                  the command.
+    debug                           If debug is set, this function will print
+                                    extra debug info.
+    print_output                    If this is set, this function will print
+                                    the stdout/stderr
+                  generated by the shell command.
+    show_err                        If show_err is set, this function will
+                                    print a standardized
+                  error report if the shell command returns non-zero.
+    """
+
+    quiet = int(gm.global_default(quiet, 0))
+    test_mode = int(gm.global_default(test_mode, 0))
+    debug = int(gm.global_default(debug, 0))
+
+    if debug:
+        if robot_env:
+            grp.rprint_var(cmd_buf)
+            grp.rprint_var(quiet)
+            grp.rprint_var(test_mode)
+            grp.rprint_var(debug)
+        else:
+            gp.print_vars(cmd_buf, quiet, test_mode, debug)
+
+    err_msg = gv.svalid_value(cmd_buf)
+    if err_msg != "":
+        raise ValueError(err_msg)
+
+    if not quiet:
+        if robot_env:
+            grp.rpissuing(cmd_buf, test_mode)
+        else:
+            gp.pissuing(cmd_buf, test_mode)
+
+    if test_mode:
+        return 0, ""
+
+    sub_proc = subprocess.Popen(cmd_buf,
+                                bufsize=1,
+                                shell=True,
+                                stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
+                                stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
+    out_buf = ""
+    for line in sub_proc.stdout:
+        out_buf += line
+        if not print_output:
+            continue
+        if robot_env:
+            grp.rprint(line)
+        else:
+            sys.stdout.write(line)
+    if print_output and not robot_env:
+        sys.stdout.flush()
+    sub_proc.communicate()
+    shell_rc = sub_proc.returncode
+    if shell_rc != 0 and show_err:
+        if robot_env:
+            grp.rprint_error_report("The prior command failed.\n" +
+                                    gp.sprint_var(shell_rc, 1))
+        else:
+            gp.print_error_report("The prior command failed.\n" +
+                                  gp.sprint_var(shell_rc, 1))
+
+    return shell_rc, out_buf
+
+###############################################################################
+
+
+###############################################################################
+def cmd_fnc_u(cmd_buf,
+              quiet=None,
+              debug=None,
+              print_output=1,
+              show_err=1):
+
+    r"""
+    Call cmd_fnc with test_mode=0.  See cmd_fnc (above) for details.
+
+    Note the "u" in "cmd_fnc_u" stands for "unconditional".
+    """
+
+    return cmd_fnc(cmd_buf, test_mode=0, quiet=quiet, debug=debug,
+                   print_output=print_output, show_err=show_err)
+
+###############################################################################