Thanks for the response; I'll wait for the next release as applying the patch is beyond my reach at present. Not having much success with the work around; here's my session on Windows 10: /* the database is open & has the table */ sqlite> .open ./db/techniques.db sqlite> .tables tblSalesRevenue /* I am using the latest pre-compiled binary, I believe */ sqlite> .version SQLite 3.33.0 2020-08-14 13:23:32 fca8dc8b578f215a969cd899336378966156154710873e68b3d9ac5881b0ff3f zlib version 1.2.11 gcc-5.2.0 /* trying the workaround */ sqlite> .read '"D:/SQLite32/SCRIPTS/Techniques/N Random Records.BAT" tblSalesRevenue 10' Error: cannot open ""D:/SQLite32/SCRIPTS/Techniques/N Random Records.BAT" tblSalesRevenue 10" /* the batch file exists AND produces the SQL statement correctly */ sqlite> .shell "D:/SQLite32/SCRIPTS/Techniques/N Random Records.BAT" tblSalesRevenue 10 D:\SQLite32>echo SELECT * FROM [tblSalesRevenue] ORDER BY RANDOM() LIMIT 10; SELECT * FROM [tblSalesRevenue] ORDER BY RANDOM() LIMIT 10; The batch file has just one line: echo SELECT * FROM [%1] ORDER BY RANDOM() LIMIT %2; What am I missing? (thanks for your patience, I've just started looking as SQLite)