ml> also, what does netmsg.rep look like?

 RW> just a flat text file with some "here's the results of your search"
 RW> then whatever the .bat file stuffs into it. I'm thinking that's
 RW> where the improper mask format complaint originates, so tried
 RW> stuffing a regular netmgr mask there, then an xmask. Both got same
 RW> complaint.

for initial work, simply use

  echo boat search bot, {at}myaka, *, *, *, +l > %1

as the _very_ first line of the .bat file that writes to the reply message...

it will result in the following...

from: boat search bot (or whatever you're gonna call this critter)
from addr: your address
to: the sender
to addr: the sender's address
subject: whatever the sender wrote
attribs: add the local attrib since it is a locally written message

in other words, you don't put anything other than 6 fields on the first
line... no MASK verb or anything like that...

you'll also note that i use only one > sign in the above... i don't
think it matters... the examples show use two of them as the first line and
that's ok if the rep file in question doesn't exist yet... and it
shouldn't, either, if this mask line is to be the first one in the rep file
;)

hope this helps...

)\/(ark