HEllo bill,   
      
   FIrst, hope you haven't given up on any help forthcoming.   
   YOu originally wrote:   
      
   BG> I need a batch file that looks at my FidoNet inbound directory and   
   BG> has  a file checking function that checks for either a semaphore or   
   BG> a nodediff  or a nodelist itself.   
      
   IF I'm recalling later in the thread, we were talking about   
   a lot of things that happen when Irex receives mail.  I'm   
   assuming that you have rex creating semaphores to start the   
   after mail processing with fastecho, etc.   
      
   So, let's say you received your nodediff, and with it you   
   received a *.tic file.   
      
   NOw is when the fun begins.   
      
   Before your tic processor goes to crunching on that tic file you can create   
   your own semaphore enabling it to process the   
   nodelist.   
      
   Create a batch which is invoked right before your tic   
   process which changes to your inbound directory, or run that from the same   
   batch which runs your tic processor, fastecho   
   and the like.   
   Create another batch, call it pretick.bat.   
      
   Let's say your batch starts, and your inbound is d:\inbound.   
      
   change to that directory and ...   
      
   if exist *.tic goto checktix   
   goto domail   
      
   :: if no *.tic files present we go on to invoke fastecho iirc :: that's your   
   mail processor.   
      
   :: NOw we build checktix   
      
   :checktix   
   for %%F in (*.tic) do call pretick.bat %%F   
   :: call your usual tic processor here, allfix, nef, tick,   
   :: whatever you're using   
   goto domail   
      
   pretick.bat checks for receipt of a nodediff   
      
   ::pretick.bat   
   @echo off   
   type %1 | find "nodediff" /i /c   
   if errorlevel 2 goto gotdiff   
   goto end   
   :gotdiff   
   echo .. >> nodeup.sem   
   goto end   
   :end   
   cd \   
      
   Now if you want to process that nodediff, you can later on   
   in the batch look for nodeup.sem in your inbound directory,   
   or, to keep things neat, place that semaphore where you   
   usually put semaphore files, or where irex usually puts   
   them.   
   THen at an appropriate time it can look for nodeup.sem and   
   crunch on your nodediff with fastlist or whatever nodelist   
   merger/compiler you're using.   
      
   Btw I prefer to use fgrep386 for such find operations as the one above, when   
   used with the -x and -e switches it   
   generates errorlevel 1 if the string was found, no messy   
   quotes needed, etc. etc.   
   THe only time you need to surround the string with quotes is if it's not an   
   alphanumeric.   
      
   BG> Not being a programmer, I'm kinda out of my depth.   
      
   This one's fairly simple, and irex should generate flag or   
   semaphore files for you when mail and files are received.   
   Have been looking at its docs a little bit lately.   
      
      
   Regards,   
              Richard   
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