There is strictly no solution to this problem. DISTRIBUTE considers the file being transmitted as a set of 80-chars records, which are forwarded "as is" to the recipient, using whatever transmission methods are available (RSCS or MAIL). So you did get your Netdata-format file, enclosed in a mail envelope, and of course you can't do anything useful with it :-) No format conversion is made. This is the only way that multiple file decks (DISK or CARD) can be transmitted to the network. It also allows MVS users to transmit Netdata PDS data sets to other MVS systems without problem. VM cannot handle these datasets and could not even read them onto disk. I think that Doron is presently using this facility or plans to. I don't see any easy way out, unless you can convince LISTSERV that you are NOT a mail-only node. Eric