However, the object identifier in the connect message can be either a number or a name. So while normal practice would be to connect to mail by connecting to object 27, it's also valid to connect to object "MAIL". FWIW, this is all in the DECnet database (at least on VMS it is) - $ MCR NCP SHOW KNOWN OBJECTS will give you a list. You can also use DEFINE/SET to modify the list $ MCR NCP DEFINE OBJECT foo NUMBER 493 Bob