Is the .bat file set up to take the arguments?

Assuming it is, there might be another thing you need to change. You said "abc" and "bcd" are string variables. Using Shell "n:\aa.bat abc bcd" passes the values "abc" and "bcd" to the batch file. Using Shell "n:\aa.bat " & abc & " " & bcd passes the contents of abc and bcd to the batch file instead. You may need to change this in your code.

If neither of these things lead to a fix, then I don't quite understand what's happening. Perhaps you could give us some more information?

Good luck!

- Sendoshin