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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs) Revised 07-Dec-95 CONVERSION OF COMPUSERVE FORUMS TO NEW HARDWARE/SOFTWARE WITH THE HMI PROTOCOL AS THE SOLE ACCESS METHOD Welcome! In this document I will answer many of the common questions CompuServe members have about the upcoming changes to CompuServe forums. I am the publisher of TAPCIS--an automated assistant for CompuServe that gathers all your online information with a single keystroke and then lets you process it offline. Therefore, my perspective on these changes may be different from those who rely on "interactive" means of participating on forums, or who use machines that do not have the option of running an HMI-compatible program. I will explain what I mean by all that in a moment. Please keep in mind that this is not an official CompuServe document. If you need further clarification on any points raised here, you can contact me in the TAPCIS Forum (CIS:TAPCIS, Section 16/TAPNEWS), ask the sysops in the forum you call "home," or write directly to CompuServe Feedback 70006,101 via CompuServe Mail. The technical issues surrounding this conversion are complex, and this document does go into them in detail. However, most members don't need to know much more than what I present here in the SUMMARY section. Rick Wilkes 76701,23 TAPCIS Publisher --- SUMMARY ---------------------------------------------------------- CompuServe is introducing new "host" hardware and software to replace the existing systems that provide mail, forums, and other services. This new technology is being implemented to provide significantly greater capacity and reliability, while allowing CompuServe to dramatically expand the online services it offers. The existing, older generation host computers communicate with us in one of two ways: either through ASCII terminal emulation or through a "protocol" called HMI. You can think of these two methods as "languages" through which one communicates with the CompuServe host computers. Under ASCII terminal emulation (which I'll call "ASCII" for short), you are presented with numbered menus and command prompts. You choose a specific menu item or type in a command and press [Enter]. The CompuServe host computer interprets what you typed and responds with plainly readable text. In other words, under ASCII the CompuServe computers speak a language that we humans can directly understand, even if it is as potentially confusing as typing "REA THR NUM:32767" at a prompt that says "Forum!". To access CompuServe using the ASCII method requires only a general purpose communications program such as Procomm Plus, QMODEM, Crosstalk, or Microphone. Even Windows Terminal will work. Under the HMI protocol, the CompuServe host computers speak an entirely different language, one that ONLY another computer can translate into something we humans can understand. Therefore, HMI requires special, CompuServe-specific software to act as an "interface" between the CompuServe "host" and our "micro." Hence the name, Host-Micro Interface, or HMI. CompuServe has announced that their new host computers will only speak HMI; they will not offer ASCII terminal emulation. Only HMI-capable software will be able to access services running on the new host computers. All members currently using general purpose communications programs to access forums will need to switch to CompuServe-specific software such as TAPCIS, WinCIM, or one of several other products designed exclusively for accessing CIS. You should plan on updating to the latest version of whatever software you use when the new forums are introduced. In many cases, we expect that the update will be mandatory. For example, TAPCIS users will need to update to version 6.1 in order to use the new forums. CompuServe plans to phase in this new forum technology in the coming weeks when a number of public "beta test" forums will be converted to the new systems. Most other forums will be converted during 1996. However, some forums will remain running on the older hosts, with both ASCII and HMI available, for the life of the forum. --- DEFINITIONS ------------------------------------------------------ These terms are defined within the context of this discussion. Some terms have more precise, technical definitions as well. HMI : Host-Micro Interface. A proprietary protocol for accessing information stored on CompuServe host computers through the use of microcomputer software. Protocol : A way for two computers to exchange information error free in a precise format, flow, and sequence. Example: the CompuServe B-Plus file transfer protocol for uploading and downloading files. ASCII Terminal Emulation : Refers here to information requested and presented using human-readable, formatted text. Hosts : The CompuServe computer systems. The older hosts are sometimes referred to as "36-bit" hosts, while the new systems are running the Microsoft Windows NT "32-bit" operating system on standard Intel-based microcomputers connected through a high speed network. Micro : A remote microcomputer running an access program that communicates with the CompuServe host computers. NISA : New Information Services Architecture. Refers to the new generation CompuServe host computer architecture (hardware and software). Client/Server : An architecture where a "server" provides data based on requests by a "client." The client is then responsible for formatting the information and passing it on to the user. In the context of HMI, the microcomputer software (such as TAPCIS) is the client. It performs all the interaction with the user, formatting the information, and presenting it. The client requests and receives information using HMI from the host server. Within the NISA setup, the host servers that talk to micros will themselves be talking to one or more other servers. The client software makes all this invisible to the user, who sees only what the client software presents. Interactive Access : The method of access where you are connected to CompuServe while you send, receive, read, file, etc. Your commands are processed by CompuServe and presented to you in real time. WinCIM works in this fashion. Automated Access : The method of access where you tell a program (such as TAPCIS) to connect to CompuServe, send and receive the information you request, and then disconnect. You read, file, reply, and make new requests offline, while not connected to CompuServe. This saves connect time and money. Beta Test : A period when software and/or hardware are tested by a wide audience to assure that it is working properly. The purpose of the beta is to find and fix bugs (failures of the system to work properly). The testing period prior to beta is called "alpha testing" where there are generally enough bugs and missing features that you don't want a lot of people using it yet. Scroll rate : The length of time a message stays on a forum's message board without disappearing due to lack of space. Under the old systems, scroll rates have often been less than a week. Under the new system, this time frame can be lengthened considerably. --- FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS --------------------------------------- Why is CompuServe making this change to a new architecture? CompuServe must be able to offer us the services we want and the performance we demand. To do this, it is crucial that new systems be installed that are based on hardware platforms that are readily available and that can use today's modern programming languages and development tools. For example, let's say that this afternoon an honest to goodness "Alien" appears on the front steps of the U.S. Capitol and gives a brief press conference. After such an event, certain forums on CompuServe would explode with activity... such as UFOFORUM and ENCOUNTERS. Right now, CompuServe could not adapt to such a sudden change in load. The older hosts, even if they are serving just one forum, can handle only 75-150 people at a time. The new architecture would let CompuServe add as many additional host computers as necessary to serve the needs of the forum. The new systems are also much cheaper and faster. They use Microsoft Windows NT running on standard, Intel processor computers. When you link hundreds of these machines together, you get net processing power far in excess of what CompuServe currently has to offer us. As online information explodes, we want CIS to offer more customized delivery of information, and to make finding what we're looking for faster, easier, and even less expensive than CompuServe's current rates. These new systems are a major leap in that direction. For example, the older forums have a strict, host-computer- inflicted limit on the number of messages and library files available within a forum, as well as on the maximum number of sections. These limits go away under the new architecture. This should allow forums to keep from having to "split" as often, and the "scroll rate" can be lengthened considerably. But why won't they offer ASCII access on these new systems? Time. Money. Competition. It would take MANY additional months to program an ASCII interface to the new host computers. Then, if this was done, EVERY change in the future would have to be incorporated into both HMI and ASCII interfaces. In a competitive environment where customers are demanding more and more for less cost, the time delays and expense of providing ASCII in addition to HMI would certainly slow down CompuServe's ability to respond to the changing demands and usage patterns of its customers. Any such "unnecessary" delays in the fast moving online world could be fatal. ASCII's useful life is limited. Online content is being enhanced through the use of sound, graphics, and hotlinks to other areas. How do you present such information under ASCII terminal emulation? Therefore, to offer an ASCII interface, CompuServe and its information providers must create content in two different forms, for ASCII users and for those running HMI. That is already being done in several areas online, and it has proven to be both time consuming and prone to implementation problems. That is not to say that HMI will be the only access method ever offered. Many folks want to see forums accessible through the Internet's World Wide Web in ADDITION to the normal access method using HMI. While there are billing, security, and other issues that must be resolved to make that happen, these are the types of things that become technologically feasible under the new systems. Without the burden on the programming staff of ASCII development, these other access methods have a much greater likelihood of coming to fruition. What is the time frame and plan for conversion? Since development and testing of the new hosts are not yet complete, all time frames are subject to radical adjustment. The rollout of these new systems has been a high priority for CompuServe for many months, and the systems have been in development for years. Once CompuServe finishes up their pre-beta testing during the coming weeks, members will see the first "beta test" forums converted to the new hosts. The number of beta forums will range between 15-30, converted over the course of 3-6 weeks. The only way to really test forum software and hardware is to put it where people are using it daily. The systems will have already completed extensive testing during the pre-beta (alpha testing) process, and will be deemed by CompuServe ready for member use prior to release to the beta forums. Even so, as anyone who has ever participated in a beta can attest, bugs will be found during the test, and you can expect beta forums to be down for maintenance and software fixes somewhat more often than usual. The beta will last until the systems have shown themselves to be reliable (which could be as short as a month). Then, CompuServe will begin the rollout to many other forums. The schedule for these conversions has not been set, so individual forum sysops probably do not know when their forum is scheduled to be switched. CompuServe has said that a week or more before a forum is converted, a warning will be placed before entry to the forum and/or as part of the forum's News Flash. Will all forums be converted? No. Some forums will choose to remain on the older host systems due to the nature of their user base. Examples would include the Palmtop forum, Apple II, Amiga, Atari, Commodore C64, etc. Why are we getting such short public notice of this change? While it would be ideal to give six months or more notice of such a change, CompuServe needs to get forums switched over to the new systems NOW in order to have the capacity necessary to meet the needs of a rapidly growing customer base. How many people are affected by this change? CompuServe estimates that 80% or more of its members were already using an HMI application prior to this announcement (namely WinCIM, CSNAV, DOSCIM, OS2CIM, MacCIM, MacNAV, OzWIN, or CISCOMM). This transition should be invisible to them and not NECESSARILY require any software update. Of the remaining members, not all of them use forums. What is the plan for TAPCIS during this conversion? We will make available to customers during CompuServe's beta period a pre-release version of TAPCIS 6.1. Many sysops are already using this version, and it is ready for use by those who will need to use it during the beta period. We expect to make 6.1 the official, public release sometime in January. Since versions of TAPCIS prior to 6.1 will not work with the new forum software, you will need to upgrade to 6.1 once it is finalized (or during the pre-release period if you need to access one of the CIS beta forums). We will keep TAPCIS users informed through TAPCIS News and section 16/TAPNEWS in the TAPCIS Forum. The upgrade from 6.0 to 6.1 will be free. If you are using TAPCIS 6.0, you will download the 6.1 update from the TAPCIS Forum (or the TAPESP Forum, free of connect time charges, if you are an Extended Service Plan member). If you are currently using TAPCIS 5.x, I recommend that you upgrade to 6.0 now and become comfortable with its operation. The upgrade fees from 5.x to 6.x and ordering information can be found in ORDER.TAP in Lib 1/TAPCIS(R) in the CIS:TAPCIS Forum. What about other programs? Could there be a Procomm Plus with HMI? If you are using any access program that is specifically designed for CompuServe, you will want to stay in touch with the publisher of the program through their support forum. Several of the programs are being updated to include HMI, while others are not or will not be ready in time for beta forum conversion. If you are using a general purpose communications program, you will need to install new software. HMI isn't a protocol like ZMODEM that a program like Procomm Plus could just tack on. HMI is a proprietary protocol that must have a lot of CompuServe-specific user interface added for it to be functional. Does the move to HMI mean that programs like TAPCIS will have to operate differently? What about file formats? Do they remain the same? While TAPCIS interacts with CompuServe in a completely different way under HMI, our users will notice virtually no difference in how TAPCIS is operated offline. TAPCIS 6.0 and 6.1 use the same file formats, menus, commands, etc. From the user's standpoint, this upgrade should be a matter of installing the new version and going online. Nothing else. All files remain in the same ASCII format. The only major changes are the loss of interactive use of the forum, and that scripts that operate within forums will need to be modified considerably. (Service scripts for News, Weather, Stock Quotes, etc., remain unchanged.) But doesn't HMI require a graphical user interface (GUI) like Windows? No. A program can provide any kind of user interface on top of HMI. A GUI is not required. TAPCIS 6.1 happens to be a DOS program, which also runs under Windows and OS/2. CompuServe has been known to mix up the terminology and make it seem that HMI=GUI=CIM. The three are distinct animals. It is also common for folks to think that WinCIM is the same as HMI. In truth, WinCIM is simply the "face" CompuServe chose to put on the service, and it employs HMI to send/receive the information it presents. Every access program provides a "face" for CompuServe. Whether HMI or ASCII, the software's appearance is determined by the programmers, not dictated by HMI. The same goes for file formats. Indeed, one of the advantages of HMI is that the data arriving from CIS can be stored in any convenient format the program decides to provide, without going through a difficult and error prone conversion process. Since HMI requires that a special program be used, won't there be some people who will not be able to access these HMI-only forums? Unfortunately, that is true. HMI forum access is available now for the PC and Macintosh platforms. Users of Amiga, Atari, Apple II, Commodore, CP/M, TRS-80, and other machines not running DOS, Windows, Mac, or OS/2 do not currently have HMI solutions and are unlikely to get them. Unix machines, except those that offer DOS or Windows emulators, also do not have HMI at this time. Within the DOS market, those members with very old or memory limited machines such as the original IBM PC and XT only have DOSCIM to choose, and it may not run on many of those machines. Palmtop machines with limited memory and storage space are also unlikely to see an HMI implementation that will work for them. "Dumb terminals" will also be blocked, as will those telnetting in through the Internet using a terminal emulator. (You can still use a program like TAPCIS to telnet to CompuServe and run HMI.) The only "solution" anyone has to offer at this point is to purchase a new or used machine that is compatible with HMI. This isn't a solution for those on a tight budget. While much of CompuServe will remain open and available under ASCII (including a certain number of forums), it will be up to owners of those machines to decide on their best course of action. It's a difficult situation for them. What about blind users who need a screen reader to participate? The move to HMI eliminates the ability to use a terminal emulation program to participate online. That leaves blind and sight impaired users with far fewer choices. While there are some screen readers that work under Windows, they tend to be difficult for blind users, primarily because Windows is so visually and mouse oriented. We do have customers using TAPCIS 6.0 now with screen reader software, and we have opened S16/Blind/Screen reader in the TAPCIS Forum to address these issues. The only other DOS text-based solutions that offer HMI of which we're aware are CISComm and DOSCIM. With these conversion and compatibility issues, are there any other advantages to HMI that will make this worth it in the long run? I am a great believer that when two computers are interacting to exchange information, there should be a well defined protocol that controls the exchange in a predictable way. HMI provides that kind of predictability. ASCII, while it *could* have been defined in a predictable way, never was. No official document exists that defines how information is presented under ASCII on CompuServe. Sure, commands are defined, but not all the EXCEPTIONS. From my standpoint as the publisher of an access program, HMI makes a LOT more sense in terms of supportability and definitiveness. It is far easier for us to adapt to changes made by CompuServe under HMI than it is under ASCII. HMI also provides a guaranteed mistake-free link. The information presented to the user is known to have all its letters and numbers correctly received. Under ASCII, line noise can cause extra characters to be inserted, or one character to be changed to another. Even on error corrected connections, the receiving computer can "drop" characters from the middle of the data. As you may know, when we transfer (download and upload) program files on CompuServe, we use a special protocol that insures that if the file is received, it is received error free--precisely as it existed on CompuServe. HMI adds the same kind of reliability and reassurance to all information sent and received from CIS. All in all, HMI takes a lot of the ambiguity out of communicating with the CompuServe computers. We always know what information we get back or don't get back, and don't have to guess. For TAPCIS users, this is a major advantage. While we've worked magic under ASCII for eight years now, HMI is going to provide a robustness in the long term that should smooth out the bumps as CompuServe's online services make increasingly rapid changes in their structure and functions. If HMI is superior to ASCII in all these respects, why didn't you include HMI in TAPCIS before now? TAPCIS has always been focused on squeezing every ounce of performance out of CompuServe--to lower the cost by reducing online time. ASCII has been the access method that provides the best performance, which is why we've used it. We've intentionally traded off the advantages of HMI to get better speed. CompuServe has cooperated with us, by making only small changes to the ASCII commands and output formats. This has allowed TAPCIS to be very reliable online. But now forums need to evolve more rapidly. For example, when CompuServe changed the length of filenames from 10 characters (FILENA.EXT) to 12 characters (FILENAME.EXT), they changed the short library listing to be two-lines instead of one-line. All TAPCIS 5.x versions were immediately broken by this change. We had no control over how CIS would present the short listing; we just had to adapt. Under HMI, we have total control over how the output is formatted. We can present it in a way most useful to those using TAPCIS, rather than being forced to settle for CompuServe's "compromise." Which in my long winded way gets us to the point. ASCII has been and remains the performance champion. But CompuServe wants to get out of the business of deciding how people want the information to look. I agree with that. So, we're supporting them on this move to HMI even though short term the performance is not what we're used to seeing. What is performance like under HMI compared to ASCII? In our tests on the older hosts, HMI has typically been 60% as efficient as ASCII for message reading and building library catalogs. For file downloading and message posting, HMI and ASCII perform nearly the same. I don't know how to make this news any sweeter. While I don't pay for connect time, I do pay for long distance to reach CIS from our remote location. Every extra minute online costs me 13 cents, or $7.80 an hour, paid to my long distance carrier. So, I really do understand that any increase in expense is quite unwelcome. That said, here is my perspective... CompuServe has lowered connect rates dramatically over the past two years. After the initial 5 hours included as part of the monthly fee, additional hours are only $2.95 (or less under the Super Value Plan). I personally find this an incredible deal for what is available online in the professionally managed forums. If I use a program like TAPCIS to automate my access, I'm still WAY ahead of those who participate in forums using WinCIM. I'm getting more information in less time, at lower cost. I also view the performance issue as being short term. CompuServe understands that HMI has not yet been tuned for automated capture of a lot of information--with good reason. The older hosts did not have the memory or the horsepower to be able to handle some of the obvious optimizations. These can be done FAR more easily on the new hosts! HMI could be made highly efficient, now that it is being freed of the constraints of the old hosts. I have faith that once these new hosts are implemented, CompuServe will be able to work with us to make areas like message reading as efficient as B+ downloads, which run at nearly full link speed under both HMI and ASCII. In the meantime, we've implemented HMI in TAPCIS 6.1 to offer choice. You can run ASCII in the forums running the older software, and HMI in the new forums where it is required. Or, you may choose to run HMI everywhere. The choice is yours. What about scripts under HMI? Forum scripts will have to change. Traditionally, online scripts have been based upon the prompt/response interaction of terminal emulation. The script just acts like a "fast typist." (This is how TAPCIS operates under ASCII, with its "scripts" built in.) Under HMI, where scripts are available, they will become more "high level" (meaning the underlying program that talks HMI to the host computers will do a lot more of the work). This will make scripts easier to write, but takes more work on the part of the programmer to provide the higher level calls. We plan to offer many HMI- compatible script commands in TAPCIS, but we do not know yet how many of them will be in the 6.1 version. However, TAPCIS already offers the ability for any third party program to make requests of it. We use plain ASCII "BOX" and transaction files that can be written to by virtually any program. These are documented in *.T6N files in Library 4/Freq. Asked Questions in the TAPCIS Forum. Using this technique, TAPCIS can be the "online agent" for other programs which request that certain transactions be performed (reading/sending messages, downloading/ uploading files, scanning headers, etc.). Scripts for ASCII areas of the service (such as What's New, stock quotes, news, and weather) remain unchanged. As those areas move to HMI, we'll have additions to the script language for those areas as well. What is going to happen to CompuServe Mail? CompuServe has not made an official announcement about this yet, but we do know that they are also going to be offering new mail services such as paging, auto forwarding and filtering, and more that will run under HMI on the new NISA hosts. We understand that if you want to use these new features, you will have to convert your mailbox to HMI-only, and not be able to go back to ASCII access. If you leave your mailbox under ASCII, you'd be able to continue to read messages in your mailbox using terminal emulation. The choice on whether to convert your mailbox will be yours. We'll have more on this when CompuServe makes their official announcement. --- CONCLUSION ------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for taking the time to learn a little more about HMI, the new CompuServe forums, and how TAPCIS and other programs fit in. Transitions of this magnitude are difficult, especially when compressed into a short time period. I truly believe that these changes are in the long term best interest of CompuServe and the members I serve. Even so, I regret that there are some people who will be leaving this community as a result of these changes. I hope that number will be few, and if there is anything within my power that I can do to help, please let me know. I'm excited about what the future of this online world holds. The content available through the network is becoming richer, and a broader range of people are discovering that forums offer a unique community experience that can indeed demonstrate the best that we humans have to offer. To all of those people who volunteer their helping hands to others through these forums, I want to say, "Thank you!" You are what make CompuServe a place worth visiting. Best wishes for a great holiday season, Rick Wilkes 76701,23 TAPCIS Publisher