Editing CompuServe (section)

== Software and features ==

=== User IDs and e-mail addresses ===
The original CompuServe user identifiers consisted of seven [[octal]] digits in the form 7xxxx,xx – a legacy of [[PDP-10]] architecture – (later eight and nine octal digits in the form 7xxxx,xxx<ref>[http://forums.compuserve.com/n/docs/docDownload.aspx?webtag=ws-books&guid=60cc7bba-ac09-427f-ac4d-0dc9d72e24e3 For example: ''76530,523''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131232620/http://forums.compuserve.com/n/docs/docDownload.aspx?webtag=ws-books&guid=60cc7bba-ac09-427f-ac4d-0dc9d72e24e3 |date=January 31, 2017 }} – address of author [[Diana Gabaldon]]</ref> and 7xxxx,xxxx and finally ten octal digits in the form 1xxxxx,xxxx) that were generated in advance and issued on printed "Snap Paks".

From 1989, CompuServe users had email access to the internet, using their user ID in the form xxxxx.xxxx@compuserve.com – where the comma in the original ID was replaced with a period.<ref name=CompuWired79/> In 1996, users were allowed to create an alias for their internet e-mail address, which could also be used for a personal webpage; the longest-term members were allowed first choice of the new addresses. In 1998, users were offered the option of switching their mailbox to a newer system that provided POP3 access via the internet, so that any internet email program could be used. Current CompuServe email addresses look like XXXXXX@cs.com for users of the CompuServe 2000 service.

=== Custom portals ===
CompuServe has a long history offering a custom portal of the CompuServe Information Service to the airline industry. Beginning during the 1970s, CompuServe offered a customized version of its service that allowed pilots and flight attendants to bid for flight schedules with their airline.<ref>{{Citation |last=Walker |first=Leslie |title=.COM - LIVE |date=June 3, 1999 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/talk/transcripts/walker/walker060399.htm}}</ref> CompuServe offered customized products to other industries as well, including a service termed CompuServe for Lawyers;<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Goldberg |first=Alan |year=1995 |title=On-line services help busy lawyers |journal=Bus. L. Today |issue=5 |page=37}}</ref> another was "the African-American Culture and Arts Forum."<ref name="NavWire99">{{Cite magazine |date=February 1999 |title=CompuServe for a New Millennium |url=https://www.wired.com/1999/02/compuserve-for-a-new-millennium |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]}}</ref>

As part of CompuServe 2000, another customized portal made a two-year deal with [[WebMD]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Weaver |first=Jane |date=February 22, 1999 |title=AOL revamps CompuServe, cuts price |website=[[ZDNet]] |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/aol-revamps-compuserve-cuts-price/}}</ref>

=== CompuServe GUIs ===
Over time, there were several [[graphical user interface]]s developed for accessing CompuServe.<ref name="CIS1.NYT" /> Unlike what AOL gave for free, ''The New York Times'' wrote about them "which Compuserve ought to give away, but does not". Among their names were WinCIM, TapCIS and NavCIS.

At a time when subscribers paid for timed access (as well as long-distance calls in some countries) and had to spend time online reading and replying to messages, their goal was to bypass CompuServe's [[CompuServe Information Manager|WinCim]] interface, and streamline<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=November 27, 1989 |title=TAPCIS |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=knLofWownIIC |magazine=[[Computerworld]] |page=103}}</ref> sending all pre-written email and forum postings that the user had written offline, then receiving new messages, downloading requested files, and logging off CompuServe.

==== TapCIS ====
'''TapCIS (The Access Program for the Compuserve Information Service'''){{efn|sometimes referred to as TAPCIS}}<ref name="AudMyPC">{{Cite web |date=March 19, 2010 |title=TAPCIS |url=https://www.auditmypc.com/tapcis.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710205600/https://www.auditmypc.com/tapcis.asp |archive-date=July 10, 2019 |access-date=July 10, 2019}}</ref> was an automated [[MS-DOS]]-based [[software application]] that sped up access to, and management of, CompuServe email accounts and forum memberships for PC users from 1981 until 2004 when advances in CompuServe technology rendered it obsolete. It was described as "archaic-looking (but) .. remains a powerful tool for accessing CompuServe forums."<ref name="TapTapCIS.PCmag">{{Cite magazine |date=February 23, 1993 |title=Access Program |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4RN8nH8oZ2QC&pg=PA322 |access-date=July 10, 2019 |magazine=[[PC Magazine]] |page=322}}</ref>

TapCIS was written in Borland's [[Turbo Pascal]] code by Howard Benner, a marketing executive from [[Wilmington, Delaware]],<ref name="Howard Benner">{{Cite web |title=TapcisForum - Howard Benner Tribute |url=http://www.tapcis.com/benner.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406233642/http://www.tapcis.com/benner.html |archive-date=April 6, 2019 |access-date=January 31, 2020 |website=tapcis.com}}</ref> who joined CompuServe in 1981. The software, which was [[shareware]] and retailed at {{US$|79}}, had a community of users who continued to maintain their own website.

Since it was able to issue administrative commands, TapCIS was the preferred program for dozens of CompuServe [[system operator]]s (sysops).<ref name="Farewell">{{Cite web |title=TapcisForum - CS Farewell |url=http://www.tapcis.com/farewell.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190708164330/http://www.tapcis.com/farewell.html |archive-date=July 8, 2019 |access-date=January 31, 2020 |website=tapcis.com}}</ref>

==== CIM and WinCIM ====
Regarding WinCIM (and predecessor CIM), ''[[PC Magazine]]'' wrote<ref name="TapTapCIS.PCmag" /> that "They give you a broader view of what's available" and by using it "you can more easily navigate the service." They explicitly caution that, unlike TapCIS, it  "won't save any money ... it could actually take you longer to retrieve and answer messages ... than without it."<ref name="TapTapCIS.PCmag" />

==== OzCIS and OzWIN ====
Although OzCIS and OzWIN (its Windows-based successor) were described as "free for personal use"<ref name="TapTapCIS.PCmag" /> by ''PC Magazine'', it was [[shareware]],{{efn|$65<ref name=CaTrib94/>}}<ref name="CaTrib94">{{Cite news |last1=Coates |first1=James |last2=Petersen |first2=Clarence |last3=Gwinn |first3=Eric |last4=Moore |first4=Kevin |date=April 15, 1994 |title=Seek a navigator and ye shall find savings |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1994-04-15-9404150251-story.html |access-date=July 10, 2019 |work=[[Chicago Tribune]]}}</ref> like WinCIM, TapCIS and NavCIS.

The programming was done by Steve Sneed using [[Pascal (programming language)|Pascal]]-like [[Delphi (IDE)|Delphi]] code;{{efn|formerly a [[Borland]] product}} the software was published by Ozarks West Software Inc.

Like TapCIS, it had sysop features such as moving and deleting messages, administering the file libraries, and "flagging" users (giving and denying sysop rights). Unlike other offline readers such as [[TapCIS]] and [[NavCIS]], which added proprietary ways of formatting text (colors, fonts, attributes), OzWin always remained "plain text" and never displayed any custom styles.

In May 2005, CompuServe discontinued access to the OzCis and TapCIS forums on CompuServe.

==== AutoSIG ====
AutoSIG<ref name="CaTrib94" /><ref>named "ATOSIG.EXE" on the CompuServe server</ref> was free, unlike WinCIM, TapCIS, NavCIS and OzCIS/OzWIN.

==== VisCIS ====
Visual CompuServe, also known as VisCIS, was a demonstration concept of a [[VRML]]-based client by programmer John D. Gwinner which modelled the CompuServe interface into a 3D virtual environment.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Schrag |first=Zachary |year=1994 |title=Navigating Cyberspace - Maps and Agents |url=http://twentyfiveyears-assets.telegeography.com/TeleGeography-1994.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423171242/http://twentyfiveyears-assets.telegeography.com/TeleGeography-1994.pdf |archive-date=April 23, 2018 |access-date=February 23, 2020 |magazine=TeleGeography |page=51}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Information Resources in Virtual Reality |url=http://www.hitl.washington.edu/projects/knowledge_base/irvr/irvr.html |website=hitl.washington.edu}}</ref> It was later redeveloped by Gwinner into VisMenu, a general-purpose VRML menuing system.<ref>{{Cite web |title=VisNet's VisMenu VRML menu software |url=http://www.northnet.org/VisNet/vismenu.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991011043258/http://www.northnet.org/VisNet/vismenu.html |archive-date=October 11, 1999 |access-date=February 24, 2020}}</ref>

=== Software applications ===
{{Unreferenced section|date=August 2024}}

==== FILe Generator and Editor (FILGE) ====
FILe Generator and Editor (FILGE) was a command-oriented [[text editor]] created by CompuServe in the early 1970s. Later it was replaced by screen-oriented [[WYSIWYG]] editors. FILGE's commands were preceded by a forward slash (/) character.

For example, if a text file contained the line ''[[The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog]],'' the word 'fox' could be replaced with word 'wolf' using the command:

<code>/c/fox/wolf</code>

To see the result of the edit, the user could type:

<code>/p</code>

and in this case, would see ''The quick brown wolf jumps over the lazy dog''

There were many other commands, including a repeating capability later, which allowed significant file manipulations without the need to write special programs.