Update News for February 2025

Here is a quick run-down on what you will find in this bulletin:

• • Upgrading Language Compilers

  • The Tiny Font Bug

  • How We Plan To Have You Test This

  • DELAY – Internet Program Bug

  • The DIS File Bug

  • Internet Quote Engines Are Top Priority

  • No Data Restructuring Until CQS.EXE is Done

  • Our Current Programming Plans for 2025

These topics will be dealt with in more detail throughout this bulletin.

Upgrading Language CompilersOne of our efforts during 2024 was to update our Windows language compiler to the newest version and then produce a new GOWIN.EXE with that compiler. Unfortunately, after releasing that updated version of GOWIN.EXE, we ran into a nasty and irritating bug that had been driving us nuts. More about that follows.

Let me sum it up as compiler upgrades are NEVER fun and have never been fun. New compilers offer the promise of more options to make development easier, but they also come complete with problems where the old programming source code that you had, that worked just fine with the old compiler, now works differently with the new compiler; FRUSTRATING and expensive because you spend time (money) to fix it.

As background, a compiler is a programming language tool that takes human readable source code and converts it to machine code which operates much more efficiently and quickly when run on a computer. The alternative is an “interpreter language” which is what you get with HTML (Hypertext Markup Language). HTML is most basic programming language for producing internet web pages.

When you produce a website with HTML code, that human readable code is taken by the browser which then processes those human readable instructions, interprets them into what you want to display, and in turn produces what you see when you are on a web page that was constructed with that HTML code. The browser is an interpreter that takes those human instructions and creates the page.

NOTE:   You can see the actual code for a web page by right clicking on a web page and choose the option “View page source”. That will display the “source code” that is being used to create the page that you see. My Christmas bulletin was produced with just HTML source code. If you click on this: Merry Christmas 2024 and after the Christmas bulletin displays, right click on the page and click on “View page source”, it will display the HTML code. (Control-U does the same thing”. That page is PURE HTML; very basic construction.

Another big reason we want to distribute ONLY compiled code is because we want to protect our software code (our property) from being stolen. It is VERY hard to steal trade secrets from machine compiled code. Add to that the fact that we have stored our life company product data in encrypted files (that are not easily reverse engineered) and that also helps protect our software from being stolen. Actually, it is not that hard to steal Compulife by simply copying it, but because the software is always changing and being updated, it means that if we catch someone stealing our software, we have methods to shut down their future use of the program. Once that happens, and without updates, what they have previously stolen is no longer of much use.

The language compiler is a VERY important tool for us for in order to build secure software. The problem is that compilers do NOT stay stagnant, just as the Windows operating system does not stay stagnant. Those of you with Windows 10 will now be getting those annoying messages that you need to upgrade to Windows 11, which is a free upgrade. It’s NOT so free if your computer tells you that it will NOT run Windows 11.

NOTE:   There are many people still upgrading older computers that Microsoft says won’t run Windows 11, and there is information on the internet of how to get that done. Nevertheless, many people are just replacing computers.

The Tiny Font BugThe BIG problem we encountered with the new compiler, other than the many bugs that always are generated when you take your existing source code and try to get it processed with a new compiler, was a particularly nasty bug with the Pick 12 spreadsheet. The Pick 12 option (which will just be called “spreadsheet” in the new CQS program) gives you a LOT of options and control over the look, feel and design of the spreadsheet pages that you print. The Pick 12 spreadsheet allows you to select fonts, font sizes, and colors.

The bug we ran into is where the Pick 12 printouts generated on some computers (not the majority of computers) were producing teeny/tiny fonts that were almost illegible. The BIG problem is what we had NO computers in our office that were able to reproduce the problem. Typically, when we have a problem like this, our programmer is able to insert steps into the program, which report what is going on at any point in the process. He can then run that modified program on the computer that generates the bug, and find out at which point things go differently from a computer that is NOT having the same problem. Once again, without a computer that replicates the problem, you can’t see where the problem is actually occurring. Asking customers who are having the problem to do testing is extremely difficult.

Fortunately my son bought a new Windows 11 laptop during cyber Monday sales before Christmas. When I tried the newly compiled CQS.EXE program on it the Pick 12 bug appeared. Remarkably, the newly compiled GOWIN.EXE on that same computer was working just fine. Both the newly compiled GOWIN.EXE and the newly compiled CQS.EXE largely rely on the same Pick 12 code, which underlines just how weird this bug is/was.

I then set up a software example that my programmer could use, and after some hunting about, he found a Windows 11 computer that replicated the bug. Since then he has been able to re-write code that fixes the issue although that process has produced some new bugs that we have been fixing until problem with the internet engine paused the process (keep reading).

IMPORTANT:   The current GOWIN.EXE produced with the old compiler works no differently on Windows 10 or Windows 11 computers so we are good for the moment on ALL PC systems running Windows XP or newer.

How We Plan To Have You Test ThisGiven that the “tiny font” bug was most pronounced in the new CQS.EXE program, once we think we have it fixed, our plan is to release the new CQS.EXE program in the U.S., and asking our subscribers to start it up, and to advise us if the Pick 12 (spreadsheet) is working and able to print or create PDF files that look like the same quote in the old GOWIN.EXE.

The instructions for the test will be simple. First, build a Pick 12 spreadsheet with GOWIN.EXE and produce a PDF file of the printout. Second, go into the new CQS.EXE program, click on the spreadsheet button, and produce a PDF file. We will then ask you to compare the PDF files to see if you find any differences. If you do, and you are the FIRST to report that difference, you will get a 10% coupon. At that point we will fix that issue in CQS.EXE, release a new version and encourage people to repeat the test exercise. The first to find a difference after that second release, will also get a 10% coupon.

We will do this over and over until we get CQS.EXE working to everyone’s satisfaction. Once that is done, we will take the Pick 12 source code changes made to fix the tiny font bug in CQS.EXE, and then make those same changes to GOWIN.EXE. Once that is done, we will release a new GOWIN.EXE built with the new compiler. Once that happens, it will FORCE any remaining unreported Pick 12 problems on everyone and we will then hear from those who did not bother doing the test.

Let me review why we will be bouncing between the two programs. Once we have both GOWIN.EXE and CQS.EXE working properly, we will then begin the process of creating a new data structure which is something that we have been trying to get to for a number of years. The new data structure means we will be using a new format for our data files, and new data files that have different names from the current files. When those are released, the new CQS.EXE program will be modified to work with the new files. The GOWIN.EXE will ONLY work with the old data files. For a period of time, as we go through this transition, you will have old and new on your computer at the same time. Eventually, when the complete overhaul of data is complete, we will STOP supporting the GOWIN.EXE system with the old data files and it will ONLY be CQS.EXE moving forward.

DELAY – Internet Program BugChanging the software for CQS.EXE has also meant our programmer has made a lot of changes to the same source code that is used for the internet quote engines. The internet quote engine is the core program that we use for all our internet quoting options. In the Windows program, there is additional software code that is built around the same program that is used for the internet. That additional code gives you the menus and displays and produces the printouts and PDFs which are what you use when you do quotes on your PC. None of that is in the internet quote engine.

During the course of making changes to the code for CQS.EXE, we had not compiled the engine for the web quoting system, and so we had begun doing that. To test it we put the new internet engine on our web quoting site for Canada, to run and see if we had problems. If there was a problem a customer would report it, and we could flip back to the old engine until we figured out the solution to the problem. Sure enough it turned up a problem that had us going for a time, but in December our programmer figured out that issue. After that settled down, we then put the same new engine in the U.S. web quoting program and that turned up a new bug.

The DIS File BugAs you know, one of the options that is in all Compulife products, PC or internet, is the ability for you to choose the companies that you want to quote in the system. Compulife’s buffet of companies and products includes every life insurance product that we can get our hands on regardless of who or how it is sold. Providing a product fits within the product categories that we offer, we want the company and product in Compulife. And to underline how much we want it, there is NO CHARGE for any company to have their products in our system.

Clearly NOT all agents can sell all companies or products. Therefore, an important option in ALL our quoting options is the ability for you to select those companies that you want in your quotes. In the PC software program there is an option, under “Manage Product Database” to “Select A Group of Companies to Quote”. In our web quote option and mobile quoting option, there is a control panel where you can do the same thing. Both options produce a “COMP.INC” file that lists the 4 letter codes for each of the companies you want to quote. When any of our programs (PC or internet) encounter the COMP.INC file, ONLY those company codes are used to produce quotes. It’s a simple text file with just those codes.

NOTE:   If you want to know which companies those codes represent, you can use the PC version of Compulife, under Manage Product Database, “List all Companies in System”. That will produce a list of companies showing the code for each company.

Some agents want to “fine tune” the quoting further. Perhaps they have a company that they sell for, but do not want to quote a particular and specific product for that company (for whatever reason). Within the PC version of Compulife, under Manage Product Database, there is an option “Disable Products by Category”. When you choose that option you will get a list of ALL product entries that are contained within whatever product category (10 year term, 30 year term, to age 121, etc) that you choose. With the list of product for that category displayed, you can then put a red-X on those products you do not want to quote.

IMPORTANT:   DO NOT red-X products for a company you do not quote. That would be the Department of Redundancy Department. If that company is NOT on your list of companies to quote, that product will NOT be quoting anyway; ignore it. What you want is to ONLY red-X those products which are for companies you do want, but a product for that company that you do NOT want.

You then need to save this list when you exit the option “Disable Products by Category”. What the program then does is it creates a DIS file which is a text file containing the four letter product codes that you do NOT want to quote. In the case of 10 year term, it creates a file called 3.dis. “3” is the value assigned to the category for 10 year term, and “dis” means products disable for quoting.

NOTE:   In the PC version of Compulife, under Manage Product Database, there is an option “List All Categories” where you can see which category has which number or letter attached to it.

FURTHER NOTE:   In the PC version of Compulife, under Manage Product Database, there is an option “List Products for a Single Company” where you can see which company has which products and which categories that those products are found in.

When the PC or internet quoting engines are processing comparisons, any product codes found in a corresponding DIS file (assuming it exists) will be skipped over by the comparison program.

While you can do this yourself in the PC software program, neither the web quote option in Compulife or the mobile version have this option in the control panel. If you need this option (and most do not) then you need to call Jeremiah (800) 798-3488 or myself (Bob Barney (888) 798-3488) and we can produce the DIS files and upload them to your account to remove those products from your web quotes. Because of this being a special request, VERY few customers take advantage of the option.

What we discovered, with the latest version of the internet quote engine, was that it was ignoring the DIS files. We went back to the old engine for now, and we are fixing that issue as I write this bulletin.

Internet Quote Engines Are Top PriorityBecause of the issues with the Internet Quote Engines, our objective is to resolve all those issues before returning to work on the PC software, and the “tiny font” bug repair to Pick 12.

Once the DIS problem is fixed, we will again put the new engine up for our web quote option customers in Canada, then when we have had no reports of issues for a week, we will then move the program to the U.S. quote side. Once we have found no new issues there, we will more the program to the Mobile version in Canada then the U.S.. We will gradually replace all our engines in all our services with the new software, one service at a time until everything is using the new software.

The last engine that will be replace is the one for our API services.

There is no immediate need for customers of the internet engine itself to have to do anything right now. The current data works fine with the old engine that they have, and will continue to do so for the midterm. Internet engines users will be FORCED to upgrade once the data files have been modified but I don’t know if we will complete that transition in 2025. We will certain begin introducing the new files in 2025, with the new files ONLY accessible by the CQS.EXE program. We will NOT scrap GOWIN.EXE and the old data files until ALL the engines have been confirmed to have been upgraded. I expect all that will take some time and we will try NOT to rush anyone on that process.

Some of our engine users use foreign programming services for their websites, and those folks can be a little slow on making changes. Once again, we do not want to unduly rush anyone.

No Data Restructuring Until CQS.EXE is DoneWe also expect to receive a LOT of feedback from people when they are trying to use the new CQS.EXE which is quite different in look and feel to GOWIN.EXE. We went through this same sort of upgrade when we released Windows software to replace DOS software many years ago. Our experience is that people love the old, and tend to NOT like the new.

For example, I just got my first computer with Windows 11. Microsoft always finds new ways to anger me by rearranging their menus and options. A lot of it is just completely unnecessary change. It has been a pain to learn the difference each time there is one of these major Microsoft upgrades, and so with that in mind, I am careful to NOT inflict the same thing onto our own subscribers with our program/product. Having said that, the new software is quite different, and there will be s bit of a learning curve to find out where the old functions are, versus where they were in GOWIN.EXE. I will talk more about that after we actually release it.

Our Current Programming Plans for 2025The following is the current order for new work that we will be doing in 2025:

• • Introduction of New PC Version: CQS.EXE.

• • Overhaul Of Current Product Data Files.

• Introduction of Compulife Mobile* Plus (with Pick 12).

Anyone with questions about any of these upcoming projects can call Bob Barney to discuss:

Please don’t email me essay questions; just call. If I’m not in, email me your phone number, I’ll call you.

These planned objectives will easily consume our programming time during the balance of this year and throughout 2025. The good news is that once the product data files have been converted, and we have introduced the new CQS.EXE, and upgraded our internet engine to use the new data files, Compulife will be turning its full attention to our web based, Compulife Mobile software. The long term goal is to have a web based product that does everything our PC based software does.