Update News for May 2017

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

• • Data Conversion Under Way
    

     

  • New Program To Be Called: CQS.EXE

     

     

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

Data Conversion Under WayOur programmer has given us some good news. He advises that the first step in the data structure conversion, from old to new data format, is completed. This has been some hard tedious slogging on this part of the process, but it’s necessary in order to make the transition from the old data structure to the new. Having said that, it’s only a first important step with a lot of work left to go.

To review the overall strategy, Compulife will be introducing the new software and data files while continuing to deliver and maintain the old software. For a period of about 6 months you will have both the old Windows PC software and the new Windows PC software, allowing you to fall back on the old software anytime that you have any doubt that the new software is not functioning properly.

During that initial period we will continue to maintain the old data, and then convert that old data to the new data format for use with the new program. While you have access to both old and new programs, we will continue to test and refine our new data entry software to ensure that we can maintain the products and rates in the new data structure without having to maintain the old data structure. Only after exhaustive testing is completed will we abandon the old data structure and move to maintaining only the new.

New Program To Be Called: CQS.EXEThe new program, once we introduce it, will be called CQS.EXE. For those who are curious, “CQS” is the acronym for “Compulife Quotation System”. In the old days, when we were shipping DOS software, we used the program name “GO”. That was an easy command line for someone to type at the DOS prompt and it was easy for someone to remember. GO would launch the software either from a floppy disk or hard disk drive. When we rolled the Windows version we simply added “WIN” and called the new program GOWIN. CQS will break with that 35 year old “GO” tradition.

CQS is being designed to look and function more like what you would see if you were running that software from a web browser. In the long term we intend to beef up the cloud based version of Compulife which we now call “Compulife Basic”. Compulife Basic is a version of Compulife that runs from ANY device with a browser and web connection. Compulife Basic is FREE for everyone with a PC subscription, and it is available on a stand-alone basis.

The ultimate objective is to have both versions of Compulife work and function the same, so that those using the cloud version won’t have to think differently when using the Windows version. That objective is much further down the road and can only follow the roll out of the new data structure.

The new CQS program will dispense with the old Red menu and separate client screen. That structure was contrived during a period when many PC’s had low resolution screens and both the menu and client screen would not fit together on the same screen. That, combined with responsive designs, mean we can abandon that old format.

The Master Menu and client screen will be replaced by a single client entry screen from which all menu functions will be accessed. Menus will rely on a horizontal menu bar at the top of the screen, but we will have some short cut buttons that will give you quick access to important functions like comparisons, single product display and Pick 12. Once you select those functions they will appear just as they do now although over time the look and feel of those will change as we create a more browser-like interface.

There is a lot of work to go, but we think we have hammered out a game plan that the majority of our subscribers will like, and which should appeal to prospective buyers of our services.

The new CQS program will not be available until the end of this year.