simpler: they were sent as colon-separated ASCII strings, in a manner similar to many Unix config files. Thus, it was quite easy to write a client, as the incoming messages were very easy to parse, and outgoing commands were easy to generate. This is in contrast to OSCAR, which due to the binary representation of data can be more difficult to understand. TOC2 The TOC2 protocol is an updated version of the TOC protocol, or "Talk to OSCAR" protocol. Its existence was never documented by AOL and it is only used in a few AOL Instant Messenger clients. Some clients are beginning to offer plugins for TOC2 in light of AOL's recent shutdown of their TOC servers. Like its predecessor, TOC2 is an ASCII protocol and lacks some features of OSCAR, but unlike TOC, TOC2 is known to support buddy icons and receiving file transfers (not sending). TOC2 operates in essentially the same way as TOC, as a wrapper for OSCAR. Porting code from TOC to TOC2 is remarkably easy as well. Because of the similarities between TOC1.0 and TOC2.0, they are better defined by their differences, of which there are only a few: In TOC1.0, connecting with an empty buddy list would make it so that others are not able to see you online. This has been corrected in TOC2.0. In TOC1.0, there is a toc_add_deny command, but no toc_remove_deny. TOC2.0 corrects this as well. The sign on process is basically the same as TOC1.0, but with a few new parameters: version, a number, and a code created based on the username and password. The purpose of the number is unknown. The default is 160 and it seems to have no effect if changed. Permitting and denying have been revamped and are much easier and full-featured in TOC2.0. The commands toc2_add_permit, toc2_remove_permit, toc2_add_deny, and toc2_remove_deny are all present and accessible at any time. Buddy list commands have also been improved. Group management is easier with the toc2_new_group and toc2_del_group commands. Also, it is possible to add or remove more than one buddy at a time, and choose the groups they are in. A few syntax changes have also been made, and parameters have been added to some commands. The uses of these parameters are still undetermined. Aside from this the only changes from TOC are the fact that a '2' was added on most commands both CLIENT->SERVER and vice