The factual accuracy of this section is disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page.
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, including buddy icons and file transfers. TOC operates in essentially the same way as TOC, as a wrapper for OSCAR. Porting code from TOC to TOC2 is remarkably easy as well. Image File history File links Stop_hand. ... The TOC protocol or the Talk to OSCAR protocol was a legacy communications protocol used by some third-party AOL Instant Messenger clients, and several clients AOL produced but has abandoned. ... America Online, or AOL for short, is a U.S.-based online service provider and Internet service provider that is owned by Time Warner. ... The AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) is an ad-supported instant messaging and presence computer program, published by AOL in October of 1997, which uses the OSCAR instant messaging protocol and the TOC protocol. ... OSCAR is AOLs instant messaging and presence information protocol standing for Open System for CommunicAtion in Realtime. ... A buddy icon is a small image associated with an Instant messaging (IM) account. ... In computer science, porting is the adaptation of a piece of software so that it will function in a different computing environment to that for which it was originally written. ...
Changes from TOC
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 versa. Eg. IM_IN2, UPDATE_BUDDY2, etc.
External links
The following update to the original protocol documentation includes numerous additions and corrections, including a simplified way to calculate the username and password login code:
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