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To MetaStock users and all others that are members of this list:
This support department receives and solves thousands of support issues
each month. These may be questions regarding usage, hardware issues and
yes, some turn out to be program "bugs" and are acknowledged and handled
accordingly. We handle each issue on its own merits. It does not take
"whining or public admonishment" to make us listen. We listen quite
closely each time. I posted some comments yesterday and hope that all
of you took the time to read them. I am not interested in a long
"battle" with any of you. I am not here to debate "company policy". I,
as the support manager, am only interested in providing you with the
best support possible. All of our support representatives feel the same
way. The support department does not make the business decisions nor
does it make the programming decisions. We are here to help solve
program issues you may be having. We are charged with supporting the
programs that are available, not with determining what the next version
of our software will look like nor what it will include. Each and every
suggestion we receive, no matter how it is stated, is forwarded to the
proper people. That is all a support representative can do.
I am answering this message personally because this thread is starting
to deteriorate beyond reason and some clarifications need to be made.
These are specific to the end of day data situation with DBC Signal, so
if you are not interested in that you may want to skip the rest of this
message.
In order to respond to your concerns, I must give you a short history
and brief lesson in how The DownLoader works with DBC Signal. Most
support representatives do not, and need not, know the history. They do
know what is supposed to happen and how and this they have discussed
with you in the past.
1) Equis was one of the first vendors to collect End of Day data
from the Signal receiver. This goes back to the days of Lotus Signal.
2) This collection process worked flawlessly for many years using
an End of Day loop transmitted by DBC Signal.
3) DBC Signal went to a Windows program. Good decision for them no
doubt.
4) Unfortunately, however, when they made this move, they created
the Data Manager, a DDE server that now controls the distribution of
data.
5) The DownLoader is an end of day data collection program. It is
not an intraday collection program.
6) Equis made the decision not to program to this DBC Signal
proprietary DDE server for The DownLoader because we did not have the
resources to do so and create MetaStock for Windows and MetaStock for
Windows Real Time.
7) When the Data Manager was released, DBC Signal continued to
transmit the End of Day loop as a separate service with an additional
charge if you do not use the Data Manager. This is called something
like the "DOS" packets, or "DOS" end of day data.
8) This loop is a 16-minute loop carrying all the end of day data
for all the issues Signal transmits. This data is received and
maintained by the ROS (Receiver Operating System), not by the Data
Manager.
9) The ROS is a single user operating system. Only one connection
to it at a time is valid.
10) The DownLoader deals with the ROS. The Data Manager deals with
the ROS. Only one may do so at any time.
11) The DownLoader uses a very simple, uncomplicated approach to
obtaining data from the receiver. It simply asks to view data. The
command is /V<symbol>. The response to this command is either a data
stream with data in it or a data stream with only the symbol in it.
12) The DownLoader either stores the data when the stream contains
in range high, low, close, or open, high low and close data or it
doesn't store it when the range is not correct or no data is received.
Volume is stored if received with proper data as described above.
13) DBC Signal, as you have stated, does NOT transmit an "open"
price. It uses the "first tick" as the open.
So,
Bug 1
Since DBC Signal does not really send an "open" price, the receiver must
maintain the first tick of the day. If the symbol for a particular
issue is NOT in the receiver and/or if the receiver is not ON prior to
the first transmission of data for that issue, then the receiver does
not have the first tick. Secondly, since The DownLoader simply sends
the /V<symbol> and waits for the data to be returned by the receiver,
The DownLoader can not control whether the "open" price is added to the
data returned for that symbol.
Bug 2
Again, all The DownLoader does is simply send a /V<symbol> to the
receiver and waits for the data for that symbol to be returned. Since
the data stream does NOT contain a date, The DownLoader has no way of
checking to see that the data being returned is the current dates' data.
The receiver and the data feed are responsible for the data. The
DownLoader simply asks to view it.
Bug 3
Since DBC Signal made the business decision to use one symbol for all
trading sessions, you are forced to try and obtain data from the
receiver during the session breaks. Again, The DownLoader send a
/V<symbol> to the receiver and waits for the data to be returned. If
the data is in the receiver it will usually respond with the data. But,
again, since The DownLoader does nothing but take the response to the
VIEW command and store the data, it has no control over what data it
receives.
Bug 4
Have we ever seen the source file? Have we ever seen the corresponding
MetaStock files? We do not show ever receiving an E-mail support
request from you nor does our internal tracking indicate any contact
from you regarding this issue. We do show a call regarding number 2
above. I suggest you supply us with a one of your source files and
perhaps the MASTER file and one of your data files so we may examine
them to see if there is a problem. The ASCII conversion has been
working as designed to the best of our knowledge.
My suggestions for solutions that are available now are.
1) If you wish to continue to use DBC Signal as your "end of day"
data vendor then you should
1) Make sure all symbols you are collecting end of day are
in the receiver. This may be accomplished by having The DownLoader
place them there during a collection. However, if you are following
different symbols in other software that uses the receiver, some may be
removed from the receiver by the ROS as it has limited capacity of
symbols. This depends upon the type of receiver and the version of the
ROS being utilized. Do not be mislead by the "access to N number of
symbols". The access is different than the ability to "maintain" in the
ROS. To access a symbol beyond what the ROS is able to maintain, a
symbol must be REMOVED from the ROS. This should help explain why
"resetting the portfolio" acts the way it does.
2) Arrange to "automatically" launch the collection of your
Futures so as to maximize the time The DownLoader has in the receiver
before the next trading session begins. Again, number 1 above is
important.
3) Make sure you have the "DOS" packets service or none of
the above will work.
4) Make sure you have high quality reception so that there
is as little as possible interference with data reception from the data
feed.
The best suggestion I can make for collecting end of day data is to use
an end of day data vendor whose data is available after the market
closes. Using a modem or direct connection to the Internet is quick and
relatively painless. Using Reuters Trend Data Link, Telescan, or
Dial/Data for example allows collection of this data without worrying
about the different trading sessions using the same symbol and having to
obtain the data during a 20-minute period or losing it completely. The
"open" price is the open price. Of course, this means an extra expense
each month. You will have to decide if this is worth it to you.
I am not suggesting that you use a vendor other than DBC Signal. I am
simply suggesting that you consider it. Equis is NOT in the business of
"pointing fingers" and we are not doing so here. These are simply the
facts, as we know them. Whom you select as your data vendor is your
choice. We provide the means to get data from multiple sources and also
provide multiple ways to get that data into a MetaStock data file. How
you select to accomplish this is totally your decision.
If you do follow some of these suggestions or have questions regarding
them or continue to have problems please feel free to let me know about
them. I'll do whatever I can to help.
Bill Forman
Customer Support Manager
Equis International
a Reuters company
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