Automating Metastock backtesting using explorations

["Laurent GITTLER" <lgittler@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

List,

My purpose is to backtest strategies on several stocks (not just one like
permitted in the system tester, and compute and consolidate results
automatically). Typically, I use buy signals generated on different time
frames (monthly, weekly, daily).

I started to automate download and explorations in Metastock 6.52 with
Scriptit the Microsoft free install scripter,  (thanks to Ton Maas).

As I want to do several explorations on different time frames, I would like
to define the number of periods loaded for exploration in a different way
for each exploration I want to start. And I cannot do this using Metastock :
change the number of periods for explorations (Options button generic to any
explorer). I suppose there is a bug in Metastock, because in the Explorer
Options window, I found no way using the keyboard to go into the control
setting the number of days to explore (the control is Spin1) in the window,
other programs authorize the right key to go from a radio button to the spin
control, but metastock uses this keystroke to select the other radio button.

So I was wondering if anybody have found the same problem, is there was a
shortcup to enter this number of periods using the keyboard only (no mouse
click).

If there is no way, I suppose the only way to do this switch from scripit to
another scripting tool like Autoit, Windows Script Host, Winbatch or Wintask
and emulate a mouse click on the spin1 zone.


Another problem, I know it has been partially included in MetaStock 7.0, but
to make several explorations (actually on different time frames) and chain
them to that the second exploration is done only on securities that
exploration1 found out.

At the time being, I make all explorations independantly from each other,
automated the exploration result output in Excel and currently merge the
results manually using Excel functions.

I was wondering if the explored list can be entered in a easy way or not. I
could process the Metastock report output through Perl, Python, VB or awk (I
would prefer perl) and I was wondering if anybody has done this, if not I
will do it and post this perl code function to the list if anybody is
interested in.

Thanks

Laurent Gittler