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Carl7816  
#1 Posted : 19 years ago
Carl7816

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I'm a new user of MetaStock and would like to know how would I take an Investors Business Daily Top 100 list in Microsoft Excel and convert it to use in the downloader? Help would be greatly appreciated.
hayseed  
#2 Posted : 19 years ago
hayseed

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hey carl..... most lists can be transformed into sym files following a couple steps..... first the list must be in plain text form with the name first then a comma and lastly the ticker..... excel helps......save that as a .sym file..... so your name might be similar to "ibd 100.sym " without the quotations..... place that file in your downloader folder..... then use it to create the list..... the first time goes slow, or at least did for me, but soon you'll be a pro...... some examples..... save target as ........h
StorkBite  
#3 Posted : 19 years ago
StorkBite

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Hi Carl- I remember this being one of my first questions on the forum... so, it's near and dear to me. It requires a little finessing outside of MetaStock, but can still be easily accomplished for any list as Hayseed demonstrates above. A simplistic manual method follows these basic steps: 1. Open IBD in Excel 2. Copy ColC into Notepad 3. Strip away the header and any blank spaces leaving just the symbols 4. If you are using QC, format the symbols by adding the 'us;' prefix 5. Save as plain text into the Downloader directory and rename your file to "IBD100.sym" or something informative 6. Start the DownLoader 7. Select FILE | NEW | SECURITY | LOOKUP 8. In the TYPE dropdown menubox, find your new sym file and create your symbols from there Note: You can use this Excel Macro file to create your sym file automatically. It might save you a little time. :D UserPostedImage
Carl7816  
#4 Posted : 19 years ago
Carl7816

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Thanks Storkbite and hayseed for the help. I opened up Excel and copied column C to notepad, saved it as a text file in E:/programfiles/metastock/downloader. Then went in and changed it to IBD100.sym. When I open up the downloader and go to file: new: security: lookup, I don't see my folder. Can you tell me what I'm doing wrong ? I guess I need a class on this downloader because I'm just not getting it for some reason. Thanks again for all your help. Carl
StorkBite  
#5 Posted : 19 years ago
StorkBite

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Are you sure you have the right path to the Downloader? It should be off of the Equis directory by default... \\\\Program Files\\Equis\ he DownLoader Also, make sure that your file isn't 'IBD100.sym.txt'. That's another pitfall. If so, just rename the file and strip off the ".txt". What does your SYM file format look like? Should be something similar to this (random symbols chosen for example): ICF,ICF,N/A,0,0 IYR,IYR,N/A,0,0 RWR,RWR,N/A,0,0 VNQ,VNQ,N/A,0,0 Actually, your symbols might look different depending on your data provider. Here is another example: Champion Enterprises Inc,us;CHB,N/A,0,0 CH Robinson Worldwide Inc,us;CHRW,N/A,0,0
Carl7816  
#6 Posted : 19 years ago
Carl7816

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Storkbite, I get the IBD in Excel format off the website. The Column C just has the ticker symbols so my text file is just the list of the ticker symbols, there is no comma's, and the ticker is not on there twice. I also have Metastock Pro 9.2 version if that makes a difference. Should I type in the ticker twice with the commas or should I copy the name and the ticker with the commas. I'm sure that it is in the right path but no files in the downloader have the .sym on the end. When I installed the program it put a metastock data file in the E:/ directory but I put my file in the E:/program files/metastock/downloader. Thanks for your time, Carl
hayseed  
#7 Posted : 19 years ago
hayseed

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hey carl..... sounds like your almost there...... couple thoughts here..... once the text file is in the downloader folder you can not just rename it to ibd100.sym..... you must save as ibd100.sym..... so open the text file first, type in the name ibd100.sym and click save ..... if your looking in the downloader folder you should note the icon changes..... i usually do that step first outside of meta , then drag and drop the sym file in the downloader folder...... you can use just the tickers in a list with out the names..... meta will just use the ticker for the name on its own...... holler back if still unclear..... its always easier the second time......h
StorkBite  
#8 Posted : 19 years ago
StorkBite

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If you are in the right directory, you will see 'dlwin.exe', 'dlwin.hlp', and an assortment of DTA files... Another way... Ok, you have the right directory, then copy the attached DTA file to that directory and edit it with notepad in the format you choose. Then click SAVE and YES to overwrite the original file. Hayseed is exactly right, your list might be abbreviated to nothing but symbols and the Downloader will ignore the blanks. Oops, shoulda mentioned that one first. By far the easiest solution though is to use the Excvel macro I gave you above and change the directory. From then on you won't have to worry about the individual steps. I use the XLS files straight from their website too. It's worked for me for years.
Carl7816  
#9 Posted : 19 years ago
Carl7816

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StorkBite and Hayseed, I want to thank you so much for helping on that I have finally accomplished that task and I will never forget it now. I do have one more question and I might have to wait till tiomorrow to find out if you don't know. When I purchased metastock, I bought it out right, and I'm paying 135.00, (I think) for the reltime data from quote center, Now do I need to sign up with reuters data link to be able to get the data to that file. I don't know if that is included with the 135.00 monly charge. Hope you can help and AGAIN THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE TIME YOU HAVE GIVEN ME !!!!!!! Carl
StorkBite  
#10 Posted : 19 years ago
StorkBite

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Equis used to set up DataLink accounts free for QC users. I'm not sure that option it still exists. You'd need to call sales and ask.
hayseed  
#11 Posted : 19 years ago
hayseed

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hey carl..... like g said , the folks a would know for sure..... but unless you have some plan that i'm not aware of, you should be able to download historical data now, tonite..... the reuters deal was back when downloading eod from qc was slow...... the speed issue might have been resolved..... if you have been downloading other folders already, just crank up the downloader add your ibd100 folder a give it a shot.... it should work..... the folder should work without the 'us;' prefix also...... i never used the prefix and downloaded from qc...... now that you've tackled the job, you might find yourself creating specific folders, such as etf's and such...... h hey g..... i fell for it...... that zip must be the ibd3..... h
StorkBite  
#12 Posted : 19 years ago
StorkBite

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Quote:
hey g..... i fell for it...... that zip must be the ibd3..... h
:oops: I thought that the '_test' suffix might suffice... didn't pass the hayseed test though. :P
Carl7816  
#13 Posted : 19 years ago
Carl7816

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Hello StorkBite and Hayseed, I hate to bother you but I need some more help!!!!!! I'm so frustrated with all this. :x I have got the download part correct except it is only giving me one day of information at least that is what is looks like. The date is 5/1/2001 for the start and end of tha data recieved and I don't know how to correct that and I can't figure it out. I'm hoping you can HELP me !!! When I do the download on the IBD100.sym and then go to metastock and open the download folder my charts are empty. Can You Help ???? Thanks a lot, Carl7816
StorkBite  
#14 Posted : 19 years ago
StorkBite

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Step 1: When you have the sym file in the correct format and located in the Downloader folder, start the Downloader and press Ctrl-N to bring up the NEW SECURITY dialog. Select the folder where you want to store the IBD100 securities, then press 'Look-up' button to bring up the SYMBOL DATABASE dialog. In the 'Type' dropdown box, select your sym file... this will list all of your symbols in the box below. Press 'Select All' and then OK. >> Make sure that the 'First Date' is as far back as you want to go. << and press OK.
Step 2: When you have the Downloader running, press Ctrl-D to bring up the SELECT SECURITIES dialog. Select your symbols and press OK to bring up the VENDOR SELECTION dialog. >> Make sure that the 'Ending Date' is set to the current date... i.e., today's date. << and press OK. This will start the symbol update process.
If you'd prefer to try to salvage what you have, you can try to adjust the Start and End times. In the Downloader, select TOOLS | ADJUST | START & END TIMES.
Carl7816  
#15 Posted : 19 years ago
Carl7816

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Hello StorkBite, Thanks for the info. I have finally figured it out, =D> , now all I have to do is do my first Marco that you sent me to make it easier, hopefully. After I do the download and I go to the MetaStock and click on File: Open: Quote Center: I see the downloaded file and now my question is, Each week when I do a download will it automatically update that folder, if so go great, but if not what do I do to change that ? Carl P.S. There is a lot to this software and I hope I can pick it all up sooner than later. :)
StorkBite  
#16 Posted : 19 years ago
StorkBite

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Hi Carl- Yes, the Downloader will update whatever symbols are in your IBD folder when you run it. If you decide to update your IBD list weekly, you will need to consider that the symbol list will probably not be exactly the same from one week to the next. I originally assumed they would be, but they're not. Aside from ranking changes, some symbols might drop off the list altogether and new ones will be added. For this reason, I create a new folder for each IBD update that I get. It makes for a lot of symbols to d/l, but I like to test my systems on them all. If one folder happens to exceed another in testing, I'll focus more on the differences in composition at that time. You're right... there is a ton of things that MS can do. Every time I get comfortable, I'll start reading Hayseed's tips and tricks and realize that I'm nowhere near the end of the rainbow. :)
Carl7816  
#17 Posted : 19 years ago
Carl7816

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Hi StorkBite, :evil: I can't believe I'm still having problems with this downloader, I did it last week and now I'm having problems again, I keep getting error messages when I'm downloading. How did the file IBD100 get in the quote center in meta stock. I just made another list of some other files in the downloader and I downloaded the charts and they are okay but now I go to meta stock, file, open, quote center and the list i just created is not there, but the ibd 100 folder is there and I don't know how I created that file. Also in the downloader when I put the .sym list in the directory can I put that in a file so when it downloads the charts they are not just listed with all the other charts, can i make folders for each list i put in the downloader. They need to have a class on this downloader so I won't have so many problems !! I also did what you said and made my IBD100List.sym a different name for this week and it's not in the quote center like the one from last week. I don't know what I'm doing here !!!!!! #-o Thanks, Carl
StorkBite  
#18 Posted : 19 years ago
StorkBite

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Carl7816 wrote:
I keep getting error messages when I'm downloading.
[list:edb2ef77d1][*:edb2ef77d1]Are you sure you have the right path to the Downloader? It should be off of the Equis directory by default... \\\\Program Files\\Equis\ he DownLoader [*:edb2ef77d1]Also, make sure that your file isn't 'IBD100.sym.txt'. That's another pitfall. If so, just rename the file and strip off the ".txt". [*:edb2ef77d1]Make sure your sym file is correctly formatted and contains only valid symbols (you can check the validity using your dataondemand feature).[/list:u:edb2ef77d1]
Carl7816 wrote:
How did the file IBD100 get in the quote center in meta stock.
Open the Downloader and then select FILE | NEW | SECURITY. From this dialog box, select LOOKUP. Select the dropdown listbox labeled "Type". In it, you will find your sym file. e.g., IBD100_06262006.sym. Select your sym list to populate the securities that it contains in the listbox below it. Move over to the buttons on the right side of the screen and choose SELECT ALL | OK. This will bring you back to the New Security dialog box. Make sure that your first date and periodicity are what you desire. Finally, select OK to finish. Note: you can also select CREATE if you have other symbols to create aside from this current list.
Carl7816 wrote:
Also in the downloader when I put the .sym list in the directory can I put that in a file so when it downloads the charts they are not just listed with all the other charts, can i make folders for each list i put in the downloader.
Open the Downloader and then select FILE | NEW | SECURITY. From this dialog box, you can create new directories to hold different lists. Just type the desired directory name into the first line labeled "Folder". If it doesn't exist, DL will create it for you.
Carl7816 wrote:
...my IBD100List.sym a different name for this week and it's not in the quote center like the one from last week.
See above. In addition, when you select TOOLS | DOWNLOAD (or Ctrl-D), you will need to point the DL to the new folder that you want to update. Select the folder where you just created the securities from the treeview on the left side of the screen and choose ADD to put it into the Folders tab on the right side of the screen. When you select OK, a Vendor Selection dialog will appear. Make sure that you have the desired ENDING DATE listed. You'll probably want it to be whatever the current date is. Finally, select OK and you should be set.
Carl7816  
#19 Posted : 19 years ago
Carl7816

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Hello StorkBite, =D> =D> =D> =D> Thanks for all the help, I think I have this now, I did four lists and everything seems to be working fine. When I'm looking at the charts I downloaded they are not smart charts, is there a way to make them smart charts ? Also if they cannot be smart charts do I have to update the charts on a daily basis ? I guess all I need to do now is figure out the MACRO that you sent me, never used or did them before so now I'm going to research and try to figure out how to use them. Thanks, Carl
hayseed  
#20 Posted : 19 years ago
hayseed

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hey carl.... was wondering what your refering to here, they are not smart charts ..... and how are you determining they are not smart charts..... is the chart plain or something.... if so you might need to replace your default template.... if your opening a chart from your local data folder, c:\\metastock data\\IBD100, the second the chart opens , that instant, a smart chart is created if one has not already been created prior..... if the chart has never been opened before it should open in the default template style..... unless you specificaly choose the option "open with template", where you prechoose a template to open with....... changes are automaticaly saved in the associated security's smart chart file.... you can save charts outside the metastock data folder.... if any changes are made to them while open, when you atempt to close the chart meta will always ask whether or not to save changes..... h
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