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Tech
Talk
Information from CSI's Customer Support Department |
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Tech Talk
Each month in this Journal, our technical support staff addresses issues of interest to many CSI subscribers in a question-and-answer format.
Notice:
Copyright (c) 1998 Commodity Systems Inc. (CSI). All rights are reserved. |
$25 Bonus for You and a Friend Do you know about CSI's Referral Bonus Program? Here's how it works: Any current CSI subscriber who refers a new customer to our update service receives a $25 discount on their next CSI purchase AND the person they refer gets a $25 discount off the price of their first order. If you take advantage, that'll be a $25 savings for you and $25 that stays in your friend's pocket. To qualify, the new subscriber simply identifies the referring customer when placing their initial order. We'll take care of the rest! Tip of the Month Customers who access once every two weeks or so are likely to flood their ISP and overwhelm their bandwidth with large data demands. For best results, please try to remain current by accessing daily data at least once every other day.
Holiday Schedule CSI will be closed for voice communication on Monday, July 5th for the Independence Day Holiday. U.S. exchanges will be closed, but data from other exchanges will be available at the usual time.
Questions and Answers Q. I keep reading about how "compatible" Unfair Advantage is with popular analysis packages, but I can't figure out how to use it with my various programs. Any suggestions? A. The key to compatibility with other programs is data format. You control the format of your data files though UA's Portfolio Manager, where you can select CSI (QuickTrieve) format, CSIM or MetaStock format or an assortment of ASCII Text formats. For efficient use of time and storage space, Unfair Advantage only creates files for those contracts of interest to you, in each of the formats you specify. Many programs can use any of the three file types offered by UA, and some use only one or two of the available formats. For best results, we suggest you consult the documentation supplied with the analysis software to learn what format is preferred. Here are some suggestions: MetaStock: Use MetaStock or CSIM format. TradeStation: Use CSI, MetaStock or CSIM format. Data Handling must be set to "Force all commodity symbols to two characters." Windows on Wall Street: Use CSI, MetaStock or CSIM format. Excel: Import from ASCII, comma separated variables (CSV) format. Q. Does Unfair Advantage allow me to view two contracts on the same chart as QuickPlot® does? A. Yes, this little-known and seldom-used UA feature requires that you first create individual charts for each of the contracts. You can then use the "Copy a Price Series" feature to overlay one price series in the same window as another series. Simply click on any bar of the price series to be moved and, while still holding down the mouse button, drag the bar chart into the narrow, visible border of the destination chart. Release the mouse button to see the two price series displayed on the same graph. Q. I installed Unfair Advantage's commodity database recently, but I would like to upgrade to the full stock/commodity database. Can I go back and install the stock database now? A. If it is within two weeks of the original shipment date of your software, you have a couple of options: 1) Uninstall the software, then re-install it, selecting both commodity and stock databases. Your first on-line retrieval session will bring the entire database current. 2) Use Windows Explorer to copy the SDB folder from the Unfair Advantage CD-ROM to the \UA\ARCHIVES directory. On your next update, change the date at the bottom of the update screen to the last day included in your stock files. If it has been more than two weeks since you received your original CD-ROM, you should order a new CD from CSI (current cost is $10 for domestic or $20 overseas). When the new CD arrives, uninstall the old one and re-install from the new CD. This time, be sure to specify that you want both commodities and stocks. The software will automatically fill in the gap to bring your files current when you make your first update. When you install the stock database (or before), call our bookkeeping department or email debbie@csidata.com to flag your account for stock downloads. Re-collecting data as described above would normally result in an early-access surcharge, but we will waive double-accessing fees for the first month after you sign up for stock updates. If we fail to do this, please call bookkeeping to remind us to credit your account.. Please note: Stocks are currently offered on a trial basis as part of a broad market test. There is no extra charge for receiving stock data at this time, but they must be specifically requested from a CSI staff member to be included in your daily updates. Q. What is the current status regarding compatibility with MetaStock? A. We have good news on this front! Due to considerable demand for CSI data from MetaStock users, the makers of MetaStock have agreed to share their format library with our programming staff. This information will make it possible to provide compatibility with MetaStock through the end of the 21st century. Q. I'm looking at a "Snapshot" of my daily update with UA, and I keep finding caret (^) characters in the price information. Why is that? A. If a contract is quoted as a non-decimal value, and you have not requested that the software automatically force all values to decimal form, the price series will show a ^ to indicate that the trailing digits are not in decimal. For example, a corn price might display as 203^4. The caret indicates that the trailing digits (after the caret) are not decimal values; they reflect the normal trading units of the commodity. Corn trades in eighths, as demonstrated by the conversion factor of -1. Therefore, a value of 203^4 indicates a price of 203 and 4/8. If you require conversion to decimal values, go to User Settings (through the VIEW menu) and click the "Data Handling" tab. Check the "Output point values in decimal form" box. Q. How can I get the latest version of Unfair Advantage A. Our website (http://www.csidata.com) offers free upgrades of Unfair Advantage for current subscribers. You may download both the software and revised manual (May '99) through the Internet. If you prefer to receive the software and manual by mail, please call or email CSI with your request. The cost for the software upgrade is $10 (domestic) or $20 (overseas). To receive the new printed manual, add $5 (domestic) or $10 (overseas) to the CD price. The price for just the printed manual is $10 (domestic) or $20 (overseas). PAGE 2 |
