Each month in this Journal, our technical support staff addresses issues of interest to many CSI subscribers in a question-and-answer format. 

Notice:
  The views and information expressed in this document reflect the opinions and experience of the author Robert C. Pelletier.  Neither CSI nor the author undertake or intend to provide tax advice or trading advice in any market or endorse any outside individual or firm.  All recommendations are provided for their informational value only.  Readers should consult competent financial advisors or outside counsel before making any software purchase or investment decision.  CSI does not stand behind or endorse the products of any outside firms.
 

Copyright (c) 2001 Commodity Systems Inc. (CSI).  All rights are reserved.

Q.
    Every time I download data with Unfair Advantage, I end up viewing a page of news headlines on the CSI website. I would prefer not to see this display. How can I skip this step?

A.
    Corrections, data distribution, and database wrap-up work is underway while the news headlines are read.  If you care little about the news, pull down the "Options" menu, click "Data Options," and uncheck the box next to "Display Daily news file through browser." Your next distribution will omit the display of relevant news reports.

Q.
    How long do UA updates take?

A.
    There is no simple answer to this question because of the many variables involved. A daily update encompasses two distinct processes: 1) the download and 2) the distribution. Factors affecting download time include the number of days received, the market categories (e.g. just stocks, both stocks and commodities, etc.) and the connection speed. Factors affecting distribution time include computer speed, the number of days and market categories received, the number of export format files to be appended and/or rewritten, the number of adjustments required for your specific portfolio, bringing current the Market Scanner file, etc.

    Under optimal circumstances, where just one day of data is downloaded on a DSL line and no export format files are used, a stock update should take a minute or less. To minimize the update time for your application, be sure to update daily and streamline your portfolio, being sure that it only contains contracts and stocks of interest to you and that no unnecessary data formats are requested. If you aren't using the stock scanner, be sure the stock scan setting is turned off.

Q.
    Can I eliminate holiday gaps in my ASCII files?

A.
    ASCII export files can reflect your preference for holiday presentation. To optimize the content of your ASCII files, pull down the Options menu and click "Data Options." Click the "ASCII Misc." tab and click the drop-down menu for "Handle a Holiday By:" You may select from: "No record for  holiday," "All prices zero for holiday" and "Duplicate previous day's prices on holidays." Your files will have to be rebuilt before this change will be evident.

Q.
    There appears to be a gap of several months in one of my data files. How can I fix it?

A.
    First, go to the UA online factsheets and see if there is a footnote for that commodity or stock explaining the gap. If not, display the chart or table with UA to double-check that the error exists in your UA database (as opposed to only in an export file). If the problem is still evident, display charts for a few similar markets to see if the same time period is missing for multiple commodities or stocks. To correct a system-wide gap in data, you'll need to order a new Unfair Advantage CD from CSI.

    If the gap seems to be isolated to the one commodity or stock, it could be that the individual file is corrupted. The solution is to download a new file using the "UA Replacement Database Files" option on the "Support" screen of the CSI website (www.csidata.com).

     Enter the commodity or stock number (from the factsheets) in the box provided and click the "download." button. When the download is complete, save a commodity file as: "c:\ua\archives\cdb\00000000.CDB". (Commodity number replaces the zeros in the filename). Save a stock file as: "c:\ua\archives\sdb\00000000.SDB". (Stock number replaces the zeros in the filename).