 Wall Street Explorer Help Index

What can it do for me?

Commands

File menu

Edit menu

Group menu

Security menu

Update menu

Options menu

View menu

Help menu

License Agreement

Wall Street Explorer is shareware. After an evaluation period of 50 runs users must obtain a license to continue using the software. The cost of a such a license is $10 and may be purchased from the author, Terence Wilson, by sending a check drawn on U.S. currency to:

4900 Thunderhead Court

El Sobrante, CA.

94803

U.S.A.

(Cash is also acceptable.)

Distribution of Wall Street Explorer

While the author encourages distribution of Wall Street Explorer, there are a few caveats:

1) The software must be distributed IN FULL. "In Full" means the complete binary image available from www.latte.com/wsx.

2) If you intend to distribute Wall Street Explorer you must first obtain permission from the author. Furthermore, mass distribution by means of a physical media such as CD-ROM entitles the author to a free copy of the complete material being distributed.

Shareware Guilt Trip

Wall Street Explorer took many hours to write. If you intend to use WSX please support future development of reasonably priced, high quality software by registering your copy.

Disclaimer

Wall Street Explorer is being delivered to you AS IS. The author, Terence Wilson, does not make any warranty as to its use or performance. THE PERFORMANCE OR RESULTS YOU MAY OBTAIN BY USING THE SOFTWARE OR DOCUMENTATION IS NOT WARRANTED. TERENCE WILSON DOES NOT MAKE ANY WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO NONINFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS, MERCHANTABILITY, OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT WILL TERENCE WILSON BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY LOST PROFITS OR LOST SAVINGS, EVEN IF THE AUTHOR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY CLAIM BY ANY THIRD PARTY.

Wall Street Explorer relies upon a data feed from third party quote providers. If in the future any supported quote provider chooses to terminate its supply of data to the public, the author, Terence Wilson, will be under no obligation to provide an alternative data feed.

Wall Street Explorer is merely a conduit for stock data from publicly accessible Internet Sites. Wall Street Explorer does not guarantee the integrity or accuracy of ANY data presented to the user.


Overview

Wall Street Explorer is an information hub for security data. Its goal is to centralize all of the most timely and pertinent information about a stock in a single, easy to use application. To achieve this goal Wall Street Explorer automates the retrieval of security related data from publicly accessible sites on the Internet. Wall Street Explorer differentiates itself from similar utilities by using a simple and intuitive user interface that should be familiar to anyone who has used the windows file explorer. An Example screen is shown below:

In the left hand pane is the Stock Tree View. The stock tree view is used to gather securities into groups. In the example above ‘My Stocks’ and ‘Indexes’ are groups. The members of each security group are the symbols at the next level. The Stock Tree View allows the user to control the information displayed in the Stock List View. The stock list view occupies the right hand pane of the application window. By clicking on a group in the stock tree view the user may display current price data for every security in the group in the stock list view. Thus the user is able to rapidly browse many stocks by simply pointing and clicking.


Edit Menu Commands

New Security, New Group	These commands add a new security symbol or group to the security tree. After the command is selected a dialog box prompts the user to enter the name of the security/group:

Note: Securities may only exist in the tree as members of user-created groups. Therefore, in order to add a security to the tree a group must be selected.

Delete	Delete will delete an item in the tree. If the item is a group all of its children will also be deleted.


Group Menu Commands

Update 	Refreshes the security list pane with the latest available data for every security in the selected group.


Security Menu Commands

PCQUOTE Chart 	Displays a chart of security price data for the selected security.

News Offers the latest news on the selected security from several publicly available news-servers.

Properties Displays the property sheet for the selected security. See the Security Properties Dialog.


Update Menu Commands

(Update) All Securities 	Refreshes the security list pane with the latest available data for every security.


Options Menu Commands

Select Columns Is used to select the columns displayed in the security list pane and control the column order. See the Columns Dialog.

General Preferences 	Displays a property sheet which contains all of the user-defined configuration settings. See the General Preferences Dialog.


File menu commands

The File menu offers the following commands:

New	Creates a new document.
Open	Opens an existing document.
Save	Saves an opened document using the same file name.
Save As	Saves an opened document to a specified file name.
Print	Prints a document.
Print Preview	Displays the document on the screen as it would appear printed.
Print Setup	Selects a printer and printer connection.
Exit	Exits Wall Street Explorer.


View menu commands

The View menu offers the following commands:

Toolbar	Shows or hides the toolbar.
Status Bar	Shows or hides the status bar.


Help menu commands

The Help menu offers the following commands, which provide you assistance with this application:

Help Topics	Offers you an index to topics on which you can get help.
About	Displays the version number of this application and other interesting trivia. See if you can find the Easter Egg.


File New command
New command (File menu)

Use this command to create a new document in Wall Street Explorer. You can open an existing document with the Open command.

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keys:	CTRL+N


File Open command
Open command (File menu)

Use this command to open an existing document in a new window.  You can open multiple documents at once.  Use the Window menu to switch among the multiple open documents.  See Window 1, 2, ... command.

You can create new documents with the New command.

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keys:	CTRL+O


File Open dialog box

The following options allow you to specify which file to open:

File Name

Type or select the filename you want to open.  This box lists files with the extension you select in the List Files of Type box.

List Files of Type

Select the type of file you want to open:

<< List your application's file types here. >>

Drives

Select the drive in which Wall Street Explorer stores the file that you want to open.

Directories

Select the directory in which Wall Street Explorer stores the file that you want to open.

Network...

Choose this button to connect to a network location, assigning it a new drive letter.


File Close command
Close command (File menu)

Use this command to close all windows containing the active document.  Wall Street Explorer suggests that you save changes to your document before you close it.  If you close a document without saving, you lose all changes made since the last time you saved it.  Before closing an untitled document, Wall Street Explorer displays the Save As dialog box and suggests that you name and save the document.

You can also close a document by using the Close icon on the document's window, as shown below:


File Save command
Save command (File menu)

Use this command to save the active document to its current name and directory.  When you save a document for the first time, Wall Street Explorer displays the Save As dialog box so you can name your document.  If you want to change the name and directory of an existing document before you save it, choose the Save As command.

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keys:	CTRL+S


File Save As command
Save As command (File menu)

Use this command to save and name the active document.  Wall Street Explorer displays the Save As dialog box so you can name your document.

To save a document with its existing name and directory, use the Save command.


Send command (File menu)

Use this command to send the active document through electronic mail.  This command presents a mail window with the active document attached to it.  You may then fill out the To: field, Subject: field, etc., and add text to the body of the message if you wish.  When you are finished you may click the "Send" button to send the message.


File Save As dialog box

The following options allow you to specify the name and location of the file you're about to save:

File Name

Type a new filename to save a document with a different name.  A filename can contain up to eight characters and an extension of up to three characters.  Wall Street Explorer adds the extension you specify in the Save File As Type box.

Drives

Select the drive in which you want to store the document.

Directories

Select the directory in which you want to store the document.

Network...

Choose this button to connect to a network location, assigning it a new drive letter.

<< Add other File Save As dialog box options depending on which ones your application chooses via the OFN_ flags of the OPENFILENAME structure used by the CFileDialog. >>


File 1, 2, 3, 4 command
1, 2, 3, 4 command (File menu)

Use the numbers and filenames listed at the bottom of the File menu to open the last four documents you closed.  Choose the number that corresponds with the document you want to open.


File Exit command
Exit command (File menu)

Use this command to end your Wall Street Explorer session.  You can also use the Close command on the application Control menu.  Wall Street Explorer prompts you to save documents with unsaved changes.

Shortcuts

Mouse:	Double-click the application's Control menu button.

Keys:	ALT+F4


View Toolbar command
Toolbar command (View menu)

Use this command to display and hide the Toolbar, which includes buttons for some of the most common commands in Wall Street Explorer, such as File Open.  A check mark appears next to the menu item when the Toolbar is displayed.

See Toolbar for help on using the toolbar.


Toolbar

The toolbar is displayed across the top of the application window, below the menu bar.  The toolbar provides quick mouse access to many tools used in Wall Street Explorer,

To hide or display the Toolbar, choose Toolbar from the View menu (ALT, V, T).

<< Add or remove toolbar buttons from the list below according to which ones your application offers. >>

Click	To

Open a new document.

Open an existing document.  Wall Street Explorer displays the Open dialog box, in which you can locate and open the desired file.

Save the active document or template with its current name.  If you have not named the document, Wall Street Explorer displays the Save As dialog box.

Print the active document.


View Status Bar Command
Status Bar command (View menu)

Use this command to display and hide the Status Bar, which describes the action to be executed by the selected menu item or depressed toolbar button, and keyboard latch state. A check mark appears next to the menu item when the Status Bar is displayed.

See Status Bar for help on using the status bar.


Status Bar

The status bar is displayed at the bottom of the Wall Street Explorer window.  To display or hide the status bar, use the Status Bar command in the View menu.

The left area of the status bar describes actions of menu items as you use the arrow keys to navigate through menus.  This area similarly shows messages that describe the actions of toolbar buttons as you depress them, before releasing them.  If after viewing the description of the toolbar button command you wish not to execute the command, then release the mouse button while the pointer is off the toolbar button.

The right areas of the status bar indicate which of the following keys are latched down:

Indicator	Description

CAP	The Caps Lock key is latched down.

NUM	The Num Lock key is latched down.

SCRL	The Scroll Lock key is latched down.


Index command (Help menu)

Use this command to display the opening screen of Help.  From the opening screen, you can jump to step-by-step instructions for using Wall Street Explorer and various types of reference information.

Once you open Help, you can click the Contents button whenever you want to return to the opening screen.


Using Help command (Help menu)

Use this command for instructions about using Help.


About command (Help menu)

Use this command to display the copyright notice and version number of your copy of Wall Street Explorer.


Help Using Help Command
Context Help command

Use the Context Help command to obtain help on some portion of Wall Street Explorer.  When you choose the Toolbar's Context Help button, the mouse pointer will change to an arrow and question mark.  Then click somewhere in the Wall Street Explorer window, such as another Toolbar button.  The Help topic will be shown for the item you clicked.

Shortcut

Keys:	SHIFT+F1


Title Bar

<< Show your application's title bar here. >>

The title bar is located along the top of a window.  It contains the name of the application and document.

To move the window, drag the title bar.  Note: You can also move dialog boxes by dragging their title bars.

A title bar may contain the following elements:

Application Control-menu button

Document Control-menu button

Maximize button

Minimize button

Name of the application

Name of the document

Restore button


Scroll bars

Displayed at the right and bottom edges of the document window.  The scroll boxes inside the scroll bars indicate your vertical and horizontal location in the document.  You can use the mouse to scroll to other parts of the document.

<< Describe the actions of the various parts of the scrollbar, according to how they behave in your application. >>


Size command (System menu)

Use this command to display a four-headed arrow so you can size the active window with the arrow keys.

After the pointer changes to the four-headed arrow:

1.	Press one of the DIRECTION keys (left, right, up, or down arrow key) to move the pointer to the border you want to move.

2.	Press a DIRECTION key to move the border.

3.	Press ENTER when the window is the size you want.

Note:  This command is unavailable if you maximize the window.

Shortcut

Mouse:	Drag the size bars at the corners or edges of the window.


Move command (Control menu)

Use this command to display a four-headed arrow so you can move the active window or dialog box with the arrow keys.

Note:  This command is unavailable if you maximize the window.

Shortcut

Keys:	CTRL+F7


System Minimize Command
Minimize command (application Control menu)

Use this command to reduce the Wall Street Explorer window to an icon.

Shortcut

Mouse:	Click the minimize icon [image] on the title bar.

Keys:	ALT+F9


Maximize command (System menu)

Use this command to enlarge the active window to fill the available space.

Shortcut

Mouse:	Click the maximize icon [image] on the title bar; or double-click the title bar.

Keys:	CTRL+F10 enlarges a document window.


Next Window command (document Control menu)

Use this command to switch to the next open document window.  Wall Street Explorer determines which window is next according to the order in which you opened the windows.

Shortcut

Keys:	CTRL+F6


Previous Window command (document Control menu)

Use this command to switch to the previous open document window.  Wall Street Explorer determines which window is previous according to the order in which you opened the windows.

Shortcut

Keys:	SHIFT+CTRL+F6


Close command (Control menus)

Use this command to close the active window or dialog box.

Double-clicking a Control-menu box is the same as choosing the Close command.

Note:  If you have multiple windows open for a single document, the Close command on the document Control menu closes only one window at a time.  You can close all windows at once with the Close command on the File menu.

Shortcuts

Keys: 	CTRL+F4 closes a document window

ALT+F4 closes the <<YourType>> window or dialog box


Restore command (Control menu)

Use this command to return the active window to its size and position before you chose the Maximize or Minimize command.


Switch to command (application Control menu)

Use this command to display a list of all open applications.  Use this "Task List" to switch to or close an application on the list.

Shortcut

Keys:	CTRL+ESC

Dialog Box Options

When you choose the Switch To command, you will be presented with a dialog box with the following options:

Task List

Select the application you want to switch to or close.

Switch To

Makes the selected application active.

End Task

Closes the selected application.

Cancel

Closes the Task List box.

Cascade

Arranges open applications so they overlap and you can see each title bar.  This option does not affect applications reduced to icons.

Tile

Arranges open applications into windows that do not overlap.  This option does not affect applications reduced to icons.

Arrange Icons

Arranges the icons of all minimized applications across the bottom of the screen.


No Help Available

No help is available for this area of the window.


No Help Available

No help is available for this message box.

<< If you wish to author help specific to each message box prompt, then remove the AFX_HIDP_xxx values from the [ALIAS] section of your .HPJ file, and author a topic for each AFX_HIDP_xxx value.  For example, AFX_HIDP_INVALID_FILENAME is the help topic for the Invalid Filename message box. >>


Help for Insert Node


Security Properties Dialog

The security properties dialog allows the user to choose specific properties on a per security basis.

Server

Wall Street Explorer can obtain security data from several servers on the internet. It has been the author’s experience that the quality of data from these servers depends on many parameters such as the server load, the type of security, timeliness of information. With this is mind, Wall Street Explorer gives the user absolute flexibility when configuring servers.

The combo box on the Quote Server property page contains a list of all servers supported by Wall Street Explorer. The default server is set in the General Preferences Dialog box.

Alerts

The Security Alert property page is used to configure alert parameters for a security. Alerts may be triggered in several ways:

1) 	A pre-defined target price is reached.

1) 	The bid price moves by an absolute or relative (percentage) amount.

Alert notification is achieved by painting a securities’ data in a user-defined color:

In circumstances where the user wishes to be informed of the alert immediately checking the ‘Interrupt Me’ box will cause a system modal dialog box to be displayed:

A system modal dialog takes precedence over every other window in the system and will guarantee that you are informed of price changes as soon as Wall Street Explorer receives the data.


Columns Dialog

The user may select the data fields to be displayed in the security list window by moving the named fields into the ‘Display’ list box. Items may be multiply selected by holding the ctrl/shift keys and pointing with the mouse. The order in which fields are displayed may also be controlled by using moving named fields up and down using the ‘Shift Up’ and ‘Shift Down’ buttons.


General Preferences Dialog

Default Quote Server

The default quote server is the server that will be used to retrieve all data for those securites that have the default quote server selected. The user may over-ride the default server selection for an individual security via the security properties dialog.

Quote Updates

The user may control the frequency at which Wall Street Explorer retrieves quote data from the Internet and also the frequency at which the user interface is refreshed. Generally, a user should select a under-interface update interval that is greater than the server update interval.


Registration Dialog

Users of Wall Street Explorer are urged to register their copy. Failure to register will result in the display of a ‘Nag’ dialog, which will delay the execution of the program.

Why should you Register?

Electronic distribution of software has many advantages over other methods. However, this method of deployment makes it hard for the author to gauge usage. For this reason Wall Street Explorer has an in-built mechanism which promotes registration of the software by its users. Registration of Wall Street Explorer is a simple process, which is described in the following section.

When Wall Street Explorer is run the registration dialog will be displayed. If you choose to

Register the software you should complete the registration form and hit the send button.

Your personal information and serial number will automatically be sent to the author. Upon

Receipt of your $10 the author will email you an activation code. This code can be entered in the second page of the registration dialog to unlock the software. Once the software is unlocked you can use it, and certain future updates, indefinitely. Note: If you re-install the operating system, or want to move the software to a different machine, you will need to repeat the registration process. There will be no charge for repeat installations as long as the software is to be used by the original licensee.

Please support the development of affordable, quality, shareware such as Wall Street Explorer by registering the software if you intend to use it.


File Print command
Print command (File menu)

Use this command to print a document.   This command presents a Print dialog box, where you may specify the range of pages to be printed, the number of copies, the destination printer, and other printer setup options.

Shortcuts

Toolbar:

Keys:	CTRL+P


Print dialog box

The following options allow you to specify how the document should be printed:

Printer

This is the active printer and printer connection.  Choose the Setup option to change the printer and printer connection.

Setup

Displays a Print Setup dialog box, so  you can select a printer and printer connection.

Print Range

Specify the pages you want to print:

All	Prints the entire document.
Selection	Prints the currently selected text.
Pages	Prints the range of pages you specify in the From and To boxes.
Copies

Specify the number of copies you want to print for the above page range.

Collate Copies

Prints copies in page number order, instead of separated multiple copies of each page.

Print Quality

Select the quality of the printing.  Generally, lower quality printing takes less time to produce.


Print Progress Dialog

The Printing dialog box is shown during the time that <<YourApp>> is sending output to the printer.  The page number indicates the progress of the printing.

To abort printing, choose Cancel.


File Print Preview command
Print Preview command (File menu)

Use this command to display the active document as it would appear when printed.  When you choose this command, the main window will be replaced with a print preview window in which one or two pages will be displayed in their printed format.  The print preview toolbar offers you options to view either one or two pages at a time; move back and forth through the document; zoom in and out of pages; and initiate a print job.


Print Preview toolbar

The print preview toolbar offers you the following options:

Print

Bring up the print dialog box, to start a print job.

Next Page

Preview the next printed page.

Prev Page

Preview the previous printed page.

One Page / Two Page

Preview one or two printed pages at a time.

Zoom In

Take a closer look at the printed page.

Zoom Out

Take a larger look at the printed page.

Close

Return from print preview to the editing window.


File Print Setup command
Print Setup command (File menu)

Use this command to select a printer and a printer connection.  This command presents a Print Setup dialog box, where you specify the printer and its connection.


Print Setup dialog box

The following options allow you to select the destination printer and its connection.

Printer

Select the printer you want to use.  Choose the Default Printer; or choose the Specific Printer option and select one of the current installed printers shown in the box.  You install printers and configure ports using the Windows Control Panel.

Orientation

Choose Portrait or Landscape.

Paper Size

Select the size of paper that the document is to be printed on.

Paper Source

Some printers offer multiple trays for different paper sources.  Specify the tray here.

Options

Displays a dialog box where you can make additional choices about printing, specific to the type of printer you have selected.

Network...

Choose this button to connect to a network location, assigning it a new drive letter.


File Page Setup Command
Page Setup command (File menu)

<< Write application-specific help here. >>