If you are familiar with Stock Watcher, skip to the last section, "Changes" to see what's new.
SHAREWARE NOTICE
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Stock Watcher is a shareware, you may use it for free for a period of 30 days. After that period, if you still use it, please send $25 (a check) to:
Andre Leclerc
5181 Bisaillon
St-Hubert, PQ
Canada, J3Y 5W1
Any comments or bugs can be sent to Andre Leclerc, 73347,3143 on CompuServe.
When you register, you will receive the latest version via CompuServe Mail. The About screen won't show at startup, so you will have immediate acces to the program especially if it is automatically launched at startup.
You can distribute it freely as long you also give this file and you don't modify the program. Your personal settings are store in a pref file in the system folder, so you don't have to worry if you give the program.
Disclaimer
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The stock prices are provided as an avalaible basis and are not edited by CompuServe™. Neither the author of this shareware program nor CompuServe™ should be held responsible for the data fetched. You should always consult your stock broker for latest prices before taking any investment decision on the stock.
Set Up
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The first time you launch Stock Watcher, you will be asked for your CompuServe profile (user ID and password) and phone number. These three values should be entered for Stock Watcher to fetch stock prices. If you click on Cancel, You will still be able to enter the program and set it later in the Session Settings menu. You also should set the retries value and select the appropriate network (be aware that normally only the CompuServe network has no connect surcharge).
To add stock symbols, enter the Ticker List menu, type the new symbol and click on <<Add. The symbols will be listed in the entry order. If You want them sorted, click on Sort, To remove symbols, select the symbol(s) then click on Remove. To insert a symbol before a specific one, select it and the new symbol will be inserted before it.
To set the time period and interval that Stock Watcher will automatically fetch stock prices, enter the Time Settings menu. Ajust the start, finish and interval by clicking on the appropriate arrows. The increment value for the start and finish depend on the interval period. By holding the shift key while clicking on start and finish, the time will be changed by one hour increment.
Stock Watcher Preferences
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Small Window : When set, a small window showing only the last price of one stock will be used instead of the full information window. To select the stock, select it in the pop up menu in the Ticker List menu. The stock ticker will be shown in the window name.
Show Messages and Time : When set (default), the bottom part of the full Stock Watcher screen will show the progression messages and the actual time.
24 Hour Display : When set, the time displays will be in 24 hour format
Save Window Position : When set (default), the Stock Watcher window position will be saved when you quit the program, so at the next launch it will be at the same position if it were not outside the screen
Beep After Stock Update : When set, there will be a system beep at the end of the prices fetch.
Auto Save: (for registered users only) When set, all received data is appened (if not in Quicken format) after each updates to the file 'Stock Watcher Export' in the system folder.
Quicken Format: (for registered users only) When set and Auto Save also set, all received data is saved (old data is replaced) in Quicken format after each updates to the file 'Stock Watcher Export' in the system folder.
One File For Each Ticker: (for registered users only) When set and Auto Save also set, each time there is an update, each data fetched will be appened to a separate file for each ticker in the 'Stock Watcher Export folder' in the system folder.
Add Time & Date Auto Save: (for registered users only) When set and Auto Save also set, the current time and date will be added as 2 data fields to the data saved.
Export in Quicken Format: (for registered users only) When set, exports will be in Quicken 4.0 format (data separated with commas instead of TABs).
Add Time & Date Export: (for registered users only) When set, the current time and date will be added as 2 data field to the data saved.
Add Time & Date Clipboard: (for registered users only) When set, the current time and date will be added as 2 data field to the data copied to the clipboard.
Modem or Printer Port busy Message
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The message "The «Modem Port» is busy !" will appear if you are already running another software that uses the modem port. Stock Watcher will check the availability of the port before trying to use it to prevent overriding the port and avoiding to crash the application that is currently using the port. Some applications don't close the port when quitting, leaving the port open.
If you get that message and you are sure you don't have another (communication) application or INIT running that uses the port, hold down the SHIFT button when initiating an update (Update Now in the file menu, command-U).
The same thing applies to the Printer Port but you should remember that you can't use the Printer Port if AppleTalk is active (in the Chooser).
Terminal Window
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Selected by the menu "Show Terminal Window" under "Edit" menu. It will show all the characters echoed from the modem and Compuserve like any other terminal emulation program, except you can't manually send characters. If you hold the option key while selecting this menu, no formatting will be done and each characters will be displayed. i.e. carriage return will be shown as a special symbol instead of bringing the cursor at the left of the screen.
Changes in version 1.1
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• Corrected a bug in changing the user ID without also changing the password.
• Added an option to auto-export data in Quicken 4.0 format (for registered users).
Changes in version 1.0.9
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• Added an option to export data in Quicken 4.0 format (for registered users).
• Added a terminal window to see the characters echoed from the modem and CompuServe.
• Corrected a bug for PowerBooks with Express modem.
Changes in version 1.0.8
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• Corrected a bug that was crashing in the Session Settings window.
• Added the possibility to Auto-Save in a separate file for each ticker (for registered users).
• Modified the delays for connecting to PowerBook's internal modem.
Changes in version 1.0.7
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• Modified the mail message.
Changes in version 1.0.6
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• Added error number to the "Didn't save!!!" message (for registered users).
Changes in version 1.0.5
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• Corrected a bug when not using the serial port arbitrator.
Changes in version 1.0.4
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• Modified the serial port connection to conform to the communication toolbox.
Changes in version 1.0.3
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• Phone number fields can now have up to 32 characters.
• Copy and Paste functions in dialog windows now work with the desktop clipboard.
• Registered users can now copy the Stock Watcher window's content to the clipboard.
Changes in version 1.0.2
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• Addition of an auto-save function for registered users.
Changes in version 1.0.1
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• Sometimes, while going to 'basicquotes', Stock Watcher was timing out and no update were taking place. The new values should make it more reliable.
• New messages have been added to let the user know what is going on.
