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Q O T I N Version 4.7 The Quote Conditioner DOCUMENTATION by Leonard Abbey CIS 72277,566 August 31, 1991 Copyright (C) 1991, Leonard B. Abbey All Rights Reserved ABBEY INFORMATION SYSTEMS 1002 Citadel Drive Atlanta, Georgia 30324 ABBEY INFORMATION SYSTEMS QOTIN 2. INTRODUCTION QOTIN facilitates the handling and processing of historical quotes obtained from CompuServe. Using this program, you can download quotes, convert them into the format required for import into most popular spreadsheet programs, and produce archival files of the quotes received for later use by this or other programs. While it is true that CIS offers this information in various formats, tailored for individual accounting packages (including Lotus 1-2-3), the routine for acquiring this information, and the procedures for downloading it are complex and difficult to remember. Besides, if you have the raw data in its original form you can manipulate it in any manner you desire, and at no additional cost! Like many programs of this kind, QOTIN.EXE originally came into existence to fill the particular needs of the author. Thus it may not satisfy the exacting demands of a few top Wall Street firms. However, it is simple, easy to use, and it works. FEATURES o Produces scripts for automated downloading of quotes from CompuServe's Historical Quotes (GO MMM34). o Automatically downloads ranges of quotes of multiple issues from CompuServe. o Organizes downloaded information, placing quotes in archival files for storage and later use. o Produces import files for transferring quotes to popular spreadsheets. o Provides access to your choice of spread- sheets, word processors and terminal pro- grams (the program is optimized for Pro- comm). o Provides file management for download, spreadsheet import, and archival files, in their respective directories. o Reader allows on-screen viewing of down- load, archival, and spreadsheet import files. o Manages the printing of all file types. ABBEY INFORMATION SYSTEMS QOTIN 3. COPYRIGHT NOTICE AND LICENSE QOTIN is provided to you free of charge for your personal use. It is not in the public domain. This program, and it's accompanying docu- mentation, are copyrighted under the laws of the United States of America. You are licensed to use this program as follows: 1. You may use QOTIN for non-commercial purposes. 2. You may copy and distribute QOTIN for non-commercial purposes, provided you do not omit this documentation, or any of the other files provided in the QOTIN package. 3. You may upload QOTIN to bulletin boards provided you do not omit this documentation, or any of the other files provided in the QOTIN package. 4. You may not alter the program in any way or charge money for distributing it (other than minor charges for media). WARRANTY This program, and it's accompanying documentation, is without war- ranty, express or implied. This includes warranties of merchantabil- ity or suitability for any particular purpose. It is supplied "as is." The author will not be held liable for any consequental damages. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS QOTIN is written for IBM-standard, MS-DOS computers. It requires a minimum of 256 K Random Access Memory to load and run. DOS 2.11 or equivalent is required, though certain features are optimized for DOS 3.x. The program performs well on floppy-disk based machines, but full realization of it's power requires a hard disk. Some optimization for floppy disk operation is possible. QOTIN.EXE automatically recognizes and supports monochrome, Hercules, CGA, EGA, Super EGA, and VGA graphics adapters. Snow suppression is available for CGA systems. ABBEY INFORMATION SYSTEMS QOTIN 4. The following files are provided in the QOTIN.ARC package: QOT.EXE The program itself. QOTIN.DOC Documentation for QOTIN.EXE QOT.DAT Sample script response file. 022491.LOG A sample log file. HRB.QOT A sample QOT file produced from data in the above LOG file. HRB.PRN A sample PRN file produced from data in the above LOG file. VX.BAT A sample batch file for running word processors. TEMPLATE.WKS A sample spreadsheet. If any of these files are missing, please contact the author. THE SYSTEM File naming conventions this system are as follows: <filename>.LOG Terminal program's capture buffer saved as ASCII file. <filename>.QOT Historical quotations for a single issue saved in a readable ASCII file. <filename>.PRN Quotations saved in the format required for importing into spreadsheets. LOG files are simply Procomm's capture buffer saved on disk. They are in ASCII format, and contain everything which was displayed on the screen during the communications session. These files can be read with a word processor, or printed out by the printer. However, in addition to the quotes which were captured, they contain much extra- neous information, such as computer dialog, and login commands. QOT files are also ASCII files. They consist of a table containing the individual quotes for an issue, with a column title block similar to the one displayed by CompuServe. All of the information which CompuServe supplies relative to a given quote is preserved in the QOT ABBEY INFORMATION SYSTEMS QOTIN 5. file. When a QOT file is produced, the new information is appended to the bottom of any existing file listing the same issue. PRN files are ASCII files containing information to be imported into spreadsheets. PRN is the file extension which Lotus 1-2-3 requires in order to recognize them. Any of one of three varieties of PRN files can be produced by this program on a single pass. These files contain either: Date and Close Date, High, Low and Close Date, Volume, High, Low, and Close AUXILIARY PROGRAMS QOTIN is designed to work in conjunction with three auxiliary programs of your choice. These are a word processor, spreadsheet and terminal program. Because QOTIN produces Procomm scripts for the automated downloading of quotes, it is advisable to use either Datastorm's Procomm, or Procomm Plus as the terminal program. Procomm is a shareware program, and is widely available. The registration fee is modest, and the program is regarded as the best of it's class. Procomm Plus is a more advanced version of Procomm, and is available at most software out- lets. It is very reasonably priced. If Procomm is used, it's name should not be changed from PROCOMM.EXE. Procomm Plus should be named PCPLUS.EXE. QOTIN recognizes these two names, and customizes the script files accordingly. The word processor can be almost any one with which you are familiar. While the word processor is in use, QOTIN requires only 6K of over- head. The spreadsheet should allow the importation of ASCII files in a manner similar to that used by Lotus 1-2-3. Most spreadsheets fill this requirement. Word processor and spreadsheet programs may give better performance if they are accessed by means of batch files which change the default directory during use. Sample batch files are provided in this pack- age. If a batch file is used, the setup screen should show the loca- tion and name of the batch file, not the spreadsheet or word processor program. Procomm should not be run through a batch file. Instead, it is neces- sary that an environment variable be set so that Procomm can find it's auxiliary files. This is not difficult, and is done as follows: ABBEY INFORMATION SYSTEMS QOTIN 6. For Procomm, add the following statement to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file: SET PROCOMM=<procommpath> "Procommpath" is the disk and sub-directory location of Procomm. For Procomm Plus, add the following statement to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file: SET PCPLUS=<procommpath> Again, "procommpath" is the disk and sub-directory location of Procomm Plus. Examples of the above environment variables might be: SET PROCOMM=C:\PC\ or SET PCPLUS=D:\PCPLUS\ * * * I M P O R T A N T * * * The environment variable for either Procomm, or Procomm Plus must end with a backslash "\". Type the command SET to view the environment variables. INSTALLATION AND SETUP De-archiving the program. This program is supplied as a self-extracting archive, produced with the LHARC program. To extract the files, simply type "QOTIN" (without the quotation marks). No other software is required to perform the extraction. Floppy disk installation. Insert a floppy disk containing the program into Drive A. It is recommended that the program be run from Drive A, and data files be kept on Drive B. Hard disk installation. Copy all of the files into a sub-directory of the hard disk. ABBEY INFORMATION SYSTEMS QOTIN 7. Setup. When the program is first run, it searches it's own directory for a configuration file, QOT.CFG. If it does not find this file it builds one, prompting the user for the required information. Be prepared to enter the following information: Paths for LOG, QOT and PRN files. Paths and program names for word processor, spreadsheet and terminal program. Extensions of either BAT, COM, or EXE are assumed. CompuServe account number (PPN) CompuServe password. Procomm directory entry number for CompuServe. The LOG, QOT and PRN files can be kept in the same sub-directory, or in separate ones. QOTIN is able to determine its location on a hard disk. This allows it to be run from any sub-directory without having to keep multiple configuration files. This feature requires DOS version 3.0 or later. If your DOS version is earlier than this, the program will function, but a separate configuration file will be required for each directory from which the program is run. If you would like to wipe out all configuration information and start over, delete the QOT.CFG file from the directory in which QOTIN resides, or run the program with the /c option. The program can also be reconfigured while it is being run by pressing F2. OPERATION Invocation. If QOTIN is in a sub-directory which is in the PATH, simply type: qot If QOTIN is not in the PATH, make the sub-directory in which QOTIN resides the default sub-directory, and then type: qot For information on default directories and PATH's, see your DOS manual. ABBEY INFORMATION SYSTEMS QOTIN 8. Command line switches. Three command-line switches are available: /C (C)onfigure. This causes the program to begin by presenting the setup screen. After the screen has been filled in, a new configuration file, QOT.CFG is built. To abort the reconfiguration, press Esc at any time, and the old configuration data will remain in force. /S (S)now checking. The program normally turns snow checking off for color systems. This increases the program's speed. Use this switch if you have a CGA monitor, and snow checking is required. /F (F)loppy disk optimization. This switch causes the program to optimize itself for use on a floppy disk system. The tradeoff is that less memory will be available for loading any of the auxiliary programs (word processor, spreadsheet, terminal program). To use a command-line switch, run the program as follows: qot /c or qot c The "C" (or "F", or "S") may be optionally be preceded by a "/", "-", or a space (" "). They may also be written together ("SFC"), and in any order. However, there must be a space between the word "QOT" and the switches. The Main Screen. The first screen will show the name and version of the program. This screen will scroll off in 10 seconds. Or, press any key to cause it to scroll. The main screen (shown in Figure 1) then appears. The left side of the main screen is divided up into three file list fields. They show the LOG, QOT and PRN files present in the directo- ries chosen in the setup procedure. For the LOG and QOT fields, the paths to these directories are shown. ABBEY INFORMATION SYSTEMS QOTIN 9. INPUT FILES OUTPUT FILES -[LOG]----------------------[QOT]-------------------- ------------- | C:\LOG | C:\QOT | | QOT [X] | |--------------------------|--------------------------| | | | 040290.LOG | HRB.QOT | | PRN [X] | | HRB.LOG | USS.QOT | ------------- | | | ------------- | | | |PRN File: | | | | | | | | | | Date [ ] | | | | | Close | | | | | | | | | | Date [X] | | | | | High | | | | | Low | | | | | Close | | | | | | | | | | Date [ ] | |-[PRN]-----------------------------------------------| | Volume | | HRB.PRN | | High | | USS.PRN | | Low | | | | Close | ----------------------------------------------------- ------------- F1 - Menu F10 - Process <Space> - Select <CR> - View <Esc> - End FIGURE 1. THE MAIN SCREEN The right side of the screen shows the various file processing options. The processing options may be selected or deselected with the <Space> bar. An "X" is shown in the appropriate box for selected options. The QOT option is initially chosen as a default, so an "X" is shown in the appropriate processing option box in Figure 1. If the PRN option is chosen, one of the three types of PRN files must be chosen. Only one may be chosen for each pass. (Figure 1 shows the QOT and PRN options chosen, with the Date, High, Low, Close option as the chosen PRN file type.) The cursor is initially on the first file in the LOG file field. To move it to the other fields, press <Tab> or either the left or right arrow keys. If a file field is vacant, or a processing option box is not appropriate, the cursor will skip over that field. To move from file to file within a field, use the up and down arrow keys. To select a LOG or QOT file to be processed, press the <Space> bar while the cursor is on that file. The file chosen will then be high- lighted. When a processing option is chosen with the <Space> bar, an "X" will appear in the appropriate box. An abbreviated menu appears at the bottom of the screen. To proceed with the processing, press F10. To view a complete menu, press F1. While the LOG and QOT files are being processed, a Score Card will appear, showing the number of files, issues, and quotes processed. After the processing is complete, the score card will remain on the screen until a key is pressed. ABBEY INFORMATION SYSTEMS QOTIN 10. ------------------------------------------------------------- | M E N U | |-------------------------------------------------------------| | F1 - This Menu F10 - Process Marked | | Files | | F2 - Reconfigure | | <Space> - Select File | | F3 - Procomm | | <Esc> - Exit Program | | F4 - Word Processor | | <CR> - View File | | F5 - Produce Procomm Script | | <Tab> - Change Fields | | F6 - Spreadsheet | | <L><R> - Change Fields | | F7 - Delete File | | <U><D> - Next File | | F8 - Rename File | |-------------------------------------------------------------| | Press any key to continue | ------------------------------------------------------------- FIGURE 2. THE MENU The Menu F1 - Menu Pressing F1 causes the full menu to appear. See Figure 2. Any key pressed while the menu is visible will be passed through to the pro- gram, and the associated command will be executed. The menu can be cancelled by pressing any key which does not activate a command. Be careful not to use <Esc> for this purpose, as it is also the command to terminate the program! F2 - Setup Setup displays a configuration screen similar to the one which was originally used to configure the program. See INSTALLATION AND SETUP for details. Any of the information fields may be updated at any time. The effect will be immediate. F3 - Procomm When F3 is pressed, the program performs a SHELL to the chosen termi- nal program (preferably Procomm). At this time QOTIN will save an image of itself to disk, leaving only a 6K "place holder" in memory. This means that almost all of the computer's memory is available for the terminal program. ABBEY INFORMATION SYSTEMS QOTIN 11. During the SHELL, the word "QOTIN" will be displayed at the top of the screen to remind the user that QOTIN is waiting for the terminal program to end. If 5 minutes pass without any activity, QOTIN will automatically reload itself. The running program occupies approxi- mately 180K when saved to disk. When the terminal program is exited, QOTIN will reload itself from the disk, erase the temporary file, and proceed as though it had never been interrupted. If the program has been run with the "/f" switch, optimizing it for floppy disk use, QOTIN will remain in memory, and the terminal program must share the available space. F4 - Word Processor F4 will call the word processor which was selected during the setup procedure. The word processor allows the files produced by QOTIN to be touched up, or altered in any manner. QOTIN performs the same type of SHELL described in the entry for Procomm. It is important not to erase the temporary file which holds the image of QOTIN. This file is named QOTTMP.$$$. QOTIN will erase this file when the program is reloaded into memory. ----[Generate Script for Procomm]---------------------------- | | | Log file name: 041480 .LOG Dialing Directory # [3] | | | | Start date: 04 14 90 Frequency [W] | | | | End date: 04 14 90 (* = Latest Date on Record) | | | | Issues: [ hrb ] | | | |-------------------------------------------------------------| | Esc - Exit F10 - Enter | ------------------------------------------------------------- FIGURE 3. SCRIPT SCREEN F5 - Produce Procomm Script This command accesses QOTIN's script writing module. The script screen, shown in Figure 3, tabulates all of the information required for the automatic downloading of the required quotes. The log file may be given any name which the screen will accept. The file extension will automatically be LOG, so that QOTIN will recognize it. ABBEY INFORMATION SYSTEMS QOTIN 12. The start and end dates (for the range of quotes wanted) are set to the current date by default. They can be changed by moving the cursor to the appropriate field. The end date must be several days before the current date, due to the time required for CompuServe to update the database. If you want the end date to be that of the latest data available, enter an "*" in the first space of that field. You do not need to erase the rest of the default date. In the issues field, enter the symbols of the issues for which quotes are wanted. You can enter as many symbols as will fit on the line, but separate each symbol from the next with a comma. The dialing directory number field contains the number supplied on the setup screen. This can be changed by moving the cursor to that field. The frequency field accepts one of three values. D - Daily Quotes W - Weekly Quotes M - Monthly Quotes When the script screen has been completed, press F10. To abort at any time, press Esc. When F10 is pressed, QOTIN will ask if you want to go ahead and down- load the quotes now. If you answer yes, it will save itself to disk (unless the "/f" switch has been used), load Procomm, and run the script. The quoted retrieved will be saved in the LOG file you speci- fied, and will appear on the files screen after the program reloads itself from disk. The script file, named MMM34.CMD for Procomm, and MMM34.ASP for Pro- comm Plus will be located in the same directory as QOTIN. You can run it manually if you wish. The script will not be erased until a new one is written. See the section entitled "Script Response Files" for an alternate way of preparing script files. F6 - Spreadsheet F6 will call the spreadsheet which was selected during the setup procedure. This will allow you to import the PRN files into a spread- sheet which has already been formatted. A spreadsheet template, TEMPLATE.WKS, is supplied with this program. The command sequence for importing one of the files into Lotus 1-2-3 is: / (F)iles (I)mport (N)umbers Again, QOTIN will perform the same type of SHELL described in the entry for Procomm. ABBEY INFORMATION SYSTEMS QOTIN 13. F7 - Delete Files Using this command, any files selected with the <Space> bar can be deleted. You will be asked to confirm the deletion before it takes place. F8 - Rename Files The file on which the cursor rests can be renamed using F8. F9 - Unused. This command is waiting for your suggestions for the next version of QOTIN. F10 - Process QOTIN will process the LOG and QOT files which have been selected with the <Space> bar. (If the QOT option has been chosen, a QOT file cannot be the source file.) QOTIN processes LOG files as follows: each line of the file is read and scanned for a key word indicating that it is the header of a series of quotes. When such a series is found, QOTIN creates QOT and PRN files (depend- ing on the options selected) using the name of the issue as the file name, and an extension of either QOT or PRN (or both). If a QOT file for the issue already exists, the new information is appended to the bottom of the file. Any existing PRN file is overwritten. * * * I M P O R T A N T * * * If you download your own quotes, bypassing the script writing module in QOTIN, it is important that you us CompuServe's "/s" option. This prevents CompuServe from sending a new header for each quote. <Space> - Select The space bar selects files for processing by the other commands. Files which have been selected are shown highlighted. Files can be deselected in a similar manner. <CR> - View File By pressing Enter, the file under the cursor is loaded into QOTIN's reader. A status bar across the bottom of the screen gives the name of the file and summarizes the commands used for moving about in the file. The amount of memory available limits the size of the largest ABBEY INFORMATION SYSTEMS QOTIN 14. file which the reader will load. Files which are too large to fit into available memory are truncated. While a file is loaded into the reader, it may be printed by pressing "P". SCRIPT RESPONSE FILES Some users require script files which are slightly different from the ones which QOTIN supplies. In this case, a file can be built using the commands which you supply. To do this, construct a script response file named "QOT.DAT" and save it in the same sub-directory as QOTIN. This must be an ASCII file. The following response file variables are recognized by QOTIN: Dialing Directory Number = %dialdir Begin Date = %date1 End Date = %date2 Frequency = %freq File name for log file = %filname List of issues = %isslist Each variable must be preceded by a "%" in order to be recognized. QOTIN will read the response file one line at a time, and the lines will be included in the script file being constructed. When a vari- able is encountered, QOTIN will substitute the appropriate value from the "Produce Procomm Script" screen. Quotation marks and carriage returns will be added where appropriate. Comments may be included in the response file if they are preceded by a ";". Any characters on a line to the right of a ";" will be ignored. If a response file named "QOT.DAT" is present, QOTIN will automati- cally use it to construct the script file. A sample "QOT.DAT" file is included with this package. * * * I M P O R T A N T * * * IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO USE THE RESPONSE FILE METHOD OF PRODUCING A SCRIPT FILE, YOU MUST ERASE THE SAMPLE "QOT.DAT" ABBEY INFORMATION SYSTEMS QOTIN 15. SUPPORT In the unlikely event that support is required, the author may be reached on CompuServe, or at the following address: Leonard B. Abbey 1002 Citadel Drive Atlanta, Georgia 30324 404-633-7446 CIS # 72277,566 Comments and suggestions are welcome. CREDITS QOTIN was written with Microsoft's Basic Professional Development System, version 7.1. It employs extensive assembly language subrou- tines from MicroHelp's Toolbox, Mach 2 and QB/Pro libraries. Function libraries were maintained with Crescent Software's excellent manager, MAKEQLB.EXE. HISTORY Version 1.0 May 16, 1987 - Original release. In interpreted BASIC! Version 2.0 December 24, 1987 - Added directory capabilities. Version 2.1 March 13, 1988 - Minor bug fixes. Version 3.0 April 27, 1989 - Spiffy interface added. Version 3.1 September 24, 1989 - Minor bug fixes. Version 4.0 May 29, 1990 - Major revision. Added many new capabilities. Version 4.1 July 6, 1990 - Corrected problem with quotations over $99. Added bail-out during processing. Version 4.2 October 5, 1990 - Cosmetic corrections. Version 4.3 February 24, 1991 - Corrections to allow for changes in Procomm Plus Version 2.0 Version 4.4 April 15, 1991 - Use with finicky computers improved. Script response file introduced. Version 4.5 April 28, 1991 - Improved program's ability to determine it's location. Version 4.6 June 23, 1991 - Improved handling of dedimals. Added year to PRN files. Version 4.7 August 25, 1991 - Cosmetic repair.