MSwindows/dos Internet Explorer installation problems:
The downloading
of
GRNSTONE.EXE assigns different extensions to the file
such as .LXK or
.ROE and thus the executable program
can't
run. Is it
simply a matter
of renaming the file with the proper extension of .EXE?
Answer:
Yes,
rename the file with .EXE on the end instead.
............................................................................................................................
Here is a note
from
someone who had a similar problem where the file
name was NOT SAVED
as GRNSTONE.EXE:
Thank You for
the
software and the help in installation. After double
checking the
properties
of the program I found out it named the file
"C:\WINDOWS\DESKTOP\MYBRIE~1\GRNSTO~1.EXE"
I am not sure how
this name came to be, but when I typed it in, the
program installed.
Now I need to
learn
how to operate it. Thanks again
So, you see,
the
name was not grnstone.exe in his MSwindows.
I don't know why
MSwindows changed the name to `long' form.
But, it did.
Copy the file to c:\ and run it like this: grnsto~1.exe -d (enter)
If you get "Bad
Command or Filename" messages after
you type:
grnstone -d (enter)
then you probably
have the, above, described problem.
Another person describing an installation problem:
THIS time it
worked,
SINCE I got smart & made sure there was a "space"
between the
grnstone.exe
and the "-d". (Perhaps this was the other
people's problem
also) However, it started to open & I got an "Error
in the Zip"
message.
SO, I went back & re-downloaded from your site,
re-named it with
an .exe, used the "space" & it is now on my hard
drive.
Thank you very
much.
I will go & play with it now. Any other tips
you care to pass
on to me about your program, i.e., which data vendors
you like best,(I
see the ones at your site), etc., I'd be happy to
hear from you.
Linux
Install Problem: Command not found
> I made the
download
of the XRapid v 5.12 for Linux and followed the
> steps
indicated
in your Home page. However, when I enter in the rapid
> subdirectory
and
type ¨xrapid¨ (enter), a message : command
not found
> appears
> I have in my
computer
Debian/GNU 2.1 OS and I tried to install XRapid
> like root, in
a Afterstep X-Window. I don't know if it's a ¨bug¨ or
> there are
some
libraries that I don't have.
Don't install
and
run it as 'root' user.
Because then you
need to run it as ./xrapid
This is a special
security thing for root users.
Please tell me if this solves the problem.
David Pace
Reply:
------
Thank you for
replying
my e-mail.
I removed the
rapid
directory and I tried to install XRapid again, but
this time as a
¨normal¨
user. However the command ¨xrapid¨ didn't work .
After that I tried
to run the program as ./xrapid (as a ¨normal¨ user) and
it worked
perfectly.
Where can I get commodity information and data:
Here is a good link with many sources of information: http://www.smotass.net/bookmark.html
Will your software work with standard text or csv type data?
RAPID will work
with
many standard text data layouts. It will work with
CSV (because it
is plain text too) and .PRN files because they are plain text too.
Adding Prices to Rapid:
Take a look at the F5 menu and then F2 for
how
to create charts
from text data. Also, the old manual
probably
has a good
description of this. You can download it from
my web-page.
If you want to convert hundreds of files of text data, here is how:
> 1.
I have
historical data as PRN files i.e. CML.PRN (dohlcv format)
> which import
readily
into RAPID. There are approx. 1200 files to import and
> I was wondering
if
there was a batch routine to import these files in one
> go? Is there a
way
RAPID can recognize the first part of the file name (CML)
> to create the
graph
automatically ?
This works. Put all the files in a special
list
named like: list.! or
alist.! or big.!
example:
CML.PRN
BOC.PRN
BAS.PRN
You can create these lists in Rapid's first menu under "List".
Next, in <F5><F2>, feed the
import source
name in as the list name instead of
the symbol and then the file convertor will use
the CML, BOC and BAS as the
symbols. Make sure the PRN is upper case and
then the graphs will get stored
in:
stk_c/cml
stk_b/boc
stk_b/bas
Typing 1200 names into a list is quite a chore.
In unix you can just do:
ls
*.PRN > list.!
In
DOS you can do it too:
dir
/b *.PRN > list.!
I don't know if MSwindows can do it. It is
not
very good for some tasks.
.......................................................................................................................................................
Here is a manual way of typing prices into Rapid:
Pressing C twice when after you pull up a
new
graph and get it up on
the screen as a blank chart from the "New" menu
or try the "gold" chart
from the "Open" menu and add data by pressing
C-twice after you get it
up on the screen.
Also, you can use the F3 function from the
main
menu to type one day
of data into a List of charts. This might be
confusing compared to the other
two methods. Tackle it last if you want a
faster
manual way than the
C-twice-method that I described. You
don't
have to use F3 at all.
It was just added for speed typing.
...............................................................................................................................................................
Tip regarding Daily/Weekly/Monthly files:
I have been looking for some good software that allows me to view 12 month daily charts, plus weekly and monthly charts, off-line. I live in Europe, and on- line chart viewing is slow and expensive, as local calls here are billed by the minute!
I liked your screen- shots, and am looking forward to trying out your software. Thank you!
If you are using Rapid. Only create
the
Daily files and then use the <F10> function,
when a graph is displayed, to do a quick switch
to a Weekly or Monthly view.
There is no need to create permanent Weekly or
Monthly charts.
.................................................................................................................................................................................
Another example of loading data from a text file (from InvestorLink):
> Hello again
> I have downloaded and installed the rapid software.
> I started a trial account with Investorlink to get my data.
> I used the databoss software they provided to download data to
make
a chart.
> I downloaded Bo96f into C:\Databoss|download .
> The msdos name is BO96F.CSF.
I forget if you are DOS or Linux. Anyway, move the file to
\rapid.dat
or wherever your data for Rapid is located.
> When I open the program in wordpad it shows the information
in the
format of
> 19941025,27.7500,27.7500,27.7500,27.7500,1,1
Select <F5><F2>
Press 0, for yyyymmdd format
Press 4, and set the format to DOHLCVI (enter)
Press 5, for Text-to-Rapid
Press <F2> to do the conversion.
Enter the filename : BO96F.CSF
It will ask for the target filename next.
You make one up. It will put the
target filename in the subdirectory: csf_b\targetname
There is a bug in Rapid versions <= 5.23
where
the
subdirectory name gets lost and the attempt to
graph it right away fails.
But, it does create the graph correctly.
You just have to find it in a
subdirectory and open it yourself from Rapid's
main menu <F2>.
.......................................................................................................................................................
Question: Tell me how to convert comma delimited files:
> Hi DavidI
have
downloaded and installed successfully your charting program and
> I am
impressed!!
If you can tell me how to convert comma delimited files with
> the
>
format:code,date,open,high,low,close,volumeBHP,990331,12.56,12.98,12.48,12.50,1432876I
> might be in a
position to use the program effectively and I would have learned
> another trick
in my short life of 69 years.Hope you had a nice Easter
>
holidayThanking
you in advanceGreetings :-) XXXX in Perth, Western Australia
>
Here is how to convert the file:
Select
<F5> to
import/export graphs.
the <F2>
Text
to Rapid
Press 3 to make
sure the correct date format is selected.
Now here is the
tricky
part. RAPID can only handle
either
SOHLCV
or DOHLCV. But, not both `S'ymbol and `D'ate
in the same
file.
The reason for this is that usually the
filename is one
date 990401.TXT and it contains one day
for hundreds of
symbols then SOHLCV would work,
OR the file is a
single stock that contains a long history
of prices, then
DOHLCV would work.
So, I hope that
your
file is one stock with the BHP repeated
on each line, then
this will work: MDOHLCV
Press 4 and
type
MDOHLCV (the M is a marker to skip the
first field).
Next, press 5 to make sure text to rapid is selected.
Then press
<F2>
to do the conversion.
Type in the source
filename and it will ask the target name.
If this does
not
work, then send a sample text file and I will
try it out.
David Pace
..............................................................................................................................
Another example:
How can I add daily data to the files ? See attachment.
>
AGORA,D,991108,40.7,40.7,40.3,40.4,1400,0
>
AGROS,D,991108,15.7,15.7,14.9,15.3,2350,0
>
AMERBANK,D,991108,26.1,26.1,26.1,26.1,0,0
>
AMICA,D,991108,25,25,24.3,24.4,1350,0
>
AMS,D,991108,36.3,36.3,36.3,36.3,0,0
>
ANIMEX,D,991108,5.9,5.9,5.9,5.9,0,0
>
APEXIM,D,991108,24.9,24.9,24.9,24.9,0,0
>
BELCHATW,D,991108,18.2,18.2,18.2,18.2,0,0
>
BEST,D,991108,12.15,12.15,12.1,12.15,3250,0
>
BIG,D,991108,9.15,9.3,9.1,9.3,79500,0
>
BK,D,991108,11.8,11.8,11.7,11.7,3250,0
>
BORYSZEW,D,991108,18.1,18.1,18.1,18.1,0,0
Rename the text
file,
that you attached, to a name
that includes the
date (like this):
991108.STK
and then the
file
converter be able to handle your file and
it will use the
date from the filename instead of the dates
inside the file.
Start Rapid and:
Press
Press
Press <4>
and
set the format to: SMMOHLCVI
Press <5>
for
text to rapid.
<7> is
already
set to comma (,) so skip it.
Don't touch
<8>
either.
Press
Tell me if this
worked
for you. If not, I will think of something else.
David Pace
.................................................................................................
No, RAPID does
not
use Metastock format.
Is Omnitrader the
same as Metastock format?
..........................................................................................................................................
Where
do I get the internet data in North America?
InvestorLink Data Service OR InvestorLink plus Febo
Answer:
Contact them
directly
to subscribe to their data. Mention my name if you
sign up with them.
They send stock and commodity data by e-mail every
night, by 8pm EST.
I save the e-mail to disk on my computer and run it
through my
software
to create RAPID graphs every night. The update process
takes 15 minutes.
Concerning
your charting software, does it read ASCII directly
or does it read some other format and have to import ASCII?
It uses its own
format.
But, if you want the specs on the layout of the file
(if you are a
programmer
this might be useful) I will give them to you.
The sample data
that
I supply is ASCII and RAPID has a F5 function for
importing ASCII
data. The instructions are on the web-site for putting data
into RAPID.
> Question:
I already
have historical data in Win95 files; can that data be
> easily
accessed
by Linux (I'm sorry that I don't know the answer to this
> yet since I
am
just starting to look at Linux)?
Probably
yes.
If it is ASCII then definitely yes because Linux can
do mcopy to/from
win/dos floppy disks. And Linux can read and write
to win/dos
partitions
(if you set up your computer to be bootable in
both windows and
Linux).
>
> Thank you for
your kind attention to this. If you can help me, I would
> appreciate
it.
If not, I certainly understand.
You are
welcome.
Write again if you need more info.
Send a sample
windows
historic ASCII data file if you want me to check
if it is usable
with RAPID.
Is
there is a downloadable version of step by step instructions
to be able to get the best out of the program
>.eg; how to
section,for
> unfortunately
the help scection is not much help, dos is like walking through
> a maze blind
folded
unless you know what you are doing you just keep hitting dead ends.
My home page
has
a Rapid manual: http://www.rapidcharting.com: It is old but it
will
get you started.
MSwindows/dos question:
Some
commands do not work. Whenever I bring up a
menu,
it does not disappear? Is this normal? :
> Dear Sir:
>
I have the full version of a previous edition of rapid, and it a
> wonderful
program.
When I came across this link to get a newer version, I
> jumped on it.
I downloaded it, and I am currently trying to use it. However,
>there
are some commands that do not work, some files that are missing, and
> whenever I
bring
up a menu, it does not disappear? Is this normal? Is
this
> really the
full,
working version? If not, then where can I get it? When can
> I expect the
Windows
version to be released, and at what cost? I hope you
> can help me.
>
> Sincerely,
>
The version on
the
web-site is complete and fully functional.
Go into F6 config
menu and set the video resolution to 640x350
(because 640x480
does not work yet!!!).
David Pace
How
do I get rid of Rapid (delete it) in MSwindows/Dos:
> During my install trials I loaded up a non complete version
of
rapid in dos.
deltree rapid
deltree rapid.dat
should get rid
of
it. The installation is well
behaved.
It does not
put files
everywhere
and it does not touch your windows settings anywhere.
But, oops, if the
-d was not used, it would have put the files in the current
directory instead
of the rapid and rapid.dat directories (I guess we call these
folders
now).
Then, you would have to delete the files one by one. You could
know
the
names by matching
up with the ones in the good \rapid folder.
You can do this
deletion
of files from MSwindows of course, if you find the DOS
commands difficult.
Known
Bug in MSwindows/dos version:
Going into and out of F5 causes reboot or memory errors sometimes.
Yes, DOS has a
memory
limitation which makes the menu quit instead of going back
nicely. I
worked on a true port to MSwindows. But, I never finished
it.
It would not
have this problem.
A
way
to save each individual charts values:
Do I have to re-apply everything from scratch whenever I open a chart?
> >If i
change the
price value to manual on one chart, it alters all the other
> charts as
well,
so then when I convert another charts data it automaticaly goes to
default
(auto scale) > and changes the settings to auto on the other charts
as
well. Is their a way to save
> each
individual
charts values that i have set or do I have to re-apply
> everything
from
scratch every time i open a particular chart.
Yes, MACROS as
described
next will do this. You can include the auto-scaling keystroke
in the macro if
you want it different for each chart. But, yes, otherwise auto-scalling
is usually a universal setting.
> >How do I save a chart with the patterns that I have place on it so that when I open it up again they will still be there.
Macros are the answer. Turn macros ON in the F6 config area so that they run with the chart when you load it. How to do a macro: ... press M iwhen the graph is displayed and then record your keystrokes and M again to finish ... more details in the manual.
Also, a MACRO
can
be attached to a Alt-F1-F9 keystroke instead of storing them with a
chart.
Then you can reuse
them with more than one chart. You might do this instead of
turning
them on in F6.
But, you can also
do both.
If you made a mistake, say wrong tool, on escaping it again sends you back to open graph to start again.
I think you are
hitting
Esc more than once. Maybe you have
the
KEY-REPEAT setting in your BIOS set too fast and you are not letting go
of the key fast enough to do what you expect. Turn your BIOS down
to a slow repeat rate and a slow DELAY to detect a held-down-key (both
setting are in the bios).
I am also unable to get it to print.
Printing only
works
in MSwindows/DOS on dot-matrix printers. OUCH.
But, in
Windows/Dos
you can download a utility near the bottom
of
the MSwindows download page for grabbing screen images to GIF
format.
In Linux, use `xv' for auto-grabbing images and printing.
In Linux, here is a user's Gnome and xv solution to printing:
Just thought
I'd
let you know about a printing solution I'm using for
rapid graphs.
Printing:
Using Gnome
there's
a panel utility applet called Screenshooter which
lets you capture
the whole screen or a selected window into a jpg, png,
etc. graphic file.
I tell
Screenshooter
(via it's option menu) to capture to png format.
Invert
colors.
Not to capture window decorations. And to load the file
after capture is
completed into eeyes. From eeyes I print the graphic
using the
monochrom
setting.
This results in
graph
were the background is white and everything else
is black or dark
grey. I suppose I could change Rapid's color scheme,
but this only
matters
if you could make the background white (which
would be good if
you wanted nice color graphs printed).
By the way,
there
are programs that don't use gnome that do the same
things. But
I forgot what the screen capture was called, Slackware had
it way back when
I use to use it, for the graphics I'd use xv, I think
it prints.
Also,
Screenshooter
doesn't save its configuration, so whenever you
startup gnome
Screenshooter
will (mostly) be at its default settings.
But once you get
it setup it will stay that way throught your gnome
session.
How do you actually incorporate the NEW Graph section or New List.
"New graph" is for creating a new chart manually. Skip it. I just use F5 to add data to new charts.
"New list" and
"open
list" are very useful. After you have 15,000 charts on your disk
as I do,
I can create short
lists in the lists area and then instead of calling up one chart at a
time
in F2,
I call up a list.!
list and tab through several dozen charts that I want to look through
daily.
The lists have
full
chart names in them.
like:
stk_a\aapl
stk_i\ibm
stk_m\msft
gold
By the way the
NEW
and OPEN menus have the same
meaning as
MSwindows;
NEW creates a file and OPEN edits an old file. This is not a DOS
thing!
.............................................................................................................................................................................................................
Question
relates to the studies available. I
have to let
> you know I am
new to charting and technical analysis. I have purchased a
> book which
explains
the majority of indicators that are included in RAPID.
> The only
one I don't understand is (ALT-S options) and
would appreciate any
> information
on
what these indicators and numbers are telling me.
All the Alt-S
items
are my own experimental tools.
The "projected
slope
and deviation" is not as useful as it first looks
because it does
a dotted line projection on the end that is usually wrong.
It is ok to decide
the trend but not to measure a trade decision.
Detrend is fun
too.
But, I don't use it much.
"Projected
slope
and deviation" are an attempt to create absolute buy/sell
signals based on
measuring when a price is moving away from the current slope
and ignoring
sideways
movement..
"Time Horizon"
lines
are similar (only available in the Linux version).
except they use
different time-horizons instead of one single slope to
do the buy/sell
decision.
I am still
experimenting
with these.
Australia data source and links
I have a lot of Australian users.
Here are a bunch of good links that someone in
Australia sent to me:
http://www.sfe.com.au/Presentation/channel7/index.shtml
This site might have some free data:
http://www.zentropa.net.au .
Here is a data source in Australia that
someone
said was good:
http://www.netquote.com.au
(at $9.95 per month Australian dollars).
Bob says that National Online Trading has
free
data by nightly email:
"I append
a copy of the nightly e-mail which my online stockbroker
(National OnLine Trading - a service of one of
our largest banks) sends,
free of charge. They offer the choice of Ezy
Chart, Insight Trader,
Metastock, or Metastock (Vol./100) formats.
They
also Historical Data in
the same formats for adding new stocks. I
simply
paste the required
section into a text editor, save it as
010625.txt
(or whatever date), run your
F2 routine, then delete it every morning. It's
a magic combination."
More specific directions regarding using
this
National data:
> My bank, National Australia Bank
(http://www.nab.com.au)
has recently
> begun an on-line trading facility and one
of
the goodies they offer is
> a free end-of-day closing data e-mail in
Metastock
format. I've
> attached Friday evening's one for your
interest.
I removed the header,
> dropped it into my r.dat subdirectory as
20010303.txt
and use:
> F2 (convert files)
> 0 (yyyymmdd)
> 4 (SMHLCV)
> 7 (,) 8 (20010303)
> F2 (start the after-burners)
> F9 (select+enter 20010303.txt)
> D (daily chart)
> your program is great and the charts
I'm building
have made me
> significant money already. If I'm a pain
in
the ass, just tell me and
> I'll still hold you in high regard for
what
you've done already.
>
Cheers
.....Bob.
Another Australia data source and shell
script
to edit the data to work with Rapid F5/F2:
# MSMMCMOHLV
# Australia data: http://www.comsec.com.au
cat $1|grep -v Volume|sed -e s/,//g|sed -e
s/\"\"/,/g|sed
-e s/\"//g|sed -e s/" List "//g > $1.STK
Linux Installation problems
with missing fonts:
Mandrake 9.2-RC1,
rapid/xrapid won't execute. It gives the following error message:
Can't find font named: -*-lucidatypewriter-bold-r-*-*-20-140-*-*-m-120-*.
So, try another one.
Also can't find font: -*-lucidatypewriter-*-*-*-*-19-190-75-75-m-110-* in
/usr/X11/lib/X11/fonts/*. So, quitting.
Solution from Bob:
I used my head for a change and used Mandrake's gurpmi program to search for
available (but not installed) fonts in the distro CDs and a few mirrors. I
loaded the XF86 75 and 100 dpi fonts, as well as the mplayer fonts and RAPID
WORKS now!
X Error of failed request: BadName (named color or font does not exist):
> I've
installed
"Rapid" in my home directory in a RedHat 5.2 Linux
> system.
>
> when I try to
run the program I get the following:
>
> $ ./xrapid
> X Error of
failed
request: BadName (named color or font does not exist)
>
>
Major
opcode of failed request: 45 (X_OpenFont)
>
Serial
number of failed request: 16
>
Current
serial number in output stream: 18
>
> I'd greatly
appreciate
your help.
>
You are missing
a
font. RAPID uses different fonts
depending upon
which
screen resolution you are using;
eg. 640x480,
800x600
... .
The missing fonts
are called lucidatypewriter.
Well, I had a
second
person (from Brazil this time) report the same problem.
So, I had him send
me a full list of all of the fonts on his system and I found
alternate fonts.
So, download
version
5.12 or greater of RAPID and you will not have to install
new fonts.
Please let me know if it works if you try it.
Here is long
extract
explaining how to ADD a font to your linux
from a HOWTO at:
http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/Cyrillic-HOWTO-3.html
Fonts are available at: http://www.xfree86.org
So, let's start with the fonts:
1.Download the appropriate fonts collection. The package for XFree86
may
be
found at any FTP
site, containing the X distribution, for example, directly from
the
XFree86 FTP site. The xrus package may be found on ftp.kiae.su
2.Now when you have the fonts, you create some directory for them. It is
generally a bad
idea to put new fonts to the already existing font directory.
So, place them,
to, say, /usr/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic for a system-wide setup, or just
create a private
directory for personal use.
3.If the new fonts are in BDF format (*.bdf files), you have to compile
them. For each
font
do:
bdftopcf -o <font>.pcf <font>.bdf
If your server supports compressed fonts, do it, using the compress
program:
compress *.pcf
Also, if you do want to put the new fonts to an already existing font
directory. you
have
to concatenate the old and the new files named fonts.alias
in the case
both of them exist.
4.Each font directory in the X must contain a list of fonts in it. This
list
is stored in the
file fonts.dir. You don't have to create this list manually.
Instead, do:
cd <new font directory>
mkfontdir .
5.Now you have to make this font directory known to the X server. Here,
you
have a number of
options:
System-wide setup for XFree86. If you are running this version of X,
then append the
new directory to the list of directories in the file XF86Config.
To find
the location of this file, see output of startx. Also, see
XF86Config(4/5)
for details.
System-wide setup through xinit. Add the new directory to the xinit
startup file. See
xinit(1x) and the next option for details.
Personal setup. You have a special start-up file for the X -
~/.xinitrc (or
~/.Xclients,
or ~/.xsession for the RedHat users). Add the
following
commands to it:
xset +fp <new font directory>
xset fp rehash
It is important to note that '+fp' means that the new fonts will be
added
to the head of the
font path list. That is, if an application requests say a
fixed font, it'll
be
given the one with Cyrillic characters, which is definitely what we are
trying to achieve.
There are problems, though. The fixed font in the cyrillic
fonts distribution
doesn't have it's bold and italic counterparts. My font of choice is
6x13,
so, since it also
lacks bold and italic typefaces, I cannot use Emacs/XEmacs
faces in their
full glory. Hopefully somebody will ultimately create those fonts and
the
situation will
change.
6.Now restart your X. If you have done everything right, the tests in
the
beginning of the
section will be successful. Also, play with xfontsel(1x) to
make sure you are
able to select the cyrillic fonts.
In order to
make
the X clients use the Cyrillic fonts, you have to set up the
appropriate X
resources.
For example, I make the russian font the default one in
my
~/.Xdefaults:
*font:
6x13
/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi
and you can
read
the file: fonts.dir to see if these
fonts are inside
(lucidatypewriter):
Here is what RAPID is looking for:
if( www
==
800 )
XSetFont(display, gc1, XLoadFont(display,
"-*-lucidatypewriter-bold-r-*-*-17-120-*-*-*")
);
else if(
www == 640 )
XSetFont(display, gc1, XLoadFont(display,
"-*-lucidatypewriter-medium-r-*-*-14-100-*-*-*")
);
else if(
www == 1024 )
XSetFont(display, gc1, XLoadFont(display,
"-*-lucidatypewriter-bold-r-*-*-20-*-*-*-*")
);
else if(
www == 1280 )
XSetFont(display, gc1, XLoadFont(display,
"-*-lucidatypewriter-bold-r-*-*-26-*-*-*-*")
);
else if(
www == 1600 )
XSetFont(display, gc1, XLoadFont(display,
"-*-lucidatypewriter-bold-r-*-*-34-*-*-*-*")
);
else
XSetFont(display, gc1, XLoadFont(display,
"-*-lucidatypewriter-bold-r-*-*-17-*-*-*-*")
);
Here is a
SECOND
possible solution.
I sent a mail
message
with a complex FIRST solution a few minutes ago.
Here is #2 solution:
It might be
that
your X server does not have the FONT PATH set
correctly.
So, although the fonts are present, maybe the search PATH
is missing.
I do not know how to change it.
man X
showed some info.
xlsfonts will
list
all of your fonts that can be found.
You . can send
this
list to me if you want and I will check it.
Linux KDE problem: Xwindows error:
Hi David,
I think I've
found
my problem with the Xwindows error. I
spent
a lot of
the weekend
checking
permissions, moving r.dat around etc., but got
nowhere. As so
often
happens, I woke up this morning with the obvious
solution in mind.
I'm using KDE 1
and
have the "panel" configured down the left side of my
screen with the
"auto-hide" option enabled. I've usually
clicked
the end
of the panel to
retract it, as well, but hadn't done this recently. It
seems that Rapid
is unhappy with this arrangement - perhaps because the
autohidden panel
gives it an Exedrin headache.
I simply
retracted
the panel and then executed "xrapid". It now runs
fine.
If any of your
other
users is silly enough to make my mistake, we now
seem to have the
solution.
Thanks
again...
B.B.
Linux version of Rapid: Gnome locks
The mouse arrow
moves, but I
cannot
do anything else.
I have Red Hat
6.0.
I don't know why it locks, maybe the libraries are
not compatible.
Make sure that
you
downloaded the libc6 version of Rapid or try recompiling by typing:
make (enter)
and try Rapid
again.
PowerPC Linux
Does your Rapid
have
a Mac version?
Thanks
Answer: The
PowerPC version of Linux might be able to run RAPID. Download Rapid
and recompile by typing: make (enter)
Rapid automatically displays
the
most recent data.
Use Daily graphs only and here are some more recommendations:
> David, do
they
days "drop off" as time goes forward when it reaches
> your default
time
limit, or, do I have to do the adjusting myself at
> the
"beginning
date" question? It's not a real big deal, since you
> made it
possible
to have weekly & monthly charts to see the longer
> view, so I
can
set them, for say, 90 days on the daily, & be just
> fine.
Plus,
the numbers at the bottom of the screen let you know as
> you approach
the
365 limit. I think I answered my own question there.
Yes, the
default
is automatically making the best choice for you and
it
changes as you add
days.
Pressing F10 will
give you the choice of reloading the graph as
weekly or monthly.
Selecting 'D' for daily lets you reload it for
a different
default
start date if you want (without going out of the graph
and reloading it;
although that would have the same effect).
> Can, or
should,
I delete the "old" .asc file, after I have made weekly
> & monthly
charts of the individual indices, as, each day, or week,
I recommend
that
you ONLY create the daily graph using
the conversion
program, because
the F10 function let's you display a
daily
file as a weekly or
monthly graph.
So, skip the creation of the separate
weekly
and monthly
files (if
that is what you were doing; I am not sure if you were).
> I'll have
an updated
one to apply. I see you have a "update one day
> to many
graphs".
I guess that is what I'll try after I get tonight's
> download.
No, don't use
the
Update-one-day-to-many-graphs. It is for manually
typing in prices
to many graphs. In the very old days (1986) I was typing
commodity data in
from the daily newspaper. Data sources were very
expensive and
manual
typing only took 20 minutes per day.
Instead, when
loading
the daily update files, use the same conversion
program but change
the #4 line to SOHLCV
and make sure the
filename is named with a date and extension like 990726.CSF
This is the
long
explanation that I made in my previous message when I
thought you were
using the daily update file (not the history files).
Notice that the
daily
update file probably has the index symbol names as
the first item in
each line, instead of a date.
Here is a big
complication:
(I hope that you can follow this. I never
had anyone ask
about
coordinating history files with daily update files).
The daily
update
file will create names inside subdirectories as I said
before. In the
case
of 990726.CSF
the filenames will
be :
CSF_A\aapl
CSF_A\abt
CSF_B\bui
CSF_C\cit
CSF_D\DJIA
So, you have to
move
the files that you created from the history asc files
into the exact
subdirectory
and file names. Otherwise,
the daily update
asc file will not properly add the data to the big history that
you want to start
with because it won't find the files in the right place.
I did this when
I
first started with InvestorLink. I automated it by creating a
list.!
list of all the
text data files. Look under the heading: "Adding Prices to Rapid"
for more
information
about this.
More Tips:
1) Is there any way to look at the oscillator values within a window?
Two ways: Press C and scroll down to
"Show
Osc. values" an dpress enter.
(Or '|' turns them on too. But, you might
not easily see that on your keyboard).
Next, Press C again and scroll left/right to
see values.
They get displayed in the far left margin with
[] around them.
Also, X lets you move around and see values if | is turned ON.
2) Also, is there anyway to enlarge particular oscillator windows?
No, but you can swap a single oscillator
into
the price area (under
the main chart menu: Studies/second from bottom
is SWAP) (Also,
with a chart displayed: D, S calls it up.
Thanks! Also I am wondering if there is anyway to put in custom indicators?
If you know C programming, then sample.c
lays
out an example for this,
but, only in Linux because I do not provide the
complete DOS source code.
3) How to make the studies move from page to
page?
as in I set the studies
for a page such as parabolic
and or moving averages, when I press either
arrow keys, I have to
recreate
the studis. Is there any way to let the
studies flow from page to
page?
Use the MACRO feature (as mentioned in the
manual,
on my home page)
to record a set of studies to one function key
and press that key each time
or you can record specific studies with each
graph and then the studies will
come up differently for each graph without
pushing
a key. This latter feature
must be turned ON in the F6
configuration.
Read the manual for more detailed
explanations.
4) I have a huge data file (7000+ days of
data)
and I am trying to move
continously through them
with
the studies ie make it work as one big file.
I notice that I am limited
to having to 365 days from the first atated date
that I load from. Is there
any way to make it simulate like it is one huge
file in Rapid?
Rapid can display large files by compressing
the
data into fewer bars.
With a graph displayed, press <F10> and
select
a number of days to
compress or press W or M for weekly and monthly
compressing.
Programmer Information Re:
Linux: X_GetImage
errors
> I tried to
use
both 5.12 and 5.13 rapid on my linux 2.0.36 system and
> all that
happens
is that a big window appears, then suddenly dissappears
> with the
X_GetImage
errors. Followed directions in the README. I even
The problem is
in
rapid/dcl/clib.c
Download the 5.14
version that I just posted to my website
and go to line 232
of clib.c.
The only thing
that
you need to do is change that line to a font type
that exists on
your
disk drive that is smaller than what I selected.
Just try
different
sizes by experimentation and the error will disappear
and the RAPID
screen
will appear. The asterisks in the line 232
are wild-card
chars
that allow more than one possible match
for that
particular
field in the font string (fields are separated by hyphens).
If you need
more
help with knowing what to choose and where your fonts are located
ask me.
/usr/X11/lib/X11/fonts
...
Line 232 looks
like
this:
fontnm = "-*-lucidatypewriter-bold-r-*-*-34-*-*-*-*";
See the ( www == 1600 ) That is your monitor.
else if(
www
== 1600 )
{
maxcol = 79;
maxrow = 31;
scrwidth = 1580;
scrheight= (34+2)*maxrow; /* 34 is from 34-* (below). */
fontnm = "-*-lucidatypewriter-bold-r-*-*-34-*-*-*-*";
/*
-----------------------------------------
*/
if( XLoadQueryFont(display, fontnm ) == (XFontStruct *)NULL )
{
printf( font_err, fontnm );
maxcol = 79;
maxrow = 31;
scrwidth = 1580;
scrheight= (34+2)*maxrow; /* 34 is from 34-240 (below). */
fontnm = "-*-helvetica-bold-r-*-*-34-240-*-*-*";
if( XLoadQueryFont(display, fontnm ) == (XFontStruct *)NULL )
{
printf( font_err2, fontnm );
exit(3);
}
}
--------------------------------------------------------------
Linux
Error message during startup of Rapid:
mkdir: cannot create directory `/home/dpace': Permission denied
> $ pwd
>
/home/mrhee/rapid
>
>
[mrhee@wormhole
rapid]$ ./xrapid
> mkdir: cannot
create directory `/home/dpace': Permission denied
> X Error of
failed
request: BadMatch (invalid parameter attributes)
>
Major
opcode of failed request: 73 (X_GetImage)
>
Serial
number of failed request: 8812
>
Current
serial number in output stream: 8812
>
> What's up
with
the /home/dpace?
JUST, go into
the
configure menu F6
and change the
data
area to: /home/mrhee/r.dat
And the
/home/dpace/r.dat
error will disappear.
--------------------------------------------------
> Hi,
>
> I tried using
rapid513 from /tmp on my Linux box.
>
> Upon startup
I
get the error msg:
> brannon@salt
/tmp/rapid
: ./xrapid
> mkdir: cannot
create directory `/home/dpace': Permission denied
Try going into
F6
to change the configuration and
press enter and
"Set the data storage area" to /tmp/r.dat
instead of
/home/dpace/r.dat
and then Esc, Esc back out.
Tell me if this worked.
> Later,
when trying
to graph some data, I hit F5, followed by D and
> then use the
directory
browser to select the supplied file. it
> creates a
file
called /tmp/981204f.csf which looks to be an unzipped
> version of
the
datafile.
>
> Then I see no
graph... can you explain what might be wrong?
Probably
setting
the data area to /tmp/r.dat
will fix the
problem.
Also, after using
F5-D to add data to the graphs, the actual graphs
are in F2 and then
inside sub-directories csf_a, csf_b, csf_c ...
which you can get
at (as in MSwindows) by clicking on each such
sub-directory.
David Pace
-------------------------------------------------
Linux issue
regarding
/home/dpace error message:
------------------------------------
>
> ** I searched
for dpace throughout the distribution, and a file called
>
setup.rpd seems to have a /home/dpace dependancy for a file called
>
r.dat but I see nothing more
>
Yes, <F6>
for
configuration will change this setup.rpd file.
I better think
about
how to change this at installation time.
(I worked on
this
and in Linux (Rapid version 5.20) , the data directory defaults to your
HOME directory/r.dat instead of my HOME directory/r.dat)
May
I use Rapid for my newsletter?
> Dear Mr. Pace
I am interested in launching a technical analysis newsletter and
require
a charting
> package to
publish
it. Is there a royalty fee to use your charts or is a cross promotional
deal > available?
Let's do a
cross-promotional
deal. You include RAPID charts in
your news letter
and always list my web site address as the source
of the free
software
and say something nice about the software.
Is the
newsletter
printed or a web-site-newsletter?
If it is printed
and you have difficulty printing, let me know.
If you need jpeg
output (.jpg) graphs for a web-site, then let me know.
David Pace
I
was
wondering if you could make available the source code for the DOS
version
of RAPID.
Just as a private project I was thinking of adding more printer
support
and possibly porting
it to Windows Thanks for a great Program. DF aka
I have a couple of reasons for not releasing the full DOS source code.
I want to keep
one
set of source code for all operating systems and I want
the Linux version
to dominate. If I release the DOS version, I will lose control of
these two
issues.
In fact, all of the code is the same for the Linux version
as the DOS version
except the files in the /dcl/ subdirectory.
The printing
routines
which I am about to release for Linux will work with postscript
and laser and
inkjet
printers. A new DOS/Windows version could be compiled
using the DJGCC
compiler for MSwindows. I got far enough along to prove that it will
work. But,
the /dcl/ library needs a lot of work for the MSwindows/DOS version to
be
completed using
this DJGCC compiler.
Much of the
currently
missing DOS coding (which replaces the /dcl/ files) is video and
print drivers
written
in assembler and it will only compile with the Desmet C compiler
(which is now
available
under another name for free or shareware; I forget the precise
information).
I don't want to continue using this compiler and assembler source code.
David Pace
Is there a Real Time server your software will read ?
> Dave, I
just "
stumbled upon " your web page - - read as much as I
> could before
the
markets open and have three questions: ( I know you are
> busy, so when
you have a chance - - really not pressing, like trying to get
> something to
work
).
>
> I have been
trading
Commodities since 1985, - - Real Time via BMI &
> TS4.
I did have a
real-time
hook-up to Rapid via CanQuote.
But, they were
bought
by StarQuote and my work was wasted before I
could market it
(back in 1990). There is no real-Rapid
right
now.
> 2- If your
software
were able to read any Real Time Server, Do you
> believe it
would
plot any faster with your OLD DOS version vrs. your "
> windows "
version
?
Computers are
so
fast now, that the sluggishness of Windows is no longer
an issue. The
data-feed
from your vendor would be the most important issue.
(But, certainly
the DOS version would plot the fastest).
> 3- Which
of NT,
Win2k,RedHat, etc. would your program be optimized
> in, if it is
-
- or soon will be able to, support a real time data
> server ?
I was
investigating
this with a possible partner that might help me market this
kind of product.
I don't have any incentive to do this for free because my
site is not
generating
enough revenue yet. I decided to not get involved.
Linux question: Is your rapid program really GPL?
> Is your
rapid program
really GPL?
> If it's the
case
I'll try it and I'll work to add some features.....
> cheers
> --
Yes, it is
GPL.
If you make changes and they are well written,
send them and I
will include them with my posted version.
Keep them modular
and document what has been changed
so that I can
judge
whether to include them.
Old,
pre-year 2000 MSWindows/Dos Problem:
RAPID acts very, very, poorly when set to 640x480:
> move the mouse again and another appears and so on and so on cluttering the chart with unwanted lines) I have tried some other
> ways but
with no
success, only once have i managed to place a line where i wanted to
without
having all the other lines and
>as things go I
have not been able to repeat it.
>
>
OOPS!!!
I bet I left the F6 setting on 640x480 and there might be a problem
with
that. I better check that and get back to
> you.
>
-------------------
Ok, I checked
this
out. Yes, in F6 configuration menu, the
monitor setting
must be changed back to 640x350
and do not use
640x480
because weird things happen with
the menus and the
X lines.. In fact, RAPID acts very, very,
poorly when set
to 640x480, ouch.
I better remove 640x480 from the menu. (I REMOVED IT AS OF VERSION 5.17 and greater)
You must have
changed
it from 640x350. I did a download
to check if I left
it at 640x350 and it was there.
Also, the X
lines
do NOT work with the mouse (yucky DOS stuff).
(I was thinking
of the Linux version). You will find that the trendlines
work as you
expected
with the X and arrow keys (after you switch
back to 640x350).
David Pace