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Joel,
The representatives thought yesterday when you were sent the email was
to have you on the newest possible playing field. It wasn't sent to
solve the Telescan collection problem, but because we would rather not
try and solve a problem in an earlier version than necessary. It will
not solve the Telescan collection problem because the problem is not
solvable by Equis. However, since yesterday's email does not pertain
to MetaStock Professional, the human error of thinking you were using
MetaStock for Windows 95 & NT was made by the answering representative,
which by the way may have been totally different than the representative
you corresponded with two weeks earlier. I apologize for the fact this
representative made an assumption. You are correct regarding the
MetaStock Professional patch not having changed. This miscommunication
over versions can be alleviated if the program name and version is
included in all support request emails.
The Telescan problem is continuing. I call you attention to the
following from our 1/13/99 email to you:
>>Telescan sometimes has difficulty sending current quotes. When this
happens you may not receive all of the >>data you request in one
collection attempt. We have reported this to Telescan and they are
working on it but >>they have not yet discovered the cause or the
solution.<<
The problem you are experiencing based upon the information provided, as
well as multiple hours of testing here, is in fact occurring on the
Telescan end. The Qcenter contained in The DownLoader for Windows
version 6.52 is the same Qcenter you were using when the problem did not
exist.
In fact, the problems reappeared almost immediately after Telescan
changed their host software and sped up the host execution. This is
also coincidentally about the same time MetaStock Professional was
released with The DownLoader for Windows version 6.51 (which is now
6.52). I have provided Telescan with documentation of the problem
repeatedly, however, they have not seen fit to make any changes as of
yet.
I can show you in your collection capture why you are not getting
current quotes. The request is made and the server responds either "no
data", "not traded" or "can't find symbol xxx". In most current cases,
the "can't find symbol xxx" is the message we are receiving. Since a
current quote collection is, as you say, a "batch" collection, it is
inherently faster than an historical collection request. The Telescan
server has no problems keeping up with a symbol by symbol request which
is how an historical data request is made. But, it is having problems
keeping up with a multiple symbol request. A current quote collection
is a multiple symbol request. The way we request data is consistent
with the Telescan documentation for requesting data. Again, the Qcenter
currently being utilized is the same Qcenter previously utilized when
your collections worked correctly.
The new version 6.52 also has a feature you requested in your 1/12/99
email. Because it will now take a command line pass, you can launch an
express download by using the scheduler contained in Windows 98. The
DLWin.wri file lists this and describes the command line. Basically,
you would have the scheduler launch The DownLoader with the command
dlwin.exe /express. This collection will use the last collection you
completed as its template. Express download has worked this way since
inception. The ability to launch it in this manner is new to version
6.52.
If you wish to obtain a capture of your collection, please do the
following.
1) Launch The DownLoader.
2) Proceed with the normal steps to complete a collection.
3) At the Vendor Selection screen, right click on the OK command
button.
4) Select Session Capture from the menu.
5) OK if the file name meets your approval.
6) OK the collection.
The capture file will be in The DownLoader for Windows folder unless you
set the path to a different folder. If you send that capture to me
attached to an email, I will highlight the specific areas that are
failing at the Telescan end and send it back to you. Captures like this
have been sent to Telescan.
Equis International has never hidden the fact that "bugs" do occur. In
fact, we freely admit that "bugs" are an inevitable part of software.
We test very hard to try and keep "bugs" to a minimum. However, when
software does as much as MetaStock for Windows 95 & NT, MetaStock
Professional and The DownLoader do, "bugs" will invariably exist. We
fix them whenever we can. The current collection situation with
Telescan is and has been repeatedly proven not to be a problem that we
can fix. We fixed the problem we had with current quotes in October
1997. It has been in every version of The DownLoader for Windows since.
This latest problem is at the other end. We can not fix that. We wish
we could. The fix will need to be accomplished on their end. They have
been informed repeatedly about the problem and each time, we have also
notified them that if something is found in The DownLoader itself, we
will fix it. However, as stated above, we have spent multiple hours
verifying that each step of the collection process meets their
programming specifications exactly.
Again, I apologize for the fact the representative didn't realize you
were using MetaStock Professional. If you would please make known
program names and versions in your emails, that should not happen again.
Bill Forman
Customer Support Manager
Equis International
A Reuters Company
http://www.equis.com/
http://www.equis.com/customer/support/
Please include previous email answers and questions in your response.
Equis and MetaStock and MetaStock Professional are registered trademarks
of Equis International. Achelis Binary Wave, The DownLoader, Expert
Advisor, OptionScope, Quotecenter, and Smart Charts are trademarks of
Equis International.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Joel Beck [mailto:beck@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 1999 9:52 PM
> To: Equis Support
> Cc: suggestions@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; meta; bforman@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: I'm outraged
>
>
> I took the time to write to you folks to describe to you the problems
> that I'm experiencing with YOUR program. YOU couldn't even take the
> time to even READ my e-mail message. You call this tech support?
>
> Your response was obviously a "canned" reply. The update you mention
> that was posted on your "web site Today" states it is: (dated
> 11/12/98, 3.52Mb)
> Thanks for NOTHING. How about showing some kind of interest in
> improving your software and concern for your customers. Is this asking
> too much? I wouldn't think so.
>
> If you had taken the time to read what I wrote, you'd have seen that
> the problems occurred AFTER I applied the patch that you recommend in
> this bogus response.
>
> Please take a moment to read what I had written initially.
>
> Take a gander at your MetaStock mailing list and you'll see that I'm
> not the only person having problems with this "fix."
>
> Please forward this message to Bill Forman. I'd like to know what he
> thinks of this.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Equis Support [mailto:support@xxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 1999 7:07 PM
> To: 'Joel Beck'
> Subject: RE: Downloader/Telescan
>
> We just posted a new msw652.exe update file on our web site
> Today. Collect the new update file and install it to see if it helps.
>
> Equis Support
> http://www.equis.com/
> http://www.equis.com/customer/support/
> Please include previous email answers and questions in your
> response.
>
> Equis and MetaStock and MetaStock Professional are registered
> trademarks of Equis International. Achelis Binary Wave, The
> DownLoader, Expert Advisor, OptionScope, Quotecenter, and Smart Charts
> are trademarks of Equis International.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Joel Beck [SMTP:beck@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 1999 8:15 PM
> To: Support
> Cc: suggestions@xxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Downloader/Telescan
>
>
> Doc,
>
> I haven't heard from you yet about the issues we
> discussed 2 weeks ago. Have you found a fix for the
> Downloader/Telescan problems yet.
>
> To refresh your memory, I have to set my PC clock
> forward one day in order to collect today's quotes from Telescan. As I
> mentioned to you, the qc.exe file that you folks made available on
> your web site fixed this problem previously, however, after installing
> the 6.52 patch, the problem reappeared. Apparently the patch unraveled
> what the qc.exe patch fixed.
>
> As you can imagine, this problem is difficult when I
> want to schedule an automatic data retrieval. When this problem is in
> effect, The Downloader doesn't do a "batch" retrieval as it used to do
> when it worked correctly. I suppose that when the PC clock is advanced
> a day, The Downloader looks for the data in the "historical" database
> rather than the "current" data database, as you mentioned when we
> spoke. Now the downloads take MUCH longer than if I did a nightly
> download as the program worked previously.
>
> Also, the Downloader has been changed in such a way that
> when I try to add new securities each month after you post the updated
> symbol file, instead of ignoring the securities that I already have in
> my folders, the new "feature" as you called it, prevents me from doing
> it in an efficient way. The Downloader brings up a dialog box warning
> me that I already have that particular security in that folder. As I
> have 2656 securities, that means that I have to dismiss the dialog box
> nearly that many times just to add the new optional securities each
> month. Obviously I want to have the most current list of optional
> securities on my hard drive. This "feature" makes it impractical to do
> this. If only you could have The Downloader function as it did before,
> I could add the new securities that you include in the symbol update
> each month.
>
> One additional suggestion, when The Downloader is set to
> do a delayed retrieval, The Downloader prohibits Win95 and/or Win98
> from allowing the hard drive to spin down (turn off). This built in
> feature that Microsoft included in these to operating systems goes a
> long way to extending the life of ones hard drive when the computer is
> left on ALL the time to allow The Downloader to retrieve data each
> evening. Microsoft included System Agent/Task Scheduler to allow
> programs to be run at predetermined times. Would it be too difficult
> to allow The Downloader to make use of this program that Microsoft has
> built in to these operating systems and launch The Downloader and
> retrieve data at a scheduled time AND allow the hard drive to spin
> down thus adding many hours of life to my hard drive? I'm sure that
> you can see the value in this if you've ever had a hard drive fail.
>
> Thanks for your consideration of these suggestions and
> prompt attention to The Downloader/Telescan problem.
>
> Joel
>
> Using MetaStock Pro
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