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Hi everybody,
It seems that in the ongoing discussion about having two databases together
there have sounded some misgivings regarding potential problems with
maintaining, disk space required,.... Since there always are newcomers who
are about to start their databases, and want to know somebody's firsthand
experience, here I am. Many of those who know more than I do about this
subject, please ignore the following <g>.
I like the idea of having simultaneously two databases even with its all
obvious shortcomings. The point is that QPlus (my data vendor used here as a
pretty typical example) database on my HD is a CLOSED (I don't have an access
to it to, say, throw a wrench into it) product MAINTAINED by the company (
they do all split, name, ... changes, and they fix many, if not any ,
problems I would find and complain about, just in one of following update
files I download every night). I DON'T do any manual job handling it, except
... well... when during automatic database updates the nature calls to make a
trip to the bathroom. And I've never stopped thanking God for being able to
do that job manually! That's all for "manuals" <g>!
Since it's easy and fast to output files in Metastock format from the
database, I've never edited Metastock files (my use of Downloader is limited
to copying,deleting, and sometimes testing). So if I goof up with my
Metastock files one way or another, I'll just delete and output them anew.
With this arrangement, there is no need for me to keep Metastock's duplicate
of QPlus database on HD. To give you an idea, this is what I do to get
Metastock files to work with: I use QPlus scan facility (rudimentary, but
serving well; they promise much more in coming QPlus Release 2.0) to filter
out stocks with my parameters (MarkCap, AvgVol, PriceRange) that the last
time gave me a final list of 887 stocks. Note that this is my "raw" database
to explore further. Since here Metastock comes into play, I output these 887
files in Metastock format. The size of these 887 stocks (in Metastock format)
is about 14.5 Mb including the overhead due to the cluster size's issue. It
is on my "ancient" 810Mb HD with no partition, no compression! So the total
size of the data is 90+ Mb of QPlus plus 14.5 Mb of Metastock files = about
105 Mb. When I want to modify (in a significant way, or just refresh because
of name change, splits, ...) my Metastock set, I simply delete the whole set,
make changes in the list file (which contains ticker symbols of stocks to be
output) if necessary, and output data anew (10-15 min once in a month or
two). I presume you cannot miss a change (name,split) really bad: before
taking a position you would certainly check other sources for the equity (
you may simply look at your own QPlus database). Thus I basically maintain
Metastock files' directory structure which often contain only a single "list"
file with a ticker list of files that belong there. Certainly, permanent as
Metastock files are the indices (200+) I get from QPlus, and some my own
industry groups (quite small number).
Perhaps, many would find this way to organize the business too primitive, or
questionable for reasons I may see sometime, but it works for me. As for
having a separate huge indices' database, I am not at that level of
sophistication that goes beyond TA analyzing the indices provided by
QPlus,and looking at charts of Telescan groups' indices with their Daily
Advance Decline line and 6 Day Daily High-Low line (at
http://www.tscn.com/Stocks/Industry_Group_Analysis.html available FREE; to
get a group's charts, on that Web page type in the ticker symbol of your
stock).
And at last, a recent flyer from Computer City store nearby is begging to buy
1.6 Gb HD for $189, or if your computer (BIOS) and wallet can accept it, 3.1
Gb for $289. It's very, very cheap even for lean wallets if you really want
to have good, dependable data, and avoid paying dearly later for the chance
to save a few bucks on HD space now. Note yet, I am still fine (almost, of
course!) handling my stuff on a single 810 Mb HD.
Thanks.
Cheers, Vitaly
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