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Tradestation does have a functional equivalent to the Metastock Exploration.
It's called the "Chart Scanner."

Steven Buss
Walnut Creek, CA
sbuss@xxxxxxxxxxx

-----Original Message-----
From: Steven Buss <sbuss@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Metstock List <metastock-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Friday, December 05, 1997 5:35 PM
Subject: A Great Advertisement for Metastock is....


>to try Tradestation.
>
>I decided to do the one month trial to see what it was about.  I have some
>thoughts after a couple weeks of using it.  Here they are.  (Caveat emptor:
>I've only been using MS 6.5 a few months and Tradestation a few weeks so I
>may not have a complete grasp of all features.  If I get something wrong,
>let me know.)
>
>-  Tradestation is a product that requires a great deal more "manual
>reading."  I've got its data server setup and I'm getting real time quotes
>(BMI refunds money after only a month trial) but I'm still fumbling around
>alot (because I don't have time to do a thorough read of the manual).  The
>manuals are well written and provide plenty of detail.
>
>-  Tradestation has fewer "built-in" indicators.  This surprised me.  But
>maybe this doesn't matter because, in fact, the tried and tested ones (that
>both MS and TS have) are the ones that matter anyway.
>
>-  Tradestation has a more powerful formula language.  In the language of
>software development, it has "procedural" elements (while and for loops for
>example).  A metaphor for this for those familiar with spreadsheets might
be
>that Tradestation has both "formula" and "macro" capabilities in its
formula
>language whereas Metastock only has "formula" capabilities.  This is a
>powerful thing if you have a complex and sophisticated trading system to
>deploy, but not a big deal for someone with my level of experience.  There
>are other things about the Tradestation language that make it more powerful
>than Metastock's also.
>
>-  In general, Tradestation has more "robust" facilities for automating
>various activities.
>
>-  One thing I really like about Tradestation is that one can combine data
>of different periods (Hourly, daily, and weekly) within the same chart and
>then write an indicator or system test to reference all these data sets.
>This is a great thing.
>
>-  I feel like I must be missing something in Tradestation though.  I
>haven't been able to find the equivalent functionality to the Metastock
>Exploration.  Tradestation has "paint bars" and "show me studies"
(something
>akin to an exploration) but these can only be run against an "open" chart.
>(As in Metastock, where a system test can only be run against an open
>chart.)  I must be missing something.  This is a major hole.
>
>-  By the way, wouldn't it be great if you could write a system test and
>then run it against stored files like you can with an exploration?
>
>-  About support:  There is no mailing list or other means of communication
>for users of the product that I can see.  There's a News group but it
>appears to mostly get posted with peripheral items.  Kinda like this list?
>
>-  To summarize for now, A Great Advertisement for Metastock is to try
>Tradestation.  Sure, tradestation has a bit more features, etc.  But if it
>turns out that I'm NOT missing something and Tradestation doesn't have the
>equivalent of a Metastock Exploration, then, I think the argument could be
>made that, unless you're day-trading, Metastock is the product of choice
>merely because of the Exploration.
>
>Initial thoughts...Anyone else have thoughts about this?
>
>Steven Buss
>Walnut Creek, CA
>sbuss@xxxxxxxxxxx
>
>