Contents for Import Quotes (IQ) Help

Overview

About the IQ Program

New Features for Release 2.0

How to...

Use the Quotes Window

Use the Import Window

Import Quotes to Quicken

Import Quotes to Spreadsheets

Setup IQ Options

Create a Parser Set

Save, Load, or Delete a Parser Set

Menu Commands

File Menu  Commands

Edit Menu Commands

Parser  Menu Commands

Toolbar

Parser Set List

Toolbar Buttons


About the IQ Program

The IQ program is a utility for importing stock  quotes  retrieved from an on-line service into Quicken for Windows, Spreadsheets, or any Windows application that can serve as a Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) client . The service used  to retrieve quotes must be capable of  storing quotes to an ASCII file.  Each quote must be on a separate line and consist of at least a symbol and price.  CompuServe,  AOL, and Fidelity On-line Exchange (FOX) are just a few of the many services that are capable of storing retrieved quotes to an ASCII file.

After saving the quotes to a file, you can open the file in IQ and configure it to find each quote`s symbol and details regardless of where they are on the line.  IQ will automatically convert the quotes to the comma delimited format so that they can be saved to a file, imported directly into Quicken, or dynamically imported into spreadsheets.

IQ Advantage

1.	Saves Money.   Intuit provides a service for getting quotes and importing them into Quicken.  However, you must pay a fee each time you retrieve quotes from this service.   By using IQ with WINCIM basic stock quote service or AOL, you can get unlimited stock retrievals that can be imported into Quicken at no additional cost.

2.	Saves Time.  IQ automatic conversion and import will get your stock quotes into Quicken fast with minimal keystrokes.

3.	Conversions from different formats. Unlike most conversion utilities that can only convert  from a single format to the comma delimited quote format, IQ can convert  quotes from many different formats.  This is a plus if you use multiple on-line services for retrieving quotes, and each service saves  quotes differently.  With IQ, you can create and save a  parser set for each service.

4.	Configurable. Parser sets are completely configurable.  This comes in handy if your service decides to change the format of its quotes.  No need to go out and purchase a new conversion program, simply reconfigure the parser set and you are ready to convert  and import quotes again.

IQ provides a complete money and time saving solution for getting up-to-date stock quotes into Quicken for Windows or your spreadsheets.


Toolbar Buttons

Click	To...

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Select a quotes file and open the quotes window.

Open the import window.

Setup IQ options.

Save, load, or delete a parser set.

View the log file.

Get on-line help for IQ.

Exit the program.


New Features

1. Visual interface that provides a view of quotes before and after conversion.

2. Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) for transferring quotes to spreadsheets and other

    applications.

3. Automatic conversion of quotes.

4. Enhanced editor for creating parser sets.

5. Support for AOL quotes.

- Tab expansions of  the quotes file.

- Ability to parse fractional numbers of the form  `n x/y`.

- Ability to parse numbers with commas.

6. On-line Help.


File Menu Commands

Open

Select open from the file menu to open a quotes file for parsing.  After selecting open, a dialog box will appear that will allow you to  traverse through your directory tree to select the quotes file.  After you have selected a quotes file,  IQ will open a quotes window containing the quotes.

IQ remembers the quotes file you selected, so that each time it starts it opens the file and convert the quotes automatically.

Close

Select close from the file menu to close the active child window.  Close will  close either the quotes or import window if it is the active child window.

Exit

Select exit to end the program.


Parser Menu Commands

Sets

Select Sets from the parser menu to open the parser set dialog box.  From this dialog box you can save, load, and/or delete parser sets.

On

Select On from the parser menu to turn on the parser markers.  When the markers are turned on, they will be displayed in the quotes window.

Off

Select Off from the parser menu to turn of the parser markers.


Parser Set List

Select a parser set from the list to load.  If the quotes window is open and parser makers are turned on,  the markers will be adjusted  in the window to reflect the new settings.  If the import window is opened, the conversion using the new settings will be done and  the list will be updated accordingly.


Edit Menu Commands

Copy

Select copy from the edit menu to move a quote detail  to the clipboard.   After selecting copy, a dialog box will appear listing the symbols and quote details.  Select the symbol and detail, and press the copy button to move the detail to the clipboard.

Since IQ is a DDE server,  it uses the clipboard to setup a hot-link to a client program such as an EXCEL spreadsheet.   After a quote detail has been copied to the clipboard, you can select paste-link from the spreadsheet or client program to paste the detail into the program and to establish a hot-link to IQ.   With a hot-linked quote detail, anytime the value changes,  IQ will send the updated value to all active client programs.

To use the copy feature,  the quotes window MUST be open so that  IQ can extract quote details.   When the quotes window is not opened, the copy command is disabled.

To use hot-links, enable DDE in the options dialog box.

See DDE.


Import Window

Use the import window to import quotes into Quicken or to save comma delimited quotes to a file.


Quotes Window

Use the quotes window to view the quotes saved from your on-line service, and to create a new or modify an existing parser set.


Quicken Command

The complete file path of the Quicken program (e.g. c:\quickenw\qw.exe).


Log File

The log file contains a history of imports into Quicken.  Each log entry contains the time and quotes that were imported.


Quote Details

Price, date, high, low, and volume.


Parser Set

A group of parameters used to parse quotes for a single on-line service.


Quotes File

The quotes file contains the ASCII quotes retrieved from your on-line service.


Using the Quotes  Window

Use the quotes window to view the quotes before conversion and to create a new parser sets for conversion.  When you open a quotes window with a quotes file, IQ will attempt to convert the quotes with the current parser settings.   You can load a parser set that matches the quotes or create a new parser set for the quotes.

The quotes window  must be open,  if you plan to use DDE to import quotes into spreadsheets.  However, if you only use IQ  to import into Quicken, you only have to open the quotes window once to select the quotes file and to load or configure a parser set.  On subsequent startups of IQ, it will get quotes from  the quotes file that was last open,  and load the last used parser settings to  perform conversions if the quotes window is not opened.

Creating a parser set

Before  creating a parser set,   make sure that the  parser markers are on.  You can turn the markers on by selecting ON from the parser menu.  Also,  make sure that each quote detail that you wish to identify is enabled.  For example, if you are only interested in a quote`s price and date, enable only the symbol, price, and date details.  You enable quote details in the options dialog box.  After doing this, parser markers will appear in the quotes window.  Each marker will have a letter at the top of the line indicating the type of marker.   The types of markers are:

S - symbol maker

P - price marker

D - date marker

V - volume marker

H - high marker

L - low maker

Column Selection

You tell IQ  where  each quote detail is located  by setting the appropriate marker on the start of the detail column.  For example,  to identify where the quote symbol is located on the line, move the symbol marker to the start of the symbol column.  There are two ways to move a marker.  First method:  Use the mouse to select a marker.  Drag the mouse left or right to move the marker to the starting column of  the corresponding detail.  Second method:  Simply move the mouse to the start of a detail column.  Double-click the left-mouse button and a dialog box will appear that will let you select a marker to place on the column.   You repeat either of the two methods for each quote detail you wish to identify.

Additional Notes:

1. If a marker is placed on a white space,   IQ will skip over all white spaces  preceding the next quote detail.

2. For a right-adjusted quote detail, i.e. a detail  right-adjusted in its column,   the best place to set the marker is at the white space immediately following the previous data column.

Row Selection (Skipping the quote report header)

Most quotes retrieved will have a number of header or title lines before the quotes are listed.  By using the right-mouse button,  you can configure the parser to skip these lines.  Place the mouse on the row of the first quote and click the right-mouse button.  The markers should now start on the line of the first quote.  All rows prior to this, will not be parsed.

Check to determine if quotes are being converted correctly

Open the import window to see if quotes are being parsed correctly.  As you adjust the markers, the converted quotes are updated in the import window list.

Since the import window is only for Quicken import, you can only determine whether the quote`s symbol, price, and/or date is being parsed correctly.  If  each of  these details appear in the list correctly, separated by commas, you succeeded in configuring the parser!

Saving a parser set

Select Sets from the parser menu or press the Sets  button on the tool bar to bring up the parser set dialog box.  Press the save button on this dialog box to bring up the save dialog that will allow you to enter a parser set name and select the source of the date for quotes.  Enter OK and your new parser settings are saved.


Import Quotes to Quicken

To import quotes into Quicken the first time:

1. Refer to your Quicken documentation to setup security accounts with symbols.

2. Open the quotes file.

3. Load the appropriate parser set or create a new parser set.

4. Open the import window and press the import button.

To import subsequent quote retrievals into Quicken:

Open the import window and press the import button.

This assumes that you retrieve quotes from the same on-line service and save quotes to the same file each time.  If this is not the case, you must repeat  steps 2, and/or 3 above prior to importing the quotes.


Parser Markers

Column indicators (reverse video vertical lines) for each of the various quote details.


Import Quotes to Spreadsheets

To import quotes into spreadsheets:

1. Copy a quote detail to the windows clipboard.

2.  Open or return to the spreadsheet leaving IQ up on the desktop.

3.  Select the cell in the spreadsheet for the quote detail.

4.  Select paste-link to import the quote detail into the cell and to create a hot-link.

    Review your spreadsheet`s on-line help or documentation for the procedure on  paste-link.

5. Repeat steps 1 thru 4 for each quote detail you want to capture.

To use hot-links, the IQ program directory must be in the system path.  To add  IQ to the path, open your autoexec.bat file and add the IQ directory to the path.  Make sure you reboot your computer after you have made the path change.

Scenario for using  Hot-link quotes:

1. Connect to your on-line service.

2. Bring up IQ minimized on your desktop (IQ previously configured to convert quotes from this service, DDE is enabled, and hot-linked quote details have been established).

3. Bring up the spreadsheet.

4. Go back to your on-line service software and retrieve and save  quotes to the file that IQ is expecting.

5. IQ will update the spreadsheet with the new quote detail values.  IQ will  issue an update each time you save quotes to the file.


Using the Import Window

Press  the import  button [image] to open the import window.

Use the import window to import quotes into Quicken or save comma delimited quotes to a file.  The import window provides a view of the quotes after conversion to the comma delimited format.  You can check the quotes in the list to ensure that the parser has been configured properly.  Each quote should contain a symbol, price, and date, all of which are separated by commas.  If  your parser hasn`t been configured properly, go back to the quotes window and adjust the markers.  As the marker settings change, the list in the import window is updated to reflect the conversion using the new settings.  Continue to adjust the markers until the quotes are converted correctly.

Import to Quicken

Press the import button to import the quotes into Quicken.  If Quicken is running on the desktop, IQ will send commands to Quicken to import the quotes.  If Quicken is not on the desktop, IQ will attempt to start Quicken using the Quicken Command path you specified in the options dialog box.  After Quicken has started, IQ  will then send  it commands to import quotes.

If you have your account password protected or if you have scheduled transactions,  it is not recommended that you have IQ start Quicken.  In either case,  start Quicken from the program or file manager.   Enter  your password and/or allow  Quicken to  process any scheduled transactions.  Finally, return to IQ and import the quotes.

Save to a file

Press the save button to save the quotes to a file.  Quotes will be written to the file in ASCII, exactly as they appear in the list.  The name for the comma delimited file will be identical to the name of the quotes file, except it will have an `iq` extension.  It will be created in the same directory as the quotes file.

Close the import window

Press the close button to close the import window.


Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)

DDE is an interprocess communication mechanism within Windows that utilizes the messaging system.  Two Window applications carry-on a DDE conversation to transfer data from one to  the other.  The program which has the data for transfer is the server, and the program receiving the data is the client.

In the case where IQ import quotes into a spreadsheet, IQ is the server and the receiving spreadsheet is the client.


Options

Press the options [image] button to open the options dialog box.

Initial Desktop

o Check Quotes to have the quotes window open when you start IQ.

o Check Import to have the import window open when you start IQ.

Features

o Check DDE if you are going to import quotes into spreadsheets or other DDE client programs.

o Check Log to keep a log of  all imports into Quicken.

Quicken Command

Enter the complete path to the Quicken For Windows program.  IQ uses this path to start Quicken before importing quotes.

Leave this field blank if you have your account password protected or if you have scheduled transactions.  In either of these cases, start Quicken  from the program or file manager.   Enter  your password and/or allow  Quicken to  process any scheduled transactions.  Finally, return to IQ and import the quotes.

Date Selection

Enter the source of the quotes date.  IQ can take the date from your computer system`s current date,  the quotes file, or the date you enter in the Date field.  In most cases,  use the current date, especially, in those instances where the date is not provided in the quotes file.

Detail  Enable

Enable a quote detail.  When a quote detail is enabled, its corresponding marker can be displayed in the quotes window and you can copy the detail to the window clipboard.


Save, Load, or Delete a Parser Set

Select Sets from the parser menu or press the Sets button on the tool bar to bring up the parser set dialog box.

Save

Press the save button to bring up the save dialog that will allow you to enter a parser set name and select the source of the date for quotes.  Enter OK and your new parser settings are saved.

Load

Select a parser set from the dialog box list and press the load button to load a parser set.  You can also load a parser set by selecting a set from the parser set list on the tool bar.

Delete

Select a parser set from the dialog box list and press the delete button to delete a parser set.