Personal Stock Monitor Help Index

Introduction

License

Registration

About PSM

Acknowledgements

System Requirements

Operation

Getting started

Command-line arguments

Quote servers used by PSM

Choosing a quote server

Getting stocks, funds, and commodities

Getting Canadian quotations

Getting futures and indexes

Building your portfolio

Configuration

General preferences

Update preferences

Alert preferences

Network preferences

Proxy preferences

Symbol general properties

Symbol portfolio properties

View properties

Commands

File menu

Edit menu

Symbol menu

View menu

Help menu

Troubleshooting

Frequently Asked Questions

Errors generated by PSM

Reporting a problem


Acknowledgments

This is a short list of people who deserve quite a bit of credit for their support, advice and ideas, or even a bit of their code.

Dan Heller

Jon Bauer

Brad Werner and Teresa Bisaillon

Paul DiLascia

For those people who have used PSM and have reported bugs, thank you, because you have helped make PSM a better product for everyone.

There are many others who contributed kind words and ideas along the way, but they are too numerous to mention here.  You know who you are!  Thanks!

I would also like to thank the folks at Microsoft for producing a very nice a development environment in Visual C++ 4.0, without which PSM would not exist, and also for making available the variety of sample programs which demonstrate concepts and allow developers to learn.


System Requirements

PSM will run under the following operating systems:

 Windows 95

 Windows NT 3.51 or later

 Windows 3.1x and Windows for Workgroups with Win32s 1.30 or later.

8MB RAM is required under Win32s.  For other operating systems, there is no minimum memory requirement than I know of, so use your best judgment.

A 32-bit winsock is required for Windows 95 and Windows NT.  The few of you who are still running 16-bit versions of Trumpet Winsock on Windows 95, for example, will need to upgrade to the 32-bit version.  Win32s running on Windows 3.1x, on the other hand, does not require a 32-bit winsock because it does something called “thunking”, which translates 32-bit winsock calls to 16-bit.

The version of Win32s may be checked by reading the win32s.ini file in your  WINDOWS or WINDOW\SYSTEM directory.  If you do not have Win32s 1.30, it may be obtained from the Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/kb/softlib/mslfiles/pw1118.exe


Getting Started

Personal Stock Monitor starts for the first time with some defaults which I consider to be appropriate for the first-time user:

 Use PC Quote as the default quote server.

 Update stock prices every 15 minutes.

 Use a maximum of one connection at a time.

 Terminate a connection after 60 seconds of inactivity.

You can change these defaults in the General Preferences..

The status bar at the bottom of the window will notify you of progress during quote retrieval.  If PSM is not able to retrieve a stock quote for any reason, a message to that effect will be displayed in the status bar.

Stock symbol operations are under the Symbol menu and under a context menu in the symbol view.  You can add your favorite stock symbols by selecting the new symbol option, then let PSM do the rest of the work.

You can sort on any column by clicking on the column header.  Clicking a second time reverses the order of the sort.  All symbols are automatically resorted at the end of an update cycle according to the current sort settings.  You can also change the columns which are displayed by going to View Properties.

Please note that PSM starts up in “online” mode, which means that it will try to go out over the Internet and update symbol prices as soon as you enter them.  This may cause your machine to hang if you are not connected to the Internet at the time.  The solution is to start PSM without any symbols, then go to the Network Preferences and turn off automatic updates.  When you are connected to the Internet, you can turn automatic updates back on, and PSM will update the symbol prices.

After starting the application, you may enter symbols for your stocks, mutual funds, money market funds, options, or whatever else is supported by your Preferred Quote Server.


Command line
Command-line arguments

PSM currently accepts only one command-line argument, but this feature is going to be expanded in future versions.

/offline

Starts PSM in "offline" mode, so that PSM will not automatically try to update symbols.  In effect, this hits the "stop" button, so you must hit the "go" button to resume network operations.


Finding Stock and Commodity Symbols
How to find stock, fund, and commodity symbols

PSM does not currently support ticker symbol lookups, so if you do not know the symbol for a particular company, you need to directly ask the quote server.  Most of the servers used by PSM have some kind of symbol guide, so that will be the final authority on which symbols you can retrieve.  For servers that have one there are pointers to symbol guides at http://www.clark.net/pub/aivasyuk/psm/server.htm.

Please note that not all quote servers list support all possible symbols.  PC Quote and Security APL servers seem to support more symbols than the others, so that should be the first place to look.

How to retrieve Canadian quotations

It seems that although some of the quote servers support getting Canadian stock quotes, the method is not quite obvious.  First of all, each server has a different syntax for Canadian symbols.  In general, it seems that you can specify a Canadian symbol in this format:

e.sss

where e is the letter of the exchange, and sss is the symbol.  The letters for the exchanges are:

T - Toronto

V - Vancouver

C - Alberta

M - Montreal

O - Canadian OTC stocks

W - Winnipeg Com. WCE

For example, V.IPS is Integrated Paving Concepts on the Vancouver Stock Exchange (VSE).  This method will work for the Security APL and NetWorth quote servers, although Security APL does not support OTC or WCE stocks.  For PC Quote, you may try removing the exchange prefix and adding a “.ca” suffix.  For Quote.Com, you will need to use the following format:

xxx:sss

where xxx is the name of the exchange, and sss is the symbol.  Exchange names are three letters, ie. TSE for Toronto Stock Exchange.

Please note that these servers do not necessarily maintain a complete list of all Canadian stocks, in which case PSM will return an ‘Unable to get value of symbol' error.

How to retrieve futures, options, and indexes

Some of the quote servers support retrieving quotations futures and indexes.  The general rule is that indexes begin with a dollar sign ("$"), futures begin with a slash ("/"), and options begin with a pound sign ("#").  However, the rules seem to be a bit different for each server, and they may change at the whim of the quote server operator, so you need to check for specifics.  You can go to one of the supported quote servers in order to find rules for futures, indexes, Canadian stocks, and any other symbol types supported by the server.


Building Your Portfolio
Building a portfolio

Personal Stock Monitor has some very basic portfolio management features, which will be enhanced in future versions.  You can currently store the number of shares, purchase price, purchase date, and commission paid for those shares, and PSM will automatically calculate the net gain/loss based on the current price.

To add shares to your portfolio, select the symbol from the list, and select the Add to Portfolio command from the Symbol menu.  The information you enter will be added to your portfolio, and a TOTAL line will be added to the bottom of the symbol view.  Initially you will not see any information in the list view, because the portfolio columns are not visible by default.  You should go to the View Properties dialog and make sure that the portfolio columns you want to see are visible.  You can add reinvested dividends in the same manner as adding shares, simply set the purchase price to 0 to indicate that these were, in effect, "free" shares.

You can view your holdings for a particular symbol through the Portfolio page of the Symbol Properties dialog.  All changes in this page will be reflected in the main list view after you press the OK button.


Undo command
Edit menu commands

Undo  command (CTRL+Z)

Use this command to reverse the last editing action, if possible.  This command is currently not supported by PSM.

Cut command ( [image], CTRL+X)

Use this command to remove the currently selected data from the document and put it on the clipboard.  This command is unavailable if there is no data currently selected.  Cutting data to the clipboard replaces the contents previously stored there.

Copy command ( [image], CTRL+C)

Use this command to copy selected data onto the clipboard.  This command is unavailable if there is no data currently selected.  Copying data to the clipboard replaces the contents previously stored there.

Paste command ( [image], CTRL+V)

Use this command to insert a copy of the clipboard contents at the insertion point.  This command is unavailable if the clipboard is empty.   NOTE: you can use this command to import symbolsimport_symbols into the current document.

Select All command (CTRL+A)

Use this command to select all symbols currently displayed.

Find command (CTRL+F)

Use this command to locate a symbol or company name containing a specified search string.

Find Next command (CTRL+G)

Use this command to find the next occurrence of the search string in the current document.


Import symbols
How to import a list of symbols

In the current version of PSM, you can import a list of symbols by using the Windows clipboard or a text file.  To use the clipboard, you can create a text file with the symbol name as the first item on each line.  Any text occurring after the symbol name will be ignored.  For example:

$INDU

MSFT

IBM

NSCP

IOMG

Load this into a text editor (ie. Notepad) , select the whole file, then copy it to the clipboard.  Then go to PSM, and hit Paste (CTRL+V).  All symbols which are not in the current document will be added.

To use a text file, select the Import command, then select the text file.  Similarly to using the clipboard, the first word on each line is assumed to be the symbol name, and will be added to the current document.


View menu commands

Standard Toolbar command

Use this command to display and hide the Standard Toolbar, which includes buttons for some of the most common commands in Personal Stock Monitor, such as File Open.  A check mark appears next to the menu item when the Toolbar is displayed.  See Toolbar for help on using the toolbar.

Symbol Toolbar command

Use this command to display and hide the Symbol Toolbar, which includes buttons for symbol and category commands, such as Update All.  A check mark appears next to the menu item when the Toolbar is displayed.  See Toolbar for help on using the toolbar.

Status Bar command

Use this command to display and hide the Status Bar, which describes the action to be executed by the selected menu item or depressed toolbar button, and keyboard latch state. A check mark appears next to the menu item when the Status Bar is displayed. See Status Bar for help on using the status bar.

Split command (experimental)

Use this command to split the view vertically.  PSM will allow you to position the splitter bar, and will create a copy of the current view.  Each view can then be scrolled and configured independently.

Category command

Selecting this option will bring up a submenu which allows you to select a category to view.  The category which is currently displayed in the view has a check mark next to it.

New

This command creates a new category.

Delete

This command deletes the currently selected category.

Sort command

Selecting this option will bring up a submenu which allows you to select the sort order and sort field from those fields currently visible.

Ascending

This command is checked if the current sort order is ascending.  Select this command to change the sort order.

by...

This shows a list of currently visible columns, with the current sort column checked.  You can change the current sort column by selecting another entry. from this list.

Properties command

Use this command to bring up the View Properties dialog, where you can configure visible columns.

Always on top command

Use this command to toggle the “always on top” status of the application window.  When this flag is enabled, a check mark appears next to the menu item, and the PSM application window will remain on top of other windows on the desktop which do not have this flag set.


Index command
Help menu commands

Index command

Use this command to display the opening screen of Help.  From the opening screen, you can jump to step-by-step instructions for using Personal Stock Monitor and various types of reference information.  Once you open Help, you can click the Contents button whenever you want to return to the opening screen.

About command

Use this command to display the registration screen, which also shows the copyright notice and version number of your copy of Personal Stock Monitor.


File Open dialog box

The following options allow you to specify which file to open:

File Name

Type or select the filename you want to open.  This box lists files with the extension you select in the List Files of Type box.

Drives

Select the drive in which Personal Stock Monitor stores the file that you want to open.

Directories

Select the directory in which Personal Stock Monitor stores the file that you want to open.

Network...

Choose this button to connect to a network location, assigning it a new drive letter.


File Save As dialog box

The following options allow you to specify the name and location of the file you're about to save:

File Name

Type a new filename to save a document with a different name.  A filename can contain up to eight characters and an extension of up to three characters.  Personal Stock Monitor adds the extension you specify in the Save File As Type box.

Drives

Select the drive in which you want to store the document.

Directories

Select the directory in which you want to store the document.

Network...

Choose this button to connect to a network location, assigning it a new drive letter.


General preferences

Force symbols to upper-case

Checking this option will cause PSM to force all symbols entered to be converted to upper case.  This option should be turned off if you own preferred stock, since this seems to be the only time the quote servers are case-sensitive.

Ask before deleting symbol

Checking this option will bring up a confirmation dialog whenever you want to delete a symbol from the document.

Ask before renaming symbol

Checking this option will bring up a confirmation dialog whenever you want to change the name of an existing symbol.

Automatically save document on exit

If this option is checked, the current document will be saved without prompting when exiting PSM or when loading another document.

Display numbers as fractions

Checking this option will cause PSM to display numbers in their fractional form when it is appropriate to do so.  If a number is not divisible by 1/64th, it is left as a decimal.  Also, this option does not affect percentages, which always displayed as decimals.

Display numbers as decimals

Checking this option will cause PSM to display all numbers in their decimal form.  This option does not affect percentages, which are always displayed as decimals with two digits to the right of the decimal point.

Precision

When numbers are displayed as decimals, this field specifies how many digits will appear to the right of the decimal point.  Numbers will be rounded when necessary.


Update preferences

Disable automatic updates

Checking this option will completely disable automatic updates.

Enable automatic updates at all times

Checking this option will enable automatic updates at all times.

Enable automatic updates during market hours

Checking this option will enable automatic updates only during market hours.

Open and Close

Specifies times (in local time) between which the market is open.

Update stock prices every n minutes

Set the frequency at which symbol prices will be updated.  This setting is used only if automatic updates are enabled.  Each symbol is updated independently, so the update period for a particular symbol will be reset if you choose to update it manually.  The next symbol to be updated is always listed in the Status Bar.


Alert preferences

No alerts

Checking this option will disable all alerts.

Flash window

Checking this option will flash the title bar of the application window if the application is minimized when an alert occurs.

Bring window on top

Checking this option will bring the application window to the top of the window stack if it is obscured by another window, and will restore it if it is minimized.

Beep

Checking this option will cause Personal Stock Monitor to generate a system beep when an alert occurs.  You can set the repeat frequency of the beeps using the settings below.

Play .WAV file

Checking this option will cause Personal Stock Monitor to play a .WAV file when an alert occurs.  You should use this option only if you have a sound card or speaker driver capable of playing .WAV files.  You can set the repeat frequency using the settings below.

Once

Checking this option will generate only one alert indication when an alert occurs.

Repeat every n seconds

Checking this option will generate an alert indication at the specified interval for as long as there are active alerts.  Use the Clear Alert or Clear All Alerts options to clear the active alerts.


Network preferences

Preferred quote server

Select one of the default servers as the one to query for symbol prices.

Max. server connections

Set the maximum number of simultaneous connections to use for updating stock prices.  Since Personal Stock Monitor currently can only query one symbol per connection, and if you have a reasonably fast Internet connection, increasing the number of server connections will increase the speed at which update can occur.

Drop connection after n seconds

Set the maximum number of seconds of inactivity which can occur before a connection is terminated.  This setting prevents symbol updates from hanging the application, and allows Personal Stock Monitor to retry the update a bit later.

Save passwords

Selecting this option will cause PSM to save user names and passwords for all quote servers which require them.  This will eliminate the need to enter passwords every time you start up PSM.


Proxy preferences

Use proxy host

If this box is checked, the HTTP proxy configuration will be used as the active configuration.  If your organization uses an HTTP proxy host and you have filled in the host and port fields, you need to check this box.

Save password

Selecting this option will cause PSM to save the user name and password for the proxy server, if your server requires them.  This will eliminate the need to enter the password every time you start up PSM.

Proxy host

Set the host name which is used as the HTTP proxy.  Some organizations use a HTTP proxy host for one reason or another, so ask your system administrator if you need to use this field.  If you are not sure about what to put in this field, you should probably leave it blank.

Proxy port

Set the port used at the HTTP proxy.  If you set the Proxy host, you need to make sure that the port number entered in this field is correct for your location.  In many cases, using the default port 80 is fine, but check with your system administrator if you are not sure.


Symbol General Properties

This property page shows you all of the information available for a symbol, as well as allowing you to enter high and low target prices for the symbol.  Please note that some of these values may be zero if they are not available from the quote server.

Name	The company name associated with the symbol.
Price	Last known price for this symbol.
$ Change	Dollar change in price since previous days close.
% Change	Percent change in price since previous days close.
Volume	Current days trading volume.
Bid	The highest price being offered for a share of this stock.
Ask	The lowest price being asked for a share of this stock.
Last Update	Time this data was last updated.
Open	Today’s opening price for this symbol.
Open Interest	Used for options and futures.
Previous	Previous days closing price for this symbol.
Today’s High	Current day’s highest price.
Today’s Low	Current day’s lowest price.
52 Week High	Past year’s highest price.
52 Week Low	Past year’s lowest price.
Low Target	Price at or below which an alert will be generated.
High Target	Price at or above which an alert will be generated.
P/E Ratio	Price-to-earnings ratio.
EPS	Earnings per share.
Dividend	The last reported dividend per share.
Yield	The last reported yield, if available from quote server.

You can cause PSM to generate alerts when a symbol price falls above and below a target price.  To do this, enter the decimal high or low target value into the edit box next to the appropriate label.  Pressing Apply will accept the current selection without removing the dialog box.  Pressing OK will accept the current selection and re move the dialog box from the screen.


Symbol Portfolio Properties

This property page shows you your current holdings for the given symbol.  Current holdings are listed by date, and the current value and gain/loss is calculated.

Add

This button brings up the Purchase Details dialog box which allows you to add an entry to your current holdings.

Edit

This button will bring up the Purchase Details dialog box which allows you to edit the currently selected portfolio entry.

Remove

This button will remove the currently selected entry from the current holdings for the symbol.


Purchase Details dialog box

This dialog box allows you to edit the details of a portfolio record.

Symbol

The ticker symbol for which the information is being displayed.

Name

The name of the company which corresponds to the ticker symbol.

Current Price

The last known price for this ticker symbol.

Purchase Date

The date the shares were purchased.  When creating new purchase records, this field is filled in with the current date.  If the shares were not purchased on the current date, you may edit this field to enter the real purchase date.

Shares

Number of shares purchased.  This value may be non-integral.

Purchase Price

The actual purchase price of the shares.  When creating new purchase records, this field is filled in with the current price.  If the shares were purchased at a different price, you may enter the price here.  The price may be entered as a decimal number or as a fraction.

Commission

The commission paid for the shares.  This cost is factored into the total cost of the equities, and is subtracted from the net gain.

Total

The total purchase price of the shares.  This is automatically calculated when the Shares or Purchase Price fields are changed.


General view properties dialog box

This dialog box allows you to configure the columns which will be visible in the view, and the order in which they will appear.  To add a column to the view, click on the box next to the column name until a check mark appears.  To remove a column from the view, click on the box next to the column name until the check mark disappears.

Pressing the Apply button will change the view without removing the dialog box.  Pressing the OK button will change the view to reflect your selection and remove the dialog box from the screen.

Move Up

Clicking this button will move the currently selected column higher in the list of columns.  It will appear before other columns in the view.

Move Down

Clicking this button will move the currently selected column lower in the list of columns.  It will appear after other columns in the view.

Color Arrows

Checking this option will cause up arrows to be colored green and down arrows to be colored

red.

Full-row select

Checking this option will allow you to select a symbol by clicking anywhere in the row instead of only on the symbol label.  It will also cause the whole row to be highlighted when it is selected.


Standard Toolbar

The toolbar is displayed across the top of the application window, below the menu bar.  The toolbar provides quick mouse access to many tools used in Personal Stock Monitor,

To hide or display the Toolbar, choose Toolbar from the View menu (ALT, V, T).

Click	To

Open a new document.

Open an existing document.  Personal Stock Monitor displays the Open dialog box, in which you can locate and open the desired file.

Save the active document or template with its current name.  If you have not named the document, Personal Stock Monitor displays the Save As dialog box.

Print the active document.

Remove selected data from the document and stores it on the clipboard.

Copy the selection to the clipboard.

Insert the contents of the clipboard at the insertion point.

Display copyright and version number of application.

Select context-sensitive help.


Stop command (Toolbar)

Use this command to stop all network operations and temporarily suspend automatic updates.  You can use the resume command to resume automatic updates.

Shortcuts

Toolbar:


Resume command (Toolbar)

Use this command to resume network operations after a stop command.

Shortcuts

Toolbar:


Change categories (Toolbar)

Use this command to change the current category displayed in the main symbol list.

Shortcuts

Toolbar:


Status Bar

The status bar is displayed at the bottom of the Personal Stock Monitor window.  To display or hide the status bar, use the Status Bar command in the View menu.

The left area of the status bar describes actions of menu items as you use the arrow keys to navigate through menus.  This area similarly shows messages that describe the actions of toolbar buttons as you depress them, before releasing them.  If after viewing the description of the toolbar button command you wish not to execute the command, then release the mouse button while the pointer is off the toolbar button.  All network activity messages are also displayed in this area.

The right area of the status bar indicates the current update status of the application, which can be one of the following:

Status	Description
Updates are off	Automatic updates are disabled in preferences.
Updates are stopped	Automatic updates are suspended because you pressed the “stop” button.
No symbols	The document is empty.
Nothing to update	The document does not contain any symbols which can be updated.  This may be caused by having all symbols in the ‘?’ state.


Help Using Help Command
Context Help command

Use the Context Help command to obtain help on some portion of Personal Stock Monitor.  When you choose the Toolbar's Context Help button, the mouse pointer will change to an arrow and question mark.  Then click somewhere in the Personal Stock Monitor window, such as another Toolbar button.  The Help topic will be shown for the item you clicked.

Shortcut

Keys:	SHIFT+F1


Title Bar

The title bar is located along the top of a window.  It contains the name of the application and document.  To move the window, drag the title bar.  Note: You can also move dialog boxes by dragging their title bars.

A title bar may contain the following elements:

Application Control-menu button

Document Control-menu button

Maximize button

Minimize button

Name of the application

Name of the document

Restore button


Scroll bars

Displayed at the right and bottom edges of the document window.  The scroll boxes inside the scroll bars indicate your vertical and horizontal location in the document.  You can use the mouse to scroll to other parts of the document.


System Menu Commands

Size command

Use this command to display a four-headed arrow so you can size the active window with the arrow keys.

After the pointer changes to the four-headed arrow:

1.	Press one of the DIRECTION keys (left, right, up, or down arrow key) to move the pointer to the border you want to move.

2.	Press a DIRECTION key to move the border.

3.	Press ENTER when the window is the size you want.

Move command (CTRL+F7)

Use this command to display a four-headed arrow so you can move the active window or dialog box with the arrow keys.

Minimize command (ALT+F9)

Use this command to reduce the Personal Stock Monitor window to an icon.

Maximize command (CTRL+F10)

Use this command to enlarge the active window to fill the available space.

Close command (CTRL+F4 closes document, ALT+F4 closes application)

Use this command to close the active window or dialog box.

Double-clicking a Control-menu box is the same as choosing the Close command.

Note:  If you have multiple windows open for a single document, the Close command on the document Control menu closes only one window at a time.  You can close all windows at once with the Close command on the File menu.

Restore command

Use this command to return the active window to its size and position before you chose the Maximize or Minimize command.


Choose Font Dialog
Choose Font dialog box

<< Write application-specific help here. >>


Choose Color Dialog
Choose Color dialog box

<< Write application-specific help here. >>


Find Dialog
Find dialog box

Enter a search string, then press the Find Next button.  The Find dialog box will disappear, and PSM will search for the specified string in the symbol names and company names of the current document.  You can then use the Find Next command (CTRL+G) to go to the next item which contains the search string.


Edit Replace Command
Replace command (Edit menu)

<< Write application-specific help here. >>


Replace Dialog
Replace dialog box

<< Write application-specific help here. >>


Edit Repeat Command
Repeat command (Edit menu)

Use this command to repeat the last editing command carried out.  The Repeat menu item changes to Can't Repeat if you cannot repeat your last action.

Shortcut

Key:	F4


Edit Clear Command
Clear command (Edit menu)

<< Write application-specific help here. >>


Edit Clear All
Clear All command (Edit menu)

<< Write application-specific help here. >>


Next Pane Command
Next Pane

<< Write application-specific help here. >>


Prev Pane Command
Prev Pane

<< Write application-specific help here. >>


Modifying the Document

<< Write application-specific help here that provides an overview of how the user should modify a document using your application.

If your application supports multiple document types and you want to have a distinct help topic for each, then use the help context i.d. generated by running the MAKEHELP.BAT file produced by AppWizard.  Alternatively, run MAKEHM as follows:

makehm IDR_HIDR_,0x2000 resource.h

If the IDR_ symbol for one of your document types is, for example, IDR_CHARTTYPE, then the help context i.d. generated by MAKEHM will be HIDR_CHARTTYPE.

Note, AppWizard defines the HIDR_DOC1TYPE help context i.d. used by this help topic for the first document type supported by your application.  AppWizard produces an alias in the .HPJ file for your application, mapping HIDR_DOC1TYPE to the HIDR_ produced by MAKEHM for that document type. >>


No Help Available

No help is available for this area of the window.


No Help Available

No help is available for this message box.


Print dialog box

The following options allow you to specify how the document should be printed:

Printer

This is the active printer and printer connection.  Choose the Setup option to change the printer and printer connection.

Setup

Displays a Print Setup dialog box, so  you can select a printer and printer connection.

Print Range

Specify the pages you want to print:

All	Prints the entire document.
Selection	Prints the currently selected text.
Pages	Prints the range of pages you specify in the From and To boxes.

Copies

Specify the number of copies you want to print for the above page range.

Collate Copies

Prints copies in page number order, instead of separated multiple copies of each page.

Print Quality

Select the quality of the printing.  Generally, lower quality printing takes less time to produce.


Print Progress Dialog

The Printing dialog box is shown during the time that Personal Stock Monitor is sending output to the printer.  The page number indicates the progress of the printing.

To abort printing, choose Cancel.


Print Preview toolbar

The print preview toolbar offers you the following options:

Print

Bring up the print dialog box, to start a print job.

Next Page

Preview the next printed page.

Prev Page

Preview the previous printed page.

One Page / Two Page

Preview one or two printed pages at a time.

Zoom In

Take a closer look at the printed page.

Zoom Out

Take a larger look at the printed page.

Close

Return from print preview to the editing window.


Print Setup dialog box

The following options allow you to select the destination printer and its connection.

Printer

Select the printer you want to use.  Choose the Default Printer; or choose the Specific Printer option and select one of the current installed printers shown in the box.  You install printers and configure ports using the Windows Control Panel.

Orientation

Choose Portrait or Landscape.

Paper Size

Select the size of paper that the document is to be printed on.

Paper Source

Some printers offer multiple trays for different paper sources.  Specify the tray here.

Options

Displays a dialog box where you can make additional choices about printing, specific to the type of printer you have selected.

Network...

Choose this button to connect to a network location, assigning it a new drive letter.


Authentication Mechanism

Personal Stock Monitor automatically detects whether a quote server or proxy host requires authentication, and will pop up a dialog box allowing you to enter your user name and password.  During the time PSM is waiting for the user name and password, all network activity is suspended.

You should enter your user name and password for the quote server or proxy, then press the OK button.  If you have entered the user name and password correctly, all network activity will resume as before.  If you have entered the user name or password incorrectly, PSM will again ask you to authenticate yourself.  If you press Cancel out of the authentication dialog box, network activity will be suspended until you manually resume it by pressing the Resume Button ( [image]) on the Symbol Toolbar.


What is a Proxy Host?

A proxy host is a machine or box that sits between your computer and the Internet, and which acts on your behalf when you try to use Internet services.  Proxying often involves caching as well, but that is beyond the scope of this document.  A proxy host is often the gateway to the Internet and sometimes performs a firewall function, which protects an organization’s network from outside intruders.  Some proxy hosts also support authentication, and require you to enter your user name and password before allowing access to the Internet.

The HTTP proxy host is configured in the Network Preferences dialog.  Some guidelines for setting a proxy host are as follows, but you may need to consult with your network administrator if one of the following does not fit your situation:

If your Web browser (ie. Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer) has an HTTP proxy host filled in, you should probably copy that information to the appropriate spot in the Network Preferences dialog and make sure that the proxy host is enabled in PSM.

If you are an individual connecting via dial-up line through an Internet Service Provider such as Netcom, ClarkNet, or GNN, or an on-line service such as CompuServe you probably don’t need to fill in the proxy host.

If you are an individual connecting through a university account, you probably don’t need to fill in the proxy host, but you should confirm this with your network administrator, because it seems that some universities are finally starting to put in firewalls.

If you are an individual who is part of a small company, you should check with your network administrator to determine whether you need to configure a proxy host.

If you are an individual in a large company, you have a good chance of havinga proxy host, so if it’s not filled in in your Web browser (see above), ask your network administrator.

NOTE: If you need to fill in the proxy host, only put the name of the machine in the host name field, without the http:// prefix.

What about SOCKS?

SOCKS is an authentication and connection protocol which is supported by some proxy hosts, and seems to be somewhat popular on the Internet.  Although the protocol is quite simple, due to lack of time and lack of test equipment, SOCKS will not be supported in PSM for at least the near future.


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Note: This list may be out of date.  The most current FAQ is always posted at http://www.clark.net/pub/aivasyuk/psm/faq.htm.

Why do my window controls (maximize, minimize, etc.) disappear / get corrupted? (Win 3.1x with Win32s)

Possible cause: interaction of some 32-bit applications with particular video drivers or video cards.  Recommended solutions: install the latest 16-bit drivers for your video card; upgrade to Windows 95.  Last chance solution: replace your video card.

Why does PSM crash when updating symbols? (Win 3.1x with Win32s)

Possible cause: multiple socket connections sometimes have problems in a 16-bit environment.  Recommended solution: reduce maximum number of connections to 1 in Network preferences.

Why does PSM display question marks (‘?’) next to my symbols?

There are two situations in which this will happen:

The quote server reports that the symbol is unknown.

Three unsuccessful attempts at retrieving the quote.

While the question mark is displayed next to the symbol, it will be skipped by the automatic update cycle.  You can resolve this situation in two possible ways:

Manually update the symbol.  If the update is successful, the question mark will disappear and the symbol will be available for automatic updates.

Switch to a different quote server.  This will remove question marks from all symbols, and those symbols will again be available for automatic updates.

What exactly is the automatic update cycle?

Each symbol is on a separate update cycle, based on the time of last update.  Initially, symbols are updated in the order they are entered.  However, after the symbol is updated, the next update is scheduled by adding the update frequency to the last update time.

Why does PSM hang on startup?

By default, PSM starts up and tries to update all symbols in the current document.  If you start PSM with a default document, you mush be connected to the Internet in order for this update to happen.  The “hang” happens when PSM is tries to contact the quote server, and it will time out and release control after a couple of minutes.

What are the little plus and minus signs next to some of the symbols?

They indicate positive or negative change since last update, designed to be an indication of movement.  Unfortunately, they are of limited usefulness because they only indicate direction for one update.


Errors generated by Personal Stock Monitor

Unable to connect to (server name)

PSM can not determine the IP address of the requested quote server, or the quote server is not responding.

Unable to send request to (server name)

PSM can not complete sending a quote request because there was an error on the connection.

Request for symbol (symbol name) timed out

PSM has determined that data for the specified symbol has not been received during the allowable time period, and will close the connection for this request.

Unable to get value for symbol (symbol name)

PSM has received a response from the quote server which can not be interpreted as valid quote data.  The response is discarded.

Can not perform operation; symbol (symbol name) is locked

An operation, such, as delete, can not complete because the symbol has been locked by an update operation.  You may retry the operation after the symbol is unlocked by the update operation.


Problem Reports
Reporting a problem

When reporting a problem, please include the following information:

Personal Stock Monitor version.

Operating system name and version.

Software name and version used to connect to the Internet.

As much detail about the problem as possible.

If it is a crash, the address of the crash.

Events and actions leading up to the problem.

Please be as specific as possible, because this will help me find and fix the problem.  Send the problem report via email to aivasyuk@clark.net with the subject PR: PSM vn.n (substitute the version number for the n.n ).


Symbol context menu

This menu appears if you click the right mouse button in the symbol view.  The menu is said to be sensitive to the circumstances, of where and when the mouse button was clicked, therefore some menu items may be disabled or not present.  The context menu is a convenient way to perform some symbol functions without going through the top-level menu.


About Personal Stock Monitor

Personal Stock Monitor (PSM) is an application which automatically retrieves prices from free quote servers and displays them in a convenient manner on your desktop.  PSM can automatically alert you when an equity reaches a high or low target price, and it will help you keep track of your shares and will automatically recalculate your portfolio value as stock prices are updated.  The following table is a feature list.

Track stocks, mutual funds, etc.	Unlimited
Basic portfolio management	X
Free quote servers supported	6*
Real time quote servers supported	2*
Max. simultaneous connections	9
HTTP proxy support	X
Proxy authentication	X
Configurable column view	X
Price alerts	X
Price history	X
Export to text file	X
Multiple symbol categories	X

* - Quote.Com provides a real-time quote service  through the same site as the delayed quote service, depending on the type of account.  For purposes of counting, it is counted as a real-time server because the potential for such use is present.

PLEASE NOTE THAT PRICES DISPLAYED BY THE SOFTWARE USING DELAYED QUOTE SERVERS ARE DELAYED BY AT LEAST 15 MINUTES DUE TO REGULATIONS IMPOSED BY THE EXCHANGES ON THE QUOTE SERVERS.


License Agreement
Disclaimer and Shareware License Agreement

Before you use Personal Stock Monitor (the “Software”) for the first time, please read this Disclaimer and License Agreement.  By your action of using Personal Stock Monitor, you are agreeing to comply with all terms contained in this License.

Users of Personal Stock Monitor must accept this disclaimer of warranty: "The Software is supplied as is.  Anatoly Ivasyuk (the “Author”) disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose.  The Author assumes no liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from the use of the Software."

Personal Stock Monitor is a "shareware program" and is provided at no charge to the user for evaluation for a period of 30 days.  After the 30-day evaluation  you must make a registration payment of $25 to the Author (see the Registration section for details).  The registration fee will license one copy of the Software to the user for use on any one computer at any one time.  When you register, you will receive a key which will disable the reminder screen and the “UNREGISTERED SHAREWARE” notice on printouts.  When the Software has been registered, it is no longer considered shareware and may not be freely distributed.  Site-License arrangements may be made by contacting the Author.

All content accessed through the Software is the property of the applicable content owner and may be protected by applicable copyright law.  This License gives you no rights to such content.

Individuals may freely distribute only unaltered, unregistered copies of the archive containing the Software and all associated files to your friends for evaluation. Organizations who wish to include this program in "shareware" distributions for remuneration must contact the Author for explicit authorization.

The Title, ownership rights, and intellectual property rights in and to the Software shall remain with the Author.  You agree to abide by the copyright law and all other applicable laws of the United States including, but not limited to, export control laws.  You acknowledge that the Software in source code form remains a confidential trade secret of the Author therefore you agree not to modify the Software or attempt to decipher, decompile, disassemble or reverse engineer the Software, except to the extent applicable laws specifically prohibit such restriction.


Registering Personal Stock Monitor

Unregistered versions of Personal Stock Monitor will stop functioning 30 days after first use.  The process of registration will allow you to use the program indefinitely and will place your name in the About dialog as the registered user.

The registration fee for this version of Personal Stock Monitor is US$25.  Payment can be made with:

US check or money order.

Canadian postal money order.

Visa, MasterCard, or American Express.

First Virtual.

If you wish to use a credit card, you use a secure on-line registration form using an SSL 2.0-compatible browser such as Netscape 2.0 or later or MS Internet Explorer 2.0 or later.  Links to the on-line registration are available at:

http://www.clark.net/pub/aivasyuk/psm/register.htm

If you are not using on-line registration, you must use the register.exe program included in this distribution to send in your payment by email or via the Postal Service.  Follow these steps to register:

1.	Run register.exe.

2.	Enter the required information, including the payment method and number of licenses requested.  Please make sure your email address is correct and is accessible from the Internet.

3.	Enter the optional information, such as comments.

4.	Follow the directions in order to save or print the registration form.

5.	Send in your registration form according to the instructions.

If you submit your registration on-line or via email, you will receive an email confirmation from Kagi Shareware when your payment is processed, after which you will received your registration key from me via email.  Please allow up to 4 days after confirmation to receive your registration key.  If you send your registration through the Postal Service, please allow up to two weeks (14 days) from the time you send it, or 20 days if you are not in North America.  If you do not receive your registration within the specified time, please check the PSM Home Page for news before mailing me, because I may be out of town or otherwise unable to process your registration.

When you receive your registration, you can enter it into the registration dialog in PSM.  Please note that the registration user name and password are case-sensitive, and should be entered exactly as shown in the registration.  Since 1s (ones) and ls (little Ls) often look the same on the screen, it is recommended that you either print out the registration so that you can distinguish those characters correctly, or use the Windows clipboard to copy the password directly from the registration and paste it into the corresponding box in the registration dialog using the CTRL+V key combination.

Attention Internet Anywhere Megapak Users:

If you have a version of OpenText Corporation’s Internet Anywhere Megapak which includes Personal Stock Monitor Light, you can upgrade to the full version for US$17.  When using the register.exe program, please enter the number of licenses you wish to upgrade in the “Personal Stock Monitor Light Upgrade” line.

NOTE: Only one upgrade license is allowed for each Internet Anywhere MegaPak license. You must include the serial number of one Internet Anywhere MegaPak package for each single user license you request.


Quote Servers used by PSM

This is a list of the quote servers used by this version of PSM.  Please note that all of these quote servers provide services beyond those offered by PSM, and should be investigated as a way of rounding out your financial strategy.

Server Name	Type	Address (URL)
PC Quote	Delayed	http://www.pcquote.com
PC Quote MarketSmart	Real-Time	http://marketsmart-real.pcquote.com
CNNfn	Delayed	http://www.cnnfn.com
Security APL	Delayed	http://www.secapl.com
StockCenter	Delayed	http://www.stockcenter.com
Lombard	Delayed	http://www.lombard.com
Quote.Com	Real-Time*	http://www.quote.com
NetWorth	Delayed	http://networth.galt.com

NOTES:

•	As of PSM v1.0.1, the quote server at DBC (http://www3.dbc.com) is no longer being supported.  Support for DBC’s real-time quote server (http://mw.dbc.com) is also not supported. This is by request of their administration.

•	Program support for real-time quote servers is included free, but the quote servers themselves will charge a subscription fee.

•	Quote.Com provides real-time service through the same access point as their normal service, which means that PSM will support real-time quotes if your account is set up as such.

•	Although Lombard has a real-time server, PSM can not support it at this time because it requires Secure Sockets Layer.


Choosing a Quote Server

Although the quote server you use is largely a matter of personal preference if you only need the basic features, the servers are actually quite different.  If you need direct support for a specific feature, you may need to choose a specific server.

Please note that for servers which do not support Previous Close or % Change, they are calculated as follows:

Previous Close = Current Price - $ Change

% Change = $ Change / Previous Close

The specific fields and features supported by each of the servers is shown in the following table:

	PC	APL	CNN	SC	L	QC	NW
Symbol Name	X	X	X			X	X
Current Price	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Last Trade Size	X				X
Last Trade Time	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
$ Change	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
% Change	calc	X	calc	calc.	X	calc.	X
Open	X		X		X	X	X
Open Interest					X
Day High/Low	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Previous Close	X	calc	X	calc.	X	calc.	X
52 Week High/Low	X	X	X			X	X
Volume	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Bid/Ask	X	X	X		X	X
Bid x Ask Size	X	X	X		X	X
Exchange Name	X	X			X		X
P/E Ratio	X	X	X		X	X	X
Yield	X
Earnings Per Share		X	X			X
Dividend	X	X				X	X
Multiple Queries*		+	X
Canadian Stocks		X			X	X	X
Mutual Funds	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Commodities	X
Options					X

Key: PC = PC Quote/PC Quote MarketSmart, APL = Security APL, CNN = CNNfn, SC = StockCenter, L = Lombard, QC = Quote.com, NW = NetWorth.  X = supported, calc. = calculated.

* - Multiple queries per connection feature is currently not supported by PSM.

+ - Server supports this feature, but not in a format that PSM can use.

Special Note for Lombard Users

You can retrieve options and indexes from the Lombard delayed quote server by prepending a pound sign (‘#’) to option symbols and a dollar sign (‘$’) to index symbols.  Please note that these special characters are used by PSM for identification purposes, and should not be used when retrieving options and indexes directly from the Lombard Web site.


File menu commands

New command ( [image], CTRL +N)

Use this command to create a new document in Personal Stock Monitor.

Open command ( [image], CTRL+O)

Use this command to open an existing document in a new window.

Save command ( [image], CTRL+S)

Use this command to save the active document to its current name and directory.  When you save a document for the first time, Personal Stock Monitor displays the Save As dialog box so you can name your document.  If you want to change the name and directory of an existing document before you save it, choose the Save As command.

Save As command

Use this command to save and name the active document.  Personal Stock Monitor displays the Save As dialog box so you can name your document.  To save a document with its existing name and directory, use the Save command.

Export command

Use this command to export the current data to a text file.  Personal Stock Monitor displays the Export dialog box so you can select the type of file you wish to create.

Import command

Use this command to import data from a text file.  Personal Stock Monitor displays a dialog box which will let you select the text file from which symbols will be imported.  The file is read one line at a time, the symbol is assumed to be the first word in each line, and anything after the symbol name is ignored.

Preferences command

Use this command to bring up the Preferences dialog box.

Print command ( [image], CTRL+P)

Use this command to print a document.   This command presents a Print dialog box, where you may specify the range of pages to be printed, the number of copies, the destination printer, and other printer setup options.

Print Preview command

Use this command to display the active document as it would appear when printed.  When you choose this command, the main window will be replaced with a print preview window in which one or two pages will be displayed in their printed format.  The print preview toolbar offers you options to view either one or two pages at a time; move back and forth through the document; zoom in and out of pages; and initiate a print job.

Print Setup command

Use this command to select a printer and a printer connection.  This command presents a Print Setup dialog box, where you specify the printer and its connection.

1, 2, 3, 4 command

Use the numbers and filenames listed at the bottom of the File menu to open the last four documents you closed.  Choose the number that corresponds with the document you want to open.

Exit command (ALT+F4)

Use this command to end your Personal Stock Monitor session.  You can also use the Close command on the application Control menu.  Personal Stock Monitor prompts you to save documents with unsaved changes.


New Symbol command
Symbol menu commands

New command (Alt+Ins)

Use this command to insert a new symbol into the document.  The symbol will be added to the view, at which point you can edit the actual symbol name directly in the view.

Delete command (Alt+Del)

Use this command to delete the currently selected symbol(s) in the view.  If delete confirmation is set, a confirmation dialog will be displayed before the symbol(s) are deleted.

Rename command

Use this command to rename the currently selected symbol.  If rename confirmation is set, a confirmation dialog will be displayed before the symbol is renamed.

Update Selected command (Alt + U)

Use this command to update the currently selected symbol(s) in the view.

Update All command ( [image])

Use this command to update all symbols in the document.

Clear Alert command (Alt+A)

Use this command to clear any alerts on currently selected symbol(s) in the view.

Clear All Alerts command

Use this command to clear alerts on all symbol in the document.

Add to Portfolio command

Use this command to add a portfolio entry for the selected symbol.  This command is disables if more than one symbol is selected.

Categories command

Use this command to bring up the Categories dialog, which allows you to select category membership for the selected symbol(s).

Properties command (Alt+Enter)

Use this command to display the symbol properties dialog for the selected symbol.  This command is disabled if more than one symbol is selected.


Export dialog box

The export dialog box will save the data in the currently visible columns to a text file in a specified external format.  The following options allow you to specify the data to export and the type of file you wish to create:

All Symbols

Check this option to write the data for all symbols in the current document to the export file.

Selected Symbols

Check this option to write the data only for symbols you have selected from the symbol list.  If you have not selected any symbols, this option is disabled.

Comma-separated text file

Check this option to generate a text file in which the fields will be separated by commas.  This option is useful for importing the resulting into spreadsheets.

Tab-separated text file

Check this option to generate a text file in which the fields will be separated by tab characters.  Some applications that you may want to use the data with may support this format instead of the comma-separated format.

Quicken-compatible text file

Check this option to generate a text file which Quicken will accept as an update file.

Quicken 5.0-compatible text file

Check this option to generate a text file which Quicken 5.0 will accept as an update file.  With this option, more data fields will be exported than the standard Quicken export format can support.

MetaStock-compatible text file

Check this option to generate a text file which the MetaStock charting program will be able to import.

QuoteLink-compatible text file

Check this option to generate a text file which CompuServe® QuoteLink will be able to import.

Export...

This button will bring up an Export To dialog box, and will let you select the path and file name for the file you wish to use for export.


New Category dialog box

This dialog box allows you to add a category to the list of available categories.  Enter the category name and press the OK button to add it to the list.


Categories dialog box

This dialog box allows you to select category membership for the currently selected symbol(s).  The dialog displays all currently defined categories in a list box.

A check mark is shown next to the category name if the symbol(s) are members of that category.  A grayed check mark is shown next to the category name if multiple symbols have been selected, and only some of the symbols are members of the category.  If you leave a grayed check mark next to a category name, the membership status for that category is not changed.

To change category membership, click in the box next to the category name in order to show or hide the check box.  The membership setting affects all currently selected symbols.


Export command (Toolbar)

Use this command to export current data to the default file in the last format specified in the Export dialog.

Shortcuts

Toolbar:


New Category (Toolbar)

Use this command to create a new category.

Shortcuts

Toolbar:


Delete Category (Toolbar)

Use this command to delete the current category displayed in the main symbol list.  Note, however, that the standard categories, All Symbols and Portfolio, can not be deleted.

Shortcuts

Toolbar:


History preferences

Enable history logging during market hours

Checking this option will enable global history logging and allow you to specify directories for intraday and end-of-day data.  After this option is enabled, you will be able to set the history parameters on a per-symbol basis, which is done in Symbol History Properties.

Directory for intraday data

The name of a directory, relative to the directory in which the psm.exe file is located, which will be used to store intraday data.

Purge daily

If this option is selected, the intraday directory will be purged at the time when the market opens.

Directory for end-of-day data

The name of a directory, relative to the directory in which the psm.exe file is located, which will be used to store end-of-day data.

Prompt for save on exit

If this option is selected, you will be asked if you wish to write out the end of day data for the current document when you exit the application or when you load another document.

NOTE: You must enable automatic updates during market hours in order for this feature to work properly.  See Update Preferences.


Symbol History Properties

This property page allows you to configure history settings on a per-stock basis.  Note that History Preferences must be set properly in order to enable these options.

Save intraday history

Checking this option will cause PSM to save intraday information to the file specified in the Filename field.

Save end-of-day history

Checking this option will cause PSM to save end-of-day information to the file specified in the Filename field.


Symbol Toolbar

The toolbar is displayed across the top of the application window, below the menu bar.  The toolbar provides quick mouse access to many tools used in Personal Stock Monitor,

To hide or display the Symbol Toolbar, choose Symbol Toolbar from the View menu (ALT, V, Y).

Click	To

Update all symbols.

Stop all network operations.

Resume network operations.

Export current data using default settings.

Change current category.

Create a new category.

Delete current category.