QTB Version 1.0 - Copyright (c) 1995 Randy Santossio Welcome! You have downloaded a Shareware copy of Quote Ticker Bar (QTB), version 1.0. This README.TXT, along with LICENSE.TXT, are all the documentation you will need to use QTB. This shareware copy is allowed to be copied freely, but has restricted capabilities. To register a copy, please Email Randy Santossio at randys@pcnet.com Registration cost $20/copy - special rates for corporate customers are available. Up to date information on QTB is available at http://www.pcnet.com/~randys ==================================== BEFORE YOU CONTINUE, PLEASE READ THE LICENSING AGREEMENT. BY USING QTB, YOU WILL BE BOUND THE LICENSE ENCLOSED WITH THIS SOFTWARE. ALSO NOTE THAT ALL INFORMATION DISPLAYED BY QTB WILL BE DELAYED BY AT LEAST 15 MINUTES. THERE IS NO "UP TO THE MINUTE" DATA AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME. ==================================== This README has 2 halves. The first half gives you some general information concerning QTB. This information is the same as the QTB home page (http://www.pcnet.com/~randys), so you may want to skip it. The second section gives some information about the installation and execution of QTB. ==================================== 1 - QTB Information ==================================== QTB started as just "an idea that shouldn't work" and as "a project that I'll never get around to". I guess I lied. QTB was written using Microsoft Visual C++. It start on v2.1, then moved to v2.2, and eventually landed on v4.0. The version that you've download (or will download) was compiled using v2.2 (don't ask, but I know it works with v4.0). QTB will have different behavior, depending on the OS that you are using. Let me explain a bit. QTB's ideal environment is Windows95. Using the new Shell Extensions to Windows95, QTB will create an AppBar, that is, a window like the TaskBar at the bottom of the Win95 screen, and scroll selected stock tickers across it. If you are not using Windows95, you will see either a bar that will sit on top of all of your other applications, or a minimized icon, that will change it's title to display the stock information. QTB runs on the following platforms: o Windows 95 o Windows NT v3.51 o Windows NT v3.51 with the new shell* o Windows v3.x with Win32s installed** *When used with the new shell for Windows NT, you will see an AppBar, like Windows95, but it does NOT resize the desktop the way it does with Windows95. This seems to be a problem with the alpha versions of the Windows NT shell; they will fix it soon. **If you do not have Win32s, it is available at http://www.microsoft.com. Other information you might want to know... The AppBar - As far as I know MS-Office v7.0 is the only other application to effectively use the AppBar, and even then it is used as a tool bar. Using the AppBar proved even more difficult than it should have, even though there is almost no documentation on this particular control. Whatever documentation that exists is either all theory or all example, and almost no explanation. But here, it works. In the registered version, you even have a choice of sides to dock the bar to. The Stock Information - Probably the most important piece, the stock information is gathered from a stock ticker server located somewhere on the Internet. While QTB could pull information from anywhere, there are only 2 particular servers that are used to get information for QTB. Both of these servers require no login ID, no payment for their services, and display prices that are DELAYED BY AT LEAST 15 MINUTES. These servers display their data is different HTML formats; if any other servers/services want to be used for QTB, I need to be sent the format of their HTML results. The HTML needs to be stripped before the data becomes useful. Note: This is a hint to any Quote Server provider - if you want QTB to use your server, an arrangement can be made! Email me for more information. If a server is down, QTB will just return error messages or blank results. You can always use the "Update Information" menu item to perform ad-hoc updates from the server. ==================================== 2 - QTB Execution/Operation ==================================== To install QTB, simply unzip the ZIP package into a new or existing directory. You will find QTB.EXE, this README.TXT, and LICENSE.TXT. The LICENSE.TXT is very important, and should be read before you use QTB. QTB.EXE is the main executable; an INI file will be made in this directory, if you are using the registered version, but there are no other files that are needed. SHAREWARE VERSION: To use QTB, run QTB.EXE. If this is the first time you've run QTB, you will get all of the default values. If you change any values they will be saved when you close QTB. The default 2 stocks that you will begin to pull back are Microsoft (MSFT) and Netscape (NSCP). Stocks will be refresh every 10 minutes, and the display will change approximately every 5 seconds. Due to Windows' multitasking nature, this may very on different machines. Ad-hoc Displaying: You may view all of the stocks at one time, by selecting the "Display all" option from the system menu. This menu is available by clicking on the Properties button in Windows95, or by clicking on the system menu button for all other OS's. Ad-hoc Updates: If you want to bypass the timed update, you can force an update, from the internet server(s), by selecting the "Update stocks" option from the system menu. This will process an update from the server. Other: Close QTB by selecting Close from the system menu, in either style of interface. An About box, giving a little bit of QTB information is also available, in both designs. REGISTERED VERSION: The register version has all of the above features and characteristics; it also has some extra features, not available in the shareware version. Properties: There are a certain number of options that can be customize and saved for all of your QTB settings. These include the stocks that are retrieved, the amount of time before a new stock appears, the interval between data refreshes, and an option to choose what server the information is pulled from. The Property dialog had 2 tabs that are available. The first is used to enter the stocks that you want to see. You can add, remove 1, remove all, and edit the order that they will be displayed. The second tab is used to select 1 of 2 servers to use for data retrieval, the interval between displays and data retrievals, and the alignment of the AppBar (only for the new interface of Windows95). You settings are saved when you leave the tab that you changed the information in. ==================================== 3 - A few known problems... ==================================== o After you change and of the selected stock tickers, timing values, and/or server site, you need to execute a "Update stocks" command to refresh the data that is stored in memory. If you do not, weird stocks may be displayed. o When using the AppBar (Windows95/NT), you can accidentally resize the AppBar. This doesn't stop execution, and can still be resize to it's proper size. o The AppBar does NOT realign and draw the workspace, when using Windows NT 3.51, with the new shell. o QTB will NOT run on Windows v3.x, without Win32s v1.30. I hope you enjoy QTB. To register a copy, please Email Randy Santossio at randys@pcnet.com. Registration cost $20/copy - special rates for corporate customers are available. Up to date information on QTB is available at http://www.pcnet.com/~randys