








                             Personal Ticker Tape (PTT)




                                    Users Manual




                                   August 27, 1994










































                                          1








            1. Introduction                                            7


             1.1 Summary of Features                                   8

             1.2 Requirements to use Personal Ticker Tape              8
               1.2.1 Optional hardware                                 9
               1.2.2 Software Required                                 9
               1.2.3 Optional Software                                 9

            2. Licensing and Registration                             10


             2.1 About the TRIAL period                               10

             2.2 Registration Code Secrecy                            10

             2.3 Disclaimer                                           11

             2.4 Registration                                         11

             2.5 All Sales are Final                                  11

            3. Technical Support                                      12


             3.1 How to Get Help                                      12

             3.2 PTT BBS Operation                                    12

            4. Installation                                           13


             4.1 Extracting the PTT program files                     13

            5. Setup Procedure                                        14


             5.1 The Option Menu                                      14
               5.1.1 Saving an Option Set                             14
               5.1.2 Loading an Option Set                            15

             5.2 The Setup Menu                                       15
               5.2.1 Enter your Registration Code                     15
               5.2.2 Setup Data Directories                           15
               5.2.3 Specify Update Options                           19
               5.2.4 DOS FILES= setting                               22

             5.3 Setting up for Downloading                           22
               5.3.1 Specifying Modem Parameters                      22
               5.3.2 Specifying Data Vendor Information               24


                                          2





               5.3.3 Specifying the Download Directory                25
               5.3.4 Special Requirements for Dial Data Access        25
               5.3.5 Special Requirements for Compuserve Access       26
               5.3.6 Special Requirements for GEnie Access            27

            6. Downloading                                            28


             6.1 Scheduled Downloads                                  28

             6.2 Immediate Downloads                                  28

             6.3 The Download Ticker List                             29

             6.4 Stopping the download                                29

             6.5 Determining the file name for the download           30

             6.6 Downloading Historical Quotes                        30
               6.6.2 Accounting for Trading Holidays                  31

             6.7 Dow Jones News Stories                               31

            7. Updating Historical Data                               33


             7.1 Input File Name                                      33

             7.2 Input Format                                         33
               7.2.1 ASCII Format Type                                33
               7.2.2 Format Description String                        33

             7.3 Raw Quote Files                                      34

             7.4 Translation of Ticker Symbols                        34

             7.5 ``Formatted'' ASCII Data                             36

             7.6 Prodigy Market Close Information                     37

             7.7 Raw Quote Conversion Notes                           40
               7.7.1 Dow Jones News Service Quotes                    40
               7.7.2 Converting DOW JONES AVERAGES (//DJA)            40
               7.7.3 Converting DOW JONES //TRADELINE quotes          40
               7.7.4 GEnie Closing Quotes                             40
               7.7.5 CompuServe Quick Quotes                          41
               7.7.6 CompuServe Information Manager quotes            42
               7.7.7 Obtaining quotes from PRODIGY                    42

             7.8 The PTT Lookup Index Files                           42

            8. Utility Menu                                           44




                                          3





             8.1 Generate Report File                                 44

             8.2 Un-updated List                                      44

             8.3 Clear Log File                                       44

             8.4 Remove PTT Index                                     44

             8.5 Show Memory Usage                                    45

            9. Command Line Operation                                 46


             9.1 Specify an Option Set (-p)                           46

             9.2 ASCII Format (-f)                                    46

             9.3 Formatted ASCII File (-a)                            46

             9.4 Download Immediately (-D)                            47

             9.5 Turn off Report to Screen (-Q)                       47

             9.6 Update after Downloading (-u)                        47

             9.7 Stop before Update (-x)                              47

             9.8 Maximum LookBack Override (-m)                       47

             9.9 Run Scheduler (-S)                                   47

             9.10 Prompt for Missing Symbols (-P)                     47

             9.11 Rebuild Symbol Index (-R)                           48

             9.12 Look for Missing Updates (-Mv)                      48

             9.13 Specifying the Raw Quote Input File                 48

             9.14 A Few Examples                                      48

            10. File Maintenance                                      50


             10.1 Edit Security                                       50

             10.2 Rename Security                                     50

             10.3 Delete Security                                     50

             10.4 Split Security                                      51

             10.5 Add Security                                        51



                                          4





            11. Index                                                 53























































                                          5





























































                                          6






            1. Introduction

            Personal Ticker Tape, PTT, is a software program designed to
            assist you in maintaining current stock market data. PTT has
            many features which you should find useful in the daily
            process of obtaining security quotes and updating historical
            data files.

               . PTT updates the following types of historical data
                 files:
                               1 )
                 .  MetaStock (

                 .  MegaTech or ChartPro (.PRO format files)

                 .  ASCII format files

               . PTT can be used to update your historical data with a
                 variety of pre-formatted ASCII text files (such as
                 those obtained from the Free Financial Network)

               . PTT has a downloading feature to access quote services
                 from the following data vendors:

                 .  Compuserve Information Service ``asic'' Area.

                 .  GEnie Closing Quotes service

                 .  Dow Jones News Service (DJNS) Current Quotes (//CQ)
                    and Historical Quotes (//HQ)

                 .  Dial Data

               . PTT generates a report as it updates the data files.
                 For each symbol updated, it contains the number of
                 quotes, the AVERAGE VOLUME for the symbol, the CHANGE
                 IN PRICE from the previous close, and the VOLUME%CHANGE
                 (from the average volume).  This last value can be very
                 useful in spotting unusual activity in a security.
                 This report can give you a jump on the rest of the
                 world as they wait for their Investor's Daily to
                 arrive.  This report is written to the file PTT.RPT in
                 the \PTT directory.





            1                   
               MetaStock is a trademark of Equis International

            MegaTech is a program produced by Ret-Tech



                                          7





            1.1 Summary of Features

               . Personal Ticker Tape can download quotes directly from
                 the supported data vendors, either on demand or at
                 scheduled times and frequencies.

               . Automatically builds the list of stocks to be
                 downloaded in order to update your databases on a daily
                 basis. The stock symbols to be downloaded are obtained
                 from your existing historical data files.

               . Translates Ticker Symbols from the data vendor's symbol
                 format to your own version of the Ticker Symbol.

               . Extracts quote data from many captured quote files,
                 such as Prodigy, Compuserve, GEnie, Dow Jones and other
                 sources you can define yourself. PTT applies extensive
                 checking to each line of the print image file to ensure
                 that only stock/bond/fund quote data is extracted.

               . As your historical data files are being updated, PTT
                 generates ``color coded'' daily update screens,
                 highlighting symbols whose volume and/or price has
                 changed by percentage amounts that you specify.

               . Notifies you of potential stock splits while updating
                 and can create a report of securities not updated.

               . Fixes up the dates of the quotes so that they are on
                 the correct business day, no matter which day you
                 download them. This allows quotes to be retrieved on
                 weekends or early in the morning before the market
                 opens.

               . Allows the creation of a new data file when a symbol is
                 added for the first time.

               . Easy to use installation and customization. Online HELP
                 while customizing PTT.

               . Fast Indexed symbol lookup via auxiliary files for
                 FASTER file access.


            1.2 Requirements to use Personal Ticker Tape

            Personal Ticker Tape requires

               . IBM compatible PC with a 386 or later CPU.

               . At least 1M of  Extended Memory





                                          8





            1.2.1 Optional hardware
               . Hard Disk

               . Mouse

               . Hayes-compatible Modem


            1.2.2 Software Required
               . DOS 3.3 or later


            1.2.3 Optional Software
               . An ASCII Text editor (such as DOS 5 EDIT command)










































                                          9






            2. Licensing and Registration

            Personal Ticker Tape is a shareware program. It is available
            for downloading from Bulletin Board Systems and networks
            around the world. PTT might also be found on various
            shareware distribution disks for which you may have paid a
            disk copying fee.

            PTT must be registered if you continue to use it.


            2.1 About the TRIAL period

            If you are evaluating PTT, you are allowed to use the
            program for 21 days. It will give y(2 )n opportunity to try
            the program with a few limitations.    .

            When you run PTT, you will see the date on which the trial
            period ends.  After that date, you will be reminded to
            register your copy of the program.

            Unregistered use of PTT after the 21-day evaluation period
            is in violation of international copyright laws.

            You are allowed to copy and distribute the ENTIRE and
            UNALTERED package freely. It may be uploaded to bulletin
            boards or given to others, as_long_as_the_registration

            information_is_not_transferred.


            If you continue to use PTT after the 21 day evaluation
            period, print the file REGISTER.DOC which came with this
            program and follow the instructions for registering the
            program.


            2.2 Registration Code Secrecy

            You may not divulge or redistribute your registration code ,
            nor may you transfer it to anyone else.

            If you divulge or publish your registration code to an
            unregistered party, or parties, that registration code will
            be invalidated and your code will not work for future
            upgrades to PTT or any other FlexSoft product until a new

            2                   
               The unregistered PTT will allow only 1 data directory,
             and cannot be run from a batch file. The unregistered PTT
             download feature allows only 40 ticker symbols to be
             downloaded from a data service.



                                         10





            code is obtained at the full price for the product whose
            code was compromised.


            2.3 Disclaimer

            The author assumes no responsibility for any damages caused
            by the use or misuse of this product.  This product is
            distributed ``as is'' with no warranty expressed or implied.
            The author will not be responsible for any losses incurred,
            either directly or indirectly, by the use of this product.
            The author reserves the right to make modifications at any
            time.  Prices are subject to change without notice. FlexSoft
            makes no warranty for continued use of this program or
            maintainance of compatibility with any of the data services
            and formats supported.

            Prudent usage dictates that this (or any new) program be
            thoroughly tested with non-critical data before relying on
            it.  The user must assume the entire risk of using the
            program.


            2.4 Registration

            One registered copy of PTT may be dedicated to a single
            person who uses the software on one or more computers or to
            a single workstation used by multiple people.

            If you wish to register PTT, you should print the
            REGISTER.DOC file (found in the PTT subdirectory) and follow
            the instructions in that file for registering PTT.


            2.5 All Sales are Final

            As stated above, PTT is available for you to evaluate
            without cost for 21 days. When you register the program, you
            should have taken advantage of this trial period to be sure
            you want the program. Once the Registration Code has been
            provided to you, ALL SALES ARE FINAL. You must be sure that
            this is the program you want and that it performs the
            functions required by you before you register. Under_no

            circumstances_will_refunds_be_given.











                                         11






            3. Technical Support


            3.1 How to Get Help

            If you have any questions regarding the use of this program,
            or you discover any problems, please send me email on one of
            the following services.


            Table 1 - Support ID's


               OnLine Service      Userid




               Internet            moore@netcom.com


               Prodigy              JBMD65A


               FlexSoft BBS (510-  SYSOP
               829-2293)


               Compuserve           76447,2367



            3.2 PTT BBS Operation

            If you would like to check for a newer copy of PTT, or if
            you  have a problem to report, you can also contact the
            FlexSoft Bulletin Board System (BBS) at 510-829-2293.


















                                         12






            4. Installation


            4.1 Extracting the PTT program files

            Personal Ticker Tape should be installed in its own
            directory. For consistency, it is recommended that it be
            installed in the \PTT directory. If you received PTT from
            FlexSoft on an installation disk, follow the instructions
            that come with the disk.

            If you have downloaded PTT from a bulletin board or other
            source, it may be in either self-extracting format (with a
            suffix .EXE) or it may be in another compression format. In
            the first case, simply make a directory for PTT, copy the
            PTT*.EXE file into the directory and then type PTT*.EXE
            (where * is the a number indicating the PTT release and
            version number).

            If you received PTT in some other format other than an .EXE
            file, you should follow the instructions that come with the
            file compression utility (e.g., PKZIP and PKUNZIP).

































                                         13






            5. Setup Procedure

            Once you have extracted PTT's program files in a directory
            (see Extracting the PTT program files), you need to
            customize PTT for your configuration. Type the command

                            PTT
            to invoke the program. You will be told that you are running
            an unregistered  trial version of PTT. Hit ESC at this time
            to close the trial message window.


            5.1 The Option Menu

            The Option menu controls the saving and loading of Option
            Sets. An Option Set is whatever settings are in effect at
            the time the Option Set is saved. Every option which can be
            set in the Setup Menu and the Download menu is saved as part
            of the Option Set.

            The Option menu item contains menu choices to Save and Load
            option sets. It also contains a setting to cause PTT to
            automatically save any option set changes you make when you
            exit the program (Write Options at Exit).

            You can cause an option set to be loaded when PTT first
            begins by specifying the command line flag ``-p
            optionSetName''.  This command line flag setting must

            precede any other command line flags passed to PTT.


               Example:

               If you have an option set named ``IALD'', and you wanted
               to start PTT with all the settings found in the DIALD
               option set, you would say:

                            PTT -p DIALD

            5.1.1 Saving an Option Set
            If you want to save your settings, choose the Save Options
            menu item. You will be presented with a dialog box that
            contains the name of the current option set a list box
            containing the names of additional option sets you have
            saved. If you want to change the name of the option set,
            just type the new name in the text area containing the
            current option set's name. A new option set will be created
            and your settings will be saved.

            You can have a maximum of 99 option sets, so you should
            periodically delete any unused ones if you begin to reach
            this number.


                                         14





            5.1.2 Loading an Option Set
            You can load an option set with the Load Options menu item.
            You will see a list containing the names of option sets
            saved in the past.

            You can also Delete an Option Set from the Load Option
            dialog. Move the cursor to the option you want to load (or
            delete) and click the OK button.


            5.2 The Setup Menu

            The Main Menu of PTT is a single line across the top of the
            screen which shows you what your menu options are. Using the
            mouse, or by typing alt-S, choose the Setup menu item.


            5.2.1 Enter your Registration Code
            If you have registered the program, choose the
            Setup/Register Program menu item. You will see a dialog box
            open where you can enter the number provided to you when you
            registered the program. Enter your name in upper case as you
            spelled it when you registered the program. Enter your
            registration code. This code is composed of the number 0-9,
            and the letters A-F only. Press the OK button to save the
            dialog settings.


            5.2.2 Setup Data Directories
            While still in the Setup menu, choose the Data Directories
            option. Initially, the dialog that appears will contain no
            data directories.

            The registered version of PTT allows you to update up to 120
            historical data directories at one time. While running an
            unregistered copy of PTT, only the first data directory will
            be updated (unless you are updating from data downloaded
            from Dial Data, in which case, there is no restriction on
            number of directories updated).


            5.2.2.1 Supported Data Directory Formats

            5.2.2.1.1 ASCII Format Historical Data Files
            ASCII format data directories must contain readable ASCII
            text files with historical data for each ticker symbol in
            each file. The file names must be symbol.PRN where symbol is
            the ticker symbol. All files in the directory must have the
            same field order within the ASCII data files.

            The order of data fields on each line of the ASCII *.PRN
            files must be specified in a file located in the data
            directory or in a parent directory of the data directory.
            This file is named ASCII.FMT. It should contain a single


                                         15





            line with a Format Description String describing the ASCII
            field format.

            The Format Description String defines the format of a comma
            separated quote by using single letters to describe each
            field in the quote. The code letters for each field are:


            Format    Data






            S         Ticker







            D         Date

            H         High

            L         Low

            C         Close

            V         Volume

            O         Open

            I         Open









            X         Skip this










                                         16





            For example, if your quote file contains quotes with the
            following format:

            date,symbol,high,low,close,open,open int,other,volume
            where "other" is some other data value, then your format
            specification string would be:

                            DSHLCOIXV

                                   Important Note

            Because ASCII format files do not contain records of equal
            length, it is necessary for PTT to rewrite possibly large
            portions of the file if an update to the data file is made.
            Lines subsequent to the first point of the update are
            rewritten in a ``standard'' format without regard to the
            original format of the data. This standard format may be
            different in terms of the way the date is written, and the
            number of decimal points in price values, than the original
            contents of the file. PTT is able to read the new, rewritten
            format, just as it can read your original format. You should
            be aware of this, in case you plan on using these data files
            in another program.


            5.2.2.1.2 Metastock/Computrac Format
            The Metastock format is nearly a subset of the original
            format designed by Computrac in the early days of personal
            computers. The Metastock format has diverged somewhat from
            the original Computrac format in order to adjust to changes
            in the Metastock product itself. What this means is that a
            Computrac data file containing 5 fields (date,
            high,low,close,volume) or 7 fields (additional open, and
            open interest) can be read by Metastock and many other
            programs, including PTT and TAS. But, there are Metastock
            intra-day files which cannot be read by Computrac (or TAS or
            PTT).

            A Metastock historical data directory can contain up to 255
            data files. One of the files in the directory is called
            MASTER. This file is essentially a catalog of the other
            files in the directory. These other files are numbered
            Fxxx.DAT and Fxxx.DOP. The Fxxx.DAT file contains one record
            for each day's quotes. Depending on the number of fields in
            the file (5 or 7), each record is either 20 or 28 bytes
            long. The Fxxx.DOP file contains a formatting specification
            which is not used by Metastock, but is created by PTT for
            compatibility with Computrac and other programs that require
            it.


            5.2.2.1.3 ChartPro/Megatech Format
            The ChartPro/Megatech format data format is relatively
            simple. Each historical data file consists of records


                                         17





            containing 7 fields of data. The name of the file is
            symbol.PRO, where symbol is the ticker symbol, and the
            suffix for the file is PRO. There is no practical limit to
            the number of Chartpro files you can place in a DOS
            directory,  but it is better for performance if you limit
            the number to 500 or less. More than that may cause delays
            in reading the directory. PTT has a limit of 1000 data files
            per directory when in the File Maintenance dialog box. This
            is the number of ticker symbols it can display in the
            scrollable list box from which you can select files to
            modify or view.


            5.2.2.2 Adding Data Directories
            Choose one of the methods below to add new directories to
            your configuration.


            5.2.2.2.1 Automatically Search for Directories
            If you choose the Scan button, you will be presented with a

            dialog box containing two sections. The section on the left
            contains a check box for each type of  directory to search
            for, Metastock, Chartpro, or ASCII. Choose one or more of
            these data formats for the search.

            The group on the right of the dialog contains checkboxes for
            the hard drives to search. Choose one or more of the hard
            drive numbers.

            Click the OK button. PTT will now search the disk(s)
            specified for files of the type you chose. Once the search
            is complete, each file found will be added to a selection
            list from which you can choose one or more directories to be
            added to your configuration. Using the mouse or the
            keyboard, move to the first directory you wish to add. Hit
            the space bar to add that directory. Then, move to the
            subsequent directories to add and hit the space bar.

            When you have tagged all the directories you wish to add,
            press the OK button. The chosen directories will be added to
            your configuration.


            5.2.2.2.2 Manually Adding a Directory
            To ADD a directory, click on the Add button (or type alt-A).
            This will bring up a File Open dialog with which you can
            navigate to the data directory you wish to add. To change
            the drive, move to the Drives box and pick the drive where
            the directory is located. You can also type in the drive and
            directory in the FileName box.

            Once you have changed to the appropriate directory, choose
            the List Files of Type option which matches the data format,


                                         18





            e.g. Metastock files or ChartPro files. Once the file type
            is chosen, select one of the files in the directory (for
            Metastock format, choose the file named MASTER, and for
            ChartPro format, choose any file ending with .PRO file
            extension).

            Click the OK button to select the directory. The directory
            path and data type will be added to the list box containing
            the directory names. To add another directory, click the Add
            button again.  When all directories have been added, click
            on the OK button to save the directory list you added.


            5.2.2.3 Removing a Directory from the Configuration
            You can remove a directory from your configuration by
            highlighting the directory to be removed and clicking the
            Delete button.



            5.2.3 Specify Update Options
            The Setup/ Update Options menu item opens a dialog in which
            you can set processing options used by PTT when it is
            updating your historical data files.

            If you need help on any of the fields of this dialog, hit
            the F1 function key while your cursor is positioned in the
            field.


            5.2.3.1 Prompt for Missing Symbols
            This checkbox controls the way PTT behaves when it
            encounters a ticker symbol in the update file which is not
            found in any historical data directory.

            Leaving this checkbox  blank will cause PTT to skip any
            symbols found in the update file which are not in any of
            your historical data directories.

            If you mark this check box, PTT will open a dialog box when
            it encounters a symbol in the update file which is not in
            any historical data directory. In this dialog, you can enter
            the full security name and the data directory in which it is
            to be placed.  PTT will then ADD the symbol and the quotes
            to the historical data base.

            If you plan on adding a large number of U.S. securities, you
            can download the file TICKER.ZIP from the FlexSoft BBS or
            CompuServe's INVFORUM. This file is a fairly complete list
            of stock symbols and stock company names. The TICKER.ZIP
            file is a self-extracting file that contains a file named
            COMPANY.LST. PTT will look for the file COMPANY.LST in the
            \PTT directory. If it finds the file, it will search for the
            ticker symbol to be added. If it finds it, it will fill in


                                         19





            the Company Name from this file into the dialog box. You can
            accept the company name shown, or you can modify it as you
            choose.


            5.2.3.2 Notify of Possible Splits
            If you want PTT to notify you of possible stock splits while
            it is updating, enter a checkmark in this option. Otherwise
            leave the checkmark blank. Look in the PTT.LOG file for the
            suggested split ratios.


            5.2.3.3 Ignore Keyboard During Update
            If you are running PTT with a keyboard macro program, you
            might want to set this check box to prevent PTT from looking
            for keystrokes while it is updating. Normally, a keypress
            while updating will cause PTT to pause the display and
            processing.


            5.2.3.4 Reverify Data Files
            Leave this checkmark blank unless you have reason to believe
            that there are duplicate dates or dates out of order in your
            data files. If you check this option, PTT will read the
            entire historical data file, sort the quotes by date and
            rewrite the file, dropping any duplicates or quotes with
            invalid high,low,close relationships. It will also inform
            you of any errors encountered in the data file.


            5.2.3.5 Append to Log File
            PTT keeps a ``log'' file where it places status and error
            messages that may occur during the process of converting and
            updating your data. If you check this option, PTT will add
            the messages to the end of the file each time it runs. If
            you leave this option unchecked, PTT will erase and restart
            the file from the beginning each time it runs. The name of
            this file is ``PTT.LOG''.


            5.2.3.6 Show Report during Update
            If you want to suppress the color coded update report while
            PTT is updating, leave this check mark off. Suppressing the
            update report is a way to update at the maximum speed, since
            no time is spent in computing the change from the prior day,
            the new highs or new lows.


            5.2.3.7 Rebuild Symbol Index
            When you first install PTT, or whenever you add or move a
            historical data file that you want PTT to update, you should
            mark this option to cause PTT to ``Reverify/Rebuild'' its
            symbol lookup files (PTTSYM and PTTSYMxx.DB). If you do not
            change your data directory contents by moving or adding


                                         20





            symbols or changing the order of the directories from one
            run of PTT to another, then this parameter can be left
            unchecked to speed up the updating and reporting functions.


            5.2.3.8 Reverify Data Files
            If you have some reason to believe your historical data
            files are:

               1.out of date order
               2.contain bad data (invalid numeric values)
               3.have a "first date in file does not equal first date"
                 error
               4.have a "last date in file does not equal last date in
                 master" error
            then you should set this option.

            PTT will re-read all of the quotes for each symbol you are
            updating, sort all entries by date, discard duplicates, and,
            if there is an error will ask you if you want to FIX the
            file or IGNORE the error. If you choose FIX, PTT will re-
            write the entire file, and then adjust the the file header
            to reflect what is actually in the file.

            You should be aware that this option will cause PTT to read
            and write ALL of your data files, so it will take
            significantly longer to run than a simple daily update. Once
            run with REVERIFY, you should RESET this option..


            5.2.3.9 Maximum LookBack Period
            This value is the maximum number of quotes in the past that
            PTT will access when computing the volume and price averages
            and new high, new low figures. To enhance PTT performance,
            you can set this value to a lower number. By default, the
            number set is 4000 days, to allow you to add over 15 years
            of daily data.

            If this value is set too large, PTT may reduce it to some
            value that it can accommodate in the memory available.

            If this value is set too low, you may not be able to add an
            imported historical data file containing more quotes than
            the lookback period.


            5.2.3.10 Maximum Number of Ticker Symbols
            Specify the maximum number of ticker symbols that you will
            want have in all your data directories. This number is used
            to build the PTTSYM and PTTSYMxx.DB speedup index so that
            PTT can find any symbol, in any directory, in the shortest
            time possible.




                                         21





            If you make this number too small, PTT will either update
            more slowly, or it will not be able to add new securities to
            the data base.

            Note that changing this value requires you to delete the
            PTTSYM.* files before using PTT again. In addition, PTT will
            need to recompute the high, low and averages for each
            symbol. The specification of this value consumes the
            following amount of disk space:

            11 * 4 * max_symbols +   44 * number of symbols actually
            updated

            For 300 symbols, this would be

                11 * 4 * 300    = 13200 +

                300 * 44        = 13200

                = 26400 bytes


            5.2.4 DOS FILES= setting
            Since PTT opens all of the directories at the time it begins
            the update, as well as several other files, you may have to
            modify your  CONFIG.SYS to increase the setting of FILES=
            parameter by the number of DATA Directories you define plus
            about five.  For example, if your CONFIG.SYS setting for
            FILES= is FILES=20 and you have 20 DATA directories, you
            might have to change the number to

               FILES=45         (This is 20 for the original plus 25)


            5.3 Setting up for Downloading

            Once you have told PTT where your data files are, you need
            to specify some information necessary for communicating with
            the data vendor(s) and your modem.


            5.3.1 Specifying Modem Parameters
            If you plan to use PTT to download directly from a data
            service (such as CompuServe or GEnie) you will need to
            perform the Modem Setup. This is where you specify the
            serial communication port, and other parameters shown below
            in order to use PTT to download.

            PTT only operates with ``Hayes compatible'' modems. It works
            with MNP, V.32, V.32bis and V.42 modems, but it is necessary
            that the command set for the modem comply to the minimal
            Hayes standards. This is generally the case with most modems
            purchased in the last few years.



                                         22





            When you choose the Download/Setup Modem menu item, you will
            see a dialog box that has fields described below.


            5.3.1.1 Communications Port
            Select the COM port that corresponds to the serial port
            number to which your modem is attached. You can place the
            modem on any port from 1 to 4.  To choose a COM port, press
            the down arrow key while and choose the appropriate
            communications port. PTT assumes the COM ports are on the
            standard IRQ's (COM1 and 3 on IRQ 4 and COM2 and 4 on
            IRQ3)  .


            5.3.1.2 Pulse Dialer
            If your telephone system uses Tone Dialing, leave this
            setting unchecked. Otherwise, check this option to support
            Pulse Dialing. Tone dialing sounds like a series of tones
            when you dial rather than a ratatat sound of a ``pulsed''
            dial.


            5.3.1.3 Modem Supports (CD) Carrier Detect
            If your modem is set to report the presence of a ``carrier
            signal'' when there is an online connection, specify a check
            mark here. The CD signal is the only way that PTT can tell
            if the session is still connected. Most modems can be set to
            report the presence of CD. Consult your modem manual if you
            don't know how to do it. In general, the modem command
            ``&C1'' is used to enable this feature.


            5.3.1.4 Modem Initialization Commands
            Most modems and programs require some special ``commands''
            in order to work together. Since PTT can be used with many
            different modems that do not share identical command sets,
            it is up to you to customize the modem so that it can be
            used with PTT.

            The Modem Initialization string is not normally needed, but
            if you encounter problems connecting, you might need to set
            some modem parameters, and this would be the place to do it.
            Do not include the ``AT'' command prefix in this area, since
            that is automatically inserted by PTT when it issues this
            command.



            3                   
               If you have an IRQ setting different from the standard
             serial assignments, you can manually enter the IRQ in your
             PTT.INI file with a text editor. Find the line that says
             modemIRQ=0 and change the ``0'' to your IRQ number.



                                         23





            PTT expects the settings shown below. The items shown before
            the explanations are the ``usual'' modem commands for the
            option.

                      Hayes Code   Meaning


                      V1           Verbose return codes

                      Q0           Report return codes after each command

                      E1           Echo Commands

                      X4           Report Connect message with speed of
                                   connection

                      &C1          Data Carrier Detect (DCD) shows true
                                   state of the remote carrier signal

                      &D2          Data Terminal Ready (DTR) should reset
                                   modem if dropped

            An example of a modem initialization string that should work
            for many modems is the following:

                            Z^MV1E1X1Q0^M&C1&D2

            5.3.2 Specifying Data Vendor Information
            Choose the Download/Setup Data Vendor menu option. Then
            choose the data vendor to be setup.

            Here you will be asked for your userid, password, access
            number and connect speed. Consult y4ur service documentation
            for the correct userid and password  . You need to fill in
            the phone number which is to be dialed to connect to the
            service.

            While in the Setup screen for the data service, use the F1
            (Help) key to obtain information about how to specify the
            correct settings.

            The LOGON SCRIPT NAME field should contain the name of the
            ``logon script file'' to be used. The logon script will
            access the service, enter your userid/password, and get to
            the point where PTT starts downloading. PTT comes with the
            following pre-built logon script files (all end with the
            suffix ``.SCR''):


            4                   
               Dow Jones News Service does not use the USERID, but only
             a password. Enter any non-blank value under the User ID
             portion of the setup screen for DJNS.



                                         24





                      Script Name  Usage

                      CIS          CompuServe via CompuServe
                                   node
                      GEnie        GEnie Closing Quotes
                      GEDJNS       Access Dow Jones via GEnie
                                   Gateway
                      DJAUTO       Access Dow Jones via
                                   AUTONET
                      TYMNETDJ     Access Dow Jones via
                                   TYMnet
                      SPRINTDJ     Access Dow Jones via
                                   SPRINTnet
                      DDCDN        Dial Data through
                                   Compuserve Network
                      DDCCDN       Dial Data through Canadian
                                   Compuserve Network
                      DDICDN       Dial Data through
                                   International Compuserve
                                   Network
                      DDAUTO       Dial Data via AUTONET


            When you move the cursor to the LOGON SCRIPT name field, a
            file selection list will appear. Move the cursor to the
            correct file name and press ENTER to select it.


            5.3.3 Specifying the Download Directory
            If you want your downloaded data to go to a separate
            directory from the default PTT directory, choose the
            Download/Setup Download Directory menu option. Enter a DOS
            directory path to an existing directory into which you want

            PTT to place the downloaded data files. If the directory
            does not exist, you will need to leave PTT and use the DOS
            MKDIR command to make the directory beforehand.


            5.3.4 Special Requirements for Dial Data Access
            Access to Dial Data requires that you contact Dial Data and
            set up an account with them. When you set up a Dial Data
            account, you should let them know that you will be using
            Personal Ticker Tape from FlexSoft for the access to their
            system. They should give you a Usercode that begins with the
            letters ``FS''. If not, please let them know that there has
            been an error. PTT will not connect to Dial Data with a
            usercode that does not begin with ``FS''.

            Contact Dial Data at the following address: Dial Data, a
            division of Track Data Corporation, 95 Rockwell Place,
            Brooklyn, NY 11217 (800) 275-5544. Rates for Dial Data are
            shown below:



                                         25






            Pla  Class of        Daily Pricing with   Daily Prices with
            n    Service         up to two years of   Unlimited History
                                 History


            A    Market Indexes  $15.00               $25.00


            B    Market Indexes  $35.00               $50.00
                 & Stocks


            C    Market Indexes                       $60.00
                 Stocks
                 Stock and Index
                 Options




            Once you have a Dial Data account, you will receive a
            ``Usercode'', `Password'' and ``Charge code''. Enter the
            Usercode in the USERID field of the Vendor Setup screen,
            enter the Password and Chargecode, separated by a space, in
            the Password field of the Vendor Setup screen.

            If you are an existing Dial Data customer, Dial Data has a
            requirement that each account be paid for each month. This
            can present a problem if you don't want to pay for two
            accounts to try out PTT. However, there is a way you can
            convert over to a FlexSoft account and suspend your existing
            account. Wait until the 24th (or 25th) of the month to
            cancel your existing account. Then, when you call them,
            inform them that Alan Schnelwar of Dial Data, said that you
            could resume your existing account within the month if you
            don't care to continue using PTT. They will hold your
            existing account but not charge you for it. That way, you
            can try out PTT for up to a month to see if it fits your
            needs. Since there are no restrictions on a Dial Data
            download with PTT (no 40 quote maximum, no limit of 1
            directory), you should be able to get a good look at the
            program before registering it.


            5.3.5 Special Requirements for Compuserve Access
            Before using PTT to download quotes from Compuserve, make
            sure that your Compuserve TERMINAL setting specifies
            ``Other'' as the terminal type. To verify this, log on to
            Compuserve, GO TERMINAL, and look at your Session Settings.
            If you have any other setting, PTT will show some
            ``strange'' character sequences at the bottom of the page
            whenever Compuserve tries to clear the screen. This will
            cause PTT to wait, since it won't recognize this sequence.


                                         26





            In addition, you should set the PAGED DISPLAY setting to
            ``NO'' to prevent PTT from having to wait every 24 lines
            during quote downloading.


            5.3.6 Special Requirements for GEnie Access
            In order to download from GEnie, you must set up your GEnie
            User Settings correctly. Prior to running PTT for the first
            time, log on to GEnie using some manual procedure. Type
            ``SET'' to go to the User Settings section of GEnie. Choose
            the item ``Review/Update User Settings''. Then, you will be
            presented with a menu entitled ``Terminal Settings''. You
            should have Terminal Type set to 6, Page Width set to 80,
            and Page Length set to 0. Any other settings for Page Length
            cause GEnie to prompt for a Carriage Return in the midst of
            the download.








































                                         27






            6. Downloading

            All downloading setup and action procedures can be accessed
            from the main menu Download menu item.
            Before you can download, you must tell PTT enough
            information for it to connect to your modem and logon to
            your data vendor(s). The next section describes setting up
            for downloading and the information required.

            6.1 Scheduled Downloads

            You can schedule a download to begin at a certain time of
            day, to end at a certain time of day, and to be executed
            with a certain frequency. You can also specify the types of
            data to be downloaded (Current or Historical), and whether
            you want your data files to be updated after the download
            completes.

            You access the Schedule menu from the Download main menu
            item. First you Define a Schedule, filling in the start, end
            and frequency, the data vendor, and the type of download
            (Daily or Historical). For Dow Jones, you can also specify
            whether you want the latest news stories captured to the
            file DJNEWS.TXT.

            Once the schedule is defined, you can begin scheduling by
            using the Download/Execute On Schedule menu item. This will
            cause PTT to wait until the next scheduled start time.

            Use the F1 (HELP) key while positioned in each field for
            additional help information about the meaning of the fields
            in the Schedule a Download dialog box.


            6.2 Immediate Downloads

            You can download quotes immediately to the directory you
            specified in the Setup/Download Directory dialog. Choose the
            Download Menu item and move to the service name/download
            type combination from which you wish to download. Hit ENTER
            on that service.

            If  the download completes successfully, the downloaded data
            as received from the vendor will be in the download
            directory, under a file name built from the current date and
            the service type. You will need to go to the File/Open menu
            to process this data file and update your historical data
            files.







                                         28





            6.3 The Download Ticker List

            PTT reads each of the data directories you specified in the
            Setup/Data Directories menu and creates a list of quotes to
            download based on the type of service you are accessing.

            For a daily quote service, PTT builds a quote request for
            each symbol, unless that symbol has not been found on a
            prior download (these symbols are found in the5file
            NOQUOTE.???, where ``???'' is the service name  ). If a
            quote should not be in the NOQUOTE.svc file,  remove it with
            a text editor.

            After reading all the ticker symbols in your data
            directories, PTT will read an additional file named
            ``TICKER.IN'' for any new quotes you wish to download. This
            file should contain a ticker symbol on each line. For
            example, if you want to start accumulating quotes for IBM
            and AMH, you would create the `TICKER.IN' file with the two
            lines below:
            IBM
            AMH

            The ticker symbols must begin in the first position of the

            line and there should not be anything following the ticker
            symbol.

            If you have specified a ``translate file'' (see the section
            on ``Translation of Ticker Symbols''), PTT will, at this
            point, translate your ticker symbols to those required by
            the data vendor.


            6.4 Stopping the download

            PTT will log on to the service, request the quotes and place
            them in the file. To stop the download while it is running,
            hit the ESC key once to cause PTT to log off the data

            service.

            Once the quotes are downloaded, you should run an Update
            Data command from the Main Menu.

            Any symbol not found on the data service will be placed in a
            file ``NOQUOTE.svc'' which will be used in the first step
            (above) to avoid asking for that symbol again. This prevents
            the needless asking for quotes that do not match those on
            the service.

            5                   
               Service extensions to file names are "CIS" for
             Compuserve, "GEN" for GEnie.


                                         29





            If you have a symbol in your ticker file that does not match
            the symbol on the data service, you need to either change
            your historical data file's ticker symbol, or add that
            symbol to the vendor.XLT translate file.


            6.5 Determining the file name for the download

            PTT automatically builds the download file name by creating
            a file name in the form `YYMMDD.svc' where `YYMMDD' is the
            current date according to your system clock, and `svc'
            depends on the data vendor as shown below. The file is
            placed in the current PTT directory, or the download
            directory if it has been specified.



            Suff  Data Vendor
            ix

            DJ    Dow Jones News
                  Service

            DD    Dial Data

            GEN   GEnie

            CIS   Compuserve.


            6.6 Downloading Historical Quotes

            PTT downloads historical quotes (from DJNS and Dial Data
            only) by reading each data file and determining whether it
            is up to date. If it is not up to date, and if the request
            for the download indicates that historical quotes should be
            obtained, sufficient historical quotes to bring the file up
            to date are obtained.

            For DJNS historical downloads, PTT will not go back and fill
            in gaps in a data file. So, for example, if you are missing
            two weeks prior to the last update, which was a week ago,
            PTT will only request data for the last week, not the
            missing two weeks.


            6.6.1.1 Dial Data Historical Quotes
            If you are downloading from Dial Data, PTT can be used to
            fill in gaps in your data files. A ``gap'' is a day or
            series of days that the market was open, but for which the
            security has no quotes

             If you request an Immediate Download from Dial Data
            Historical Quotes, you will be presented with a dialog box


                                         30





            asking you if you want to collect quotes from the last day
            each file was updated (the default), or if you want to
            specify the starting date for the historical data
            collection.

            If you specify a specific date, you have three choices to
            describe how you want to download historic quotes.

               1.The ``No Gap Checking'' choice will simply download
                 historical quotes from the specific date you specify
                 for each data file.

               2. The ``Gaps from the Specific Date'' choice wil find
                 gaps in the data from the specific date. If the first
                 quote in a data file is subsequent to that date, PTT
                 will attempt to fill quotes prior to the first date in
                 the data file. If the security only started trading
                 recently, Dial Data will not have data for that period,
                 but will count the number of days requested as part of
                 the total 16,000 quotes you can ask for in a single
                 session on Dial Data.

               3.The final choice, ``Gaps no earlier than First Date in
                 File'' will only fill gaps after the start of the file,
                 and after the specific date you specified.


            6.6.2 Accounting for Trading Holidays
            PTT can more accurately determine the number of days to
            download if you provide it with a list of  non-trading days.
            This list can be created from the Data Maintenance/Non-

            Trading Days menu.  This menu option opens a dialog box
            containing a list of days on which the markets were not
            open. To add a trading holiday, click on the Add button.
            Enter the holiday date in YYMMDD (year, month, day) format.
            If you want to place a comment next to the date, follow it
            with a space and your comment.

            The non-trading days are kept in the file HOLIDAY.TAB. PTT
            is distributed with a HOLIDAY.TAB file that is believed to
            be correct from 1/1/90 to the date of creation of the PTT
            version you have. If you do not trade the US markets, and
            have a different set of holidays than in the U.S., you
            should save your HOLIDAY.TAB file before installing a new

            version of PTT (or it will be overwritten).


            6.7 Dow Jones News Stories

            If you are downloading from Dow Jones News Service, you can
            tell PTT to download the latest story of the most recent day
            on any stock for which PTT gets a current quote. The story


                                         31





            is retrieved in its entirety and placed in the file
            DJNEWS.TXT.






















































                                         32






            7. Updating Historical Data

            PTT will convert ASCII data in various formats and update
            historical data files From the main menu, choose the
            File/Open/Process menu option. You will see a dialog box in
            which you can specify the file name of the ASCII file to be
            processed. You also need to choose the format of the ASCII
            data.


            7.1 Input File Name

            The first item to choose is the name of the input ASCII file
            to be converted to historical data. You can either type in
            the name of the file (give the full pathname), or you can
            click on the Lookup button to open a File Selection Dialog
            box.

            7.2 Input Format


            7.2.1 ASCII Format Type
            This is a coded number that corresponds to various
            combinations of symbol, date, high, low, close, volume,
            open, and open interest orders in the Formatted ASCII file.
            The code of ``1'' will provide all the data items above.
            Other combinations specify different formats for the date
            field, and order of data field, i.e., whether to put quotes
            around the symbol name and date..hit F1 on this field to see
            the explanation.


            7.2.2 Format Description String
            If you chose the ``Custom'' formatting option, this will
            cause another dialog box to open in which you can specify
            the custom format of the input data file. This dialog
            contains a text box in which you specify the field format
            definition, or ``format description string''.

            The Format Description String defines the format of a comma
            separated quote by using single letters to describe each
            field in the quote. The code letters for each field are:

                            S      - Ticker Symbol
                            D      - Date
                            H      - High
                            L      - Low
                            C      - Close
                            V      - Volume
                            O      - Open
                            I      - Open Interest
                            X      - Skip this field



                                         33





            For example, if your quote file contains quotes with the
            following format:

                            date,symbol,high,low,close,open,open
                            int,other,volume
            where ``other'' is some other data value, then your format
            specification string would be:

                            DSHLCOIXV

            7.3 Raw Quote Files

            PTT reads and automatically determines the type and format
            of a file containing the printed output from any of the
            sources shown below. A file containing quotes from any of
            these sources is sometimes referred to as a Raw Quote File.
            It is called ``raw'', using an analogy to cooking. Consider
            a formatted, comma separated file with the various fields of
            the quote in fixed locations of each line as ``cooked''. By
            analogy, files from the sources shown below are ``raw'',
            since they need additional processing to make them
            ``palatable'' to PTT when it updates. For example, the
            Prodigy files contain fractions in the quotes which need to
            be converted to decimal numbers, e.g., 19 3/4 needs to be
            converted to 19.75.

                 .  PRODIGY QUOTE TRACK or QUOTE CHECK
                 .  PRODIGY & Symbols for Market Indices
                 .  Many PRODIGY ``arket Close'' Indicators
                 .  DOW JONES(*) Historical Quotes (//HQ)
                 .  DOW JONES(*) Current  Quotes (//CQE)
                 .  DOW JONES //TRADELINE Pricing History
                 .  GEnie(*) Daily Quotes
                 .  CompuServe Quick Quotes (QQUOTE)
                 .  CompuServe Basic Quotes (BASICQUOTE)
            For these raw quote sources , PTT scans through the file and
            extracts stock quote information from the file.  These
            quotes are written to an intermediate ``cooked'' file
            (sometimes referred to as a ``Formatted  ASCII'' file) that
            is then used to update the historical data files.

            PTT has a Setup Menu interface which allows you to set
            processing parameters for the historical data file update
            function.


            7.4 Translation of Ticker Symbols

            Because the various data vendors have different symbol
            conventions, especially for securities other than common
            stock and mutual funds, switching from one vendor to another
            can cause problems.




                                         34





            For example, suppose that you have SP-500 as the symbol in
            your data files. The SP-500 quote on Compuserve is obtained
            by asking for ``SP 500'', while on Dow Jones //TRADELINE, it
            is ``SPX.I''. Since PTT obtains the list of ticker symbols
            which it should download from your data directory's ticker
            symbol, if it were to attempt to download ``SP-500'' from
            Compuserve, the symbol would not be found. And, even if you
            had downloaded the quotes by some other method, the
            Compuserve ``SP 500'' would not match your data directory's
            ``SP-500'' symbol, so it would be treated as a new symbol.

            One solution to this problem is to have a set of
            ``translate'' files for each data vendor. So, for
            Compuserve, you would translate the data directory symbol
            ``SP-500'' to ``P 500'' before requesting the quote from
            Compuserve, then when the quote was processed by the update,
            you would translate ``SP 500'' to ``P-500'' in order to
            locate the ticker file in your data base.

            PTT has this facility to translate based on this translate
            list. For each vendor, you create a file that contains the
            translation rules to translate that vendor's ticker symbols
            to your data directory symbols. The names of the translate
            files indicate which data vendor the translation is provided
            for. These files are named as follows:


            Translate     Data Source
            File Name

            PRODIGY.XLT    PRODIGY
                          downloaded data

            GENIE.XLT     GEnie downloaded
                          data

            CIS.XLT       Compuserve
                          downloaded data

            DJNS.XLT      Dow Jones
                          downloaded data

            FFN.XLT       Free Financial
                          Network data


            The contents of each of these files is a list of lines,
            where each line contains the following:

            data_dir_symbol = service_symbol


            For example, if you have BP% (British Petroleum 93 Warrants)
            in your data directory symbol, and you know that issue has a


                                         35





            symbol of ``BP/WS'' on Compuserve, you would put the
            following line into your CIS.XLT:

            BP%=BP/WS

            and, if you wanted to translate ``SP-500'' in your data to
            ``SP 500'' quote request on Compuserve, you would add the
            line:

                 SP-500=SP 500

            to your CIS.XLT file.


            7.5 ``Formatted'' ASCII Data

            If you have obtained your quote data from some other source,
            PTT can generally be used to update your historical data
            with a quote file containing one of the formats below.

            Typ  Description
            e

            0    ``symbol'',''m/dd/yy'',hi,lo
                 ,cl,vol (5 field format)
            1    ``symbol'',''m/dd/yy'',hi,lo
                 ,cl,vol,open,0 (7-field)
            2    symbol,yymmdd,hi,lo,cl,vol
            3    symbol,yymmdd,open,hi,lo,cl,
                 vol,0
            6    Free Financial Network'FFN'
                 formats
            7    ``mm/dd/yy'',open,hi,lo,cl,vo
                 l,open_int (Chartpro)
            8    yymmdd,hi,lo,cl,vol (MSU
                 ASCII EXPORT)
            9    symbol,yymmdd,open,hi,lo,cl,
                 vol,vol


            In formats 0 and 1, the symbol and date must have quotes
            (``) around them.

            The following is a sample of the format 0 data with the 6
            fields, Symbol, Date, High, Low, Close, Volume (in
            hundreds):

                            ``AAPL'','05/24/90'',42.250,41.500,42.000,13
                            226
                            ``ABT'','05/25/90'',73.875,72.500,73.125,202
                            4

            If you don't specify a RAW QUOTE INPUT FILE in the Update
            Parameter menu, PTT will read the FORMATTED ASCII file. This


                                         36





            is a convenient way to avoid the time-consuming
            ``translation'' process if you have to run PTT against
            multiple groups of data directories. You must be sure that
            the ASCII FORMAT TYPE code is set so that it correctly
            describes the format of your file.

            If you choose options 6 or 8, the data is assumed to already
            be in that format, so there should not be a Raw Quote Input
            File specified. Both options 6 and 8 are `export' formats
            for either Chartpro or Historical Data Service (phone 212-
            752-8660 to contact FFN).

            For option 6, FFN/HDS format, you can specify a file name of
            the form `YYMMDD.*' where `YYMMDD' is the year, month, and
            day of the quotes. If you look at this format, you will
            notice there is no date in there. Alternatively, PTT
            understands the FFN naming conventions for stocks, futures
            and indices.


            7.6 Prodigy Market Close Information

            PTT will make a ``best effort'' attempt to convert selected
            values from the Market Close Screens of Prodigy.

            Unfortunately, some information is missing from these
            screens, and you should be aware of that. For example, the
            Dow Jones Industrial Average closing price is given, but
            there is no figure for the High, the Low, the Open, or the
            Volume. So, when PTT converts it, it places the closing
            value in all of the price fields with a volume from the NYSE
            Regular Volume.

            When PTT first included routines to extract information from
            the Market Close screens, Prodigy did not have the ``&''
            symbols available. These symbols, preceded by an ampersand,
            contain all of the information available in the Market Close
            screens. You should seriously consider converting over to
            the & symbols rather than these screens, since PTT will be
            dropping support for Market Close screens in a future
            release.

            The following is a list of the indexes and market
            information pulled out of the Market Close screens:












                                         37






            TICKER  DESCRIPTION

            SP-500  SP 500
            SP-100  SP 100
            DJ-30   DJ INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE
            DJUA    DJ UTILITY AVERAGE
            DJTA    DJ TRANSPORTATION
                    AVERAGE
            AVOL    AMEX VOLUME
            NVOL    NYSE VOLUME
            NYAD    NYSE ADVANCING ISSUES
            NYDE    NYSE DECLINING ISSUES
            NYSE    NYSE COMPOSITE
            SPNU    NYSE UP VOL
            SPND    NYSE DN VOL
            NYNH    NYSE NEW HIGHS
            NYNL    NYSE NEW LOWS
            NYNHNL  NYSE NEW HIGHS - NEW
                    LOWS
            AMEX    AMEX Market Vol
            SPAU    AMEX UP VOL
            SPAD    AMEX DN VOL
            AMSH    AMEX NEW HIGHS
            AMSL    AMEX NEW LOWS
            AXAD    AMEX ADVANCING ISSUES
            AXDE    AMEX DECLINING ISSUES
            XMI     AMEX Major Market
            XOI     AMEX OIL
            XII     AMEX INSTITUTIONAL
                    INDEX
            XCI     AMEX COMPUTER INDEX
            AMNHNL  AMEX NEW HIGHS - NEW
                    LOWS
            COMP    NASDAQ Comp
            INSR    Insurance
            BANK    Banks
            FINL    Financial
            TRAN    Transport
            XSUV    NASDAQ Volume
            XSNHNL  NASDAQ NEW HIGHS - NEW
                    LOWS
            XSUU    NASD UP VOL
            XSUD    NASD DN VOL
            XSUH    NASD NEW HIGHS
            XSUL    NASD NEW LOWS
            XSUA    NASD ADVANCING ISSUES
            XSUC    NASD DECLINING ISSUES
            PRMR    Prime rate
            TB91    3-mo T-bills
            T182    6-mo T-bills
            USTB-C  12-mo T-bills
            SP-15   10-yr T-notes
            SALO    30-yr T-bonds


                                         38





            DJB     DJ 20 bonds
            DJPU    DJ 10 util
            DJIL    DJ 10 industrials


            The column on the left is the TICKER symbol which will be
            used by default when PTT converts the quotes. If you want to
            use some other TICKER symbol for one of these values, you
            need to create a file called ``TICKER.CNF''. Place the new
            ticker symbol in the file as shown in the example below.

            As an example, suppose you want to have the ticker ``DJIA''
            for the Dow Jones 30 Industrial Average, and you also want
            ``SPX.I'' for the SP-500 Index. You need to use an editor to
            create a file (6l)ed TICKER.CNF. Place the following lines
            in TICKER.CNF     .

                            DJ-30 = DJIA
                            SP-500 = SPX.I
            Now, instead of updating the TICKER symbol SP-500, PTT will
            update ``SPX.I''. Similarly, DJIA will be used instead of
            DJ-30.


            7.6.1.1.1 PRODIGY ``&'' Symbols
            As of October 1992, PRODIGY began providing special symbols
            (beginning with ``&'') that include major indices, currency
            rates, and volume and issue totals.

            With release 1.09 of PTT, PTT will translate the & symbols
            as downloaded by ProDownLoad (PDL). These symbols are
            generally translated one for one, i.e., a single symbol
            generates a single quote, with the exception of the ``Issues
            Traded'' and ``Exchange Volume''symbols for the NYSE, AMEX,
            and NASDAQ. Each of those symbols generates 4 quotes, for
            Total, Advancing, Declining and Unchanged.

            For example, the PRODIGY quote for &AMVL contains the total
            volume, advancing volume, declining volume, and unchanged
            volume. PTT breaks this quote line into 4 individual
            symbols, &AMVL, &AMVLA, &AMVLD, and &AMVLU, respectively.
            The ``Issues Traded'' quotes will have the same suffixes
            ``A'', `D'', and ``U'' for Advancing, Declining and
            Unchanged.

            The PRODIGY.XLT file should be used to translate the ``&
            symbol'' tickers to those found in your historical data
            files. For example, the author uses the following:

            6                   
               This procedure can be replaced by using the PRODIGY.XLT
             translation file as described on page Error! Bookmark not
             defined..



                                         39





                                DJ-30= &DJIA
                                SP-500=&SPX
                                SP-100=&OEX
                                AMEX=&XAM
                                AVOL=&AMVL
                                XCI=&XCI
                                DJTA=&DJT
                                DJUA=&DJU
                                FINL=&FINL
                                GOLF=&NYGL
                                INSR=&NSXI
                                TRAN=&TRAN
                                PRMR=&PRM
                                XII=&XII
                                XMI=&XMI
                                XOI=&XOI
                                COMP=&IXIC
                                NYSE=&NYCI
                                VALU=&VLIC
                                R2000=&RUS2


            Other translations can be used for other symbols as PRODIGY
            adds them.


            7.7 Raw Quote Conversion Notes


            7.7.1 Dow Jones News Service Quotes

            7.7.2 Converting DOW JONES AVERAGES (//DJA)
            PTT will convert the output of the //DJA command for the
            INDUSTRIAL average only. This output is obtained by typing

                 //DJA
                 IND P1
            The quotes for INDUSTRIAL averages (DJIA) will be converted
            to the symbol DJ-30.


            7.7.3 Converting DOW JONES //TRADELINE quotes
            PTT will translate the ``Pricing History'' output of the
            //TRADELINE data base as well. This allows you to get all
            the major indexes as well as stock price history.

            You must turn on capture BEFORE typing in the //TRADELINE
            command.


            7.7.4 GEnie Closing Quotes
            GEnie quotes from the GEnie service are also translated by
            PTT.



                                         40





            Early in 1991, GEnie changed their quote format to include
            the ticker symbol in the line with the quote information.
            This makes the job of converting the quotes considerably
            easier. However, they also chose to leave off the YEAR in
            the quote line.

            PTT will not handle the crossing over from one year to the
            next with GEnie Closing Quotes

            Be sure to apply all the quotes from one year during that
            year if your quote source is GEnie Closing Quotes.

            Also, GEnie gives back all the classes of a stock when you
            ask for an issue. This means, for some utilities, that you
            can get MANY QUOTES for a single request. PTT doesn't know
            which one you want, so it converts all of them. Preferred
            classes of a stock are indicated by adding a period followed
            by the CLASS to the stock symbol. For example, Philadelphia
            Electric (PE) Preferred Class G will be ``PE.G''.

            If the Preferred Class is blank, then the symbol generated
            by PTT will be the ticker followed by a period.

            PTT will create the common classed stock symbol by adding
            the class to the symbol, e.g., WAN Class B becomes ``WANB''
            for Wang Class B.

            Other suffixes, such as WS (Warrant), WI (When Issued) are
            also added to the end of the basic symbol to indicate the
            different quote type, for example, MVL.WS for Manville Corp
            Warrants.

            Mutual fund symbols will not be terminated with (.X), so if
            you ask for FMAGX, the symbol generated by PTT will indeed
            be ``FMAGX'', not ``MAGX.X''.

            In addition, now that GEnie is providing Mutual Fund data
            with only the NAV quote, PTT will place the Net Asset Value
            (NAV) in all of the price fields, (HIGH,LOW,CLOSE,OPEN).


            7.7.5 CompuServe Quick Quotes
            PTT will extract CompuServe Quick Quotes (QQUOTE) if they
            are in the following format:

                          Name,
                          Volume,
                          Hi/Ask,
                          Low/Bid,
                          Last (Close),
                          Change,
                          Update (Date)

            in the order listed.


                                         41





            You must capture your entire session in QQUOTE starting from
            the line which begins:

               Quick QuoteQQUOTE                   (for QUICK QUOTES)

            PTT allows you to enter MULTIPLE symbols at the prompt:

            Issue:



            7.7.6 CompuServe Information Manager quotes
            If you have CIM, PTT will convert CIM quotes obtained via
            the QUOTE Service. The CIM quotes must have the line below
            Ticker Volume High Low Last Change Update at the beginning
            of the list of tickers.


            7.7.7 Obtaining quotes from PRODIGY
            FlexSoft can provide you with another program, called PDL or
            PDL/Windows, to get the quot(7 )rom Prodigy. PDL is a
            program to download Prodigy      Quote Track data into a
            file. Using QUOTE TRACK, PDL  can retrieve a maximum of 7000
            quotes in each session.


            7.8 The PTT Lookup Index Files

            When PTT is installed and an update or report is run, it
            creates a pair of ``index'' and ``ummary'' files which are
            used to lookup the data files much more rapidly on
            subsequent runs of PTT.  These files allow PTT to go
            directly to the data file containing a historical data file
            without scanning the directory index for each directory.

            The index files that are created are named PTTSYMss.IX and
            PTTSYMss.DB. The ``ss'' at the end of the file name is a
            numeric suffix used to distinguish each set of index files
            from other index files.


            7                   
               Dow Jones News Retrieval is an information data service
             provided by Dow Jones and Co. ]

             GEnie is an information data service provided by General
             Electric Co. CompuServe is an information service provided
             by Compuserve Inc

             Prodigy is a registered service mark and trademark of
             Prodigy Services Company





                                         42





            PTT creates a new pair of index files for each distinct
            group of historical data directories. For example, if you
            have two Option Sets that have three and four directories,
            respectively, PTT will create a pair of index files for each
            option set. If you then create a third option set, but it
            uses the same three directories as the first, the pair of
            index files used by the first option set will also be used
            by the third.

            The .IX file tells PTT, for each symbol, how to find the
            data in the .DB file.  The .DB file, for each symbol, has a
            ``summary record'' which contains:

               1)HI price for the symbol
               2)LO price for the symbol
               3)the number of quotes in the file
               4)an ``index'' which tells which DATA DIRECTORY this
                 symbol was found in (from your PTT setup screen),
               5)what the offset in the directory was for the symbol.
            There are four reasons PTT issues the message ``Rescanning
            for HI and LO ....'':

               1)It cannot locate the summary record for the symbol.
               2)The number of quotes (item 3 above) does not match the
                 number of quotes in the actual data file. If you have
                 added or deleted data without PTT, PTT rescans to find
                 out what you have changed.
               3)You have set the REVERIFY DATA FILES option
               4)The index files have not been built, either because the
                 directories in the Option Set have changed, or the
                 Utility/Remove Index command was issued.

























                                         43






            8. Utility Menu


            8.1 Generate Report File


            8.2 Un-updated List

            The ``Un-updated'' list request will generate a report of
            those securities that have not been updated since a data you
            specify.

            When you choose this menu selection, you are presented with
            a dialog box asking you to enter the date from which you
            want to check for missing data in your data directories
            (Search From Date prompt). You also have the option of
            directing the output to the file MISS.RPT and the PTT.LOG
            file, or only the PTT.LOG file.

            The output contained in the MISS.RPT file is of the form

                                   SYMBOL|FROM TO
            where SYMBOL is the ticker symbol, FROM is the date just
            after the missing date, and TO is the date prior to the next
            available date or the latest trading day.

            In order for the missing dates to be detected correctly, it
            is important that your HOLIDAY.TAB file be correct. To
            modify the HOLIDAY.TAB file, use the Maintenance/Non-trading
            Days function.


            8.3 Clear Log File

            This menu function will clear and reset the PTT.LOG file.
            This file can grow quite large, depending on your usage. In
            fact, the File/View Log function may not be able to read the
            entire PTT.LOG file if it grows too large.


            8.4 Remove PTT Index

            You can remove the PTTSYM files for your data directory
            combination if you have made significant changes to the
            contents of your data directories. When you choose this menu
            item, the PTTSYMxx files for your currently defined data
            directories will be removed.








                                         44





            8.5 Show Memory Usage

            PTT memory usage can be displayed with this menu item. You
            should be prepared to provide this information when you have
            a technical problem and need to call or email FlexSoft.



















































                                         45






            9. Command Line Operation

            Command Line parameters are Case Sensitive (meaning you must
            specify upper and lower case where shown)

            Personal Ticker Tape is meant to be run from the DOS command
            line rather than interactively. In order to do this, it has
            numerous command line options that can set and control the
            PTT processing run.

            The following section will cover the major useful command
            line options that would be used on a day-to-day basis.


            9.1 Specify an Option Set (-p)

            If you want to use a particular Option Set (other than
            DEFAULT) when you start PTT, you can specify the option set
            name as the first parameter after the PTT command. You
            indicate the option set you want to load by typing

                      PTT -p OptionName.. additional parameters..

            where OptionName is the name of an Option Set that you have
            previously saved while in PTT. PTT will load all settings
            from the Option Set you specify before processing any other
            command line parameters.


            9.2 ASCII Format (-f)

            The ``-f `` option allows you to set the ASCII Format Type
            from the command line. The parameter following the ``-f ``
            should be one of the formats listed in the Setup Update
            Options panel. You can also specify the name of a Custom
            Format file (xxxx.FMT).


            9.3 Formatted ASCII File (-a)

            The ``-a `` option tells PTT that the file (or file list)
            following this ``-a `` contains Formatted ASCII files in the
            format specified by the current ASCII Format Type setting.
            You can use DOS type ``wildcards'' in the RAW QUOTE FILE
            name to process more than one file.

            If a Raw Quote Input File is specified, the file following
            the ``-a `` will contain the output of PTT's scan of the Raw
            Quote File.

            If no Raw Quote Input File is specified, then PTT will
            assume that the file specification following the ``-a''
            contains an already formatted file and will use it as input


                                         46





            to the update process. You can use DOS type ``wildcards'' in
            the FORMATTED ASCII FILE name to process more than one file
            as well.


            9.4 Download Immediately (-D)

            To invoke an automatic download from the DOS command line,
            use the ``-D `` option on the command line. Following the
            ``-D ``, specify the line number of the Download menu choice
            as shown on the Main Menu. For example, to download from
            Compuserve Basic Quotes (the first line in the DownLoad
            Menu), use
                            ``-D 1''

            9.5 Turn off Report to Screen (-Q)

            If you want to turn off the report that goes to the screen
            and the PTT.RPT file, use this option (Q for ``quiet'').


            9.6 Update after Downloading (-u)

            The ``-u'' option on the command line with a -D request to
            DOWNLOAD will tell PTT to do an update with the current
            downloaded data after the download completes successfully.


            9.7 Stop before Update (-x)

            The ``-x'' option on the command line (before the RAW QUOTE
            FILE name) will cause PTT to do all processing except the
            historical data file updating. This option is useful if you
            want PTT to parse the Raw Quote Input File, but do not want
            to update your data files without inspecting the Formatted
            ASCII file.


            9.8 Maximum LookBack Override (-m)

            You can specify the Maximum LookBack Period by using the ``-
            m'' option followed by a number between 1 and 10000 which
            will be used for the lookback period


            9.9 Run Scheduler (-S)

            If you specify ``-S'' as a command line option, PTT will run
            the download schedule for the active Option Set.

            9.10 Prompt for Missing Symbols (-P)

            Prompt for missing symbols not found in the historical data
            base (-P+) or do not prompt for missing symbols (-P-).


                                         47





            9.11 Rebuild Symbol Index (-R)

            To tell PTT to rebuild the Index files, specify ``-R+'' on
            the command line. To avoid rebuilding the index files,
            specify ``-R-`` on the command line. See page 21 for a
            description of PTT symbol index processing.


            9.12 Look for Missing Updates (-Mv)

            PTT can be used to create a report of those securities which
            have not been updated. It does this by scanning your data
            files looking for the most recent update date. A report is
            generated to the screen , the MISS.RPT file and to the
            PTT.LOG file if any securities are found to have a different
            update date.

            The v value following the -M is either the number of trading
            days in the past to start checking, or a specific date in
            MM/DD/YY format.

            To check for those files that have not been updated
            completely in the last 14 trading days, specify

                            -M14
            on the command line. To look for the gaps in a file since a
            specific date, for example, Oct 22, 1993, you would specify
            the parameter

                            -M10/22/93
            It is important that your HOLIDAY.TAB file be correct in
            order for this feature to work accurately.


            9.13 Specifying the Raw Quote Input File

            The last parameter on a PTT command line must be the name of

            the Raw Quote Input File. If you are downloading via the -D
            command option, the downloaded data will be placed in this
            file and the update will take place from this file.


            9.14 A Few Examples

            If you want to simply run PTT from a batch file (and you
            have registered), you can place the following command in the
            batch file:

                            PTT input_quote_filename

            where ``input_quote_filename'' is the name of the RAW QUOTE
            INPUT file. The update process will use the parameters you



                                         48





            last specified in the default Option Set for Update Settings
            and Data Directories.

            To download from Compuserve Basic Quotes, you could use this
            command in a batch file or from the DOS command line:

                            PTT -D 1
            To download as just shown above, and then to update your
            data files in one step, place the ``-u'' flag on the command
            line as follows:

                            PTT -D 1 -u
            To update your historical data from a previously formatted
            data file contained in DJ30.PRN in 5-field MSU export
            format, you would say:

                            PTT -f 8 -a DJ30.PRN
            Assuming you had a directory, called \DATA with several 5-
            field .PRN files in it, each named with the symbol name as
            ``symbol.PRN'', you could run PTT to update all the symbols
            in the directory as follows:

                            PTT -f 8 -a \DATA\*.PRN
            The Free Financial Network (FFN) stock data file for 04/28
            of the current year can be processed by the following
            command

                            PTT -f 6 -a STK0428.PRN
            or if you had placed your Stock, Futures, and Index data
            from FFN in the directory FFN, you could process them all by
            the command

                            PTT -f 6 -a FFN\*.PRN























                                         49






            10. File Maintenance

            PTT contains a Maintenance menu item with which you can
            inspect and modify your historical data directories. Choose
            Data Directories from the menu. You will be presented with a
            list of configured data directories.

            Choose a data directory you wish to inspect or modify by
            highlighting the entry and clicking the Open button.  Once a

            directory is chos8n, a list of each of the files in the
            directory appears  . You can select as many files as you
            want to modify by tagging the files you wish to access. Once
            you have tagged the files to be modified, select the
            appropriate button on the right of the dialog. The buttons
            are described below.


            10.1 Edit Security

            You can view all the quotes for a security file in a
            scrollable list with this menu choice. If you wish to add a
            new quote, move to the quote before which the new quote is
            to be inserted and press the INS key. PTT will automatically
            try to insert a record for the following business day and
            will check that the date you are adding is not currently in
            use. If you change your mind about adding the new quote, hit
            the ESC key.

            To delete a quote record, press the DEL key. while the
            cursor is positioned on the record you wish to delete.


            10.2 Rename Security

            You can rename a security file by selecting the RENAME
            button. You can change either the security ticker symbol or
            the security name itself (if you have Metastock format).


            10.3 Delete Security

            You can delete a security file by choosing this button. You
            are asked if you are sure this is what you want to do via a
            message box. Select ``Yes'' if it is.


            8                   
              The maximum number of files which can be shown per
             directory is 1000. If you have more than 1000 files in a
             directory, you should split it into two or more
             directories.



                                         50





            10.4 Split Security

            Handling a stock split in a security file can be done either
            ``manually'' or ``utomatically''. The Manual choice allows
            you to specify the split date and the split ratio.

            The ``Automatic'' choice will search the file for potential
            splits, and make an attempt to ``guess'' what the split
            ratio is. You are presented with a message box that shows
            the date and the ratios. You can choose ``Yes'' to go ahead
            and do the split, ``No'' to skip this split and search for
            the next, and ``View'' to view the data file in Edit mode.
            If you press ESC, the split checking for the security is
            halted.


            10.5 Add Security

            You can add a security file using this menu choice. You are
            asked for the name of the security, the symbol, the date
            from which you want to start collecting quotes and whether
            to include space for Open Interest and Open price in the
            historical data file.

































                                         51






            11. Index


                                             downloading, 7, 10, 24, 27,
                                              28, 31, 48


            &

            & symbol, 39                     E

                                             Edit Security, 50


            A

            Add Security, 51                 F
            Append to Log File, 20
            ASC format, 15                   FFN, 49
            ASCII Format Type, 33            FILES=, 22
            ASCII.FMT, 15                    Format Description String,
                                              16, 33
                                             Free Financial Network, 49


            C

            Carrier Detect, 23, 24           G
            CD. See Carrier Detect
            Communications Port, 23          gap, 30
            COMPANY.LST, 19                  GEnie, 7, 8, 22, 25, 27,
            Compuserve, 7, 8, 12, 22,         29, 30, 34, 35, 40, 41, 42
             25, 26, 29, 30, 35, 36,
             42, 47, 49
            Custom. See Format
             Description String
                                             H

                                             HOLIDAY.TAB, 44, 48

            D

            Data Vendor, 24, 30
            Define a Schedule. See           I
             Schedule Download
            Delete an Option Set, 15         Immediate Downloads, 28
            Delete Security, 50              Internet, 12
            Dial Data, 7, 25, 26, 30
            DJNEWS.TXT, 28, 32
            Dow Jones News Stories, 31
            Download Directory, 25, 28,
             30
            download file name, 30


                                         52





                                             Prompt for Missing Symbols,
                                              19
            L                                PTTSYM, 22

            Log File, 20
            LOGON SCRIPT NAME, 24
            LookBack Period, 21
                                             R

                                             Raw Quote, 34, 37, 40, 46,
                                              47, 48
            M                                Raw Quote Input, 48
                                             Raw Quote Input File, 48
            Maintenance, 50                  Rebuild Symbol Index, 21
            Maximum LookBack Period,         Rename, 50
             21, 47                          Reverify Data Files, 20
            maximum number of files, 50
            Maximum Number of Ticker
             Symbols, 21
            Missing, 47
            modem, 22, 23, 24, 28            S
            Modem Initialization, 23
            Modem Setup, 22                  Scheduled Downloads, 28
                                             serial port. See
                                              Communications Port
                                             Setup Your Data
                                              Directories, 15
            N                                Split Security, 51
                                             Splits, 20
            Non-Trading Days, 31
            NOQUOTE, 29
            Notify of Possible Splits,
             20
                                             T

                                             Ticker List, 29
                                             TICKER.IN, 29
            O                                TICKER.ZIP, 19
                                             Tone Dialing, 23
            Option Set, 14, 15, 47           Trading Holidays, 31
            Option Sets, 43                  translate file. See
                                              Translation of Ticker
                                              Symbols


            P

            PRODIGY ``&'' Symbols, 39








                                         53