I've been testing software for two months now and have finally come up with a system that I am happy with for getting data (and new symbols) into GlobalServer (TS2000i build 822). The tools I use are:
1. ML Downloader 7.1.0.9
2. HyperTools Professional Premium Edition (build 147)
3. Symbol Manager 1.0
MLD grabs the price data from Yahoo, MSN, Forex.com and puts it on my hard drive in ASCII or Metastock format (I use ASCII). It's hyperfast and the main software guy there, Peter, gave me a version that runs from my USB stick (and for free). MLD is easily the best free downloader I tested, and I found his support to be excellent and quick. I think the program cost about 50 euros.
HyperTools PE then either converts the ASCII into XPO (which GlobalServer can import) or directly saves the data into GlobalServer. I used the former for all my huge historical data (the XPOs are easy to back up in case they are needed in future), and I plan to use the latter for my daily/weekly updates. I paid 150 euros for this program.
Symbol Manager is a piece of custom software that Fabrizio at HyperTrader wrote for me, which allows me to take an ASCII file with thousands of symbols and symbol descriptions and import them straight into the GlobalServer dictionary. It took me just two hours to import 38,029 symbols from 29 countries around the world. The ASCII files were generated by MLD. I paid 100 euros plus VAT.
Don't be fooled by the Hypertrader website like I was. I thought these guys had gone out of business but they are very much in business. Because I couldn't see a way to get hold of Hypertrader I ended up trying HistoryCentre 3.0 first. Unfortunately, despite spending perhaps some 20 hours on HistoryCentre 3.0 (and despite help from their support), I couldn't get it to work without serious errors. Apparently my Cambridge degrees in theoretical physics were not up to the task of understanding HistoryCentre. Their 7 day trial period wasn't very helpful either.
To be fair it took a while to get Hypertools to work - build 145 just wouldn't work properly, but build 147 is just fine. It's an excellent piece of software that imports from ASCII, Excel, Metastock and Yahoo (though since it doesn't factor in splits like MLD does, the Yahoo import isn't terribly useful). It seems to allow exporting from XPO into ASCII, Excel, Metastock or Tradestation 8 ASCII (though I haven't had cause to try the export functions yet).
I found HistoryCentre to be about 2-3 times faster than HyperTools in creation of XPO files, but since I couldn't get the former to create XPOs without errors, perhaps the comparison is not relevant. Another thing that could be improved in HyperTools would be to provide the ability to rename conversion sets and duplicate conversion sets. The other thing I don't like is that the license is tied to your hardware - which means if the company become insolvent you won't be able to use the software the next time you change computers. However, this was the same licensing for HistoryCentre. I mentioned this issue to HyperTrader and they said "our company is part of Il Sole 24 Group, we are the main italian financial news paper and 2nd in europe, we are on this business from 1989, our life will be more longer then TradeStation 2000i". Nevertheless, I would certainly feel more confident if somehow they could tie in their license to my personal, unique ProSuite permanent password. I can prove that I am a genuine ProSuite customer and I certainly do not want my permanent password being copied around the internet.
Apart from these niggles, HyperTools PE is a fine piece of software that does its job well and stably. And the support was also excellent - they spent several hours with me making sure the system worked. How strange to have such a poor website and yet such great support. They say they are soon due to relaunch their website but at present it's not necessarily clear from the website how to reach them. This is the email to use: [email protected] - they usually answer within a couple of hours.
By the way, while I am posting I should mention Jeff Katz's Global Variables dll for TS2000i. Using this dll and Radarscreen you can test baskets of stocks at once. It is theoretically also possible to do basket optimization and portfolio testing, though I haven't coded that far yet.
All the best
EZL
1. ML Downloader 7.1.0.9
2. HyperTools Professional Premium Edition (build 147)
3. Symbol Manager 1.0
MLD grabs the price data from Yahoo, MSN, Forex.com and puts it on my hard drive in ASCII or Metastock format (I use ASCII). It's hyperfast and the main software guy there, Peter, gave me a version that runs from my USB stick (and for free). MLD is easily the best free downloader I tested, and I found his support to be excellent and quick. I think the program cost about 50 euros.
HyperTools PE then either converts the ASCII into XPO (which GlobalServer can import) or directly saves the data into GlobalServer. I used the former for all my huge historical data (the XPOs are easy to back up in case they are needed in future), and I plan to use the latter for my daily/weekly updates. I paid 150 euros for this program.
Symbol Manager is a piece of custom software that Fabrizio at HyperTrader wrote for me, which allows me to take an ASCII file with thousands of symbols and symbol descriptions and import them straight into the GlobalServer dictionary. It took me just two hours to import 38,029 symbols from 29 countries around the world. The ASCII files were generated by MLD. I paid 100 euros plus VAT.
Don't be fooled by the Hypertrader website like I was. I thought these guys had gone out of business but they are very much in business. Because I couldn't see a way to get hold of Hypertrader I ended up trying HistoryCentre 3.0 first. Unfortunately, despite spending perhaps some 20 hours on HistoryCentre 3.0 (and despite help from their support), I couldn't get it to work without serious errors. Apparently my Cambridge degrees in theoretical physics were not up to the task of understanding HistoryCentre. Their 7 day trial period wasn't very helpful either.
To be fair it took a while to get Hypertools to work - build 145 just wouldn't work properly, but build 147 is just fine. It's an excellent piece of software that imports from ASCII, Excel, Metastock and Yahoo (though since it doesn't factor in splits like MLD does, the Yahoo import isn't terribly useful). It seems to allow exporting from XPO into ASCII, Excel, Metastock or Tradestation 8 ASCII (though I haven't had cause to try the export functions yet).
I found HistoryCentre to be about 2-3 times faster than HyperTools in creation of XPO files, but since I couldn't get the former to create XPOs without errors, perhaps the comparison is not relevant. Another thing that could be improved in HyperTools would be to provide the ability to rename conversion sets and duplicate conversion sets. The other thing I don't like is that the license is tied to your hardware - which means if the company become insolvent you won't be able to use the software the next time you change computers. However, this was the same licensing for HistoryCentre. I mentioned this issue to HyperTrader and they said "our company is part of Il Sole 24 Group, we are the main italian financial news paper and 2nd in europe, we are on this business from 1989, our life will be more longer then TradeStation 2000i". Nevertheless, I would certainly feel more confident if somehow they could tie in their license to my personal, unique ProSuite permanent password. I can prove that I am a genuine ProSuite customer and I certainly do not want my permanent password being copied around the internet.
Apart from these niggles, HyperTools PE is a fine piece of software that does its job well and stably. And the support was also excellent - they spent several hours with me making sure the system worked. How strange to have such a poor website and yet such great support. They say they are soon due to relaunch their website but at present it's not necessarily clear from the website how to reach them. This is the email to use: [email protected] - they usually answer within a couple of hours.
By the way, while I am posting I should mention Jeff Katz's Global Variables dll for TS2000i. Using this dll and Radarscreen you can test baskets of stocks at once. It is theoretically also possible to do basket optimization and portfolio testing, though I haven't coded that far yet.
All the best
EZL
