Import Data Wizard: Select Files

The Import Data Wizard allows you to import data into your portfolio, as well as update existing data. This page allows you to add and remove files from the list of files to be imported, as well as modify the options to use while importing those files.

&  For help importing data, see Importing and Exporting Data.

Selecting Files to Import

After selecting to import from files on the first page of the Import Data Wizard, this page will be displayed.

Press Select New Files… to select files from your computer or from a CD-ROM to import. A file selection dialog labeled Select Files with Data to Import will be displayed allowing you to select one or more files to import.

&  For help with the file selection dialog, see the help for the File Selection Dialog.

Press Select Previous Files for Target Group to update the data series in the target group with data in updated external files. The Import Data Wizard automatically remembers the last file that was imported for each data series, allowing it to reselect those files to import updated information. See below for the specific behavior based on the type of file that was last used.

·      Text Files

If the previous file was a text file, that file will be added to the list of files to import.

·      End-of-Day Files

If the previous file was an end-of-day file, the directory where the end-of-day file was located will be searched for more recent files with the same file extension. Any more recent files will be added to the list of files to import.

Ä    Note: The automatic selection of end-of-day files is based on the file modification time. It is not based on the date in the file name.

·      MetaStock Files

If the previous file was a MetaStock file, the Master file in the MetaStock directory will be added to the list of files to import. Also, the data series will be automatically selected for import from that file.

Press Remove Selected Files to remove the selected files from the list of files to import.

Modifying the Default Import Options

By default, TradingSolutions will automatically determine the best options for importing all of the numeric data in the selected files. However, there are times when these options may need to be adjusted, either to handle non-standard formats or to select a subset of the data in the selected files. The following options are available.

þ    View text file import options for each file being imported.

This option allows you to view and modify the text file import options being used for each text file being imported. These options include which file delimiter and date format to use, as well as how many lines to skip for header information. This option is typically only used if a file is known to be in a non-standard format or if problems have been encountered with a file.

Ä    Note: File import options are not available for MetaStock data files.

þ    Select individual ticker symbols or fields from the files.

This option allows you to select which ticker symbols and fields from the files to import. For text files with daily data, the default is to import all of the data in the file. For text files with a date as a name, the default is to update the data series in the target group. For MetaStock files, no symbols are selected by default.

Ä    Note: If a MetaStock data file is selected, this option will be selected automatically.

þ    Overwrite duplicate dates with data from the files.

This option allows you to select to overwrite any existing data with the data that is being imported. By default, data will only be imported if the dates have not already been imported for the target data series.

¨    Default Exchange for New Symbols

When a new symbol is imported from a file, this option allows you to specify the exchange the symbol will be assigned to. This setting will not affect the way the data is imported.

Ä    Note: You can change the exchange after it has been set here from the Modify Data Dialog: Properties page.

Ä    Note: If the desired exchange is not listed in the combo box, you can add it by pressing the Modify Exchanges… button. This will display the Define Exchanges Dialog.

What Do I Do Next?

After you have selected the files you would like to import, press the Next button to continue. If you did not modify the import options, the Start Import page will be displayed. If you selected to view the file import options for each text file being imported, the Verify Text File Format page for the first text file will be displayed. If you indicated that you wanted to select individual ticker symbols or fields from the files, the Select Data page will be displayed.

Ä    Note: At least one file must be in the list of files to import in order to continue.

Ä    Note: If any problems are encountered determining an appropriate format for a text file, the Verify Text File Format page for that file will be displayed automatically.

If you would prefer not to import any data at this time, press the Cancel button. If you would like to change the type of import being performed, press the Back button.

How Did I Get Here?

This page is displayed for file imports in the Import Data Wizard.