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Historical Data User Interface

In this chapter the Graphical User Interface for parsing the historical files is described.

Here only the Graphical User Interface is described. For explanations about the various features, see the relevant sections in the manual.


Historical Data User Interface

Panes

The window is divided into the following main panes:
  • Parsing controls.
    The file is parsed according to the values stored in these graphical components.
  • Info / Wizard.
    This pane is shared between simple information about the file and the wizard.
  • Original file.
    Here the original file is shown as is.
  • Parsed file.
    The file as parsed, or interpreted, is shown here.
  • Inconsistencies.
    Inconsistencies in the file are reported here.
Split Pane Dividers
Split Pane Dividers The last three panes in the previous list have dividers between them. You can resize them vertically, by dragging the dividers.

Parsing Controls

These graphical components comprise everything needed by Trading Conceiver to parse the file. The information stored in them is used to parse the file. They are set up by Trading Conceiver, upon launching the auto-detect routine, or by the user, in all the other cases.
Auto Detect
If you activated or launched the auto-detect, these controls are set up by Trading Conceiver. This way you can see the values Trading Conceiver opted for. In case you find some anomalies, you can use the auto-detect set-up as a starting point and make the fine tuning by hand, tweaking the controls. Just to be clearer, it does not exist an auto-detect mode. There is just an auto-detect routine that you can launch. When the routine is over, the parsing controls are at your disposal and you can change them at your will.
Wizard and Manual Parsing
The parsing controls are exactly the same for the wizard and the manual parsing. The only difference is that the wizard let you act only on a small subset of them at a time, providing a description of what they are for. In both cases they are set by the user.

Data Info / Wizard

When the wizard is activated, this pane is used by the wizard. Otherwise, it shows simple information about the loaded and interpreted file.
Data Info
These simple information about the interpreted file can be useful for a fast check as to whether the file has been interpreted correctly. The approximate values of the right information should be apparent to the user. If they don't match those shown here, it means there is a parsing issue. You don't need to know the exact values in order to compare them with the ones reported here. The order of magnitude is enough.
Time Period
The date / time of the first and the last date / time. It is the time frame of the file. Check if these dates / times add up with what you are expecting. If you downloaded a file from year 2,000 to 2,022, those years must match with what is reported here. In particular, the first and the last date / time must be in the right order, meaning the first date / time must be before the second. If they are not, it means the checkbox 
  Reverse line order
has the wrong value and you should toggle it.
Entry Items
This is the number of data entries in the file. It is almost equal to the number of lines in the file, excluding the first and the last ones, usually containing headers and other descriptions. Again, the order of magnitude of the number reported here must match the one you are expecting. For instance, if the file is a classical End Of Day, i.e. one entry per day, there should be about 252 entries per year or 2,520 in ten years. Look at the order of magnitude, not at the exact numbers. In the previous examples, it is enough to check if there are hundreds or thousands of entries.
Absolute Maximum / Minimum
These are the maximum and minimum quote values of all the file. As usual, these must match with the order of magnitude of what you are expecting. For instance, stock prices in US dollars usually are in the range from few dollars to a few hundreds. Indices might span up to the tens of thousands, like the Dow or the Nasdaq; while the S&P 500, FTSE 100, CAC 40 are all around the thousands. Crypto-currencies are highly variable, with some as low as hundredth's of dollars.

Original File

The Original file pane shows the loaded file as is, without any alteration. You must look at this and understand its format in order to instruct Trading Conceiver to interpret it correctly. Particularly useful are the column headers present in virtually all files. They report the order of the columns, like: 
  Date, Open, High, Low, Close, Volume, Adjusted Close
Sometimes they come in the language of the stock market exchange.
Show tabs Checkbox
Show tabs Tabs are not visible per se, and are represented with a variable number of spaces. If there are tabs, the Show tabs checkbox will make them clearly visible. Each tab will be substituted with the string: 
  <tab>
Show Radio Buttons
The show radio buttons allow you to view the entire file or just the first and the last lines.

Parsed File

Here the parsed file is shown and you can look at how it has been interpreted.
Show Radio Buttons
The radio buttons allow you to view the entire file or just the first and the last lines.
Checks
Check whether the file has been interpreted the right way. The most important things you must check are the following.
Columns / Fields
The columns, or fields, must have been properly identified, e.g. what is reported as the Open column must really contain the Open column of the original file.
Numbers
Numbers must be parsed appropriately, too. The parsed file pane shows the numbers formatted according to the user preference: 
  Tools → Options → Numbers
Therefore, the numbers in the original file and in the parsed file table might appear differently, with a dissimilar format. Make sure they are the same number. In particular the decimal and thousand separators must be recognized accurately. So if a number is ten thousand in the original file, it must not appear as ten in the parsed file, just because the thousand separator has been misinterpreted.
Reverse Order
The parsed file is presented sorted from oldest (top) to most recent (bottom) data. Look at the date / time and make sure it is really that way, otherwise you must toggle the checkbox 
  Reverse line order
Skipped Lines
Only the lines of the original file with data (numbers) must be retained, while the others must be skipped. So make certain that no extra lines are embodied in the parsed file, at the beginning and at the end. For instance, the headers must not be incorporated. For this it is convenient to select the radio button: 
  Show first and last lines

Inconsistencies

This pane shows inconsistencies, errors and warnings, that Trading Conceiver found in the original file. They can be real issues of the original file, like volume data missing, or they can stem from an erroneous parsing, which requires fine tuning a little bit more with the user interface in order to make Trading Conceiver understand the data. Always look at the inconsistencies listed here before accepting the format by pressing the OK button.
Rules
Some types of real inconsistencies, due to issues in the original file, can be dealt with by Trading Conceiver. To see and change the rules used to manage, i.e. 'correct', the inconsistencies, press the button 
  Edit
Rules can be applied by pressing the button 
  Apply
and unapplied by pressing the button 
  Unapply
Show Radio Buttons
Show all Radio Button
If this radio button is checked, all the inconsistencies are listed. Be careful to select this option. If the parsing is strongly erroneous, a huge amount of data will be written, so many that the program might even seem to have crashed. We suggest that you select the other radio button first, described below, and, if really necessary, switch to this option only when the parsing is reasonably accurate.
Show only few per type Radio Button
If this radio button is checked, only a few inconsistencies per type are listed, just the first ones encountered, and all the following are suppressed. This is useful to focus on the generic problem, not on all the lines suffering it. For instance, if the volume data is missing, it is useless to list all the lines missing the volume data; just a few suffice, so that you know. More importantly, the total number of errors is reported anyway, both in absolute and in percentage form.

The Buttons

The Buttons
Auto Detect
The button 
  Auto detect
launches the auto-detect feature, that automatically recognizes the format.
Wizard
The button 
  Wizard
launches the wizard, that guides you through the necessary steps to correctly parse the file, focusing on each aspect one at a time.
Save and Load
These buttons are for saving and loading the historical file format, not the historical file itself. If the auto-detect feature interpreted the file correctly, you don't need to save or load the format, because it means the auto-detect routine can deal with data like this. In the unlikely event that the auto-detect features fails, however, setting the parsing controls is not a pleasant activity. So, once you succeeded in making Trading Conceiver interpret the file format appropriately, you should save the format configuration, by pressing the button 
  Save
This should be necessary only once per data provider, because each provider will always format the files in the same way. The next time you want to load a file downloaded by the same provider, just load the format by pressing the button 
  Load
File Extension
The file extension is the part of the name of the file coming after the last dot ('.'). When saving the file, an extension to the file is added automatically. By default, the file extension is 
  .historical
but you can customize it in 
  Tools → Options → Extensions
Both when saving and loading a file, in the pop-up window, only files with such an extension are shown. To see all the files, regardless of the extension, in the pop-up window select: 
  Files of Type: All Files
Trial
The button 
  Trial
is for testing your historical data files without buying a license. By pressing this button, a simulation will be run with your historical data, but the algorithms used to compose the trading system and the indicators shown will be automatically selected; you can not select or change them. This way you can test whether Trading Conceiver works properly with your historical data files before purchasing a license. We prefer referring to this as a 'trial feature' and not as 'trial mode', because all it does is launch a simulation, and nothing else.
When It Is Disabled
This button is always enabled, except in the following cases:
  • Parsing errors
    If serious parsing errors are present, that don't let Trading Conceiver work correctly, the button is not enabled. You must correct the errors in order to enable the button. Errors are not synonym of inconsistencies; some inconsistencies can be present and the Trial button be enabled.
  • License valid
    If you have a valid license installed, this button is disabled, for your convenience, because the trial feature is pointless in this case.
OK
The button 
  OK
is the final step of loading and parsing an historical file. By pressing it, you actually start using the file. After pressing it, the window disappears and from that moment all calculations of Trading Conceiver will be based on this historical file, substituting the previous one.
When It Is Enabled
This button is enabled only if all the following conditions are met:
  • No parsing errors
    If serious parsing errors are present, that don't let Trading Conceiver work correctly, the button is not enabled. You must correct the errors in order to enable the button. Errors are not synonym of inconsistencies; some inconsistencies can be present and the OK button be enabled.
  • Valid license
    This is, actually, the only difference between the free version and the paid version of Trading Conceiver. The free version is fully functional, but you can use only the pre-loaded data. The OK button is never enabled. If you want to use other historical data, you must buy and install a license. This will enable the OK button.
Cancel
The button 
  Cancel
cancels the action and closes the window, as usual.