The phrase "recap file" is our term that describes any file that you download from an online service that summarizes the day's trading activity for a list of stocks. Recap files are used by the Data Merger Utility.
Recap File Requirements:
The following characteristics of downloaded recap files are assumed during data-merging...
(1) They must be in "ASCII" format.
(2) All data for a given stock must be on the same line. At a minimum, the high and low price, volume, and ticker symbol must be included. They can be in any order, but must be consistent for every line in the file.
(3) Price values can exist in decimal or fractional format. For example, "1.75" can be represented as "1-3/4" or "1 3/4". In the latter case, only a single space can separate the whole part from the fraction part of a price value (two spaces are interpreted as data separators).
(4) The recap file does not have to consist exclusively of data lines. In the figure below, note the existence of leading text (shown in red) that is unrelated to stock data.
(5) If more than one recap file is involved in a data merge (as specified in the "File(s) to Process" field), then they all must have the same structure.
Two examples of how recap files may appear are:
Columnized data with fixed widths:
Files of this format must be processed using the "Fixed width" method:
MyData Services, Inc.
Quotes Download for 10/22/2002 7:23:02 PM
Ticker Date Open High Low Close Volume
DELL 10/22/2002 28.19 28.99 28.06 28.49 22643500
CSCO 10/22/2002 10.54 11.58 10.51 11.22 123035900
GE 10/22/2002 27.01 27.07 26.50 27.07 21411700
IBM 10/22/2002 74.50 75.68 73.62 74.49 10371500
MSFT 10/22/2002 51.43 51.93 51.03 51.67 43579500
CAT 10/22/2002 42.00 42.01 41.06 41.78 2404500
ORCL 10/22/2002 9.39 9.95 9.33 9.89 46262500
X 10/22/2002 12.70 12.74 12.35 12.44 829800
Delimited field data:
Files of this format are best processed by the "Separated by" method:
DELL,22-Oct-02,28.19,28.99,28.06,28.49,22643500
CSCO,22-Oct-02,10.54,11.58,10.51,11.22,123035900
GE,22-Oct-02,27.01,27.07,26.50,27.07,21411700
IBM,22-Oct-02,74.50,75.68,73.62,74.49,10371500
MSFT,22-Oct-02,51.43,51.93,51.03,51.67,43579500
CAT,22-Oct-02,42.00,42.01,41.06,41.78,2404500
ORCL,22-Oct-02,9.39,9.95,9.33,9.89,46262500
X,22-Oct-02,12.70,12.74,12.35,12.44,829800
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