File Entry Panel: Path Menu Maintainence

The gray area in the File Entry Panel is what we call the Path Menu area. This is where you store the locations of your frequently accessed stock data:

• For ASCII-based stock files, the Path Menu will hold the path to where those files exist. Typically ASCII (text-based) files have an extension of ".CSV", so an entry might be: "C:\asciidata\techstocks\*.csv".
  
• For CSI data, the Path Menu will hold the exchanges that contain all the stocks you have in your CSI subscription. For instance, an entry might be: "NYSE".
  
• For TeleChart 2005 and TC2000 versions 4.x / 5.x data, Insider TA automatically adds the various Chart Lists that TeleChart makes available to you. You can toggle which chart list type you want to see by accessing the wizard option (see below).
  
  For TC2000 v3 data (probably not used by anyone these days, but Insider TA can still read them), the Path Menu will hold the path to where the "NDX" files reside. For instance, an entry might be: "C:\tc2kdata\techstocks\*.NDX".
  
• For Metastock data, the Path Menu will store the precise location of Metastock's MASTER, EMASTER, or XMASTER index files (any one of these files must exist in any Metastock directory). For instance, an entry for Metastock might be: "C:\msdata\techstocks\XMASTER".
  
• For Quotes Plus data, the Path Menu will hold the location of "List Files". List files are simple text-based (i.e., "ASCII") files that hold ticker symbols, and they must have a ".LST" file extension. Quotes Plus provides a variety of List Files in their own data directory (typically in "C:\Quotes Plus Data"). Or you can create your own List Files, either manually or by running a QP scan. For example, a typical Quotes Plus entry in the File Entry Panel might be "C:\qplists\myportfolio.lst".
  

After adding an entry to the Path Menu, clicking it will display all the underlying stocks in the File List area.

Wizard Option

For CSI, Quotes Plus, TeleChart2005 (and TC2000), and Metastock users, Insider TA's File Entry Panel has the ability to automatically add entries to the Path Menu. When you right-click the mouse in the Path Menu, the following popup will appear:

The popup options allow you to maintain what you see in the Path Menu. The last option labeled "Wizard" has a submenu with an option to each of the data formats supported.

TeleChart WatchList Types:

TeleChart groups stocks into specialized listings called watchlists. You can toggle which list type you would like to see in the File Entry Panel's Path Menu by accessing this menu option.

CSI Symbol Index Table update mode:

CSI data is automatically prepared for you by stock exchange. In order for this to work, Insider TA makes use of its own CSI Symbol Index table. Each time you perform a CSI database update through Unfair Advantage®, there might be the occasional time where some stock symbols are added, changed, or delisted. This information will eventually need to be reflected in the CSI Symbol Index table. Clicking this option in the wizard allows you to set the update mode to either manual or automatic..

Metastock "master" index file scanning:

Loading Metastock data into Insider TA involves locating all the "master" index files that always resides in any Metastock data directory. The File Entry Panel scanning wizard will search for all such files in your drive (C:, D:, etc.), and automatically add all valid entries to the Path Menu.

Quotes Plus List Files:

When you installed Quotes Plus, they provided you with a pool of List Files for a variety of categories (e.g., SP500 stocks). Other list files reflect stocks that have hit new highs, new lows, etc. These list files reside in the Quotes Plus "data directory", which is typically C:\Quotes Plus Data. Normally, you would have to manually add each and every one of these list files into the File Entry Panel. But the wizard can do this for you! There are two sub-options: one to add all List Files that were found in the QP data directory, and the other will remove them from the File Entry Panel. The Remove option does not delete the List Files -- it simply removes their reference in the File Entry Panel.

Remove all obsolete entries in list:

Insider TA illustrates invalid entries in the Path List with a symbol. In time, any number of folder entries may become outdated, and holding them in your Path List is no longer necessary. You can use this wizard option to delete all obsolete entries in one sweep. Please note there is no "undelete" ability, so be sure you do not want them before executing this option.