MetaStock FAQ

FAQ Disclaimer

StorkBite — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 05:58:28 GMT

FAQ Disclaimer

This document may be freely redistributed in its entirety if it includes an attribution containing the title, "Equis^® Forum FAQ for MetaStock^® & QuoteCenter^®", the version number or version date, and the forum web address. It may not be sold or incorporated into a commercial document without the permission of the copyright holder. Permission is expressly granted for complete electronic copies to be made available as an archive or mirror service on the condition that the copy is kept up to date.

This document is provided as is without any express or implied warranties. While some effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein, neither Equis^® nor the maintainer(s) assume responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of this information.

This FAQ is a work in progress, and may contain content errors, bias, and/or duplications. Readers are encouraged to help us fix these problems. This FAQ is written primarily or solely by individuals who are not subject matter experts.

Updating to the new S&P Sectors and Industries Solution

KTP2 — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:36:12 GMT

Important Message Regarding Your Reuters DataLink Sectors & Industries

We are pleased to announce that we are offering a new solution for the Reuters DataLink Sectors and Industries data. Our new solution will be utilizing the S&P sector and industry group classification, also known as the GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard). We feel that you’ll find this solution far superior to what has previously been offered, and are excited to be able to provide this to you. To learn more about the S&P GICS classifications, please visit their website.

The new securities will appear in the Open Dialog in both the Local Data and Reuters DataLink folders. In order to obtain access to this new data, you will need to update your local securities and symbol database. Once these files are updated you will see the new folders and new securities. We will be leaving the current sectors and industries solution active until April 5^th. Starting April 6, 2009 we will no longer be updating the old files.

To learn more about this change and how to update MetaStock and your custom layouts and save charts with this new data, please see the attached document.

Errors: Unable to enter password in Chinese

StorkBite — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 05:54:11 GMT

Errors: Unable to enter password in Chinese

This is a Chinese Language pack issue.

FOR REUTER’S DATALINK

־ Go to START | RUN | RegEdit | OK

־ Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Equis\Common\Reuter’s DataLink

־ Double-click on the Reuter’s DataLink folder, so on the right hand side you can see all the keys in that folder are listed

־ Right-click on the Password file and Left-click onto Modify

־ Remove all the digits listed in Value Date and type in your password, in all upper case letters, in English

־ Click OK

FOR QUOTE.COM

־ Go to START | RUN | RegEdit | OK

־ Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Equis\Common\8.0\Vendor\Qcharts (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Equis\Common\7.2\Vendor\Qcharts,if using version 7.21)

־ Double-click onto the Qcharts folder, so on the right hand side you can see all the keys that are listed

־ Right-click on the Password file and Left-click onto Modify

־ Remove all the digits listed in Value Date and type in your password, in all upper case letters, in English

־ Click OK

Errors: MSWIN.exe runtime error

StorkBite — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 05:52:46 GMT

Errors: MSWIN.exe runtime error

Solution 1:

Hold the CTRL+SHIFT keys on your keyboard and at the same time start MetaStock. Click yes on all of the prompts.

Caution: Editing the registry may cause irreparable damage to software programs and data files. Equis assumes no responsibility for such losses.

Solution 2:

־ Rename the Equis folder (c:\program files\Equis) to EquisOld

־ Go to START | RUN | RegEdit | OK

־ Delete the following registry entries:

־ HKEY_CURRENT_USR\Software\Equis

־ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Equis

־ Close the registry editor

־ Reinstall MetaStock

Note: if you had custom formulae, charts, templates, layouts, you will have to import them from the EquisOld folder.

Errors: NVidia display issues

StorkBite — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 05:51:53 GMT

NVidia display issues

־ Install the most current drivers: http://www.nVidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp

־ Right-click on the desktop and select PROPERTIES | SETTINGS | ADVANCED | TROUBLESHOOT to make sure your slider is set to full

־ ry using a lower display resolution

Errors: Enhanced System Tester summary window not visible

StorkBite — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 05:51:25 GMT

Errors: Enhanced System Tester summary window not visible

Using MetaStock Pro 9.0, the Enhanced System Tester's summary window does not display the pie chart for disk usage nor does the Test View's Summary window display the bar chart. In their place is a small box with a red 'X' on the upper right corner.

Install the latest versions of Microsoft XML (version 3 SP5 and version 4 SP2, one does not replace the other). These are avail: www.microsoft.com/downloads. Just type XML in the keyword field. Also, in WinXP, make sure ‘Teechart5.ocx’ is registered. You can register the file by running: regsvr32 "C:\Windows\System32\teechart5.ocx".

Errors: Generic fix for general problems- TRY ME FIRST!

StorkBite — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 05:50:39 GMT

Generic fix for general problems- TRY ME FIRST!

MetaStock and The DownLoader create temporary files during operation. It normally deletes these files when you close it, but if it is shut down improperly, these files may not have been deleted.

To delete these temporary files, do the following:

־ Make sure that MetaStock and the DownLoader (and Servers if using Pro) are closed

־ Click on Start | Find | Files or Folders (Or Search, depending on the version of Windows)

־ For Named: type in ~MSFL.*

־ Make sure the Look in field is set to C:\ (Assuming your data is stored on your C:\ drive)

־ Make sure "Include subfolders" is checked

־ Click on the find now button

־ Once the ~MSFL files are found, click on Edit | Select All

־ Click on File | Delete

־ Start MetaStock again

Errors: MSWIN has encountered a problem and needs to close

StorkBite — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 05:49:44 GMT

Errors: MSWIN has encountered a problem and needs to close

MetaStock 7.01 seems to randomly produce the following error message: 'MSWIN has encountered a problem and needs to close'. I then get an option to notify Microsoft or not.

Unfortunately, MetaStock 7.01 is one of the buggiest releases to date. If you are registered, request the 7.03 update from Equis Support as soon as possible. In the mean time, try deleting all of the MetaStock temporary files. Search you hard drive for: ~msfl.*

Miscellaneous: How to handle a ‘divide by zero’ error

StorkBite — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 05:49:31 GMT

How to handle a ‘divide by zero’ error

A divide-by-zero error will occur whenever there is a denominator in the formula that could end up having a value of zero (even if there is no chance it will ever happen), such as this sample

formula: Close/(High-Low)

In this formula, if High-Low equates to zero (because the High and Low are equal), then a divide-by-zero error occurs.

To avoid divide-by-zero errors, the division that is giving the problem has to be identified and then rewritten to trap the zero, for instance, using the same sample formula above, we could do this:

Z:=If(H-L=0,.00001,H-L);

Close/(z);

Thus, when the zero would normally occur we substitute a value very near zero, .00001, to avoid the error. This does introduce a minimal, probably non-significant, error into the calculation, but it is often worth it.

What does the number stand for directly following the divide by zero error? It is the number of times that the calculation ran into the zero value.

Errors: XMaster file is damaged

StorkBite — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 05:49:05 GMT

Errors: XMaster file is damaged

My CPU overheated and the MetaStock files that I was working on were damaged when the computer shut itself off. Once I got the computer back up, I copied the charts in my active trade’s folder to a safe location, then reinserted the MetaStock Data CD. Once Installshield started I had an option to repair the data files. That worked. After updating the symbols again and d/l'ing the current data I'm back up.

Errors: Please enter no more than 7 characters

StorkBite — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 05:48:46 GMT

Errors: Please enter no more than 7 characters

־ Go to Start | Settings | Control Panel

־ Double-click the Modem icon

־ Click On Dialing properties

־ Completely erase the area code and phone number

־ Enter only your local area code, for example 801 (7 characters or less)

Errors: Cannot connect to MetaStock Community

StorkBite — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 05:48:05 GMT

Errors: Cannot connect to MetaStock Community

If you have MetaStock 9.0 or below and have installed MS FrameWork 1.1 SP1 and cannot connect to the MetaStock Community then you will need to follow these instructions:

Download and extract the following zip file in your MetaStock folder (usually C:\Program Files\Equis\MetaStock)

Then click on Start, Run and type the following:

"C:\Program Files\Equis\MetaStock\Regasm" /codebase "C:\Program Files\Equis\MetaStock\MetaStock.community.dll"

This is all one command, copy and paste the whole thing- including the quotation marks.

Miscellaneous: Why does Mswin.exe hog my CPU resources?

StorkBite — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 05:47:36 GMT

Why does Mswin.exe hog my CPU resources?

After a while it just pegs itself in the 90% range even if I close all charts. A pop up reads “Warning! This application is having difficulty keeping up with current real-time data flow. Terminate any nonessential applications or reduce the number of real-time symbols being maintained by this application."

Click on TOOLS | OPTIONS | REAL-TIME | CONFIGURE SERVER | FILE UPDATES

Make sure you do not have any folders selected there. Also, check your Expert formulae for excessive use of the MetaStock PREV function.

Why should this folder be unchecked? Because all the securities in that folder are updating real-time, so if you happen to have 50 symbols in that folder, you have 50 securities that update real-time for every single tick of data. Most computers can only handle a handful of these securities, if even that.

Errors: Error code 10h

StorkBite — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 05:40:42 GMT

Errors: Error code 10h

The 10h message is a printer driver error that means the printer driver is not resetting the Math Co-processor to handle its own exception errors.

Contact the manufacturer of the printer and get a different version of the printer driver. You may need to install an older version of the printer driver or install the generic driver provided in Windows for your printer, to see if it helps.

A work-around that has worked for many people is to open Microsoft Word, print a document, leaving the document open, and minimize Word. You can then continue to work in MetaStock.

Errors: General protection fault in module DIBENG.DLL

StorkBite — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 05:40:30 GMT

Errors: General protection fault in module DIBENG.DLL

Reference: http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q235/6/18.asp

This error message can occur if an incompatible display driver is installed on the computer. To resolve this issue, set the display driver to use the ‘Windows Standard VGA Display Driver’ included with Windows; or, update the display driver for the video graphics adapter installed on your computer. To update the display driver, contact the manufacturer of your video adapter.

Errors: Function did not return a value

StorkBite — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 05:40:17 GMT

Errors: Function did not return a value

This message is really not an error- even though it says Error. It simply indicates that one of the functions written up in the commentary page or formula can’t provide a value because it didn't receive all the data it needed to calculate it, or if there wasn't enough data present. For instance, a formula that required Volume would produce this error if the Expert were attached to an Index chart, which typically doesn't have the Volume. It could also happen if the calculation needs the Open price to be available in a chart that doesn't have the Open price, or if a certain number of periods need to be loaded, and there are less than the required minimum.

Errors: Enhanced System Tester optimization error

StorkBite — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 05:39:45 GMT

Enhanced System Tester optimization error

When I run the System Tester with optimization variables, I get the following error:

Description: Invalid argument.

Build: 9.0

File: ST_RecordsetIterator.cpp

Line: 259

Error Type: 0

Error Code:2

Ensure that you are using the OPT variables in the correct context. Check the User’s Manual for examples.

Errors: JIT debugger failed

StorkBite — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 05:39:30 GMT

Errors: JIT debugger failed

I just built a new indicator and when I tried to apply it, the indicator caused MetaStock to freeze. Up popped a message that said, ‘JIT Debugger failed with the following error: Class not recognized. Please check the documentation topic 'Just-in-time debugging errors' for more information.’

It could be that the indicator is corrupted; or, that the MetaStock installation has become corrupted. The latter is more likely. For example, MetaStock installs its own .NET, Jet, JIT and various other frameworks. One of these frameworks could be interacting Visual Studio, Visual Basic, and/or Visual Web Development applications from Microsoft. Somehow, MetaStock’s been corrupted and Visual Studio's JIT is trying to load up to debug the error. The solution will be to reinstall MetaStock.

Miscellaneous: Why do some indicators appear erratically on the chart?

StorkBite — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 05:33:37 GMT

Why do some indicators appear erratically on the chart?

This will occur if the indicators are not merged to the right scale.

Miscellaneous: Switching between layouts

StorkBite — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 05:33:32 GMT

Switching between layouts

When you have 2 layouts (both with 3 charts) open at the same time, I can scroll through each chart with Ctrl-Tab. Is there a way to switch from layout 1 to layout 2?

Add two buttons to the custom toolbar- one for each layout. Then, with both layouts open, clicking a button brings the relevant layout to the front.

Miscellaneous: How to keep a text box visible on the chart

StorkBite — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 05:33:28 GMT

How to keep a text box visible on the chart

Text disappears from some of my charts as soon as I hit enter, but is ok on others.

If you plotted any of your indicators with the ‘overlay without scale’ option selected and typed your text near that indicator, your text will not be attached to a scale and will not be seen on your chart. When you type your text in a chart, it takes the nearest objects scaling. So make sure that where you start typing is near an object that has a fixed scale, such as the prices. You can then drag the text box to the desired location. Otherwise, type your text away from any indicator/trend lines or price bar.

Miscellaneous: How to set default periodicity on template

StorkBite — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 05:33:21 GMT

How to set default periodicity on template

Select ‘use template's periodicity’ in options after clicking on file open, open with template.

Miscellaneous: How to turn off grid lines

StorkBite — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 05:33:17 GMT

How to turn off grid lines

Right-click on the x-axis or y-axis and select properties. Remove the check mark on ‘show grid’ and click OK.

Miscellaneous: MetaStock and dual CPU processors

StorkBite — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 05:32:36 GMT

MetaStock and dual CPU processors

MetaStock and most other software are not designed to take advantage of a dual processor setup. With that said, a computer of at least 2ghz p4 or AMD equivalent, 512mb DDR ram, 7200 rpm hard drive, 64 mb video accelerator card, and a high speed internet connection is sufficient for online trading and analysis.

Miscellaneous: Adding functions to the custom toolbar

StorkBite — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 05:32:28 GMT

Adding functions to the custom toolbar

You can apply templates at the push of a button on the customizable custom toolbar. Also, you can add application links to programs such as NotePad which is really handy for editing formulas etc. Check in the User’s Manual for further details.