XMLGetBasicQuote - Date of quote

[masterdata]

It would be greatly appreciated if you added the DATE of quote to the XMLGetBasicQuote return string. When requesting a quote during a market day this is not a problem. But, when working over a weekend or holiday (the bigger complication), this becomes an issue. Backdating an OHLCV quote requested on a weekend day is not particularly complicated to code, but holidays (and I generally work 7 days a week) do present an error waiting to happen. Yes, I can be careful only to update on market days (or, at least, not on holidays), but I try to build my code to head off my "human" errors and I am very human. Yes, I can think of many workarounds, but life would be so much easier (not to mention virtually bullet-proof on this issue) if you could simply add a date field (format YYYYMMDD would be convenient, but I'll work with anything). Then I can concentrate on all the other errors I create.

OR maybe I am simply blind and the date is already there somewhere?

Thank you

Larry Carhartt

[masterdata]

The best solution I have found thus far is to do a 4 day RequestHistory on one symbol when my VB 6 app starts. I simply read the date of the last bar and save it to a text field in the form (that way I also see it with my own eyes to double check accuracy). It works fine, but I have to believe there is a better way. If not, it works, so I can move on with the project for now.

STILL, I believe it would make a lot of sense to include a "date of quote" field in the XMLGetBasicQuote Function.

Best

Larry Carhartt

[DionLoy]

Hi Larry, that's quite reasonable. I will provide a field in v7.9.1 that lists the time/date of quote in time_t format.

[masterdata]

I see that version 7.9.1 is released. In reference to our previous discussion below and before installing the new version, has the XML response string changed in the new version. If so, how?

Thank you

Larry Carhartt

[DionLoy]

There is a new tag called 'DateTime' which returns the time of the update in time_t, the number of seconds since midnight Jan 1, 1970.

[masterdata]

Ever since the new version came out, I repeatedly get an error about reaching my 200 symbol limit. I only use XML Get Basic Quote and never got this error with the previous version. I even get it after my program has been idle for an hour or two with eSignal showing only 36 symbols and, then, suddenly it jumps to 200 symbols and I get the error (without any requests for additional symbols - I don't even have to touch it). Apparently something has changed in the new version. The question is what?

Thank you

Larry Carhartt

[StarrM]

Larry,

It sounds like you may have one or more hung winsig.exe processes. This can cause the Data Manager to think it is tracking more symbols than it actually is. Make sure the process in not running in the task manager before launching a new instance of your application.

The other culprit may be (and often is) an options chain hiding somewhere. As you know, eSignal launches along with any application using the Desktop API. If there is a hidden, or minimized options chain lurking somewhere in the layout, it may put you over your limit.

Thanks,
Starr
eSignal Developer Support

[masterdata]

There is apparently a problem with the new DateTime tag (returned by XMLGetBasicQuote). When I ran my code over the weekend, the date returned reflects the weekend date. In other words when I ran it Saturday, the date returned was 12-3-05. On Sunday (today) it returns 12-4-05. This was the case both with INTC and $INDU.

Just a few minutes ago at 7:34 AM PST, INTC returned 1133695573 seconds. At 7:40 AM PST, $INDU returned 1133696382 for the DateTime tag.

OR, I may be doing something wrong which never surprises me anymore.

Please advise.

Thank you.

Larry Carhartt

[AChan]

Hello Larry,

Just ran a test using XMLGetBasicQuote and the timestamp for $INDU is 1133818808 (12/5/2005 1:40PM PST). For INTC, the timestamp is 1133826002 (12/5/2005 3:40PM PST). Both of them looks correct.

Do you only experience this problem over the weekend? Do you happen to have the entire XML string which you captured over the weekend? If so, can you attach it?

Best Regards,
Anthony
eSignal Developer Support

[masterdata]

Hi Anthony,

Yes, it only happens on the weekend. During the week it runs as intended. Unfortunately, no, I do not have a copy of the string from the weekend, but will send you one this weekend. It is certainly understandable that since most or all work on the API is done during the week, this might not be caught on your end.

I did look directly at the string, however, and can assure you the numbers I sent are representative with all other tags as normal. The prices displayed were the same as Friday's close (I am fairly certain). One thing I have noticed with eSignal in general (not just in the API) is that you can get a quote on the original symbol when that symbol has changed. Also, if a stock is delisted or bought out you can still get quotes even though they are obviously not valid. Maybe this has something to do with it. The server is holding the quote too long.

I am sure you don't need my help. I will send the string this weekend.

Thank you.

Larry Carhartt

[masterdata]

Hi again, Anthony,

Well, I have to believe somebody did something on your end because the date is correct today (Saturday). I am using the exact code I used last weekend when the dates reflected the weekend dates.

As previously, it worked fine for the last five business days.

Just to be certain, I will run again tomorrow and update the results to you.

No matter who fixed it, I am just glad its fixed.

Thank you.

Larry Carhartt

[masterdata]

Apparently, all is well. DateTime tag provided the correct date on Sunday also.

Thank you.

Larry Carhartt