Problems retrieving historic data

[stino14]

I have had no problems recieving quotes through the API, but I have had inconsistent results with the historic data. Even using the C++ Active X Sample writtin by Rob I cannot get any historic data. I am using 7.2. My login is jlilly. I only need daily data at this point and here is an example of the requests I have tried:

RequestHistory("BO N4", "D", IESignal.barType.btBARS, 10, -1, -1);
RequestHistory("BO N4", "D", IESignal.barType.btDAYS, 10, -1, -1);

RequestHistory("BO N4", "D", IESignal.barType.btBARS, 10, 0, 0);
RequestHistory("BO N4", "D", IESignal.barType.btDAYS, 10, 0, 0);

Strangely I have gotten data in the past but it has been erratic. I have used all of these inputs in the eSignal Destop API Sample and it has been the same. Most of the time I get nothing, occasionally I do get the bars returned. The real-time data displays in the app no problem.

Any ideas?

[sthornington]

I would suggest upgrading to version 7.6, preferably a 7.7 beta and seeing how that works. 7.2 is before my time I'm afraid.

Simon.

[stino14]

I apologize, the version I am running is 7.6 not 7.2. I will try 7.7a and see if there is any change.

[stino14]

It seems to be working with 7.7 beta. Is the beta stable enough to rely on for trading? I would prefer to use it on 7.6 if not. Why is there a difference between 7.6 and 7.7 beta in the API?

[sthornington]

The API is integral to the eSignal application, so bug fixes to the API portion are contingent upon new releases of the software.

In this case, I fixed a bug with requesting history data some time a few weeks ago, that was causing sporadic notification of large amounts of data, particularly when requesting it by bar count.

As for 7.7's stability, it is good, and will soon be an official release, but of course you are always trading at your own risk per the clauses of the agreement.

Cheers,

Simon.

[stino14]

I'm still getting the same erratic behavior. I'm only requesting 2 days of data and some symbols return with IsHistoryReady > 0 right away and others never get data back. All of the symbols worked a few hours ago, and now only a few are returning the last two days of data. Here is the RequestHistory call I am using:

int handle = RequestHistory("BO N4", "D", IESignal.barType.btBars, 2, 0, 0);

What gives?

PS. Now none of the symbols are returning any date including the Active X example.

[sthornington]

Hmm, are you making these requests after ensuring that IsEntitled() is returning true?

Simon.

[JimBecker17]

To get consistent history responses you need the beta which Robi put up unofficially about ten days ago. It doesn't look like this is up officially yet. The build date is 7/15/04.

There was a problem which has been around since the beginning of the ActiveX API fixed in this release. Unclear if eSignal officially recognized it as a problem, but certainly it has taken up a lot of my time trying to figure it out. You can checkout my various postings for the tirades..

Apparently something they did caused it to go away. This has made me quite happy!

I'd like to report that all the crashes are fixed, but unfortunately cannot. Quite interesting thing about the crashes is that they most consistently happen on Monday mornings. Strange but true.


-Jim

[stino14]

The requests aren't made unless IsEntitled is true.

I'm not sure if I understand this problem. If I were to divide the API functionality into its simplest compenent requests, we would have symbol/market data, real-time quotes, and historical data. How could a main part of the functionality make it out of the first API beta without working properly? Something doesn't seem right here. Why would sample code be sent out if it didn't work? Am I correctly hearing you say that it is not possible to consistently request historical data at any point of the day?

[JimBecker17]

Use the search functionality of the bulletin board and search for postings under my name. You will find pretty much all of them have to do with this issue.

In addition to the software not working correctly apparently the documentation is wrong as well with regard to the start/stop time parameters. (This is in one of the threads you will find in your search) In a well defined Q/A cycle a "white room" engineer would take the Doc and write some code to test it, which should show up something like this. But this is "perfect world" stuff..

Regarding why software is released which may not work or be tested, including sample code, this has always been a problem for the software industry. And also for the hardware industry.

You will always hear plenty of reasons regarding resources and overcommitment, which are most always true. Management is always pushing for more, more more and not necessarily keeping up the Q/A and Doc side of this equation. So in the matrix of time, quality and quantity often the quality part gets shorted. This varies based on the company culture though, and I am just making general comments - not reflective of eSignal per se.

Personally I have waged enough battles trying to overcome these issues internally at companies, being a software guy for thirty something years. Gets old. My general impression is Management really doesn't want to hear it except at the most exceptional startup companies, where they really care. Otherwise a product lifecycle repeats with pretty good predictability of quality breakdown as software ages.

-Jim

[Guest]

First off, thank you for your patience and understanding. Of course our sample code works in our environment before we post it, but it's only sample code. It may not work on W2K or Win98, but on VB 6 and not C++ 5. There are so many variables for things not to work that it is impossible to determine beforehand.

Yes, it is possible to request historical data at any point of the day and yes, the problem for JimBecker17 was intentially corrected. Since you are familiar with the software industry, you also know that the problem is much easier to correct if it can be replicated, so if you experience a problem, describe it in as much detail as possible.