eSignal and Home LAN

[shaeffer]

Hi Duane,

(I've moved this question to here (from the ET forum)). It was regarding use of eSignal on two home networked computers

I think I understood your answer (below) - that with one eSignal account, although a 2nd application of eSignal CAN be opened on the same computer as the 1st application (though not recommeded), a 2nd eSignal application can NOT be opened on a 2nd computer, even if they are locally networked. A 2nd account would be needed to do this. Is that correct?

I am not very LAN knowledgeable, but am about to get a 2nd computer which I'll network to the first. Do you know, with one application only of eSignal open on computer #1, would the data be accessible by networked computer#2, such that I could view some eSignal charts, or run another application that uses eSignal data (such as Stock Watch Pro) on the 2nd computer? (Your answer below suggests not, but I'm not sure if you meant with a 2nd application).

Ultimately, while awaiting the new computer, I'm trying to determine what my options are for how to use it, i.e. with only one account, will my use of eSignal be possible only on one computer?.

Regards
shaeffer
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Quote from DuaneG_eSignal:

To answer your questions about the two-computer setup;

Q1. eSignal can be downloaded and used from multiple computers, but an account cannot be accessed simultaneously from more than one computer at a time, even if the computers are on the same network.

Q2. The files that you create, whether they are pages or layouts, are saved locally to that computer. You can move files between the two computers, but again, the system will not permit the same account to be accessed simultaneously. Page files that are accessed on computer #1 should not in any way affect any files that are used on computer #2. [/B]

[ScottJ]

Hi,

We get this question quite a bit, especially as home networking becomes more popular and easier to set-up. KB Article 1310 describes the situation is pretty good detail. If you still have any other questions, please let us know.

Thanks.

[shaeffer]

Hi Scott,

Thanks for the link - very informative.

Speaking as a LAN newbie, I knew that files could be shared between computers, so I was imagining that streaming data could also be shared (in this case, that computer#2 could 'see' into the Data Manager on computert#1 and use its data), but apparently not. Oh well.

Thanks again
shaeffer

[Lancer]

In a peer-to-peer LAN (common for multi-PC single-user tradestations), has anyone accomplished running eSignal on PC-1 and 3rd party apps (Metastock, etc.) on PC-2, with PC-2 apps connecting to the eSignal data manager on PC-1? I'd like to move 3rd party apps to PC-2 to unburden the CPU load, leaving PC-1 dedicated to running eSignal.

(I'd also like to see eSignal multi-threaded for use with multi-processors on a single PC.)

[bfry5282]

You do need to run all of those apps on the same computer, however, by properly setting priorities you can help them to interact better.

I run at least 4 instances of eSignal on the same machine, and can do so because I have adequate memory, and I set their execution priority (on Windows XP Pro) to "belownormal".

This allows eSignal's client to be "better behaved", as it sometimes hogs the cpu.

The server, on the other hand, is very well behaved, and can be left at "nomal" priority.

Your other third party apps can be run at normal priority, assuming they are well-behaved. They will use the esignal proprietary access modules and tend to be event driven, so that usually works fine.

Good luck!

[pj909]

I've been using the priority level for a few days now and it really seems to help. Is there a way to make winsig.exe always start at BelowNormal? (So I don't have to do it manually every time I start the program.)

[bfry5282]

Starting belownormal from shortcut

Absolutely!

This is for XP home or XP Pro. Your mileage may vary...

This assumes installation in the directory c:\esignal. If you have a different setup, you may have to do some creative hacking!

Copy one of your eSignal shortcuts, and modify it as follows, all on one single line. Give the shortcut a descriptive name like "eSignal belownormal". Hope this helps, and be careful about typos !

Get a command window and type start /? to get switches, etc.
This is the "target" in the shortcut:

%windir%\system32\cmd.exe /c start /Dc:\eSignal "eSignal" /b /belownormal C:\eSignal\WinSig.Exe

Let's step through it:

1) invoke the system command interpreter cmd.exe
2) give it the command (/c) "start"
3) use the /D default directory c:\esignal.
(if it's in "program files", might have to use quotes around it...)
4) start without a new window /b
5) use priority /belownormal (others are /low, /abovenormal).
(do not run eSignal above normal !!!)
6) run the executable image c:\esignal\winsig.exe
7) optionally, add mylayout.lay if you want a specific layout

OK, that's all on one line. If you want a specific layout to be opened, just add the layout like mylayout.lay onto the end of the command. Otherwise, I think it will open the last layout opened, or whatever...

There are many variations on this sort of command, but it's nice not to have to reset it manually all the time.

Good luck!

[pj909]

bfry5282,
Thanks for the response. I had to experiment to get the quotes right but here is the result:
%windir%\system32\cmd.exe /c start /D"c:\Program Files\eSignal" "eSignal" /b /belownormal "C:\Program Files\eSignal\WinSig.Exe"