Working with Symbol List
Symbol List is a list of securities the investor commonly uses. Modern-day investors need easy access to any of the trading vehicles. QM has been developed based on those needs, the basic requirements being:- The program must function with numbers of symbols in tens of thousands
- Rapid data access, which means powerful search, sorting and selection capabilities
- Convenient data adding and editing
- Simple backups and data restoring
- Minimal startup and maintenance effort
Adding Symbol(s) to Symbol List
Manual adding can be used when the user is sure the symbol name is correct and there is no way to receive a list of symbols from the data vendor. For instance, when DDE is used there is no way to receive a list and the user is supposed to know the exact name for the query.
In all other cases manual adding is not recommended, as there exist data vendors that require additional information besides the symbol name. To receive data for such symbols additional attributes have to be indicated. Considering this issue we do not recommend using manual addition mode if the symbol can be selected from a list. When a symbol is added from a list, the programs will fill out all the necessary parameters automatically.
For details on specific data vendor symbols please see the Data Sources section.
1. On the Symbol menu, click Add Symbol.
2. Select Manually.
3. Select Data Source from the list. If the necessary data vendor is absent, it may be not currently installed. See the Data Sources section for additional information.
4. Indicate the Symbol.
5. Select the Category from the list.
6. Select Exchange from the list. If the required exchange is not found in the list, please refer to the Exchanges section.
Adding from a list supplied by data vendor
1. On the Symbol menu, click Add Symbol.
2. Select From Data Source.
3. Choose the data vendor from the list. If the data vendor is not found in the list, it either does not support symbol list or is not currently installed. Please refer to the Data Sources section for additional information.
Selecting Symbol(s) in Symbol list
Using the keyboard, move the selection pointer to the line containing the symbol. If the selection is not visible, press the Down Arrow button twice, the selection will be visible on the uppermost symbol; selection with the mouse is simpler and can be achieved by left-clicking the line once.
To select several sequential symbols at once keep Shift pressed and select with Up or Down Arrow buttons.
To select several sequential symbols at once with the mouse keep Shift pressed, scroll using the Vertical Scroll Bar to the required position and click it.
To select many sequential symbols at once, select the starting symbol, keep Ctrl pressed and move the selection with the Home/End or Page Up/Page Down buttons, then release Ctrl, press Shift and press Up/Down arrow buttons depending on the direction of selecting.
To select many sequential symbols at once with the mouse keep Ctrl pressed and click the symbols.
If you need to select several non-sequential symbols using the keyboard, start on the first symbol, press and keep down Ctrl and move the selection border to the desired position using the Up/Down Arrows, Home/End or Page Up/Page Down, then press Space. To perform such selection with the mouse keep Ctrl pressed and click the symbols to be selected.
To select all symbols:
1.; Select the Edit menu.
2.; Select Select All or press Ctrl+A.
Deleting Symbol(s) from the Symbol List
1.; Select one or several symbols.
2.; On the Symbol menu, click Delete Symbol.
Or
1.; Select one or several symbols.
2.; Press the Delete or Del key.
For sorting:
1.; On the View menu, click Sort By.
2.; Select the column to sort by, i.e. Symbol.
3.; Select the sorting direction - Sort Ascending or Sort Descending.
Or
Left-click the corresponding column heading to activate sorting by that column. The arrow indicated the sorting direction; click the column to reverse it. Right-click the column heading to call the context menu with sorting options. See Selecting Symbol(s) in Symbol list section.
Finding Symbol(s) in Symbol List
Incremental searching allows finding a symbol as its name is typed. Please keep in mind it works on symbol names only, not for other data types. For Incremental searching:
1.; Select a symbol (see Selecting Symbol(s) in Symbol list section).
2.; Type the symbol name, as the name is being typed the selection will move between symbols seeking for a match.
3.; Press ESC button or just wait several seconds before staring a new search.
Full string searing is necessary when you need to find several symbols satisfying the search criteria.
For Full string searching:
1.; On the Edit menu, click Find.
2.; In the Find what indicate the keyword.
3.; In the In Column select the column for searching in.
4.; Click Find Next to begin searching.
5.; Click Find Next to search again or Cancel to return to the symbol list.
6.; If it is necessary to search again with the same keyword, press F3.
To customize the Symbol List:
1.; On the View menu, click Columns.
2.; Check/uncheck the columns you need.
3.; Use the Move Up/Move Down buttons to set the order of columns.
4.; Set the column width for each column.
Or use the mouse to move and resize columns right in the symbols list.