Symbol Finder

Basic Inputs

To define a search, there are three major inputs located in the upper left-hand corner: Type of Search, Criteria and Search Text.

Type of Search determines which database, stocks or futures, to search in. Changing which option button is selected will cause any search results to be cleared. When the Stocks option is selected the Futures Information box is not displayed.

Criteria determines whether the Search Text is the contract's symbol or description. Changing which option button is selected will cause any search results to be cleared.

Search Text is the text you wish to find.

Output Formatting

Below these three inputs are the two inputs related to any eventual pasting made from the dialog.

Destination is any valid cell reference stating the upper left-hand corner to which data will be pasted.

Fill Direction determines in which direction the output will be pasted, either down or across.

Performing A Search

After defining a search, simply press the Search button to execute the search. The Search button executes a search based on whatever inputs have been provided. The results of this search are placed in the appropriate places on the dialog and the number of records found is shown underneath the Items Found label.

Pasting A Search to a Worksheet

There are four buttons provided for pasting search results onto a worksheet.

Select All will cause all of the items in the list box to be selected.

Paste Symbol(s) will cause the symbols of the selected list box items to be pasted to the cell specified in the Destination edit box in the direction specified by the option buttons in the Fill Direction group box.

Paste Description(s) will cause the descriptions of the selected list box items to be pasted to the cell specified in the Destination edit box in the direction specified by the option buttons in the Fill Direction group box.

Paste Both will cause both the descriptions and symbols of the selected list box items to be pasted to the cell specified in the Destination edit box. If the Down option button is selected then the descriptions will be pasted in the destination cell's column and the symbols will be pasted into the column immediately to its right. If the Across option button is selected then the descriptions are pasted into the destination cell's row and the symbols are pasted in the row directly below.

Other Dialog Controls

Cancel Button causes the Symbol Finder dialog to disappear without pasting any data.

Search Results is the Description/Symbol list and edit boxes will contain the results of your search. If you have selected a "Symbol" criteria then the list box is labeled "Symbol" and the edit box is labeled "Description." A "Description" search criteria will do the opposite. The information contained in the rightmost column will always be in regards to the first highlighted item of the list box. Underneath the Items Found label is the number of records returned by the search. If nothing was found the number is simply 0. When either the Search Type or Criteria options are changed the search results are cleared.

Exchange Data is provided below the Description/Symbol edit box. The symbol of the Exchange and the Exchange's name are both provided. If the Exchange's name appears as "#EOF" then there was a file error while attempting to retrieve the Exchange's name from disk. Try reinstalling the FUTEXCH.DAT file to overcome this problem. If the problem persists, call technical support.

Futures Information, located in the lower right-hand corner, is not displayed when the Search Type option is set to "Stocks." Format specifies how the contract is traded, i.e., in 8ths, 16ths, 32nds, or decimals. The Sales Times specify during what hours the contract is traded. All times are the local times of the exchange on which the particular contract is traded.

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