gstalker stock charter v1.2

Stefan S. Stratigakos
<sstratos@pathcom.com>

This is my contribution to the Linux universe.

Ok kids, so ya like that stock charting? Because I'm sick of rebooting to Windoze just to run my stock charting software (everything else strictly Linux) and also because I couldn't find any GPL'd software that wasn't more than just hacks and stuff, I decided to write my own stock charting software. Mind you, this was originally written for myself, and later re-written for a public release, so some things might seem a little awkward or unusual.

Description

gstalker is a program that enables you to visually chart stock and commoditiy prices. It is very similar to commercial software such as metastok and superchartz. It is designed to be simple and easy to use, and light on resources.

gstalker has also been designed to run at least at a 800 x 600 resolution, if you are running at lower resolution, I advise against it. gstalker will be quite annoying at anything lower. There's nothing stopping you if you want, but menus and graphs will look ugly. It's up to you.

Directories & Files

AUTHORS contains those who have contributed patches.
INSTALL contains installation instructions.
CHANGELOG contains the changes since the last version.
BUGS contains a list of the currently known bugs.
FAQ is a list of frequently asked questions.
TODO is a wish list of features and improvements planned for future releases.

gstalker Directories & Files

When gstalker is started for the first time, it will create all the directories and files needed for normal operation. They are:

~/gstalker/config - config file
~/gstalker/ - temp files and will be created here ~/gstalker/data/ - DB files, all charts created are stored here ~/gstalker/group/ - DB file, groups created are stored here ~/gstalker/header/ - DB file, chart headers are stored here ~/gstalker/import_rules - DB file, all rules used for importing data ~/gstalker/portfolio - DB file, portfolio data stored here ~/gstalker/currency - DB file, currency data stored here ~/gstalker/futures - DB file, futures data stored here ~/gstalker/monitor_list - DB file, monitor group data stored here

To compile the source:

Packages you will need to use gstalker:

GNOME =>1.2
libstocks (find it at freshmeat.net)
Berkelely DB version 2.1 - 2.7.7 (version 3.* is not supported yet) If you use version Berkely DB version 2.7.7, you must edit the /src/define.h file before you compile. Uncomment the #define DB_2_7_7 line at the top of the file.
./configure
make
copy the /src/gstalker and /monitor/gstalker-monitor executable files to any dir your shell search path can find it. eg /usr/bin, /usr/local/bin etc.
That's it.

Getting Started

First you need to import some data into gstalker so that you have something to look at. Goto the File menu and choose the import selection. The import dialog is now displayed. Click on the 'import from' button, and using the file selector, goto the samples directory in the gstalker* source package. Select cl.txt and press the OK button. Now select the "Sample" rule from the list box. Now press the OK button. As the import executes, you'll see a progress bar show you the import status, this will take just a second or two. If there were any errors during the import, you will be notified. Now repeat the import process for the other 2 sample files. When finshed just click on the Done button to exit the import menu.

Now, press the 'workwith charts' button. The work with charts window will pop up and show you a list of all the charts that you can view. Notice that the 3 files you just imported now show up in the list. Select something in the list and press the 'open' button, and presto, the data you just imported has now been transformed into a chart! Repeat the process for the other 2 charts if you like.

Ok, but what if I have a hundred charts to view, does that mean I have continually open them from the list one by one? Nope, there is a better way. You can associate individual charts to what's called a group. A group is nothing more than a list of charts that you put together. Say I have a hundred charts in my list and I really only view 5 of them on a regular basis. No problem, you just put those 5 charts into a group. Here's what you do.

Open the 'workwith charts' window , press the 'toggle view' button and press the New button. A new group dialog will pop up and ask you for the name of the group you would like to create. After entering a name, press OK. The group editor will pop up. From this dialog, you can choose which charts you want in your new group. The list on the left shows all charts in the database. The list on the right shows which charts are in the group. The buttons allow for inserting and deleting charts from the group. Play with the buttons to see how they work. When you are finished press the OK button, which will then save your group and exit the dialog.

Now lastly, from the list, choose the group you just created and press the 'open' button. This will load the first chart in the group. Navigate through the group by using the last three controls on the toolbar to go through all the charts in the group. That's all there is to it.

For further information on how everything works, use the help system.

Description

Directories & Files

gstalker Directories & Files

To compile the source:

Getting Started

Copyrights