Generate MetaStock ASCII Format by Stock Historical Data Download (SHDD)

Introduction

MetaStock is a stock charting and technical analysis tools created by Equis International. In order to use this tool, there are two necessary components: The MetaStock software itself and the data service. However, data service subscription is not cheap. If you are MetaStock End-Of-Day user, it costs you $59/month for only North American Subscription Package. Another feasible option would be purchasing MetaStock End-Of-Day software and using SHDD to provide you the data.

How it works

it is simple. First, you use SHDD to generate MetaStock ASCII format, and then use the tool DownLoader provided by MetaStock software to covert ASCII to final MetaStock format.

What is MetaStock ASCII Format

Depends on the version of the MetaStock software you are using, there are different ASCII format:

1. MetaStock ASCII (7 column): The sample format will look like this:

INTC,20111212,24.18,24.29,23.61,24,94839500

INTC,20111213,24.06,24.06,23.42,23.56,78518900

INTC,20111214,23.48,23.56,23.14,23.31,56394300

Column 1: Symbol

Column 2: Date

Column 3: Open

Column 4: High

Column 5: Low

Column 6: Close

Column 7: Volume

2. MetaStock ASCII (8 column): The sample format will look like this:

INTC,D,20111212,24.18,24.29,23.61,24,94839500

INTC,D,20111213,24.06,24.06,23.42,23.56,78518900

INTC,D,20111214,23.48,23.56,23.14,23.31,56394300

As you can see, it is similar to ASCII (7 column) format. The only difference is that there is an extra column to represent the bar duration. It is usually D for day.

Settings to Generate MetaStock ASCII Format

For the complete doc about Stock Historical Data Download, please click here.

You can achieve this easily by editing the setting window:

1. MetaStock ASCII (7 column)

a. Set the Date Format as following:



You can check the Add Header if you want the header to be in the data

b. Customize the Data Field:



You can save the current setting and load it next time to save the time

2. MetaStock ASCII (8 column): It is similar to MetaStock ASCII (7 column) setting with following column setting:



That’s it!

As of writing, the most recent version of SHDD is 1.5. Please always use the latest version.

Actually not only MetaStock format, but virtually any format can be generated by SHDD as long as the total columns are less than 8. If you have any specific format that would like us to support, please let us know and we will implement it for you for the next release.

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