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TclTicker README

Copyright 1999-2001 Tom Poindexter <tpoindex@nyx.net>

A simple stock tickertape, using HTTP requests to fetch quotes.  
The companion program, mailquote, emails quotes to an email address.

Version 1.3, October 18, 2001


REQUIREMENTS:

You need Tcl/Tk installed on your system.  TclTicker requires Tcl/Tk 8.0
or later.  If you use 'mailquote', you'll also need the 'ezsmtp' package
by D.J. Hagberg:  http://www.millibits.com/djh/tcl/index.html


INSTALLATION:

Simply unpack the archive.  'tclticker' expects to use 'wish8.3' as
the wish interpreter name.  You may want to change the interpreter name
to the wish interpreter you have installed on your system.  E.g, 'wish8.1',
'wish8.2', etc.

For Windows users, you may want to rename the file to 'tclticker.tcl',
so that the file can be started simply by double clicking on the file
icon.

You may want to put the quote service files into their own library directory.  
If so, then set the environment variable TCLTICKER_LIB to that directory.  
Otherwise, TclTicker will expect to find quote service library files in 
the ./lib directory, relative to the main 'tclticker' file.


NOTES:

Click on the ticker tape (any mouse button) to pop up the configuration
window.  Currently, you can choose between two different quote sources,

	finance.yahoo.com - provides decimal values, north american markets 
			   (default service)
	uk.finance.yahoo.com - provides decimal values, european markets

Enter the security symbols (stocks, bonds, mutual funds) that you wish to
track, and adjust ticker speed, font, and data refresh options to suit 
your needs.

TclTicker saves user configuration into the file $HOME/.tclticker.

Also, if your network requires HTTP requests through a proxy, enter the
proxy hostname (omit http://), and a port number (assumed to be 80 if 
not entered.)

If you plan to use mailquote, you might need to specify a smart SMTP mail
host that will relay your mail.  Otherwise, the ezsmtp package will attempt
to contact 'sendmail' (or equivalent) on your localhost, TCP port 25.

Adjust other parameters as you desire.  A smaller value for 'ticker delay'
causes the ticker to run faster.  The settings take effect after you
press 'Ok'.

The timestamp shown in the tickertape is the local time of the last
quote fetch.  Note that quotes are usually delayed 15-20 minutes or more
by quote providers.  

You can write your own quote service.  You should name the file of your 
new quote service as 'service'.tcl.  Refer to the distributed quote
services as models for new services.  
Be sure to rebuild the Tcl file 'tclIndex' in the library directory.  

Symbol lookup is provided.   Press the 'Symbol lookup' button on the
configuration window.  The lookup function uses the previously selected
quote service lookup (if available).  NOTE - if your site requires an
HTTP proxy, be sure to set the proxy first, making sure quotes are
being received.  Otherwise, the symbol lookup may hang, because the proxy
had not be previously set.  If your search is too general, the results
may not include the symbol for which you are searching.   

A security type may be specified to limit the symbol lookup.  Note however,
that some quote services do not accept all types presented on the symbol
lookup dialog, and default to 'any' for any unsupported security type.

You can also use your web browser on any site that provides quotes & 
symbol lookup (finance.yahoo.com, quote.lycos.com, www.etrade.com, 
cnnfn.com, www.schwab.com, www.dbc.com, www.datek.com, etc.)

Also note that different quote providers require different symbols for
composite or industry averages.  For example, the three major composites
commonly tracked in the U.S. are:

				finance.yahoo.com	www2.marketwatch.com
  Dow Jones Industrial Average 	^DJI			$INDU
  NASDAQ Composite		^IXIC			$COMPQ
  Standard & Poor's 500 Index	^SPC			$SPX

The default ticker symbols you get when you start TclTicker for the first
time includes both sets.

TclTicker accepts one command line argument, the word 'setup'.  This takes
you directly to the setup configuration window, before starting the ticker.


MAILQUOTE 

Mailquote uses much of the same code as TclTicker, but instead
mails quotes to an email address.  An email address is required.  Mailquote
uses the same $HOME/.tclticker file as TclTicker for quote service selection
and symbols.  Optionally, you may specify alternate symbols on the command
line; mailquote recognizes an optional "-q" flag for quiet operation 
(quietly ignoring errors):

	mailquote -q some_email@somewhere.net  IBM GE ^DJI RHAT

	mailquote some_email@somewhere.net 	# uses .tclticker symbols

Mailquote is useful to send quotes to pagers and cell/pcs phones that support
text messages via email, perhaps on a regular basis using cron.   Note that 
many text messaging systems limit the amount of text sent to these types of
devices.  Be sure to place your most important symbols near the beginning
of the symbol list in TclTicker, or execute mailquote a number of times with
various symbols on the command line.

Mailquote requires the 'ezsmtp' Tcl package by D.J.Hagberg, available at:
	http://www.millibits.com/djh/tcl/index.html

Use TclTicker's configuration window to set a smart SMTP relay host, if needed.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

The code for the basic tickertape was taken from a tclet written by
Laurent Demailly:
http://www.demailly.com/tcl/plugin/ticker.html

A small proc from Don Libes' cgi.tcl is also used to help format the
URL quote request via HTTP:
http://expect.nist.gov/cgi.tcl/


CHANGES:

1.0 Dec  7, 1999 - first internal version
1.1 Dec 20, 1999 - first released version
1.2 Dec 28, 1999 - remove www.quote.com, add www2.marketwatch.com.
		 - check if first time run, present config window, so that
		   http proxy, et.al. can be set.
		 - don't arbitrarily convert symbols to upper case; instead, 
		   examine symbols returned from service, and use those if 
		   case insensitive match.
		 - check that at least one symbols exists.
		 - feeping creaturism!  symbol lookup is now provided.
		 - allow use of command line option 'setup' to start in the
		   configuration setup window, before starting the ticker.
1.3 Oct 28, 2001 - when tclticker is iconified, the icon title displays
		   ticker info 
		 - add button to clear results in symbol lookup dialog
		 - add security type selection in symbol lookup dialog
		 - fix finance.yahoo.com.tcl for symbol lookup
		 - fix uk.finance.yahoo.com.tcl for quotes & symbol lookup
		 - drop marketwatch quote service


LICENSE: (BSD style)

TclTicker is distributed under the following license terms:

This software is copyrighted by Tom Poindexter, 1999-2001.  
The following terms apply to all files associated with the software 
unless explicitly disclaimed in individual files.

The authors hereby grant permission to use, copy, modify, distribute,
and license this software and its documentation for any purpose, provided
that existing copyright notices are retained in all copies and that this
notice is included verbatim in any distributions. No written agreement,
license, or royalty fee is required for any of the authorized uses.
Modifications to this software may be copyrighted by their authors
and need not follow the licensing terms described here, provided that
the new terms are clearly indicated on the first page of each file where
they apply.

IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR DISTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE TO ANY PARTY
FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, ITS DOCUMENTATION, OR ANY
DERIVATIVES THEREOF, EVEN IF THE AUTHORS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

THE AUTHORS AND DISTRIBUTORS SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTIES,
INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.  THIS SOFTWARE
IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS, AND THE AUTHORS AND DISTRIBUTORS HAVE
NO OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE MAINTENANCE, SUPPORT, UPDATES, ENHANCEMENTS, OR
MODIFICATIONS.

GOVERNMENT USE: If you are acquiring this software on behalf of the
U.S. government, the Government shall have only "Restricted Rights"
in the software and related documentation as defined in the Federal 
Acquisition Regulations (FARs) in Clause 52.227.19 (c) (2).  If you
are acquiring the software on behalf of the Department of Defense, the
software shall be classified as "Commercial Computer Software" and the
Government shall have only "Restricted Rights" as defined in Clause
252.227-7013 (c) (1) of DFARs.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, the
authors grant the U.S. Government and others acting in its behalf
permission to use and distribute the software in accordance with the
terms specified in this license.