• Configuring your InvestorLink User ID and Password.

• Configuring the common Databoss options.

• Retrieving various data files.

• Periodic updating of your data files.

One of the strengths of Databoss/Investorlink is its configurability. Please bear in mind that the settings used in this How To serve as an example of how to achieve a working setup and do not necessarily represent the only way to set up your own data. We recommend working through the How To as-is so that you can see our our system works. After you're comfortable, you may customize your settings to fit your needs better if necessary.

Please also see the InvestorLink/Databoss User Manual for more detailed information. This manual was also installed with Databoss and can be viewed by clicking on the Windows Start button, then Programs, then Databoss, then MSO Manual. In particular, Chapter 7 of the manual contains an alternative How To.

1. Getting Oriented
Start Databoss.

The Databoss program screen is divided into three sections, as shown above:

• Section 1 is the Main Navigation Menu. These menu items are for top level navigation of the Databoss functions.

• Section 2 is the Sub Navigation Menu. This menu allows you to access items related to the top level menu you select in the Main Navigation Menu.
  
  For example, if you want to enter your InvestorLink user information, you would first click on Setup from the Main Navigation Menu, then User Info from the Sub Navigation Menu.

• Section 3 is the Utility Screen. The Utility Screen contains the work area for the utility you have selected in the Sub Navigation Menu.

Click on Setup, then User Info.

This means click on Setup from the Main Navigation Menu then User Info from the Sub Navigation Menu. Any following instructions will pertain to the Utility Screen.

2. Setup

A. Start Databoss. Click on Setup, then User Info.

You should have received email from us containing your your InvestorLink Username and Password. Enter that information in this utility.

Please enter this information carefully:

• Username and Password are case sensitive.

• Username and Password usually contain 8 characters each. Please transcribe carefully as they are cryptic and it's easy to make a mistake.

• Be careful not to leave a trailing space at the end of either the Username or Password. For example, "abcdefgh" may be correct and "abcdefgh " (note the space after the 'h') would not be. This is an easy mistake to make, especially if you are cutting and pasting this information.

B. Click on Data Options from the Sub Navigation Menu and check the options you want enabled. Click the Save button when finished.

C. Click on Updating Directories from the Sub Navigation Menu.

Getting oriented:

1 - Data type selection buttons. Click these to change setup screen between stock, futures, and mutual fund data.

2 - Data Path List. This will display a list of data paths that you have specified contain data files.

3 - Path Entry Box. To add a data path to the data path list, enter it into this box then click the Add button. You may also click on the open folder button to the right of the entry box to browse to an existing folder.

Setup

To configure a stock data directory:

a) Click on the Stock data type selection button.

b) Type the path c:\msodata\stocks in the Path Entry Box.

c) Click the Add button. Click Save.

You should now see c:\msodata\stocks in the Data Path List.

To configure a futures data directory:

a) Click on the Futures data type selection button.

b) Type the path c:\msodata\futures in the Path Entry Box.

c) Click the Add button. Click Save.

You should now see c:\msodata\futures in the Data Path List.

D. Click on Download Directories from the Sub Navigation Menu.

To configure stock data downloading, type the path c:\msodata\stocks in the stock data section of the utility.

To configure futures data downloading, type the path c:\msodata\futures in the futures data section of the utility.

This concludes the setup portion of this How To. In summary:

When you download historical data, it will be downloaded to either c:\msodata\stocks or c:\msodata\futures, depending on the type of data downloaded.

When you perform an update, any historical files you have located in either of the above folders will be updated.

Please see below for quick instructions regarding downloading and updating.

3. Downloading Historical Data

Click on Download from the Main Navigation Menu, then Stocks from the Sub Navigation Menu.

Getting oriented:

1 - Stock Ticker List. This list contains the stock ticker list and descriptions where available.

2 - Ticker entry box. You may type a ticker in this box rather than choosing from the ticker list.

3 - Download Queue. This is a list of the tickers you wish to download.

What needs to be done is to add the tickers you wish to download to the download queue. There are two ways to do this:

1) Find the ticker on the ticker list then either double-click or click once to highlight then click the Add button.

2) Type the ticker in the ticker entry box then either press the Enter key or click the Add button.

To download some stock data:

a) Add a few tickers to the download queue using one of the above methods.

b) Click on Download from the Sub Navigation Menu.

c) Make sure you are connected to the internet.

d) Click on Download from the Utility Screen.

Historical files for the tickers you queued will be downloaded to c:\msodata\stocks.

Note that Databoss does not save the download queue because it is not necessary. To bring these files up to date, you only need to follow the updating procedure (outlined below) which downloads data by date, not by ticker. With this in mind, after queueing files for download, make sure you download them before closing Databoss.

Downloading Futures Data

Download futures data exactly as you download stock data - queue the files you want then download using the Download utility. You must compose the futures contract tickers by combining the symbol, month, and year of the contract. Like with stock data, you may either build a ticker by selecting items from ticker lists or simply type the full contract name into the ticker entry box.

Historical files for the tickers you queued will be downloaded to c:\msodata\futures. Again, as with stocks, Databoss does not save the download queue.

4. Keeping Your Data Up To Date

Click on Update from the Main Navigation Menu, then Setup from the Sub Navigation Menu.

Getting oriented:

1 - Enabled Checkbox. Each data type has an enabled check box. Check if you are maintaining data for each data type.

2 - Last Download Date indicator. This will either show the last date of data that has been retrieved, or "Not Set." When you perform an update, Databoss will begin retriving data based on this date.

3 - Date Selector. You may change the last download date by choosing a date off of the calendar opened when you click the select button adjacent to the date box.

Setup

a) Check the enabled boxes for the data types that you are following.

b) Change the last download date for each enabled data type to one day prior to when you began downloading. For example, if you downloaded historical data on December 10, change the last download date to December 9.

c) Click the Save button.

Bring Your Data Up To Date

a) Click on Update from the Sub Navigation Menu.

b) Make sure you are connected to the internet.

c) Click on Start! from the Utility Screen.

This will retrieve all of the daily update files since the last time you ran this utility, and bring your historical data up to date.

The Daily Routine

a) Click on Update from the Main Navigation Menu.

b) Click on Update from the Sub Navigation Menu.

c) Make sure you are connected to the internet.

c) Click on Start! from the Utility Screen.