Meta Stock File Format
I got a couple of questions via mail about if and how I implemented the meta stock file format for Trader’s Workbench. The answer is yes, and with a lot of work.
The real problem is the conversion of dates, which is stored in pre-IEEE (MS HomeBrew) format. This creates a need for a convert/revert from IEEE Float to MS Float. For a long time now, all plattforms uses the same definitions for Float but back when it started for MetaStock the Windows plattform obviously had its own format.
Anyway, long story short, I managed to create a C# version of a MetaStock format converter (basically to/from metastock/txt files). It’s slow, and it really eats resources if you have > 100 securities per MASTER-file but it works!
The format is esentially a Database without a database. It has an index-file (3 now adays, but only 1 needed if you run end-of-day) called the MASTER file, and it holds the definition for the .DAT-files that are represnetation for each security. A .DAT file is useless without the MASTER, since the .DAT-file is not aware of what security it represents. I see the use of a MASTER file, but I definetly would see the benefit of redundant storage of that information in the header of each .DAT file but that’s not the case.
There are about 10-20 trialware “MS2TXT”-apps out there and I don’t need them. I wrote my own! *Smile*
Hi Dave
Is it possible to have a copy of your Trader’s Workbench please as it looks really cool? I would love to be able to write my own, but I’m just not good enough. If I could have a copy of the source so I could learn that would be brilliant. I would be happy to give you some beer money as a thank you, but as I am unemployed I ain’t got a lot. I used to be damn good at Cobol, but need to learn these new fangled languages.
I hope you don’t mind me asking anyway.
how you do it? can i have a copy of it?
Hi David,
Just found your blog and thank goodness for that! I would also really appreciate some source code of how to read and convert Metastock format data using C#. If you require remuneration for your efforts thats ok by me too!
HI David,
Just saw your blog about MS, i need your help to develop the same utility, could you please guide me about the same. i will be very thankful for me….
Please do reply…
Amit
Hi
Can you please share the Metastock utility that your wrote along with the source code.
thanks
Hello David,
Just found your blog and got a hope of getting this done! I would also really appreciate some source code of how to read and convert Metastock format data using C#. Can you please share the code of guid me how we can do this?
Thanks,
Deepesh Verma.