Setting up Pinnacle Futures Data to work with TradingBlox
Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 3:46 pm
For those new to TB who have, or wish to subscribe to, Pinnacle Data (Futures), here is a summary of what I did to make it work.
I chose only to use the ascii format in Pinnacle, but the procedure should be the same/similar for Metastock.
If you have followed the default setup procedure for acquiring Pinnacle Data each night, it will put it into the CLCDATA folder on your C drive under the 'DATA folder...
C:\DATA\CLCDATA
My files end with LNG but are actually TXT files which you can open directly with Notepad.
Now open TB and then open the Edit/Preferences sub folder. In the first block press the "Futures Data" button and enter the above folder location.
Your Dictionary can stay in the default folder within the TradingBlox sub folders - I have mine in this folder...
C:\TradingBlox\Data\Dictionaries
Now open the Futures Dictionary (Edit/Futures Dictionary) and start entering in each instrument. Sorry, no way to automatically populate all these. You are welcome to use mine which I've attached here which is accurate as far as I know as of 5/7/2008. If you copy the attached futuresInfo.txt file into your C:\TradingBlox\Data\Dictionaries folder and point to your Pinnacle Data folder, it should link up.
To do it manually, press the "New Market" button, edit the Symbol for the first instrument on your list (e.g. AD.LNG) then press "Find Symbol" and it should enter the File Name AD.LNG and its folder location into the relevant boxes. You will then have to enter in all the other data for each box for each instrument. The Currency, Big Point Value, Tick Unit, and Minimum Tick fields are critical to get correct.
Tip: In the box "Broker Symbol" enter the corresponding symbol your particular broker uses for each instrument - this way they will print out on the "orders" sheet according to the broker's format. E.g. Pinnacle uses ZN for electronic Nat Gas (Nymex) and my broker uses GNG.
If you also subscribe to Pinnacle's FOREX data (as I do) the procedure is the same, except a lot easier since the Pip and Spread can be left as is. Just edit the location of the Forex Dictionary to your Pinnacle Data folder.
This is a fairly quick and dirty explanation but if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me, either by PM or here.
I chose only to use the ascii format in Pinnacle, but the procedure should be the same/similar for Metastock.
If you have followed the default setup procedure for acquiring Pinnacle Data each night, it will put it into the CLCDATA folder on your C drive under the 'DATA folder...
C:\DATA\CLCDATA
My files end with LNG but are actually TXT files which you can open directly with Notepad.
Now open TB and then open the Edit/Preferences sub folder. In the first block press the "Futures Data" button and enter the above folder location.
Your Dictionary can stay in the default folder within the TradingBlox sub folders - I have mine in this folder...
C:\TradingBlox\Data\Dictionaries
Now open the Futures Dictionary (Edit/Futures Dictionary) and start entering in each instrument. Sorry, no way to automatically populate all these. You are welcome to use mine which I've attached here which is accurate as far as I know as of 5/7/2008. If you copy the attached futuresInfo.txt file into your C:\TradingBlox\Data\Dictionaries folder and point to your Pinnacle Data folder, it should link up.
To do it manually, press the "New Market" button, edit the Symbol for the first instrument on your list (e.g. AD.LNG) then press "Find Symbol" and it should enter the File Name AD.LNG and its folder location into the relevant boxes. You will then have to enter in all the other data for each box for each instrument. The Currency, Big Point Value, Tick Unit, and Minimum Tick fields are critical to get correct.
Tip: In the box "Broker Symbol" enter the corresponding symbol your particular broker uses for each instrument - this way they will print out on the "orders" sheet according to the broker's format. E.g. Pinnacle uses ZN for electronic Nat Gas (Nymex) and my broker uses GNG.
If you also subscribe to Pinnacle's FOREX data (as I do) the procedure is the same, except a lot easier since the Pip and Spread can be left as is. Just edit the location of the Forex Dictionary to your Pinnacle Data folder.
This is a fairly quick and dirty explanation but if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me, either by PM or here.