TclTicker README

Copyright 1999 Tom Poindexter <tpoindex@nyx.net>

A simple stock tickertape, using HTTP requests to fetch quotes.  
Mailquote emails quotes to an email address.

Version 1.1, December 20, 1999


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 'wish8.0' 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 three different quote sources,

	finance.yahoo.com - provides decimal values, us markets (default)
	finance.uk.yahoo.com - provides decimal values, european markets
	www.quote.com - fractional values, no daily change info for funds

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 options into the file $HOME/.tclticker.

Also, if your network requires HTTP request 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 on your localhost.

Adjust other parameters as you desire.  A smaller value for 'ticker delay'
causes the ticker to run faster.  

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.  

No symbol lookup is provided.  Instead, just point your browser to
any site that provides quotes & symbol lookup (finance.yahoo.com, www.quote.com,www.etrade.com, cnnfn.com, www.schwab.com, www.dbc.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	www.quote.com
  Dow Jones Industrial Average 	^DJI			DJI
  NASDAQ Composite		^IXIC			COMPX
  Standard & Poor's 500 Index	^SPC			INX

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

If you set a small value for the data refresh, and have a lot of symbols,
you will probably have some symbols show up without data during one trip
through the ticker.  Either wait for the symbol to come around again, use
less symbols, or set a higher refresh time.


MAILQUOTE 

Mailquote uses much of the same code as TclTicker, but instead
emails 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 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


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/


LICENSE:

TclTicker is distributed under the following license terms:

This software is copyrighted by Tom Poindexter,
1999.  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. 


