Frequently Asked Questions
- How far back does the eSignal historical data go?
Intraday bar data for stocks, futures and indexes goes back 120 days. Time and sales data goes back 10 days. Daily, weekly and monthly data can go back 15 or more years.
Of course, over time, you can build up much more data than this in your data files as QCollector Expert adds new data to them every day.
Read more about eSignal history data - What are the limitations when running the program in free trial mode?
There is no time limit while running the program in free trial mode but data collection is limited to ten built-in ticker symbols. You can view the free trial mode ticker symbols in the program's Readme.txt file. - Can I download data for continuous futures contracts?
Yes. eSignal has special symbols for continuous futures contracts. Instead of adding the month and year code to the symbol, add #F. For example, the symbol for the continuous emini S&P contract is ES #F.
Read more about eSignal continuous contract symbols - What about the "1!" custom continuous contract futures symbols?
The "1!" user configured continuous contracts can only be created with the eSignal charting application. There is no history data on the servers for these contracts and therefore nothing for QCollector Expert to download. - Can I download forex data with QCollector Expert?
Yes, absolutely. Any ticker symbol that you can chart in the eSignal charting application, or in QCharts, is a ticker symbol that will have data available for downloading by QCollector Expert. - How many data files can I have in a QCollector Expert portfolio?
There is no limit to the number of data files you can have in an ASCII format portfolio. MetaStock format portfolios are limited to a maximum of 2000 data files in a single portfolio. There is no limit to the number of different portfolios you can create in either format.
Note: Although there is no limit to the number of data files for which you can collect history data, whether tick, intraday, or daily, you should let common sense be your guide. - Why can't I see all of a file's data records in the QCollector data grid?
For faster loading only the the last 400 records of a data file are shown in the data grid. For ASCII data files you can use the Open File In External Editor feature to view all the data records. For MetaStock format data files use the Edit MetaStock Records feature to open the data file in the QCollector MetaStock data file editor. - How many data files can QCollector Expert update in real-time using the real-time updates feature?
With a high-end computer and high-speed internet connection QCollector can easily update 1000 data files in real-time. The upper limit will depend on your system configuration.
Note: Your eSignal account symbol limit will set the actual number of unique ticker symbols that can be accessed for updating data files in real-time. But you can update multiple data files based on the same ticker symbol and this will only count as one against your account symbol limit. For example, updating 1 minute, 5 minute, and 15 minute data series files based on ticker MSFT would only count as one ticker against your account symbol limit. - Can QCollector Expert update my data files automatically at the end of the day?
Yes, QCollector Expert allows you to schedule tasks using the Windows task scheduler. Look up Schedule Tasks in the QCollector Help index for more information. - Does QCollector Expert work with the eSignal OnDemand package?
Yes! You can use your eSignal OnDemand subscription to download data with QCollector Expert. Read more about eSignal OnDemand