The SortWizard ®     
Stock Screening Software  

 

Installation and General Operating Instructions:
for
The SortWizard Version 2.19+  - Standard and Plus 

Other References:

Installation:

1.) If you are currently running RealTick, exit the program. Locate where you saved the evaluation file (sw2_******.exe) you downloaded from our web site.  Use Find in Windows to locate it if you can’t locate it or don’t remember.  Double click the sw2_******.exe file to start the installation.  Enter the password you received by email.  Click the "Continue" button  Confirm all the requests and make sure you click "Next" or "Yes"  as required in each the dialog box.  When prompted to place SortWizard icon on your desktop make sure you click "yes".  You can also drag the SortWizard Icon to your desktop from the window with a selection of icons displayed after the installation is completed.  The software installation should be completed. Now you will need to do the SortWizard Server Setup.  Click here and follow the instructions starting at Step 3 in the Setup Instructions on that page.

2.) If you missed placing a shortcut on the desktop during the installation process and would like to create a shortcut, go to Program Files\Neo Inc\SortWizard\sortwizard.exe right click on the file and select "Create Shortcut".  Click and hold on the shortcut and drag that shortcut to your desktop.  Now start up the SortWizard by double clicking on SortWizard Icon on the desktop or through Windows via Start then Programs then SortWizard and double click on the SortWizard Icon.

3.) The SortWizard installation routine should have automatically configured the interface to the data feed with which it will be used.  ONLY IF you get an error when searching that indicates the SortWizard cannot connect to the server should you use the data feed configuration procedure found at the end of this document.  You will not know if this problem exists until you actually do a search for symbols, so please continue to Getting Started.

Note:  Subsequent evaluation downloads and installation will not restart the evaluation period.  If you think you have a problem with the installation, do not uninstall the SortWizard unless instructed to do so by a support representative.  99% of the time, the problem is not related to the installation procedure.

4.) For subscribers, when you start the SortWizard for the first time you may be prompted to input the authorization code found on the email you received when your subscription was fulfilled.  This code will log your subscription into our database and setup your SortWizard for the service you have chosen.  To input this code go to the "Global Settings" tab in "Parameters Setup" and click the "SortWizard Server Setup" button.  Click the "Read values from servekey.txt file". Once the code is inputted you will not have to input it again until your subscription expires and you renew your subscription.  

Getting Started:

The layout of the Operating Instructions is intended to be a step by step guide to get you setup and run the SortWizard quickly for the first time.  The idea is to use one of the Sample files and walk you though that Sample. 

1.)   Review the definition of each of the search variable fields and the description of data display columns.  The list of fields for the Standard Version are show below.  For a complete list including the fields available in the Plus Version click here.

Variable Value Entries can be whole numbers, decimals or fractions except as noted below in the column description.   You can select from 6 different variables.  These are:

  • No Criteria Selected; No screening on this field
  • Less than or equal to; < Value 1
  • Greater than or equal to; > Value 1
  • Equal to; = Value 1
  • Between (Value 1) and (Value 2); The values > and < the two values entered.
  • Outside (Value 1) and (Value 2); The values < and > the two values entered.

All search criteria variable entries are (< , >, between, =, outside) except as noted below.  The bold characters represent the default column heading labels.  The labels can be edited in the Search Parameters Window.

  • Symbol - Stock Symbol;  Symbol mask ( A*, ????, A?), Symbol chain(s) ($GAPDN,$GAPUP, etc), Existing symbol from previous search, Symbol File (*.SLF,*.TXT)
  • Last  Price - Trading Price or Last Traded Price
  • Prev Close - Previous day's closing price
  • Net Chg - Net change in price from previous day's close
  • % Net Chg -  Percent net change from previous day's close
  • Open Price - Current day's opening price
  • Chg Open - Difference between the last trade price and the opening price; (Last Trade - Opening Price)
  • % Chg Open - Percentage change in current price from open
  • Tot Vol - Accumulated volume; (current day's total shares traded)
  • Ave 3 Mo Vol - Average monthly volume for the last 3 months x 100,000.
  • % 3 Mo Ave Vol - Percent of today's accumulated volume compared to the 3 month average.
  • Gap - Opening price - Previous day's close
  • % Gap - Percentage change of gap from previous day's close.
  • Rng Day - Current day's trading range; High (current day) - Low (current day)
  • % Rng(day) - Percent of the current day's trading range where the stock is presently trading; 0% = day's low; 100% = day's high
  • Bid - Current Best Bid price
  • Ask - Current Best Ask price
  • Spread - Difference between the Ask and the Bid (Bid - Ask).
  • High - Current day's high
  • Low - Current day's low
  • # High - Number of Intraday Highs
  • # Low - Number of Intraday Lows
  • 52High - 52 Week High
  • 52Low - 52 Week Low
  • Rng(52wk) - 52 Week trading range; High (52 week) -  Low (52 week)
  • % Rng(52wk) - Percent of the 52 week trading range; (52 week); 0% = 52 week low;100% = 52 week high
  • No. Trades - Number of trades; (current day's tick count)
  • Avg Trd Size - Average share volume per trade; (current day)
  • NetChgBid - Difference between the Current Best Bid and Previous day's close; used for premarket gap up detection.
  • % NetChgBid - Percentage change between the Current Best Bid and Previous day's close; used for premarket gap up detection.
  • NetChgAsk - Difference between the Current Best Ask and Previous day's close; used for premarket gap down detection.
  • % NetChgAsk - Percentage change between the Current Best Ask and Previous day's close; used for premarket gap up detection.
  • News Date - Date news was release to the data server; calendar e.g. 6/5/87; (< ,=, between, >, Today)
  • News Time - Time news was release to the server; units = time e.g. 10:00 = 10:00AM, 14:00 = 2:00PM  EST
  • Company Name - Full name of the company; units = not applicable; supplied by datafeed
  • Exch - Stock Exchange (All, selected exchange - including Canadian exchanges; ALB, MON, and VAN); units = not applicable
  • Is Active - Marker for active market instrument.  This is a field used to eliminate inactive symbols.  This means that something in the bid, ask or volume has changed during the day.  This generally should be set to "=1" or to "No criteria selected"

2.) Go to the menu bar and select open.gif (890 bytes) (File | Open) and select from the list of Sample files. Double click on one of the Sample files to open it.  Click the parameters.gif (904 bytes) button on the toolbar and check out the Search Parameters Setup window.  There are a number of navigation tabs at the top of the window.  Select the the Primary Criteria tab.  To see what criteria have been selected for the Sample file you opened, there is a summary at the bottom of that window titled "Search Criteria Summary".  When you are ready to create your own setup from scratch, click on the new page.gif (880 bytes)(New) icon or chose one of the Templates and then click parameters.gif (904 bytes).  It is recommended you use one of the existing Sample Setups found in open.gif (890 bytes) until you have gone through these instructions one time and are more comfortable with the operation of the SortWizard.

3.) The Search Parameters Setup parameters.gif (904 bytes) window is the heart of the program. In the Parameters Setup window you select and create all the search criterion.  You edit the searches criteria by clicking on a field name from the list in the Available Fields column or in the Search Criteria Summary.  In either case that will highlight the selected field in the Available Fields column.  Be careful not uncheck the field by removing the check in the box by clicking on the check box; that  will remove the column from your search display.  Go to the Search Criteria Setup dialog box on the left.  Click on the arrow at the right edge of the box.  TA selection of criteria to select will be displayed in a list box.  If you selected a field that is part of the Sample search you are using, you will see that is already contains the parameters.  Those parameters are show in the Summary window at the bottom of the Parameters Setup window for easy reference.  

In the the Parameters Setup window, you can set up the SortWizard to search automatically  on a timed interval by going to the Searching Mode area and selecting the Mode and the time period you desire in the Auto Period field (minutes:seconds).  Should you select any of those Modes, you will need to start the Mode by pressing the Go - Start Mode button   on the bottom of the Search Parameters Setup window.  The Smart Refresh will enable searches to be run in the upper section and symbols you have placed in the lower section (basket) to be updated all at the same time (#11 below).

You can set searches to Search on Startup which will initiate a search when the file is opened and/or to Start and Stop searching at a specific time.  This is setup in the Start and Stop Cycles area.  

You can rename column headings by editing the text in the Label field at the top of the Setup window.

The Field Info button displays the data source and field information on the field you have selected in the Available Fields column. 

4.) Click the search.gif (887 bytes) Search button on the toolbar or at the bottom of the Parameters Setup window and the search will start.  To stop a search at any time, click on the stop.gif (906 bytes) Stop icon on the toolbar.  If you have not logged on to the data feed server you will prompted to do so at this time.  Once logged on the server, you may need to click on the search.gif (887 bytes) button again to start the search.  When the search is running you can the status of the search in the Status Bar at the very bottom of the active display window.  The Status Bar displays the time of the last search, the searching mode you have selected, the number of search results returned, the number of symbols in the basket, the number of symbols retained/cached and the status of the search.  If you have the Audible Alert speaker.gif (912 bytes) (#13 below) turned on, you will get the sound selected as the signal that it is completed the search and/or when new symbols have been returned from the search.

5.) Experiment with different search alternatives in the Search Parameters Setup window by left clicking on different fields in the  Available Fields column and changing the search properties in the Search Criteria Setup area by editing the associated values in the Value1 and/or Value2 field(s).  When you edit the values, the default edit mode is "Insert" except for the News Date and Time fields which are "Overtype".  Now, click on clear.gif (867 bytes) (Clear All Entries) on the toolbar to erase any previous search results.  Click search.gif (887 bytes) and see the results of your newly edited search will start to appear.  For fast edits to the column, you can Right Click on the column heading in the Results Display to change the search parameters of that specific column.  There are other sample files for you the experiment with which can be found in the file browser on the left boarder of the SortWizard display window.  Click on the Templates and the User Files buttons to review the selections available or you can click on open.gif (890 bytes) (File | Open) to review the list in the conventional manner.  A Tutorial can be found in the Learning Center and more advanced search examples are in the Resource Center on the web site.  Click world.gif (952 bytes) to navigate to the SortWizard's website homepage.  You will find those two centers in the menu bar on the left.

6.) The results of a search are displayed in the upper region of the Search Results display window. If you would like to update the information in the display without adding new symbols to your list, click the refresh.gif (908 bytes) (Refresh) button on the toolbar.  If you want to update the current list and add possible new entries, click the search.gif (887 bytes) button.  Or, if you would like to create a new list, click the clear.gif (867 bytes) button and then search.gif (887 bytes) or clrsearch.gif (894 bytes).

NOTE #1: Updating an existing list takes longer to perform because the software must look up each existing entry one at a time and update it.  To speed up the process of clicking the clear.gif (867 bytes) and then search.gif (887 bytes) , the clrsearch.gif (894 bytes) Icon on the toolbar will do these two steps for you with a single mouse click.
NOTE #2: You may get a "Symbol Display Limit" warning if you have set you your search criterion to wide.  From an analysis efficiency perspective, you should be setting up your searches to return less than 100 symbols.  The default limit is set to 1000 symbols.  Since the SortWizard works in layers, the display limit is reached in the first step of the data gathering process.  The purpose of this limit is to minimize unnecessary datafeed server strain especially when using the Auto Searching Modes.  This benefits not only you but fellow traders using the same datafeed service.  TIP: Try the "Outside" search criterion, increase your minimum volume, reduce the price range of the stocks or use Net Chg < or > 0.

7.) Go to the Search Results Display area where all the stock symbols appear from your recent search. Try sorting the columns in ascending or descending order by double clicking on a column heading once and then again to return the opposite sortation order.  You can nest the sorts by clicking on the least most significant column followed by the more significant columns.  Or, right click on the column heading and select the Primary or Secondary Sort and then whether you would like it in Ascending or Descending for each sort.  When you save the page the sort priority that was setup will be maintained. For example, try a sort by % Range Day as Primary and Descending and % Range 52 Week as Secondary and Descending.

8.) To personalize your search results display, you can:

9.) If you are ready to save the changes you have made to the search parameters, save the file by going to menu bar and selecting File then Save As and give your revised search criterion a new name in the File Name field.  That new file can then be found for use later on in open.gif (890 bytes) (File | Open) or in the User Files panel to the left of the search results display.  If you save changes made to the search parameters, but do not want to change the name of the file, you can do so by clicking on the save.gif (894 bytes) (File | Save) icon.  If you click on File in the menu bar, the most recently used files can be found at the bottom of the list box that opens.

10.) Speed / time saving tips for fast analysis. Go to your Search Results window.

11.) To create a file for exporting symbols to an SLF file (RealTick), select the symbol(s) you want to export by double clicking on the symbol or clicking on the symbol then clicking on the arrowdown.gif (876 bytes) on the toolbar. The symbol(s) selected will be moved to the lower section. The group of stock symbols moved to the lower section is called a "basket". 

  • You can select a group of symbols to move into the basket by clicking on the row number of the first symbol in the group to highlight it, then hold down <Shift> key and while keeping the <Shift> key depressed, left click on the row number of the symbol at the other end of the group. This should highlight the desired group of stocks. Then click on the arrowdown.gif (876 bytes) on the toolbar. Those highlighted symbols should move down into your basket. You could click the (ALL) all.gif (898 bytes) button on the toolbar if you want all of the entries in the upper window to be placed in the basket for exporting.
  • Click the button and save it to the PARM file folder in the Townsend Analytics, TAL Tools, PCQuote or the folder where your RealTick was installed.  After the first export you can use the button to repeat the process without having to reselect the target file and folder.  The conventional process without the use of the toolbar buttons would be to go to File | Export SLF, name the file, and save it to the Parm file folder in the Townsend Analytics, TAL Tools, PCQuote or the folder where your RealTick was installed. Your symbol basket has now been converted to an *.slf file and can be loaded into a Market Minder in Real Tick III. 
  • To load the symbol list, start your RealTick application if it is not already. Then go to any Market Minder that you have on your RealTick page. Right click in the Minder window. A new window will pop up. Then left click in that new window on "Save Symbols" to save the symbols that are there already. Once saving that is completed, then right click the Minder window again and select "Load Symbols". Select the file name you exported from the SortWizard. Your symbols are now loaded in that Minder window. If you don't have a Market Minder go to "Design" and create one. Then follow the above steps.
  • To import a file from RealTick, click the   button and select the desired file from the PARM folder in RealTick or the folder where the desired file is located.  This process will bring the symbols from that file in the lower section (basket) of the SortWizard.  If you want to run a search on that last move the symbols to the upper section (the reverse of what is described above) and run click search.gif (887 bytes) or clrsearch.gif (894 bytes) to perform the search.
  • If you want to run a search on a fixed list without use the import/export process, go to the Search Parameters Setup by clicking on parameters.gif (904 bytes).  Now click on the Primary Criteria tab.  Select "Symbol" from the Available Fields and in the Search Criteria Setup click the down arrow on the right side of the field and select "Symbol File: Example *.SLF,*TXT files".  This will open up a blank field.  Click the button the the right of the field and select the *SLF or *TXT file you would like to constantly reference with your search.  
  • An *.SLF file is a RealTick formatted file that results from a symbol list that was saved in a Market Minder.  This list is saved by default in the PARM sub folder under which RealTick was installed.  The text in a *.TXT  must be in the same form as an SLF for it to be able to be used in the SortWizard.  To view the format of an SLF file open one up in Notepad.  Enter your data into the TXT file in the same manner as the SLF.
  • To create a file for exporting symbols to a Data File (CSV for Excel or used defined), the procedure is the essentially the same as in an SLF file except that the there are no toolbar buttons.   After the symbols have been moved to the lower section or "basket" click on "File" in the the menu bar then select "Export Data".  You will see the default format for a Data File  is a .CSV (Excel) file.  Name and save the file as you normal would.  After the first export you can use the button to repeat the process without having to reselect the target file and folder.
  • To change the Data File export delimiters, open Search Parameters Setup and click on the "Global Settings" tab.  In the Data Export Delimiter selection select or create the delimiter you wish to use.  Then use proceed to use the procedure above for exporting data.

12.) The Automatic Update feature will require that you to setup the Searching Mode in the Search Parameters Setup window.

13.) You can also set an audible alarm for when a new search results symbol entrant has been added to the display list.  Just click the (Speaker) speaker.gif (912 bytes) button on the toolbar to turn on the audible sound. If you do not receive any audible alerts you may not have a *.wav table in the Sounds Properties section for Exclamation set up found in the Windows Control Panel – Sounds. You can also change the the Event Sounds by going to the Setting tab in the Parameters Setup window then go to Event Sounds and load in the desired *.wav file of your choice there.
Note 1:  If you have a Workspace (#14 below) open or have mulitple searches open, each search's sound can be turned on or off by selecting the active search window and clicking the speaker.gif (912 bytes).
Note 2:  Under the Settings tab is where you set up wav file there is also a field called "new after x searches".  This sets up the number of searches that must occur to reset a symbol as a new entry into the search.  For example, using the default setting of 10, 10 searches must occur without the reference symbol showing up in the search to initiate a sound when it reenters the the display.  This function is also used in the ISNEW() function of the Plus version.
Note 3:  Get a couple of *.wavs that sound ok for this application by visiting the Subscriber Center on our web site.

14.) Multiple search display pages can be saved as a group called a Workspace (see Workspace on menu bar). You can open a Workspace to load all the pages in a group at once.  For instance, you could have a Workspace for a group of different setups you use at the market open named "At Open" and another set of searches you have configured for "Mid-Morning" searches.  

15.)  The Plus version of the SortWizard adds some very powerful features to your trading tool kit. 

Formulas - A new display column is created with every new formula name you create.  When a search is run, the results of the formula calculation are displayed in that column.  Through the use of Formulas, you can create user-defined formulas that enable you set specific criteria for that formula via the Primary Criteria tab.  Then when you run a search only those stocks that qualify to the criteria set in Primary Criteria appear in the search results display window.  If no criteria are set, then the results of the calculation will be displayed for every symbol in the list.  

Creation of formulas uses the same convention and functions as used in Microsoft’s Excel spreadsheet application.  For a step by step example go to the
Learning CenterYou can also go to the  Plus Reference Center for more information on creating formulas.  You should also check out the special functions that are available for use with the SortWizard Plus.  For general Excel usage questions, go to the Microsoft Office web site.

Limits - Limits are used to create user-defined filters.  When you run a search with active limits only those stocks that qualify to criteria you have set in conjunction with your Primary Criteria settings.  Creation of formulas again uses the same convention and functions as used in Microsoft’s Excel spreadsheet application.   Limits are very similar to formulas except there is no column associated with them.  If the value is positive, the criteria will allow the symbol to show up on the results display; otherwise, it will not show up.  Items are displayed based on a accumulation of these limits, all limits must be "True" for a symbol to show up like "=TRDPRC_1>10" is a good example of a Limit.  Limits will show up in the limits box on the left of the Limits dialog box, eventually they all will show up there. You can disable limits by un-checking the check box next to the limit.  For a step by step example go to the Learning Center.

Add Field - The Add Field tab enables you to add and delete fields from your Primary Search Criteria Available Fields list box.  The Available Fields list found under the Add Field tab is a list of ALL the fields that are located on the server you select.  This lists will variety depending on what your data feed service provider / broker has chosen to support.  The accuracy of the data is a function of the frequency and level of maintenance the data supplier chooses to perform.  The Price service, LiveQuote, Calculations Server, Pre-defined Table and SortWizard fields are searchable .  If the fields are not searchable they will only display what specific information that is contained in the field e.g. a PE ratio, Shares Outstanding and etc. For a step by step example go to the Learning Center.

Go to the V2 Plus Reference Center for a Zipped file of know FIDs (Field IDs).  Since the file is rather large (200+ pages), we suggest you open the file in WordPad or a word processing application like Word so you can do a text search for the field(s) you are interested in locating.  Some of the fields listed may not be available from you data feed supplier and therefore will not be available for searches.  

Go to the
SortWizard data fields in the Reference Center to see the list of currently available historic data fields.  There are two "Tables" of data to chose from; TODAY and HISTORIC.

To add a field to the Selected Fields list:

16.) To print search results or your stock basket, first click either on the upper or lower section of the display page to select the information you wish to print.  Then go to File | Print.  Set up the Header, Page and Footer layout, then go to the right pane and select print....

17.) You should regularly check to see if there are updates to the SortWizard in the Subscriber Center or other new good stuff available on the SortWizard web site in Trader's Links by clicking on the world.gif (952 bytes) icon on upper right end of the toolbar.

That should get you started using the SortWizard. So, if you need further help see "Help". Or Email us . Or contact us in the #SortWizard mIRC chat room. Or call 314-567-0552.

We welcome your feedback on the SortWizard. Our goal is to have our products continue to serve you better with time. We can not do that effectively without your help.

Thank you for using the SortWizard.

For new subscribers:

If you have just subscribed to the SortWizard, you should have or will receive shortly by Email a subscription authorization setup file named; authsvr32.exe.  Make sure you have the latest version by checking out the Subscriber Center on the web site and compare it to the version you are  running by looking in Help and then in About in the SortWizard's menu bar.

Datafeed Configuration:  (Server Error Resolution)

First, open any existing file or open a new one.  Now, from the Search Parameters Setup window, select the Global Settings tab and then in the blank field to the left of the Server Machine Name, type the name of the server found in the TAL.INI file in the Townsend Analytics or TAL Trading Tools folder. This is generally; $QUOTES$. When you installed RealTick it created a shortcut to the TAL.INI. That file can be found through Windows via Start, then Programs then, TAL Trading Tools (or PCQuote or Townsend Analytics) then, select TAL.INI. It can also be easily found by using the Windows or Windows Explorer "Find" function. Open the TAL.INI by double clicking on it. If you have the TAL.INI shortcut double click it. Otherwise open the file in Notepad or any other word processor. In TAL.INI, look for a section named "[SERVERS]" and in that section find "PRICES=".  The information you are looking for to place in the SortWizard's Configuration file is the text AFTER the "=".

Find the section that looks like the text below,

[SERVERS]
Orders=$ORDSRV$
Positions=$SOLSRV$
Prices=$QUOTES$   This is the line you are looking for; $QUOTES$ is the information
News=$NEWS$

The information after the "=" (like shown in bold above) is what you put into the blank field in Configuration. Otherwise call your RealTick service provider and ask them for the "name of the price server specified in the TAL.INI".