Errors FAQ

APS Automatic Pattern Search - Program Errors FAQ

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System Tracking Error: "Wrong data file or file in use by another application"

System Tracking Error: "Read beyond end of file"

Metasttock Text File conversion Error: "An error occured while processing files"

File Conversion Error (Daily or Intraday)

After running a search/scan I get the message "No patterns found"

When trying to display the help file I get the error message "This function is not supported in Windows Vista"

System Tracking: "Wrong data file or file in use by another application

This problem may occur in the following situations:

1. The data file name originally defined in System Tracking has changed
2. The data file does not exist
3. The data file exists but in a different directory than originally specified
4. The subdirectory structure is too long (see below)

In order to correct this in System Tracking please follow the procedure below:

1. Check the directory name where you have the data file for the model in APS format
2. Go to System Tracking and highlight the model
3. Hit the Insert key on your keyboard (Ins)
4. Select the directory of the data file in APS format
5. Click OK and run System Tracking

The data file for a model must have the same name as that appearing under the column "File". If multiple file names are used in the model, all data files must exist in the new directory specified.

In order to check if your subdirectory structure is correct, look under "Data Location" in the main System Tracking" window. You should be able to see the full subdirectory structure of the data file location. If the full subdirectory structure is not shown, you must reduce the character count by shortening the names of the subdirectories. For instance:

C:\program Files\APS\Data\Stocks is an acceptable subdirectory structure but

C:\program Files\APS\Data\Stocks\ futuresdata is not acceptable. As a guideline, after ..data\ the remaining subdirectory structure should not exceed 15 characters.

System Tracking Error: "Read beyond end of file"

System tracking files are saved for individual models as .trc files in directory ..\APS\RESULTS. For example, the system tracking model for MSFT.txt is MSFT.trc.

The cause of the error may be that some .trc file is corrupted (bad file format) for some reason. We suggest the following:

1. Use Start|Search|For Files or Folders to search for all *.trc files in your computer. Alternatively, you may use Windows Explorer to find all *.trc files in the directory ..\APS\RESULTS.

2. Delete all .trc files found

3. Restart that program with a blank System Tracking list

Metasttock Text File conversion Error: "An error occured while processing files"

This error can have several causes including:

1. Wrong data header (look at the manual for correct header format)
2. Missing header field (look at the manual for the required header field for daily and intraday data)
3. Improper ticker name. Important note: ticker names should not include any spaces for the conversion to work properly.

File Conversion Error (Daily or Intraday)

The ASCII to ASCII conversion in Tools may not function properly with Operating Systems having European Regional Settings. This is because comma is used as a decimal point in European systems. In order to insure a proper operation of the conversion utilities, specify English as the language in the Regional Settings of your Control Panel and United States as the Country Region. Note that the search and scan function of APS may work properly regardless of the Regional Settings. In order to avoid problems of this nature, arising from an incompatibility of the American and European number system under certain circumstances, traders often choose to work with English (American) Operating System versions rather than European, with appropriate settings.

Go to Start|Settings|Control Panel|Regional Settings and affect the required changes so that the conversion utilities will operate properly.

After running a search/scan I get the message "No patterns found"

There are several reasons for not getting any patterns:

1. There are no patterns in the specific samples
2. The target/stop levels are unrealistic for the price volatility of the samples
3. No sufficient data (number of records)

Short trading time frames do not always give rise to patterns in random samples. As the trading time frame is increased, more patterns appear in randomly selected data samples. Furthermore, If there is very low volatility in the given sample no patterns will be found. Since patterns are required to have at least 20 past showings in the given data sample, depending on the target/stop, a lower limit on the number of records in the data file can be estimated. For example, in the case of intraday data if the target/stop are within the 10-bar volatility range but outside the 5-bar volatility range then for 20 historical trades the theoretical mean number of records required is about 700. Now given that a specific pattern formation will not appear constantly but it may exhibit a mean frequency N, then at least 700 x N records are required in the data file. Now, N can be as large as 100. In this example, at least 70,000 records are required.

Note that the trade-off comes from trying to lower the target/stop to decrease the requirement for a bigger sample. But this results in more patterns turning unprofitable. As a consequence, it is suggested using a small profit target and a larger stop in the beginning in order to get a feel of the market. For example, a target/stop ratio of about 3. The resulting minimum required profitability determined by the profitability calculator in Tools menu depends only on the ratio of target/stop and can be found to have an approximate value of 86% in this case. This level of % min profitability must be used on the search/scan workspace. After getting some patterns to show up the target/stop levels can be fine tuned by running more searches/scans.

When trying to display the help file I get the error message "This function is not supported in Windows Vista"

APS uses a help file system (Windows Help) that may not be supported by certain Vista installations. If you have problems viewing the APS help file in your system you must download an update from Microsoft. Click here to download.