Just About There!

Just About There!

So at this point this program pulls 81 different indicators and separate price data sheets and in CSV form (comma separated value, in a basic text file for those not familiar) comes to around 10mb per stock ticker entered which would also take around 17 minutes using the free API key and the 5 call per minute limit. This will increase when I add in all the variables for different time frames and so fourth.

So now I am back to just cleaning up code and updating other elements of the program to match my other changes and updates while I modify what’s there to add in Crypto and fundamentals before I add in a separate options menu for the various different options such as various intervals and give the option to preselect the indicators and data you want so you only need to select which dataset you are interest in and then the Ticker or company name to go with it. I seem to be on track for a new release either late tonight or late tomorrow.

 

– Anthony

 

September 4th.. Making Progress again

September 4th.. Making Progress again

Still hurting but can code again when I have the time as I did before. I have made progress on the back end of the API requests to simplify it for myself, removing options that aren’t really needed in my opinion such as having both daily and daily adjusted  calls given the adjusted includes both the unadjusted and adjusted close prices. While I did this I added in all but 2 of the call options for Alpha Vantage (Listing & Delisting status along with Earnings and IPO calendar were left out).

So now I am trying to figure out a simplistic UI while updating the aesthetics and code to allow me more flexibility in altering it later on as I need. It’s pretty a pretty productive week and a half or so again which has been a nice change after losing around a month or so of coding time and needing to catch up on everything else the injury put me behind with.

 I’m hoping to have the version with Crypto currency, Forex, Stocks, and fundamentals out by the end of this weekend. Really just depends how much I can sit here for and I really need to set aside some me time that isn’t work, maybe some Storm Works or something. I keep getting caught up in learning better ways to code things causing me to rewrite or adjust large portions of code, it’s making me get better are learning how to segment things for testing so my workflow speed is increasing but as with anything… it’s a process with a lot of rabbit holes hahaha.

-Anthony

 

For now Enjoy some updated pictures of the slightly updated UI 🙂

 

FINALLY!

FINALLY

It has been around  12 days since I last gave any sort of update. Due to my injury getting worse I was still unable to do very much until the last couple of days, either unable to sit at the computer or being unable to focus enough to solve any real issues.

But tonight I finally got some coding done and a couple of issues sorted out. Ultimately I went with redesigning the wheel rather than using the wrapper I currently am in my code more for me having more control over the relatively simple task and also so I don’t have to rely on the consistency of anyone else’s code in regards to the functionality any more than I am already required to do.

Learning how to manipulate JSON files while in agonizing pain wasn’t very fun, but ultimately worked out in the end.

The goal is to hopefully get the api request code written and implemented by the end of next week and start to get Cyrpto and Intraday working properly. I did have Intraday working but didn’t like how I was going to have to implement it for tickers where that wasn’t available. 

I am reinventing the wheel in this case because over all my goal is to be able to use this code to read data in general, not just from Alpha Vantage and also not just financial data. So this will be more useful for me in the long run and will save me from trying to write it into my code later on, which I have been trying to plan for in the background this entire time.

One might think I had a little clue as to the steps of software development by the way I talk about plans, but I’m just doing my best to make my life easier is all.. haha

 

 

 

 

 

– Anthony

 

Priorities

Priorities

I’ve finally managed to spend a few hours in my chair off and on, with the help of muscle relaxants and a heat pad, but unfortunately for this project my daughter wanted a Minecraft Java server up and running and wanted me to play with her, and so that (and the troubleshooting with our old equipment) took precedence 🙂

 

Later this evening or early next week development will resume.

 

 

 

 

 

– Anthony

 

Aug. 14/2021 Update

Aug 14 2021 Update

Unfortunately I have injured my shoulder/back somehow and have been unable to air in my office chair, or any chair, in general the past week. Given my desk isn’t a standing desk I have been unable to sit here long enough to accomplish anything before the pain gets too bad and I can’t think about anything else anymore.

 

It’s now finally starting to get better and I am lucky enough to have an office chair with many adjustments so I can configure it into something that should be able to work now, although not consistently yet as it heals the positing I need to sit in changes since it’s effecting my neck, shoulder, and back. I’ve now managed a couple of hours sitting here the last day.

 

This is to say there hasn’t been any progress in actual development this week but the plan is still to add Intraday next along with crypto currency. I’m thinking I might also look at rewriting the way the API calls are made and handled as well and once that’s all sorted out I can start working on the charting module next for all the data we are obtaining.

 

I’m hoping this heals up in the next week or so and I can go back to my usual routine, it’s been annoying to have the time but not be able to utilize it.

 

-Anthony

 

v.002 now with file types and

I must be a pro, I’m already making fixes

We are now at v.002 and thus brings with it a couple of small fixed and additions. One of which is that I remembered to include a read me this time, it’s better than nothing :D.

 

new for v .002

– Corrected the window titles (think I got all of them)

– added file type selections, I might add a couple of more in there. Currently please avoid selecting none

– other small things I forgot to mention while I was digging around.

– Made changes to the file directory structure for the plans to add more types later on 

 

 

Still looking to add support for Cyrpto, Forex, and fundamentals.

 

-Anthony

 

The First Version is Released

The First Version is Released

So after I was concerned about not being able to put together a functional EXE I bring you the first really rough version of my program. It might not be pretty but it works and that was my main goal haha. And I don’t even have alcohol to drink to celebrate. All for the best given I return to work tomorrow. I have included the download link here and added it to the downloads page.

– Anthony

 

What to Expect

What to Expect

What to expect

After trying to turn the program into a .exe file and being successful but it breaking the functionality made me realize sorting out why is pretty unlikely this weekend… although will need to be the next thing I sort out as I need to know why so I can code around it moving forward. It’s disappointing for me but not the end of the world and just means I will need to move to plan B which is releasing a .zip with the python file and a list of the dependancies currently needed to run it.

So while I assemble that I thought I would start with the first basic insutrctions as to how to use the program.

1. At first intialization or detection that the api keyfile is missing or empty it will ask you for your Alpha Vantage API key to be able to make the calls for you.

2. It will then ask you for the ticker. So for examlpe GME or in the case of a TSX:V stock you would do something like DAC.V.

 

You may also notice the limit of 500 calls per day through the API. This is not through me this is due to the limit on the free API keys so trying to bypass it on the programs end will be still ultimately be futile even if you are successful.

 

There is also a limit of 5 calls per 60 second set by Alpha Vantage as well. Later on I plan to add settings to set the type of API key you have for those who choose to use this application and also have paid for their keys.

 

If you make an error here you can cancel out and retry it, I will possibly add a back feature and make a better GUI later anyways. Right now is more about getting it working and seeing what the interest in the functionality is. I have a comment section so feel free to suggest additions and so fourth.

3. Here you can select which timeframes you want, or just press SELECT ALL if you would like them all.

4. Next it will ask you which technical indicators you would like to download as well.

 

 

For now the values are all set to the default amounts on the Alpha Vantage API Documentation but I would like to add in options either in for users to select or set later on as well.

 

You will see this when you hit the 5 calls per minute limitation, if you select less than this it will bypass unless you start the program 60 seconds after the last set of calls.

5. After it completes the last ticker request settings it will ask you if you would like to download more.

 

This is also something I will likely change to be at the start so that a list can be entered, As this will also help my personal project you can expect this sooner than later.

For now you are stuck having to reenter them in every few minutes individually.

 

6. It will dump the .csv files into a folder with the ticker name (with the period removed from the ticker name if there was one).

 

 

There may also be a pile of pickled pandas dataframes there with it as well, unless I remove that as I’m not sure someone who would want those would want this program.

 

7. When you are finished with the tickers you want to make calls on it will create/update a .csv called list which is a directory of the folders contents as it’s what I was going to use for myself to automate my spreadsheets.

The list.csv file contents

As I keep trying to stress… this is very very early… I’m learning and I’m doing it solo on the side so sometimes thing will update quickly and others there will be hold ups. But one promising thing for you is that the pandemic doesn’t look like it’ll be over any time soon so this will continue to be my main focus outside of my usual life duties as… what else will I do outside of being interested in data analysis, the financial markets, and coding haha.

I plan to add Cyrpto and Forex later on a long with the other things avaliable through the API but again, baby steps. My current project has me working out all of the caculations and such and learning how to manipulate datasets to be able to apply those forumlas to the datasets which is cumbersome for me to say the least. So I’ll bounce between the two to give myself breaks from problems and so fourth.

Ultimately my personal projects and the ones I share on here will be very intertwined with their code being shared and so fourth.

 

 

 

Thanks for reading, I hope to have the download ready within the next day or so.

 

– Anthony

 

Current Goals

Current Progress and Weekend Goal

So at this point I have the website setup enough to be functional for my current needs, although severely lacking in the long term I just don’t have the time currently to do everything I would like yet. This should allow me to focus most of my weekend on turning this program into a self supporting .exe that anyone can just unzip and use without needing to worry about installing dependencies and so fourth. The Zip I could release right now (and might if I have troubles with the .exe adventure) would only be usable by people able to do things in the terminal which is what I was trying to get away from.

 

The current program will only run on Windows 10, I have no plan at making it backwards compatible with older windows versions but will be looking to keep it going with Windows 11 although that will not be my main development platform in the future. This brings me to the plans of comparability.. They will match my own which is to have program suites that run on both Windows and Linux, MacOS isn’t too much of a concern for me and I’d have to not only get one but learn how to use it which is just more time than I have. Linux on the other hand I have familiarity with and once funds allow for it will be making my multi pc setup run both windows and Linux as I need. But for the time being I am stuck with Windows 10 so that’s what the program will be setup to run on. Outside of the things Microsoft forces on me most of my development will be aimed at Linux (which seems to be the way everything is headed anyways so it’ll keep me current I guess)

Stay tuned as my goal is to release this primitive first version this weekend (August 07/08, 2021) or the following week.

I will add a pricing model as I figure that sort of stuff out but for now I will leave it as a donation setup.

 

(Let’s see if this auto shares lol)

Where we begin

So here I am again. This time not to post about my personal life but instead about my coding projects. I have some much larger end goals but for now I’m working on a financial data downloader and analyzer for the average person who doesn’t want to learn coding to or spend a fortune for access to this sort of simplicity,

So to start I will be releasing my program that will let people who want the ability to download price and indicator data from alpha vantage giving them a .csv file to work with. I do plan to add things like crypto and intraday to the options but I’d like to see the interest in it before dedicating too much time away from my own personal projects that these are stemming from. The more interest and financial backing that this produces the more time I will have to spend producing the modules that will form my complete program. Although initially I’m sticking to financial data I’d like to expand it further into other data types as well.


More to come in the next several days, I’m currently just working on making the program easy to install although it’s likely It’ll just be a scraggly zip file with some poorly written instructions.


For now this will be the main source for information as my Twitter feed is mostly political stuff, mostly Canadian for the time being, which likely isn’t about to interest anyone into this.


I will be leaning wordpress among other things this weekend to also get this set up so it should be a fun weekend inside lol.