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| Q: | Do I have to be a programmer to use the Technical Analysis Programmer's Toolkit? |
| A: | Yes. The Toolkit is not a stand-alone program. It is a library of functions that you call from your own programs. You need to be familiar with the programming language you are working in (Visual Basic, VB.NET, C#, C, C++, Delphi, etc.) before incorporating any third party library. |
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| Q: | I am thinking of learning programming. Would a program using the Toolkit be a good first program? |
| A: | No. It might be a good second or third program. If you are not a programmer, we recommend the following strategy: Get a book, get a compiler, go through the example programs in the book, then tackle writing your first program, then write your program using the Toolkit. That is what we recommend. |
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| Q: | I am thinking of learning programming. What language should I learn? |
| A: | There is endless debate on this topic. Without spending pages and pages of explanation, here is our recommendation: Microsoft Visual Basic .NET. |
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| Q: | What language is the Toolkit written in? |
| A: | Standard ANSI C. Being standard, it will compile without modifications using any C/C++ compiler on any operating system. The graphing functions are an exception, since there is no ANSI standard for graphics functions. The graphing functions are Windows specific. Furthermore, if you do not need to recompile the Toolkit, then you do not need to know C. |
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| Q: | What language are the sample programs written in? |
| A: | There are 14 sample programs included with the Toolkit. Each sample program is provided in five different languages: Visual Basic, VB.NET, C#, C/C++ and Delphi. |
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| Q: | Do I have to compile the Toolkit to use it? |
| A: | No, not if you intend to use the Toolkit in a Windows environment. The Toolkit comes with a compiled Windows DLL. You just call the DLL functions from your program. If you want to use the Toolkit on a non-Windows operating system (Macintosh, UNIX, Linux, etc) then you will have to recompile it. |
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| Q: | Which edition of the Toolkit do I need, the Standard edition or the Plus Source Code edition? |
| A: | The only difference between the two editions, is that the Plus Source Code edition includes the source code for the Toolkit DLL. Both editions include the source code for the sample programs.
You need the source code if you intend to recompile the Toolkit for a non-Windows OS, or if you intend to make modifications to the Toolkit functions, or if you would like to see the internal workings of the Toolkit functions and calculations - which is why most people get the Plus Source Code Edition. |
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| Q: | Does the Toolkit include functions to read real-time data? |
| A: | There are no Toolkit functions to read real-time data because: first, the individual data suppliers offer their own function libraries to read their own data feed, and, second, the data suppliers do not publish the details of their proprietary formats. You can, of course, use both their real-time data access functions and the Toolkit functions (indicators, trading, charting, etc.) in the same program. |
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| Q: | Can FM Labs write a program for me. |
| A: | Yes. FM Labs is a consulting company with 20+ years of experience programming all types of applications, with financial applications being our specialty. Just contact us, and we can discuss your programming needs. |
