DT and ASCII Data (Revised 3/14) – Page 1

DT and ASCII Data

The two steps required to use ASCII data files with DT are:

1. Run the DT - ASCII set-up. This tells DT the structure of the ASCII data file – what the
columns represent.

2. Add the data files to a portfolio.

ASCII (Text) File

This is what a comma delimited ASCII (text) file looks like.
A comma separates the columns.
For DT to use an ASCII file, the oldest data must be first (top of file) and the most recent
date last (bottom of file).

ASCII files may be comma, space or semi-colon delimited for DT to use it. We strongly suggest
when you download ASCII data that you use comma delimited if possible.
An ASCII file may be an Excel .cvs file. These may be more difficult to work with. We strongly
suggest your ASCII files be .txt files if at all possible.

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DT ASCII Data File Setup is accessed from File – Portfolio Manager – ASCII Setup
This is what the DT ASCII Date File Setup looks like.

The nine items you must supply in the ASCII setup are shown on the above window and
described below.

1. Set up for single or group of files

Group of files
The purpose of ASCII set up is to tell DT about the format of your data files. For example, does
the date format use 2 or 4 digits for the year (2002 or 02)? DT saves this information in the
same folder with your data files. If the data files in a folder are similar in format, use group of
files set up. The set-up will apply to all the files in the folder. If your files are in more than one
folder, you need to run ASCII set up for each folder. Each folder may have only one group file
set up but may have many single file set ups.

Single file
This option makes a set up file for a specific ASCII data file. Here is an example where this may
be useful. You make a group set-up for the 50 files in a folder, specifying that you want the data
to show on the chart with 2 decimal places. But one of your data files in this folder is March
TBonds which you want to display in 32nds.

Solution: make a single file set up for the TBond data file. DT first looks for a single file set-up
and if not found will apply the group set-up from the same folder. What happens when March

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TBonds stop trading and you pick up June TBonds? You need to run a new single file setup for
the June data file.
We strongly recommend that you only include ASCII data files with all the same type of
data in one folder to avoid having to make different ASCII setups for different symbols in
the same folder.

2. Location of Data Files

Drive
Select the drive where your data files are located.

Folder
Select the folder that has your data files. You may need to double click the folder name.
Know your data location. When you download or save ASCII data files from what ever
source you get them, you will designate what drive-folder to save the data. We can’t help
you find data you have downloaded. Be sure to know the location of your data!\

3. Extension / File

Extension
Your ASCII data files must have an extension or DT may not be able to find them. Examples of
extensions are: txt, asc, csv, csf Example file names with extensions are: $EUR-USD.txt . TXT
data files are the easiest to work with.

File
If you are creating a single file set-up, select it from the list. If you have chosen the correct folder
and extension, your data files should be visible in the window.
Only data files that show the extension will be shown in the list so you must know the
extension of your data files.

4. Date format

Here is where you tell DT what the date format looks like in your files. This is usually where
mistakes are made when doing the ASCII setup. Pay attention to the number of digits used
for the year (two or four) and whether the year, month and day are separated by a forward
slash. DT can only read data files that have one of the Date Formats in this drop down
menu. If you have a Date Format not included in the drop down menu, DT cannot read the
data.

Examples:

1. For 20140105 you would select CCYYDDMM.

2. For 04/21/2002 you would select MM/DD/CCYY.

If you selected MMDDCCYY in example 2 this would not work since your data file dates have
forward slash separators between the day / month / year. Neither would selecting MM/DD/YY
work because there are only two digits for the year and the date format in this data file has a
four digit year.

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The most recent data must be at the bottom of the data file. The earliest bar in the data file
should be at the top of the file (excluding any headers you might have).

If you don't know the date format or time format of your data files, look at the file with an
ASCII editor such as Note Pad or Word pad or ask your data supplier. Examining the file
with Excel is not recommended since it may be transformed from the original ASCII
format.
To view the file in Notepad, go to Explore (Windows data file manager) and just
click on the file to open. It will open in Notepad.

5. Time format

If you have an intra-day data file, this is where you tell DT what the time column looks like.
Example: for 10:30 use HH:MM If you used HHMM it would not work because the colon was
left out. You must choose the correct data format for DT to recognize the data.

If you have a daily data file, any selection is OK here since DT will ignore it.

6. Price display format

This step tells DT how to display the data on your chart.

Examples: For an S&P chart choose 2 decimal places ( 0.00), for TBond futures choose 32nds,
for Forex choose 5 decimal places (0.00000).

7. Skip

Enter the number of rows at the top of the data file to skip before the actual data starts in your
data file. Sometimes the first row(s) in the data file has header information such as date, time,
open, high. If the bar data doesn't start until the second row, use one for the skip. If the actual
data doesn't start until the third row use two for the skip.

8. Delimiter

The delimiter is what separates the columns of the ASCII data file. DT recognizes commas,
spaces and the semicolon.

If you create ASCII files using Excel, you need to know if you saved the file with commas or
spaces between the columns. Note that DT is not reading the Excel file. DT uses the file that
you save from Excel. Do not save Excel files with tabs between the columns. This will not work
in DT.

CSV type files have comma column delimiters and may be read by either Excel or DT.

9. Column position

This is where you tell DT the order of the columns in the data file. If you don't know the order,
open the data file with Note Pad or Word Pad or any ASCII editor and look at it. If a column

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does not exist in your data file, use a zero. The column set up in this picture is for a non-intraday
data file.

Always use a zero for the time column if the data is not intraday - use a zero even if the
non-intraday data file has a time column.

Once the setup is complete, click SAVE and the DT ASCII setup will be saved for the group of
files in the folder.
COMMON MISTAKES IN THE DT ASCII SETUP
When you are setting up the ASCII Data File for a single or group of data files, you should
have the data file open in Wordpad so you can verify your setup choices.
Not knowing where you downloaded your data files.
Having the name of the symbol as part of the date or other column.
Having a data format that the DT ASCII Setup does not recognize.
Not choosing the correct Date Format of your data file.
Not having the oldest (earliest) date at the top of the file and the latest date as the last date in
the file.
Forgetting to choose “0” for skip when there is no header in the data file.
Choosing the wrong Delimiter.
Choosing the incorrect Column position for your data.

Create Portfolios With Your ASCII Data

Now that the setup is complete, DT should be able to read your Data files.
The next step is to add the data files to a DT Portfolio so you can load charts into workspaces.
See the DT Portfolios and Workspaces Video for how to do this.

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