Each month in this Journal, our technical support staff addresses issues of interest to many CSI subscribers in a question-and-answer format. 

Notice:
  The views and information expressed in this document reflect the opinions and experience of the author Robert C. Pelletier.  Neither CSI nor the author undertake or intend to provide tax advice or trading advice in any market or endorse any outside individual or firm.  All recommendations are provided for their informational value only.  Readers should consult competent financial advisors or outside counsel before making any software purchase or investment decision.  CSI does not stand behind or endorse the products of any outside firms.

Copyright (c) 2001 Commodity Systems Inc. (CSI).  All rights are reserved.

 Q.
    On November 27th and 28th, my commodity download took much longer to distribute than it usually does. Why was that?

A.
    Every day we search several government websites looking for additions and changes to the 428 government series we carry. If any of these sites make a generalized change, such as increasing or reducing precision (as was the case on 11/27) we adjust our database as necessary to bring all data into current terms. Consequently, Unfair Advantage (UA) downloaded and distributed several thousand historical data changes on the 27th. Since UA always repeats your last successful download when retrieving new data, you also got the same revisions on the 28th. Extensive downloads such as these will occur from time to time, as they are necessary for achieving peerless database integrity.

Q.
    I'm a Delta Graphics customer who recently began back-testing with Unfair Advantage. My initial one-day-at-a-time walkthroughs went just fine, but a gap has suddenly appeared in my data files. I think it happened when I clicked on "Manual Database Distribute" without first retrieving any data. What do I do now?

A.
    You are right about when your database became corrupted. When you installed UA as a Delta Graphics subscriber, your software was automatically set to "Prompt between each day's distribution," which is what allowed you to step forward through the days of market activity following your first update. Unfortunately, one day's data distribution must have been cut short by a power interruption or forced reboot, thus interfering with UA's ability to know where you left off in the distribution of your data. UA skipped the interrupted day the next time you manually distributed data, thus leaving a gap.

    To avoid this problem in the future, use the "Manual Database Distribute" selection only when necessary, and do not interrupt your computer during data distributions. To correct the problem, reinstall UA from your CD ROM and bring the database current with your first download. If it has been more than a month since you received the UA CD, you'll need to order a new one from CSI.

Q.
    Is there any harm in turning my computer off with the On/Off button instead of using the "Shut Down" routine?

A.
    Aside from the extra time required to start up after an abnormal shut down, there are larger, more serious dangers to consider: In general, drastic measures like turning your computer off, pressing the "Reset" button or using the old standby Ctrl-Alt-Del are inadvisable except in emergency situations. The process can result in corruption of your UA database. For example, on each power-up cycle following an improper shutdown, Windows 2000® deletes the last several database files that have been updated. You probably wouldn't notice right away, but if it happens enough times, it will eventually delete a market you are trading! So please have patience. Forcing your computer to stop abruptly may cost you more than just time in the future.

    Computer crashes and deliberate forced shut downs can also result in significant fragmentation of your drive. We recommend you defragment your drive once weekly for optimal performance.

Q.
    Is any type of annual maintenance required to keep my data files and software current in the new year?

A.
    Not really. Some of our long-term customers may recall the early days of creating bigger files and moving data, but those inconveniences have become ancient history. Unfair Advantage and QuickTrieve® are engineered to cross into the new year without so much as a hiccup. Please check our website regularly at www.csidata.com for software upgrades and the latest information on CSI services.