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Table of Contents
1. Features
The main functions of the MarketFilters application are:
- Quotes for stocks and indexes (generally 15-minute delayed data)
- Stock charts
- Market Scans
2. Installation
2.1 Downloading
The main page shows two methods for installing the application.
The first method is called OTA (Over The Air) and is accomplished by using the browser on your BlackBerry to visit the provided OTA URL. You can visit the URL by either going to the main page in your BlackBerry browser and clicking on the OTA link, or simply by entering the full OTA URL into your BlackBerry browser.
The second method is to download the ALX and COD files to your computer. The BlackBerry Desktop Manager application can then be used to install the application.
2.2 Configuration
In order to function properly, this application (similarly to other applications that access data from the Internet) requires proper device configuration. MarketFilters will work on any properly configured device. On most carriers no extra configuration is required. Several carriers require specific configuration steps to tell the device how to access the Internet. However, users on a corporate account may not require extra configuration either, as it may be done through their BES.
Of the major North American carriers, T-Mobile users are the ones most frequently requiring Internet configuration. AT&T Wireless, Verizon and Rogers generally don't need extra configuration.
If the application reports error when trying to connect, your carrier likely uses a custom APN (Access Point Name), typically a WAP gateway. These issues are normally solved by configuring your device to allow outbound connections.
First, you will need to find the APN associated with your carrier at one of the links below and fill that into the Options > Advanced > TCP screen. For example, on T-Mobile this would be "wap.voicestream.com".
Here are two good sources of information on how to do this:
Once you find the APN value(s) fill it into the device Options > Advanced > TCP screen, save the changes, and do a hard reboot (pull battery) for the changes to take effect.
Lastly, if the application is still unable to connect try running the "Connection Test" from the applications Options screen (accessible from the main quote list screen). If the test passes which says "deviceside=true", then enter that string into the advanced connection parameters section. Save the changes, select "Close" from the main application quote list screen, then reload the application. Quotes should work now.
If none of the above allows connections there may be a problem accessing the internet through your carrier or your BES. Unfortunately, there isn't anything MarketFilters can do in this case. Our software opens connections in the standard way for 3rd party applications.
3. Stock Symbol Formats
This application follows the Yahoo! Finance symbol naming conventions. Stocks not on the major US exchanges will have a suffix, such as ".TO" for those on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). See the full list of exchange suffixes.
Mutual funds are generally not supported. Some mutual fund symbols can be found, but coverage of all fund symbols is not a goal, so a missing symbol is not considered a bug.
Canadian Income Trust symbols are of the form XYZ-UN.TO, where -UN.TO is the same for all. Examples: DAY-UN.TO, AFN-UN.TO.
In general, if a symbol can be found on Yahoo! Finance, the same symbol can be added in MarketFilters.
4. Usage
4.1 Initialization Screen
This screen appears when the application is first loaded and checks the configuration data, which is retrieved from MarketFilters once every several days at most. If the configuration has already been loaded this screen will quickly exit and proceed to the Quote List screen.
When data does need to be loaded, this may take several seconds. If more than 5-10 seconds have passed there is likely a networking issue. You can select "Use Default Settings" from the menu, proceed to the options screen from the menu, then try the Connection Test as outlined below to help find appropriate settings.
4.2 Quote List Screen
This is the "main screen" of the application.
When loaded for the first time you will see the index quote area, an area to add a symbol, then an empty list. When the cursor is inside the "Add Symbol" input, you may enter a symbol, then select "Add Symbol" from the menu. After retrieving the latest quotes you will now see your symbol in the list. You can add as many symbols as you like.
Note that only traditional stocks are officially supported, not mutual funds.
If you highlight a symbol in the list the menu will have several extra options: Quote Detail, Symbol Chart and Remove Symbol. Requesting a chart will fetch the data from MarketFilters. Quote Detail does not need to download any new information.
The menu on this screen will always contain: Refresh Quotes, Market Scans, Options, Remove All Symbols, About, User Guide and Disclaimer.
Note that when on this screen the device back button will hide the application, not fully close it. The next time you click on the application icon it will return to this screen with the same information, so quotes do not need to be fetched as often.
To add symbols from the Toronto Stock Exchange, add ".TO" to the symbol name. Example: RIM.TO.
4.3 Chart Screen
The chart screen shows a single chart. Use either the back button, or Close from the menu, to return to the main screen.
4.4 Quote Detail Screen
The detail screen shows more information about the selected symbol, such as Company Name, Volume, EPS, 50/200 day average, etc. Use either the back button, or Close from the menu, to return to the main screen.
4.5 Market Scans
Market Scans are the process of scoring every symbol in the market according to some criteria, then returning the symbols with the highest score. Within MarketFilters a Scan is a grouping of technical indicators meant to find symbols acting in a specific way, normally oversold or overbought, which may be considered for trading.
When first opened the Market Scans screen has no data. Open the menu and select one of the listed scans. Scans normally take 5-20 seconds to run because of how much data is being analyzed.
Once a scan returns the list will show the symbol, it's score for this scan, and the latest price. If a symbol is highlighted the menu will contain an option to "Get Symbol Quote" which will add it to your list and fetch the latest quotes.
Note that if you move to another screen (closing or getting a quote for a symbol) the same last scan will show the next time you return, but you can also pick a new scan to run.
4.6 Options Screen
The options screen allows configuration of the application. The available options are:
- Load quotes on startup - Whether the application will fetch quotes when loaded. Note that by default the application stays open when the main screen is exited with the back button. Use the Close menu option to exit the application.
- Indexes - Select which indexes to show on the main screen.
- Advanced connection parameters - Some networks will require special connection parameters to be able to access information from the web. See either the Connection Test below or the Troubleshooting guide for more details.
There are 2 extra menu options:
- Remove Cached Settings - The application loads configuration data once every 3 days, on startup, by default. This data can be cleared with this option.
- Connection Test - Attempts opening connections with various advanced parameters to help in troubleshooting.
5. Troubleshooting
We have compiled below the symptoms and solutions for all problems our users have encountered. By far the vast majority are connectivity issues described in section 5.1.
Connectivity Issues Summary
Many specific connectivity-related details are listed in the Configuration Section. Generally, connectivity issues fall into 4 main categories: a) Need to configure an APN, b) Connections are periodically blocked due to an OS bug, c) Need extra configuration due to a BES, or d) Internet traffic is being blocked by your carrier or BES.
5.1 Errors: "Could not open tunnel - failed", "Invalid tunnel name", "Tunnel connection-failed" or "Got HTTP response code: 502"
If you are encountering one of the error messages above this is likely because your carrier uses a custom APN (Access Point Name), typically a WAP gateway. See the Configuration Section above to find out how to setup your device for Internet access.
5.2 Errors: "Bad DNS Address" or "Got HTTP Response Code: 400"
These errors are most often caused by a bug in the device networking layer and is normally fixed by a hard reboot of the device (pull battery).
5.3 Error: "connection timed out"
This is sometimes caused by special BES (corporate server) setups. If you are on a BES and get this error try the Connection Test listed below, and follow the instructions if the "deviceside=true" test passes.
5.4 Error: "Permission Denied"
This error is likely due to the application being denied access to open a network connection.
Depending on your BlackBerry software version this can likely be solved by going to the device Options > Security > Application Permissions. Select "Stock Quote", then hit Edit Permissions in the menu. Make sure Connections is set to Allow.
5.5 Connection Test
If none of the other suggestions related to connection errors have worked, please try the Connection Test menu option from the Options screen. The most common extra connection parameter required is "deviceside=true". If that test passed, please enter "deviceside=true" into the advanced connection parameters on the Options Screen, save, then Close (from the main screen) and reload the application.
5.6 Symbol XYZ shows up as N/A or won't add
The most common reasons why quotes cannot be found for a symbol are either because it's on a smaller exchange or not a stock (ie: mutual fund). See the section above: Stock Symbol Formats.
5.7 Installation problems
If you encounter an error message while trying to install the application such as "Bad COD" or "Invalid COD", please notify us by email at widgets. This likely indicates an incompatability has been introduced with your device version. We strive to ensure the application is compatible with device software version 4.1+.
5.8 Other Connection Problems
Every connectivity issue is ultimately caused by: a) device APN settings, b) device security settings not allowing a connection to be opened, c) carrier issues (blocking connections or no data plan), or d) BES blocking connections.