Stock Charting Software - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Security
Q: Will using FnCharts on our website compromise our security?
A: No, not a bit more than placing static images or zipped files on a
web server. FnCharts applet is never executed on a server. It is automatically
downloaded and executed by user's computer.
Q: How about user's security then?
A: FnCharts applet runs on user's computer in a protected environment
called "sandbox" provided by Java(tm) Virtual Machine. Therefore the applet does
not have an access to any data on user's disks, private information, or any other vital resources. Therefore it is safe for users to use FnCharts
applet. Moreover, thanks to the built-in security provided by Java(tm)
technology, there is a guarantee that FnCharts applet can only communicate with the server
it was downloaded from.
Customization and multi-language support
Q: We have a uniquely designed website and would like to configure
FnCharts applet to match the design of our website. Is this possible?
A: Yes, you can customize the look of FnCharts applet (professional, advanced
and standard versions) using built-in configuration options. It is done by
configuring various parameters in HTML code.
Q: Is FnCharts applet available only in English?
A: FnCharts has built-in English user interface. However, the professional,
advanced and standard versions can be easily translated to other languages by
providing translations of user interface elements (using parameters in HTML
code).
Installation
Q: What steps are involved in a typical FnCharts installation on a
server?
A: Typically, there are four steps:
- Copying supplied program archive to the server.
- Preparing HTML page with an <applet> tag and parameters
(preconfigured <applet> samples are included in FnCharts
distribution).
- Configuring program by setting data access parameters and configuring
access to stock data.
- Configuring FnCharts' interface to match the design of the website.
The whole installation and configuration process can take as little
as few minutes, if you already have stock data available in MetaStock-compatible text files. Usually, it takes an hour or two if you want to
configure more options and prepare server-side scripts to retrieve data
from databases.
Q: FnCharts Standard has almost a hundred, FnCharts Professional and
FnCharts Advanced more than 300 configurable parameters.
How difficult is it to customize the parameters?
A: Only a few of the parameters must be configured and most are
preconfigured with useful default values. The most important are data
access parameters. Only the following number of parameters must be
customized after installation:
| FnCharts Freeware |
1 |
1 or 2 |
| FnCharts Standard |
2 |
12 |
| FnCharts Advanced |
5 |
20 |
| FnCharts Professional |
5 |
25 |
Scalability
Q: We have thousands of visitors viewing our
financial charts. Will FnCharts be able to withstand large numbers of users?
A: Yes. FnCharts-based solution requires less bandwidth and uses significantly
less server resources than typical charting solutions based
on GIF, PNG or JPEG images. Because all the work involved in generating and
displaying charts is performed by users' computers and because data requests are less frequent,
the server and bandwidth requirements are lower than requirements for other solutions (for instance,
solutions that use static images).
In fact, in situations when your currently utilized charting solution
would require additional hardware or more bandwidth, you can typically switch to using FnCharts and make
instantaneous savings, relying on your current infrastructure instead of
buying new hardware or upgrading your server.
Licensing
Q: How are your products licensed?
A: All our web charting components are licensed per domain. Typically you will need one license for your website.
You may need more licenses if you use multiple domain names for your website
and you want the charts to work for more than one domain.
Please see the license agreement for details.
Q: Will our licensing cost increase when we add more servers to
support our website, or when we gain popularity and provide our services
to more users?
A: No. We only charge one time fee for the license to use FnCharts within
one website (domain). You may use as many physical servers as you want, and provide
FnCharts applet to unlimited number of visitors at no additional costs.
Please see the license agreement for details.
Refunds
Q: What is your refund policy?
A: At WD SOFTWARE we believe in happy customers and we guarantee our products will do their job well.
We offer refunds for our products (with the exception of source code licenses).
If you are not completely satisfied with our product, you can return
the software within 3 months from the date of purchase, and we will refund you the money you paid.
We also provide evaluation versions free of charge, so you can test any product before you place your order.
Fully functional evaluation versions are available here.
Orders
Q: How will I receive the software after I place my order?
(What happens when I order FnCharts?)
A: After your order is accepted and processed,
you will receive the license key for your website (domain name).
You then use this license key in your HTML source, to transform the evaluation version
available here into a retail version.
Q: How long will I have to wait for my license key?
A: Typically, you will receive your license the same day you place your order.
If you place your order late afternoon (Central European Time) or not on workday,
you will receive your license key the next business day.
If your license key is not delivered within 2 business days from the date you place
your order, there are probably problems with delivering our e-mail to you
(caused by anti-spam filters or misspelled email address). In such case
you should contact us so we can ensure proper delivery of the license key.
Q: Can I order your software on-line?
A: Yes. You can place your order here.
Browser support
Q: Will the users using browsers with older versions of the Java(tm)
runtime (JRE) be able to run FnCharts?
A: Yes. The most popular browser - Microsoft Internet Explorer -
typically uses an older built-in version of Java(tm) runtime called Microsoft
VM. FnCharts will work on this VM as well as on newer Java(tm)
virtual machines.
Supported platforms
Q: Can your charting components be used on other operating systems than Windows(tm)?
A: Yes. All FnCharts versions are designed in such a way, that
they should run on all platforms that support Java(tm) applets.
We have tested our products on the the following platforms:
- Microsoft Windows 98, Me, 2000, XP with Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla Firefox and Opera
- different versions of Linux with Mozilla Firefox, Konqueror and Opera
Realtime intraday charts
Q: Can FnCharts applet display "Real-Time" charts?
A: Yes. Both FnChart Professional and FnCharts Advanced can display
automatically updated intraday data, but the professional version can
update data faster and more efficiently (using significantly less bandwidth
than the advanced version).
You can set desired update frequency in your HTML code. FnCharts can
update the charts as often as every second. However, taking into consideration
the number of concurrent users and available resources, you can choose to set
update interval to 6-10 seconds. In this case your intraday
charts will be delayed by 3-5 seconds on average.
Using FnCharts with different data feeds
Q: Can I use data feeds from my providers with FnCharts?
A: Yes. To do so, you will need to provide data to FnCharts
in a request-response style. Typically you will need to store data obtained
from your data provider on your web server (in a database or in text files).
Then, you will need to prepare two simple server-side scripts
(one for intraday and another one for end-of-day data) that will be used as data sources
for FnCharts. The scripts will be responsible for fetching the data requested by
FnCharts from your database (or from text files) and sending it back to the applet
(in a format recognized by FnCharts).
Thanks to the cache mechanism available in FnCharts Professional, you will be able
to minimize the amount of data sent to the applet.
Your scripts will only need to send the new data (since the last request)
every time they receive a request from FnCharts Professional. Furthermore,
because all the information needed to specify the scope of data needed will
be provided by FnCharts with every request, you won't have to store such
information on your server (all the information your scripts will need will
be provided with every request).
Finally, if you want the charts to be automatically updated, you will need to
specify the update interval using the "AutoRefreshTime" parameter available in
FnCharts Professional and FnCharts Advanced.
FnCharts and databases
Q: We keep our stock data in a database. Can we use this database with FnCharts?
A: Yes. To use data stored in a database with FnCharts, you need to prepare
simple server-side script (or two scripts: one for intraday and another one for end-of-day data,
if you use FnCharts Professional or FnCharts Advanced) that will be used as data source for FnCharts.
The script (or scripts) will then be responsible for fetching the data requested by
FnCharts form your database and sending it back to the applet (in a format recognized by
FnCharts).
We have prepared a simple demonstration that shows how to use FnCharts with data stored
in a database (it uses simple PHP scripts and MySQL database).
Click here to download the demonstration.
Our Clients
Q: What is your experience with financial software and who uses your software?
A: We have been providing Real-Time charts, stock market-related services
and developing on-line technical analysis software and infrastructure for
streaming stock quotes for over 8 years.
We deliver software and provide services to clients in the following branches:
- Finance, Investment and Banking
- Internet Portals
- News and Media
We have clients in many different countries on six continents,
including finance-related companies from:
- Australia
- Brazil
- Chile
- China
- France
- India
- Italy
- The Netherlands
- Philippines
- Poland
- Saudi Arabia
- Singapore
- South Africa
- Spain
- Thailand
- United Kingdom
- USA
In Poland, our clients include:
- four out of five biggest banks
- majority of brokerage houses
- the most popular Polish newspaper
- two biggest financial magazines
- two out of three most popular Internet portals
- three biggest financial portals
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