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[gbfabiani]

Hi, I use a Pc and a laptop, and I I have my Fundmanager Data Folder in Dropbox. This way I can use both of them with the same files ( just have to wait that dropbox is updated before I start working with the other pc.

Only thing not working properly is the category labels description , which I have in the PC where originally I create the portfolios, but whose description are missed on the laptop. Can I copy something and have them updated, or di I have to manually change the descriptions to have them aligned ?
thanks
giovanni

[Mark]

Hi giovanni,

You can use the portable/cloud mode. Install FM on the dropbox folder. Start FM from this dropbox folder, and then turn on Portable mode from your PC, where you have the category labels now. When you then start FM from this dropbox folder while on your Laptop, all your same settings/preferences will be available. For more on using this portable/cloud mode, please read the setup instructions here:

http://fundmanagersoftware.com/help/portable.html

[gbfabiani]

Hi Mark,

As i already have FM installed on both Pcs, do I have to unistall it first ? And If do that , will I lose current preferences / categories labels ?

Additional question, once I install FM as suggests on Dropbox on the same folder where today I have portfolios and data files, ( or on a pen drive as you said ) , the exe will run without needing to depend on windows registers and program classical structure ??
thanks
giovanni

[Mark]

Hi giovanni,

Do not uninstall from your PC/laptop first. You can install to the dropbox, and run it from there. When you start it from the dropbox the first time it will read in your preferences from the registry on the computer you are running on, so start it from your PC where you have your category labels you want. Once you start it, turn on the portable/cloud mode option, and all your preferences will be copied to the dropbox folder. They are stored there is a file called fmprefs.txt in the same folder as the program. Now, whenever you start this program the preferences will be read from and stored to this file, instead of the registry on the computer you are running from. Once you get it set up on dropbox in portable mode, you can uninstall it from your PC and laptop, so you only have it installed on dropbox.

[gbfabiani]

Hi Mark ,

thanks for the clear instructions, I am ok now, but I have to report I had an unexpected issue: While most of the process went well: installing software in Dropbox , the category labels , licence codes, portfolios, I had a mess with the currency table . This last has been put quite to a default position, with 2 exceptions : Euro was the default currency as before, and the Us$ didn't have is corresponding investment , but was set at 1,35. As a consequence all currency transaction has been affected ( the one in dollars had prices be changed) , quite a mess !!

I hope I did react in a correct way: I changed the currency table manually, back to my origina one, and I saved the portfolio on exit (with "wrong" transaction data in the .dat files) . I cancelled all the .dat files, and I pasted back in the folder the copy of all .dat files I wisely did before I started. So I have now the portfolio file with the right labels (automatically), and the right currencies (manually) , plus the historical transaction .dat files. All looks ok to me . Other issues I can have in your opinion since I had to go this route ??
thanks
giovanni

[Mark]

Hi giovanni,

If your global currency settings get changed, this does not affect any of your recorded data in the investment (*.dat) files. It would affect the display of exchange rate adjusted values, etc, but as soon as you change your currency settings back, all these values, etc should revert to their correct numbers.

Your global currency settings are stored in your portfolio file (*.mm4). If you are using any exchange rate investments their paths are stored, relative to the location of the portfolio file. If you move the portfolio file (*.mm4) and the investment files (*.dat) all together, and keep them in the same relative location (easiest is if everything is in the same folder together), then the relative path stays the same, and you shouldn't lose your settings. One possibility is if the relative location of your investment files change with respect to the portfolio file, it may not have been able to find your exchange rate investment, and reverted to some default settings.

[gbfabiani]

Hi, I also have a new type of error while I retrieve prices through internet ( see attached file) : it concerns the intlog.txt file.

thanks
giovanni

[Mark]

Hi giovanni,

Yes, unfortunately this can happen in portable mode. The problem arises when both Fund Manager and your dropbox client are trying to access a file at the same time. Dropbox is trying to sync it with the remote server, and Fund Manager wants to use it again for the next price retrieve. This is something we will be addressing in a future update, but for now I would suggest temporarily disabling your dropbox syncing while you are using Fund Manager. To do this, click on your dropbox icon, and then the gear icon for settings, and choose "Pause syncing".

[gbfabiani]

Hi, just answering on currencies.

I did as follows:
I had a folder in dropbox named Fundmanager Data containing .mm4 and .dat files. I installed the software in this folder, so that I got a Fund Manager folder as subfolder of Fundmanager Data ( in dropbox) . I did launch FM exe from within Fund Manager folder, it did open the portfolio on his own without me to sugggest anysthing. I saw my portfolios where ok, I did check labels categories ( equally ok) , I selected the option portable/cloud . I was checking if total values were identical to the former ones, and I saw many (small) differences .
So I did random check some cash account , and on the dollar one I saw a balance difference in Euro. I did open the transaction and compare with the copy I had before.
The original one was 5000 value 5000 shares and 1 price , the new one was 5000 value, price did change , it was >1 (don't remember how much) and shared did change too.
So I gave a look tho the currency table, and as said I found € as default currency, US$ constant ratio 1,35 , all other currencies constant ratio 1, while normally have 5 or 6 ( plus of course US$) who are connected to a currency investment.

So , I checked one american share, price I bought was different, and I could reconcile the difference : new price I saw /1,35 * 1,28 = original price ( where 1,28 was the currency rate at the transacion date.

When I saw all that my idea was that for one reason or the other the currency table didn't update properly when I re-open the portfolio with the re-installed software, and I reacted the way I already described you. Just to inform you, it looks now all is fine ......
regards

[gbfabiani]

Hi, now back on your answer on the error message.

I run FM many times a day, to always remember to pause on and off will be painful , and wrong : if I forget to sync again and after that I start from the second computer Fm while dropbox has not been synronized yet I wil create file conflits.

If this error has no consequences on the use of the software , I will see it many times per day, no problem . If instead it is an error to avoid because of potential issues, I wil go back to the way I was using FM before, and align manually the category labels on the 2 Pcs.

Suggestion ?
ciao
giovanni

[Mark]

Hi giovanni,

That error is happening when retrieving prices. This can intermittently cause your price updates to fail. You can decide for yourself whether this is a big problem or not. Some things you may want to consider would be to turn off automatic price updates, and only do price updates when you press the "PRC" button on the toolbar. You could turn off/on dropbox syncing around this time, or only do it if you get an error.

[gbfabiani]

Hi Mark,

It is a few days I am using the cloud mode, but updating prices ( I always did manually, using the blue arrow when I wish to update them ) become slow, and full of interructions with error 12152 and 12031 appearing 10-20 times each update (250 investments) .

I did try :
a) leaving dropbox in sync
b) opening FM and stop Dropbox sync
c) stopping dropbox sync before I launch FM

Didn't find a real difference in the error number / process lenght of the three above scenarios.

Same issue with both computers.....

Any suggestion ??
thanks

[Mark]

Hi giovanni,

I assume you are using Yahoo to retrieve prices? This is a known issue that has come up recently, and isn't related to you running in portable/cloud mode. You can read more about this issue here:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2866

It seems to be an issue with some Yahoo servers being too busy or closing connections for some reason. It doesn't happen to everyone, and is intermittent. We plan to release an update to the main FM program that will automatically retry the retrieve in these cases, without issuing an error message to the user, unless it fails a certain number of times in a row.

[gbfabiani]

Mark, I regret I was not adding a comment on my last post , saying that most errors where with yahoo , while my feeling was no error / few errors with Bloomberg ! In fact I have few investments updated with Bloomberg.......
Most likely, the problems with yahoo updates and the usage of the cloud option did happen at the same time, so I was forced to look for the easier explanation !!
regards
giovanni