The Xignite Finance Player is a custom XPression application developed for Cheddar.com to generate and display stock charts live in broadcasts.

It is split into 2 3 components: 1 client app and 1 sever app and a data cache app. The server app runs on the XPression machine while the client and cache app can be installed elsewhere on the network. The client app is and data cache apps are responsible for all communication with the Xignite web service.

Preferences

You can change many of the features of the generated charts and ticker with the Preferences window. It is accessed via File menu - Preferences...

NOTE: the changes apply to newly generated charts and do not apply to existing charts. The exception to this is the chart preview background which is preview only and is not part of what is displayed in XPression.

The API Key provides your authenticated access to the Xignite data.
You can save and switch between a testing and production key.

NOTE: If the same key is given in both test and production keys then the app defaults to selecting the production key setting.

Change the colors here to suit your design.

You can change the image used as the client side chart preview background. This does not reflect or affect the XPression project.

If the default data returned by the API doesn't include the current value and you want it to be included - use these options to control when it is added to the chart data set.

Client App Workflow

After you launch the application and connect to your XPression server you will want to:

1. Select a Show
2. Create charts
3. Preview charts
4. Display charts

Select a Show

A show could also be considered a theme as it is the collection of scenes you will be using to display your charts and related data.

You must have an active show selection to display charts, bumpers, full screens, lower thirds and names.

If you are not connecting to XPression then you skip this step.

Create Charts

Preview Charts

When there is a generated chart you can preview it in a larger popup window. This preview works without a connection to the XPression server. It's purpose is to provide a more detailed preview of the chart and related numbers that were generated and may be used in display since the main thumbnail is limited in its usefulness. The background image can be changed in the Chart Preferences window accessed via File menu - Preferences. Look for it in the Other Options section.

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Cache Connection

The clients cache service config settings must match the setting used by the cache service. The default values will work automatically (assuming the defaults are used by both apps). The cache service uses a TCP protocol. 

You will need to enable the connection to the cache on the first use of the client (version 7.0.x or greater) that supports it. (After the cache service is installed of course).

In version 7.10 or greater use the Cache menu option - Cache Config...

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Then click the Use Cache to enable it and press the Save button. 

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The client should then be able to connect and display it's connected status in the bottom status bar.

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Off-Hour Cache Stock List

To include stocks in the cache to have access to their off-hours data you need to add them to the list of selected stocks.

Use the Cache menu - Cache Stocks... option

This will open the popup list of selected stocks to which you can the add/remove similar to the stock list for the ticker.

Version 7.10 of the client and cache apps added support for summary cache data so you can see how much data is available for the stocks in the list.

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No XPression Mode

You can run the client application without connecting to a XPression server. In this case you press the Don't Connect button in the configuration panel. When you select this the application can still generate charts and you can preview the generated charts by clicking on the small chart thumbnail. This will open a larger preview window that displays the basic stock data and the chart.

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Preferences

You can change many of the features of the generated charts and ticker with the Preferences window. It is accessed via File menu - Preferences...

NOTE: the changes apply to newly generated charts and do not apply to existing charts. The exception to this is the chart preview background which is preview only and is not part of what is displayed in XPression.

Client App Workflow

After you launch the application and connect to your XPression server you will want to:

1. Select a Show
2. Create charts
3. Preview charts
4. Display charts

Select a Show

A show could also be considered a theme as it is the collection of scenes you will be using to display your charts and related data.

You must have an active show selection to display charts, bumpers, full screens, lower thirds and names.

If you are not connecting to XPression then you skip this step.

Create Charts

1. Search for the first stock symbol by typing it in the filter box for stock 1
2. Click on the stock you wish to use for stock 1
3. If you want to compare 2 stocks on one chart
   1. search for the second stock by starting to type its stock symbol in the filter box for stock 2
   2. click on the stock in the stock 2 list
4. Select a Range
5. Click the Generate Chart button
   1. This will cause the current stock data to be downloaded and transformed into the corresponding chart
   2. You will see the retrieved data and thumbnail of the chart displayed in the preview section
      
      

Preview Charts

When there is a generated chart you can preview it in a larger popup window. This preview works without a connection to the XPression server. It's purpose is to provide a more detailed preview of the chart and related numbers that were generated and may be used in display since the main thumbnail is limited in its usefulness. The background image can be changed in the Chart Preferences window accessed via File menu - Preferences. Look for it in the Other Options section.

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Change Preview Chart Background

The background image can be changed in the Chart Preferences window accessed via File menu - Preferences.

Below the instructions are couple plain sample background images that you can download to use.

1. Open the Preferences window from the File menu
2. Expand the Other Options section
3. Click the button to the right of the text box under the heading: Chart Preview Background Image
4. Select your background image to use. (double-click it or select and click Open.)
5. Press the save button in the Preferences window.

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Sample Dark Background:

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Sample Light Background:

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Display Charts

Once you have generated a chart that you want to display you have a number of ways of managing when the chart is displayed.

Now

The quickest way is to press the Show button beneath the chart.

Later

If you want to save the chart for display later press the To List button. This will copy it to the Charts list below the chart generation section.

You can display a chart in the list by clicking on the green on? icon. This will cause the icon to change to red and the chart will be displayed through XPression.

Custom Scenes

You can trigger the display of custom scenes from the XPression project. Scenes whose name are prefixed with ^Custom are added to the list of custom scenes that are available.

Only one custom scene is intended to display at a time.

Bumpers

You can trigger the display of bumper scenes in the XPression project. Video files in the projects Bumper subfolder are added to the list of bumper scenes that are available. If the filename is prefixed with "Bumper_" that prefix is removed and the rest of the name displayed in the selection list. All bumpers are played with a scene from the project that is named: ^Bumpers.

Lower Thirds

The list of lower thirds texts can be populated manually or by importing a text file. To add an entry manually click the + button in the header of the list.

Then enter the Line 1 and Line 2 (optional) texts. Click the save button.

Importing a List

When importing a text file - line 1 and line 2 texts should be delimited by: |

If you only need to display one line of text then only enter that one line's text

The full pattern then is: Line 1 | Line 2

Line 1 is here | Line 2 is here
This is all I want to write

Don't make me add a second line

Names

The list of names can be populated manually or by importing a text file of names. To add a name manually click the + button in the header of the list.

Then enter the name and title info and click the save button. Note that name 2 information is optional and the titles are optional.

Importing a Name List

When importing a text file - names should be delimited by: |

Each name is followed by a title and each line can contain up to 2 name/title pairs. If you only need to display one name/title then only enter that one name.

The full pattern then is: Name | Title | Name2 | Title2

Mickey Mouse | Disney | “Walt Disney” | Former CEO of Disney Corporation
Walter Federrer | LPGA Champion

Jimminy Cricket | Head ‘Cricketeer’ | George Orwell | Author
Bob| Janitor| Jane
Me | | You

Playlists

To add an item to a playlist you click the playlist button of the item:

There are 2 playlist types available to you:

Custom and Chart Playlist

This playlist supports the charts and the custom full screens.

Banners Playlist

This playlist supports the Names and Lower Thirds.

Stock Ticker

The application supports a stock ticker as of version 5.2.x.

The client UI displays near the top with options for editing, starting and stopping and provides a preview of the stocks as they are shown.

Playout

There is an online/offline toggle button to the left of the stock preview button. It is red when the ticker is online and green when it is not running.

Playout Order

The stocks play in alphabetical order.

List Editing

You can edit the list of stocks that will be displayed in the client application. Simply click the ticker Edit button to open the editing window.

Note that the editing window displays the last retrieved value of the price and change as well as the stock symbol. These values are loaded when the list is first loaded at application launch and then will be updated as the stock ticker is running.

Add stocks by typing the symbol name in the box in the header and pressing enter or clicking the Add button.

Remove stocks by selecting the stock and pressing the delete key.

Alternatively you may edit the list of stocks in a text file directly. It is saved to the ProgramData folder of the computer.

Example: C:\ProgramData\Bannister Lake\Xignite Finance Player Client\TickerStocks.txt

It is formatted as a simple text file with one stock symbol per line.

If you save the file manually with additional text on the line - it will read only up to the first comma or space character and ignore the rest of the line, It will overwrite the file with it's own clean version though.

Stock Table

The application supports a stock table as of version 5.7.x.

The client UI displays in the bottom right corner with options for editing, starting and stopping playlists of stocks and provides a preview of the stock data that is shown.

The first thing you need to do to get started the first time is to create a new list by pressing the New button.

Playout

To display a stock table playlist you

• select it in the dropdown list
• click the Use button
  • this clears any currently displayed stocks, applies the stocks in the selected list and refreshes the stock price and change data with the latest
• click the online toggle button
  • if it's not already online and displaying

The online/offline toggle button is near the top-left of the section. It is red when the ticker is online and green when it is not running.

If the Display Time has been set and the Auto toggle is enabled then the stocks will automatically rotate through the list.

If the Loop toggle is enabled then the application will continuously loop through all the stocks in the list. If the Loop toggle is disabled then it will take the stock table offline after displaying the final page of stocks in the list.

Press the Next button to advance to the next page at any time.

Playout Order

The stocks play in displayed order and this order can be edited in the popup playlist editing window by drag-n-drop of stocks in the list.

List Editing

You can edit the playlist of stocks that will be displayed in the client application. Simply select the playlist you want and click the ticker Edit button to open the editing window.

Lists are saved and will be available the next time you start the client app until you delete them. The price and change values are updated each time the list is selected and then the Use button is clicked. It is updated again when it reaches the end of the list and is displaying the last page of stocks in the list in preparation for playing them again.

You can edit

• Name (displayed in the select list in the UI only
• Display Name (displayed on-air)
• Display Time (how long each page of stocks displays before automatically moving to the next)
• Display Count (how many stocks to display at one time in the table)

Note that the editing window displays the last retrieved value of the price and change as well as the stock symbol. These values are loaded when the list is first loaded at application launch and then will be updated as the stock ticker is running.

Add stocks by typing the symbol name in the box in the header and pressing enter or clicking the Add button.

Remove stocks by selecting the stock and pressing the delete key.

Application Logs

You can access the application logs that prodvide provide information on the work the app is doing as well as providing additional debugging information when errors occur. 

File Access

You can also access the log files in the ProgramData directory which is typically:  C:\ProgramData\Bannister Lake\Xignite Finance Player Client\logs

Help Menu Access

You can read the log via the Help menu. Select the Read Log... option to open the current log file.

File Access

Performance Log Option

You can add performance logging information to a sessions logs by clicking on the the Enable Performance Logs option. 

This records the reported time required by the XIgnite service to execute the request. 

Server Application

The server application must be installed on an XPression machine.

The server application does not communicate with the Xignite web service and so does not need an internet connection for typical operation. Instead it relies on the client app to provide it with all the data it needs to display.

Prerequisites

1. Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 or greater which can be downloaded from a Microsoft website to suit your version of windows.
   1. this should be the FULL version and not the Client Profile version
2. Ross XPression
   1. version appropriate to the build of the application represented by the last number in the version number
      1. Example version 5.1.3592 is built for XP build 3592

Initial Configuration

The first time you install the application you may need to customize a few settings. The application will remember the settings you used last.

You can use the default ports given or change them if appropriate for your network environment. The server provides support for using either TCP or HTTP protocols. The client allows you to select which protocol it will use at launch.

After you have made any necessary changes to the configuration press the Start Service button. This will lock your selections. To change them you will have to close and restart the applications.

Server Name or IP Address

This is the address of the server running the XPression Engine on which this server app is also installed. It will by default at first run fill in the suggested IP address of the server. If you are running both the server and client portions of the application on the same machine you could enter "localhost" as the server name instead of an IP Address.

You can also regenerate the suggested IP address by using the option in the Help menu

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You will be prompted if you want to apply the IP address to the current configuration.

TCP Port

This is the port number to use when connecting via the TCP protocol which is the recommended protocol to use. You will need to ensure that this port is enabled/open on the server to allow the client machine to connect.

HTTP Port

This is the port number to use when connecting via the HTTP protocol. Use the HTTP protocol in situations where TCP is not a viable option You will need to ensure that this port is enabled/open on the server to allow the client machine to connect.The HTTP protocol is not expected to perform as quickly as the TCP protocol.

Use Secure Connections

This option has been added to enable the use of the applications in network situations that otherwise would prevent the client and server from being able to connect. If you are having trouble connecting with the secure connections enabled - try disabling it on both the server and the client and see if the connection is then successful.

XPression File Selection

Application Logs

You can access the application logs that prodvide information on the work the app is doing as well as providing additional debugging information when errors occur. 

Help Menu Access

You can read the log via the Help menu. Select the Read Log... option to open the current log file.

File Access

You can also access the log files in the ProgramData directory which is typically:  C:\ProgramData\Bannister Lake\Xignite Finance Player Server\logs