StockDock
---------

Introduction / Overview
-----------------------

StockDock is a stock quote / chart retrieval Docklet for StarDock's
ObjectDock.  Essentially, it periodically retrieves the most recent
stock quote for a given stock symbol from Yahoo! and displays this
information in the Docklet area.  The full stock quote can be viewed
with the default web browser by left-clicking the Docklet window.


Installation
------------

As with most Docklets, StockDock does not require a separate installation
process above and beyond simply extracting the archive to the desired
location.  StockDock can be unzipped anywhere in the "Docklets" sub-folder
area of an ObjectDock installation, although it's recommend that one create
a dedicated folder to contain the Docklet.  Once deployed, StockDock can
be added to the dock either by right clicking on the dock and picking
"Add ->", or by accessing the "Docklets" tab of the "Dock Setting" menu.

If desired, multiple StockDock docklets can be present on the dock
simultaneously.  One must simply add the docklet multiple times using the
"Add ->" command.

If upgrading from a previous version of StockDock, it is recommended that
one delete the contents of the directory prior to installing the new
StockDock version to prevent any potential issues.


Configuration
-------------

Once installed, StockDock should be configured by right clicking on the
icon and picking "Configure Docklet...".  From the configuration dialog,
one can pick the stock symbol to observe and configure an HTTP proxy,
if needed.

Using an HTTP Proxy: If an HTTP proxy is being used for HTTP access,
one should pick the appropriate radio button and then fill in the details
of the proxy host and port.  If the proxy requires authentication,
the username and password should be filled in as well (otherwise these
should be left blank).  StockDock uses "Proxy-authorization: Basic"
for any such proxy authentication requests.

Once these options have been set as desired and the changes have been
saved, StockDock will immediately request the stock quote for the
selected stock symbol, and in a few moments, the stock chart and stock
price should be displayed in the Docklet client area.


Usage
-----

Once configured, StockDock automatically requests stock information
about every 15 minutes.  If need be, one can also right click on
the docklet and pick "Force Update Now" to force an immediate update.

If StockDock is unable to update the stock quote, due to the Yahoo!
Finance site being down (or the Internet connection being unavailable),
the previous quote will be displayed until an update is performed
successfully.

Left-clicking the stock chart will open up a web browser session to
the Yahoo! Finance site to display more in-depth information about the
current stock symbol.


Technical Notes
---------------

Please note that all stock quotes are automatically delayed by Yahoo!, due
to the free nature of the service, so the stock information will generally
be some number of minutes behind the current real-time trading price.  Also,
be aware that all times are displayed in Eastern time due to this.


Credits
-------
* StockDock was written by Dan Winsor (dwinsor@ameritech.net).
