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OANDA FXPilot™ FEATURES

The OANDA FXPilot™ is a useful tool for travelers. It can convert currencies, various metrics, such as length, area, volume, mass, and temperature, as well as cloths and shoe sizes. The key features of the currency converter include:

• can convert between any 2 of 164 currencies
• "CheatSheet" support for quick lookups
• HotSync automatically downloads latest conversion rates (assuming your PC is connected to the Internet)
• support for various spreads: credit card, cash, and interbank rate spreads
• fully customizable:
  • edit conversion rates used (e.g. you can enter the conversion rates you got when converting cash)
  • modify spreads used
  • add additional currencies

In addition, new metrics and conversions can easily be added by the user.

OANDA FXPilot™ BASICS

Convert Menu

If you press the menu button on your Palm Pilot a menu will appear, allowing you to switch to one of the other converters.

Currency Mass Length Area Volume Temperature Other: for user-defined units Cheat Sheet: to generate a table of exchange values for a currency pair Shoe table for converting shoe sizes Cloths table for converting cloths size

Main Currency Converter Screen

The main screen has two columns. The left column is the FROM column and represents the currency you are buying, and the right is the TO column and represents the currency you are selling.

• To convert: simply type a value into a field. As you are inputing a value, the corresponding field in the other column will represent the converted value you are inputing. The figure depicts the entry of 10 Canadian Dollars in the left column, which is automatically converted to 6.81 U.S. Dollars.
• To change the type of currencies being converted, click on the currency abreviation, and a selection popup window will appear.The set of currencies in this list is customizable. See section Options below.
  
  If changing the currency type of a field for which a value has already been entered, then the value is updated automatically once the currency type is changed. Note, however, that the value is not changed for the field contatining the cursor. This makes it convenient when trying to convert one amount of one currency into several others. All you have to do is keep the cursor with the amount you want and keep changing the FROM and/or TO currencies.
  
  
• To change the spread: click on the "rate" pulldown menu, and select the spread the converter should use. The choice of spreads can be customized, as described in the Options section below.

The Options Menu

The OANDA converter supports a number of operations that can be invoked through the Options menu:

• Reconstruct Database: Reconstructs the database to its original state. This may be useful after you have changed the conversion rates and you wish to restore the orgininal values.
• Properties: Define the list of currencies that appear in the popup window on the Converter page, and setup default FROM and TO currencies.
• Download Rates: Downloads the latest currency rates from an OANDA server. This option requires the presence of the Network Library and a modem connection to the Internet
• Add Conversion Item: add new currencies (and their rates) to the converter.
• Edit Conversion Item: edit conversion factors.
• Delete Conversion Item: delete currencies from the convert list.
• Set Currency Spreads: change the currency spreads to a different value than the default ones.
  
  
  

• Generate a Cheat Sheet Table
• Add Conversion Rates
• Edit Conversion Rates
• Delete Conversion Rates
• Edit Currency Spreads
• Download Rates
• Setup startup Properties
• Reconstruct the Database
• Use of "e" notation
• Deal with illegal characters for numeric input
• Comma support
• Use of Conduit feature

Generate a Cheat Sheet Table

To generate a Cheat Sheet table, select the option from the menu called "Cheat Sheet". This action will open a new form where you can set the FROM and TO currencies, as well as the RATE to be used. The initial choices will correspond to the ones you are using at the moment, provided that they are currency types. Otherwise, the options will be set to default values set by user in the "Properties" section. Once you have made your choice, press "Generate" to see the table or "Cancel" to return to main screen. A Cheat Sheet for EUR/USD looks like the following snap shot.

Add Conversion Rates

To add a new conversion rate, select the "Add Conversion Item" in the Options menu. A new form will appear. First choose the type of item you wish to add. Notice how the units on the right hand side of the RATE field change as you choose different types of items. Those are the units that the rate will be expressed in. Furthermore, depending on the choice of type, the new item will be placed in the corresponding section (Currency, Mass, Length, etc.) and added to the list. Then fill in the three remaining fields and press "Add" to complete the operation. Once you press "Add", a message will appear informing you whether the item was successfully added to the database or not. Regardless of the outcome, you will be returned to the Add Conversion Item screen. When you are finished adding items, press cancel to return to the main screen.

Edit Conversion Rates

Conversion rates can also be manually edited once present in the database. Select the "Edit Conversion Item" option from the Options menu. A new form with exactly the same fields as in Add option will appear with one significant difference: a list is shown listing all the records you can edit. The list is sorted first by the type (Currency is first, Mass second, Length third, etc.) and then alphabetically by unit name. Everytime you select an item from the list, its full name, abbreviation, rate and units will appear in the corresponding fields. Once you have edited the item of your choice, press "Save" to make the changes permanent.

NOTE:

Pressing "Save" will ONLY save the item you have displayed. If you change the item data and then select the next item without pressing "Save", the changes will not take effect.

Once you have finished editing items, press "Cancel" to return to the main screen.

Delete Conversion Rates

If you find that some items you added are not needed, then use the "Delete Conversion Item" option to remove them. In the middle of the form you will see a list with all the conversion items you can remove. Once you select an item from the list, press "Delete" to remove it. Once you finish removing the items, press "Cancel" to return to the main screen.

NOTE:

You can not erase an item in any category if it is the only one left in it.

The currency spread is an option available to take into account the different buy/sell rates of currencies depending on type of transaction (Cash, Credit Card). The default values are set to 2% for Credit Card and 4% for Cash transactions. The percentage values mean that the buy and sell prices differ by this much relative to their mean value (Interbank exchange rate). For example, 1 CAD = 0.68 USD and 1.47 CAD = 1 USD at the Interbank rate. However, if you were to use Cash, the exchange rate would be 1 CAD = 0.67 USD and 1.50 CAD = 1 USD. Or:

The difference of (1.50-1.44 = 0.06) 0.06 CAD relative to 1.47 CAD is 4%.

Download Rates

This option will automatically download rates from the OANDA site, provided that you are connected to a modem with Internet access. Make sure that your Network settings are correct (User Name, Password, DNS). If you have your Palm set up to Query DNS and the connection to OANDA keeps failing, try setting your primary (and secondary) Domain Network Server IP address (Primary DNS IP, Secondary DNS IP).

Set up Properties

This option allows you to set up the default FROM and TO currencies that appear every time the main screen is reset. Moreover, it allows you to choose the currencies that will be available to you from the drop down list. Unchecking the box beside a currency name will remove that currency from the list, without removing it from the database. This currency will still be updated during the HotSync or the download, but will not be present on the currency converter pull down list. Once you have set the desired values, press "Save" to make the changes permanent and return to the main screen. If you decide against changing current settings, press "Cancel". By pressing "Reset", all the settings will be restored to those you saved last.

Reconstruct the Database

When you find yourself in a situation where you have changed too many things in the original database, you might want to restore the default database without reinstalling the program. To do so, select the option from the options menu named "Reconstruct Database". After reconstructing the database, make sure to HotSync to get the latest exchange rates.

NOTE:

If you change a currency's abbreviation it will cause that currency rate not to be updated during HotSync or download. The only way to fix this situation is to either fill the correct abbreviations (Standard Currency ISO Codes) by hand or by reconstructing the database.

Use of "e notation"

OANDA FXPilot™ supports "e notation". In fact, if the number is above billion or below one million-th, the converter will use the e-notation. The numbers in this notation look will be presented as:

This represents the number 1 234 560 000.00
You can input numbers with "e notation" in the input fields if you wish.

Deal with Illegal characters for numeric input

Some characters will not be recognized as numeric input.

Comma Support

You can use a comma instead of a period as the decimal point (15,99 as opposed to 15.99). Once you enter a comma, the converter will use comma for printing the response. To switch between commas and periods, simply replace the comma with a period or vice versa.

Use of Conduit feature

A Conduit is a DLL which extends the functionality of your HotSync Manager that comes with your Palm Pilot. The conduit that comes with this application automatically downloads the latest rates from OANDA site when you activate the HotSync. This will upload the latest rates to your Palm Pilot.

NOTE:

For Conduit instalation instructions read the Instalation.txt file provided with the program.

Problems/Questions

FXPilot™ Application Author: Tomasz Czajkowski