How-To Obtain Stock Information from Yahoo Finance | Actionscript | Adobe Flex
By klanguedoc
Yahoo Finance offers an extensive API to obtain an vaste amount of information on a public companie’s stock trading. Their API is accessible via url parameters and can return the information in the form of csv formatted list. Another option is to the YQL (Yahoo Query Language) to obtain stock trading information. The nice thing is that the Yahoo Finance API has made easy to obtain this information using a language like Adobe Actionscript in conjunction with Adobe Flash or more specfically Adobe Flex.
Yahoo Finance uses parameters on an url to obtain and return the stock information. The following table list the available types of information on stocks that is available.
Parameter
| Description
| Parameter
| Description
|
|---|---|---|---|
a
| Ask
| k5
| % Change from 52-W
|
a2
| Average Daily Volume
| l
| Last Trade with Time
|
a5
| Ask Size
| l1
| Last Trade (Price Only)
|
b
| Bid
| l2
| High Limit
|
b2
| Ask (RT)
| l3
| Low Limit
|
b3
| Bid (RT)
| m
| Day's Range
|
b4
| Book Value
| m2
| Day's Range (RT)
|
b6
| Bid Size
| m3
| 50-Day MA
|
c
| % Change
| m4
| 200-D MA
|
c1
| Change
| m5
| Change from 200-D MA
|
c3
| Commission
| m6
| % Change from 200-D MA
|
c6
| Change (RT)
| m7
| Change from 50-D MA
|
c8
| After Hour Change (RT)
| m8
| % Change from 50-D MA
|
d
| Dividend/Share
| n
| Name
|
d1
| Last Trade Date
| n4
| Notes
|
d2
| Trade Date
| o
| Open
|
e
| Earning/Share
| p
| Previous Close
|
e1
| Error Indication
| p1
| Price Paid
|
e7
| EPS Estimate Current Year
| p2
| Change in %
|
e8
| EPS Estimate Next Year
| p5
| Price/Sales
|
e9
| EPS Estimate Next Quarter
| p6
| Price/Book
|
f6
| Float Shares
| q
| Ex-Dividend Date
|
g
| Day's Low
| r
| P/E Ratio
|
h
| Day's High
| r1
| Dividend Pay Date
|
j
| 52-Week Low
| r2
| P/E Ratio (RT)
|
k
| 52-Week High
| r5
| PEG Ratio
|
g1
| Holding Gain %
| r6
| Price/EPS Estimate Current Year
|
g3
| Annualized Gain
| r7
| Price/EPS Estimate Next Year
|
g4
| Holding Gain
| s
| Symbol
|
g5
| Holding Gain % (RT)
| s1
| Shares Owned
|
g6
| Holding Gain (RT)
| s7
| Short Ratio
|
i
| More Info
| t1
| Last Trade Time
|
i5
| Order Book (RT)
| t6
| Trade Links
|
j1
| Market Capitalization
| t7
| Ticker Trend
|
j3
| Market Cap (RT)
| t8
| 1 Year Target
|
j4
| EBITDA
| v
| Volume
|
j5
| Change from 52-W Low
| v1
| Holding Value
|
j6
| % Change from 52-W Low
| v7
| Holding Value (RT)
|
k1
| Last Trade with Time (RT)
| w
| 52-W Range
|
k2
| Change % (RT)
| w1
| Day's Value Change
|
k3
| Last Trade Size
| w4
| Day's Value Change(RT)
|
k4
| Change from 52-W High
| x
| Stock Exchange
|
y
| dividend Yield
|
Yahoo Finance Query URL Format
To obtain the stock information in the csv form, you can use the following url:
http://quote.yahoo.com/d/quotes.csv?s=goog&f=snl1a
The first parameter field “s” indicates which companies the needs to be queried. Stock symbols can be join by using the “+” symbol. The second parameter field “f” is the type of information that needs to be returned. The second parameter contain any combination of query parameters. They are grouped together without any separator.
So the above url is seeking informaiton on Google (GOOG) The types of information requested are : symbol, name, last traded and ask.
protected function GetQutote():void
{
httpServ = new HTTPService();
httpServ.url = 'http://quote.yahoo.com/d/quotes.csv?s=goog&f=snl1a';
httpServ.method = 'GET';
httpServ.addEventListener(ResultEvent.RESULT,yDataResult);
httpServ.addEventListener(FaultEvent.FAULT,yDataFault);
httpServ.send();
}Actionscript App Code
Using this knowledge we can construct a script in Actionscript to return information for the Yahoo Finance service and store it as an Array, ArrayCollection, or XML. To obtain this information using Actionscript, we will use the HttpService. Here is sample code to demonstrate how this can be done, although in an actual production component, more validation and other types of controls should be included.
Knowing the parameters that we sent, we can build an ArrayCollection, adding labels to the data. To build to the ArrayCollection.
protected function yDataResult(evt:ResultEvent):void
{
var s:String = evt.result as String;
var a:Array = s.split(",");
var makeObject:Object = new Object();
//To add to a DataGrid or List or GroupData
var stockArr:ArrayCollection = new ArrayCollection();
makeObject = ({symbol: a[0],name: a[1],last: a[2],
ask: a[3].toString().substring(0, a[3].toString().indexOf('\r\n'))})
stockArr.addItem(makeObject);
}You could just as easily add the output to Labels or TextInput fields on an form or other visual element like so:
protected function yDataResult(evt:ResultEvent):void
{
var s:String = evt.result as String;
var a:Array = s.split(",");
//To add to a form or individual fields
var symbol:Label = a[0].toString();
var name:Label = a[1].toString();
var last:Label = a[2].toString();
var ask:Label = a[3].toString();
}Here is the output of the query, and complete code:
In Summary
You can download the project, including all the sample code, here at : http://code.google.com/p/kevlangdo-actionscript/
Code: http://code.google.com/p/kevlangdo-actionscript/downloads/list
At this point, you could add this ArrayColleciton to any DataProvider for a DataGrid, a GroupData or a List. Yahoo Finance makes it easy to obtain stock information on any publicly listed company. Actionscript provides a robust API for data manipulation.
Comments
No comments yet.
