Bulkowski’s Pattern Recognition Software

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Written by and copyright © 2005-2008 by Thomas N. Bulkowski. All rights reserved.

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Patternz is a Windows based program that automatically finds chart and candlestick patterns. It has these features.

• Finds 66 unique chart patterns (see Patterns Form)
• Finds 105 candlestick patterns (see Patterns Form)
• Has a chart pattern indicator to detect market turns (see the Chart Pattern Indicator Form)
• Allows the selection of patterns with the best overall performance, fewest failures, reversals, and continuations (see the Patterns form)
• Scans files to find patterns and lists results (see List Form)
• Allows up to 9 criteria to select patterns for performance (radio buttons on List Form)
• Filters stock selections for price and volume
• Shows cycles (chart form)
• Shows phi extensions for price prediction (Phi button on chart form)
• Sorts selected patterns to highlight most recent (see List Form)
• Export pattern information to clipboard or Excel for analysis (see List Form)
• Pattern watch lists make the selection of patterns easier
• Security watch lists allow important securities to be found quickly and easily
• Highlights support and resistance (SAR button on Chart Form)
• Tells about chart and candlestick patterns (the Tell button)
• Calculates a volatility stop (the Stop button)
• Calculates pivot points, S1, R1, S2 and R2 (the Forecast button)
• Calculates a Fibonacci retrace (the Retrace button)
• Forecasts tomorrow’s closing price (see the Forecast button) with back testing capability
• Detects tall candles which means a minor high or low 66% of the time (give or take a day)
• Supports trendlines (see the Chart Form)
• Volume ticks show pattern end points, which helps with volume trend and shape analysis
• Supports bar or candlestick charts
• Extensive instruction manual or look at the black help window at form top as you tab around
• Setup allows the tuning of Patternz parameters (see Setup button on Chart Form)
• Works with a variety of ASCII file formats
• Supports Windows 3.11 and more recent versions, such as XP and Vista
• Adware and spyware free
• It’s FREE

Release Notes for latest version

Version 4.1h
• Added a patterns waiting for breakout column to the Indicator form.
• Fixed a bug with chart margins
• Fixed a bug in the Indicator form when begin/end dates do not match the files.

Troubleshooting Patternz

Check this list if you are having problems with Patternz. Most problems deal with the date in the data files.

0) Check the Known bugs list in case your problem is there.

1) Does the FRNT data file that accompanies Patternz display properly in the Chart form? If NO, then run the File Format form and be sure the Enable checkbox is NOT checked. If it is NOT checked and errors still occur when trying to chart a stock, you are probably running Patternz outside the U.S. If so, your country’s date format may be different from what is used in the FRNT file. See #4 below. Otherwise send the text of any error messages you receive to Tom Bulkowski. Also include the data file causing the problem (compress it, please) and a screen capture of the error (press Print Screen and then paste it into Word or Paint (save as a .tiff file) and send as an attachment).

For most people, this will be the format of files downloaded from Yahoo!Finance.com. The first line in file FRNT.CSV, circled in magenta, has the line "Date, Open, High, Low, Close, Volume, Adj Close", circled in red, and I call that the header. This line tells Patternz the format of the file, meaning that the date comes first, then the opening price, and so on.

Since the file has told Patternz the format, there is no need to configure it using the text and check boxes in the File Format portion of the screen. Notice that the Enable check box, circled in green, is not checked. This is the correct setting when you have a header. The date format follows the standard form, meaning that none of the exceptions apply, so the option button circled in blue is the correct setting. If the date listed in the file (red area) were of a different format, then you would click the appropriate choice in the date format (below the blue circle) and then click the Save button (not Save Format).

The figure shows a sample configuration of Patternz for a stock (a.csv) that does not have a header as the first line (it is missing the phrase, "Date, Open, High, Low" and so on).

Circled in red is one line from the file. Configure patternz in the green circle according to the layout you see in the red area. In other words, the date comes first, so place a 1 in the box beside Date. The opening price comes next, so place a 2 in the Open text box and check that box. Continue down the list, making sure that each one matches the layout shown in red.

Count the number of data elements (date would be 1, open price would be 2, and so on) in the file and place the total in the area circled in blue. This file has 6 data elements (and each is separated by a comma, so they are easy to count). Check the Enable check box, shown here circled in yellow. The date is circled in magenta and make sure the date configuration circled in red matches the layout you choose in the magenta area. Since the date is not one of the exceptions listed in the Date Format area, I chose Standard. Click the Save button (not Save Format) to save changes. Patternz is now setup to work with this file.

2) If FRNT DOES display properly but other files do not, then the other data files are in the wrong format. Open the FRNT file using the File Format form (or an editor or spreadsheet) and compare it to the file causing the error. Does the error file have a header (the first line in the file: Date, Open, High, Low and so on)? If the header is missing then you need to run the File Format option for Patternz. See #1 above and consult the Patternz instruction manual.

3) Are the dates in the same format? If not, then you need to run the File Format option for Patternz.

4) Are the dates in the proper format for your country? In the United States, the default format is mm/dd/yyyy. In Canada, Australia, Austria, and other countries, the format is different. The easiest way to fix this is to run the Windows Control Panel, Regional and Language Options, and switch to the United States format. For more information, consult the readme file that accompanies the Patternz program or consult Patternz instruction manual.

5) If the Date is a special format, such as yyyymmdd or yyyyddmm, (notice no field separators such as / as in yyyy/mm/dd) then the File Format form has options for these date formats. If one does not work then try the others!

6) If some files can be read while others cannot, check to see if the file names are longer than 8 characters. If so, and you are running Windows NT (and perhaps other Windows operating systems), one user says to do the follow so Patternz will accept long file names:

• Run the "Registry Editor" (RegEdt32.exe)
• Select "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem"
• Double click on "NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation"
• Change 1 to 0

Known Bugs

If you have a problem with the software and the program's instruction manual, readme.txt file, this web page, or Tour do not answer your question, then contact me, Tom Bulkowski.

• For Vista users the program should run (that is, one user installed it without any trouble but others have had problems). If Patternz does not run then you may have to: ’Open the Program Compatibility Wizard by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking Programs, and then clicking Use an older program with this version of Windows.’ Then follow the instructions. If you receive a message that NTVDM.EXE is not running, then run it before running Patternz.

  Another Vista user reported that he had to install VirtualBox, which is free virtualization software and then installed an old copy of Windows (Windows 2000 in his case). He also ran Vbox Guest Additions to be able to adjust the display size to 1024 x 768 resolution.

• Best viewed on 1024 x 768 resolution screens.
• In countries outside the U.S. any date field (Chart and List forms, in particular) shows a bogus date until you click on them.
• If you try to view too much information on a chart (like a decade of daily price information), the chart may overwrite itself. Adjust the begin date to view less data. It may take multiple clicks of the Graph button before the problem clears.
• If you receive an error message similar to "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\AUTOEXEC.NT. The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications" then locate the autoexe.nt file on your system (probably in c:\windows\repair or c:\I386) and place it in the windows\system32 folder.
• Patternz is a 16-bit application. I am told it will not run with XP x64 (regular Windows XP runs fine). You will receive an error message like "The image file [path to patternz.exe] is valid, but it is for a machine type other than the current machine."
• If you receive an error message similar to "The file C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SS3D3.VBX is out of date. This program requires a newer version" contact me and I will provide a version of Patternz that does not use the ss3d3.vbx file.
• Does not Chart or List patterns on systems that use a 2 year date. Use the Windows control panel to switch to a 4 year date. See the readme.txt file for more information (it is in the installation folder that contains Patternz).
• If you receive error messages citing DrawChars() and DrawIt(), then you should search your computer for the following files: chart2fx.vbx, msafinx.dll, msmasked.vbx, ss3d2.vbx, ss3d3.vbx, threed.vbx, and vbrun300.dll. These should be in the windows\system folder only and NOWHERE ELSE. Remove them from the Patternz folder or wherever you find them (other than the windows\system folder, that is). Then, reboot your machine and try Patternz again.

  If that still does not cure the problem, then download the complete installation package again and manually place the above mentioned .vbx and .dll files in the windows\system folder. There is no need to run installation again. Remove the *.vbx and *.dll files from the Patternz folder, reboot, and try again.

• The program throws out data from the weekends. If weekend trading is important to you, let me know and I will consider fixing it.

Download

IF YOU HAVE ALREADY INSTALLED Patternz once, then you don’t need to install the complete thing again, just grab the latest version of patternz.exe. Click here to download the latest version of the program. Extract the new version and place it in your Patternz folder. Not sure what version you have? Run Patternz and from the main menu click Help then Version. If it shows the version matching the one at the top of this page, then you have the latest release.

FOR NEW INSTALLATIONS, click here to download the complete package. You’ll get a zip file that contains the Patternz software. Extract all of the files into a folder of your choice. Read the ENTIRE readme file so you understand what the setup program will do, especially if you are running an older version of Windows. Run setup.exe to complete the installation. Once installed you can remove all of the files from the Patternz folder except the FRNT data file, readme.txt, patternz manual.txt, and PATTERNZ.exe.

FREE Quote Downloader

This downloader is easy to use, I have tried it, and it works well. Best of all, it’s free! You build a symbol list, tell it where to find the list, tell it where to put the files, and click on an icon to begin downloading. It grabs the quotes from yahoo or google. The above link will take you to a site where you can read about the product and download it.

Refer to the above figure to get the product to run with Patternz, do the following:

1. Run Patternz.
2. Click on File Format menu option
3. Uncheck "Adjusted close" check box (shown above, circled in red)
4. Change 07 to 06 where it asks "How many columns (total) does the file have?" (shown above, circled in red)
5. Check the "Enable" check box (shown above, circled in red)
6. Click Save (shown above, circled in blue)

Patternz should be configured to work with the file format from this downloader.

MLDownloader

In case you missed it, above is a link to a free quote downloader. The last time I heard, MLDownloader costs money and I like free...

MLDownloader is a program that automatically updates your database in a file format compatible with Patternz, according to one user. I have not tried it, but I am told it works reliably. Here is a list of instructions to automate the updating of files for Patternz, courtesy of Tom Helget (email Tom at THelget@aol.com for more information. Click here for the Patternz.cfg file, and an improved version Patternz2.cfg).

1. Run Patternz.
2. Click on File Format
3. Check and configure the following:
• 01 Date
• 02 Open
• 03 High
• 04 Low
• 05 Close
• 06 Volume
• How many columns (total) does the file have? 6
4. Check Enable
5. Select the date format (usually Standard) suitable for your country
6. Save changes.

1. Download the Patternz.cfg file and save it to the MLDownloader/Symbol Lists/USA folder.
2. Invoke MLDownloader.
3. To utilize the Patternz.cfg file with any Symbol List:
1. Highlight the Symbol List you have already created and click on Download...Get Quotes. Insure that the Download historical data box is checked and that the Server is set to Yahoo (Worldwide) on the Get Quotes screen:
2. Click on the Options button near the lower right of the Get Quotes screen.
3. On the Options screen check ASCII file format and then...
4. Look for the Patternz.cfg file in the MLDownloader/Symbol Lists/USA folder where you stored it.
5. Highlight Patternz.cfg and click on Open.
6. When the Options screen returns, click on Apply and then OK.
7. When the Get Quotes screen returns, set your Start Date and End Date and Periodicity. You can now click on Download historical data to obtain your quotes for use with Patternz.

Creating Patternz .txt files for TC2005 Users

These instructions are courtesy of John Myer (e-mail TC2005 questions to: johndmmyer@yahoo.com) and are for TC2005 users. I've never used TC2005, so this is not an endorsement, just a convenience to those who have.

To create a .txt file that works in Patternz from TC2005:

1. Bring up TC2005
2. Start with a watch list of those stocks you wish to analyze
3. On the Databank menu select "Data export to text."
4. The export window will give you choices
1. One at a time select the fields from the first line of the example .csv file for Frontier. (Date[mm/dd/yyyy],open,high,low,close,volume,volume)
2. For each field hit the "Add" button to move the field to the "Export Fields (In Order)" box.
3. Be sure the "TAB" is selected as the Data Delimiter.
4. Set the export path to whatever directory you wish. I put mine in the same directory as Patternz.exe file.
5. Check the "Multiple Files (named with symbol)" button.
6. Set the number of days to export. I use at least 150, sometimes more.
7. Set the "Dates Ascending/Descending" button to Ascending. I've done it both ways. They appear to work either way.
8. Hit the "Export" button at the bottom of the window.
On my system, the export of a dozen stocks for 150 days of data took in the area of 1 second. I don't yet have adding the first line automated, so I just copy that first line, tab delimited, and paste it in each stock file at the top. [Note: You can eliminate this step by using the File Format option in Patternz to configure the column format for all of the files].
5. Bring up Patternz.
6. The files just created will appear on the drop list.
7. Select the one you want and away we go. You will get the error message "Beginning date not found, using the first date in the file." Ignore the message and continue.

Creating Patternz files from Wealth-Lab

The following instructions are to create files from Wealth-Lab for Patternz. I do not own Wealth-Lab, so this is not an endorsement, nor have I tried these instructions. They are provided courtesy of Ray Senesac. For more information, email Ray at raysenesac@aol.com. The instructions are also available as a compressed Notepad file by clicking here.

var Bar, WatchListNumber, f: integer;
var FileName: String;

for WatchListNumber := 0 to WatchListCount - 1 do
begin
   SetPrimarySeries(WatchListSymbol(WatchListNumber));
   FileName := 'c:/DataBus/Patternz/' + WatchListName + '/' + GetSymbol + '.csv';
   PrintStatus(GetSymbol);
   f := FileOpen(FileName);
   FileClear(f);
   FileWrite(f, 'Date,open,high,low,close,volume');
   For Bar := 0 to BarCount - 1 do
      FileWrite(f, IntToStr(GetMonth(Bar)) + '/' + IntToStr(GetDay(Bar)) + '/' + IntToStr(GetYear(Bar)) + ',' +
                   FloatToStr(PriceOpen(Bar)) + ',' +
                   FloatToStr(PriceHigh(Bar)) + ',' +
                   FloatToStr(PriceLow(Bar)) + ',' +
                   FloatToStr(PriceClose(Bar)) + ',' +
                   FloatToStr(Volume(Bar)));
   FileClose(f);
end;

3.  Change the File name "DataBus/Patternz" to the path you are using for Patternz data files. Note that this is setup to use the WatchList Name as part of the file structure. I like this because I have the same groupings for stocks in Patternz as I have in Wealth-Lab.

4.  Create the Folders that you defined for Wealth-Lab in the script above. For example, I have a WatchList called "Total Stocks" so I created a folder "c:/DataBus/Patternz/Total Stocks".

5.  To execute the script, click on a stock in the appropriate WatchList. This will create a Patternz file for each stock in the WatchList.

6.  If you have a large number of stocks in your WatchList this can take a while to execute. I maintain several thousand stocks in Wealth-Lab so if I only want to see current signals, I set Wealth-Lab to only use 250 bars of data (one year) and the script runs much faster. 

7.  After you run the Wealth-Lab script start Patternz and follow the instructions to run it.

Copyright © 2005-2008 by Thomas N. Bulkowski. All rights reserved. To err is human. To forgive is not company policy.