What’s Broken in JStock?

If you’ve been using JStock, the popular free stock market software supporting 28 countries, you might have encountered a frustrating issue recently detailed in

. Users, including the original reporter @feitnomore, have reported that their stock values are no longer updating, with all prices stuck at 0.00 across the watchlist, portfolio, and other sections. This problem suggests a breakdown in JStock’s ability to fetch real-time or historical stock data, likely due to changes or disruptions in its underlying data sources (e.g., Yahoo Finance, which has been unreliable since 2017) or a bug in the data retrieval and display logic. Despite the software’s robust features like stock watchlists, indicator editors, and portfolio management, this issue renders it ineffective for tracking current market values, leaving users in the dark about their investments.

The lack of assigned developers, labels, or active pull requests on this issue indicates it remains unresolved, with no official fix released as of the latest updates. This stagnation could stem from the open-source nature of the project, where development relies on volunteer contributors, or from challenges in maintaining compatibility with evolving APIs and platforms.

How the HTML Code Helps

To bridge the gap while awaiting a permanent fix, a simple webpage solution has been developed using HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. This webpage, detailed in the provided code, offers a user-friendly way to manually update your stock prices and generate the correct JSON format needed for JStock’s portfolio-real-time-info.json file. Here’s how it helps:

• Dynamic Form Adjustment: Users can specify the number of stocks they want to update, and the form automatically generates the corresponding input fields for stock codes and prices. This flexibility accommodates any portfolio size, making it adaptable to your needs.
• Automated JSON Generation: Upon submitting the form, the page creates a single-line JSON string with the stockPrices and stockPricesTimestamp fields, matching JStock’s required format. This eliminates manual formatting errors and ensures compatibility.
• Clipboard Integration: The generated JSON is copied to your clipboard with a click, simplifying the process of transferring it to your JSON file.
• User Empowerment: Until the JStock issue is resolved, this tool puts you in control, allowing you to input current prices and maintain an accurate portfolio valuation.

This webpage doesn’t fix the root cause but provides a practical workaround, leveraging browser-based technology to streamline a manual process.

Steps to Update Your JSON File

Follow these steps to use the webpage and update your JStock JSON file with current stock prices:

1. Obtain Current Stock Prices:
   • Visit a reliable source like TradingView to get the latest prices for your stocks. For example, search for stocks like A200.AX, BOE.AX, or RDDT to find their current values (e.g., 137.67 AUD for A200.AX as of your last update).
   • Note down the prices for each stock in your portfolio and update the table below
   • Fill in each row with the stock code (e.g., A200.AX) and its current price (e.g., 137.67) based on your TradingView data.
   • Repeat for all stocks in your portfolio.
   • Click the “Generate Updated JSON” button. The page will display the JSON output (e.g., {“stockPrices”:[[{“code”:”A200.AX”},137.67],…],”stockPricesTimestamp”:1746169100000}) and copy it to your clipboard.
2. Update the JSON File:
   • Close any running jstock on your computer
   • Locate your portfolio-real-time-info.json file on Windows at C:\Users\PROFILE\.jstock\1.0.7\Australia\portfolios\My Portfolio\portfolio-real-time-info.json. (Note: Replace User with your actual Windows username, and Australia with your country code if different, e.g., usa for US stocks.)
   • Open the file in a text editor (e.g., Notepad or VS Code).
   • Replace the existing “stockPrices” and “stockPricesTimestamp” line with the generated JSON.
   • Save the file and close
   • Open JStock and youll see the current prices

Update Stock Prices JSON

ummary of the Workaround Until Fixed

Until the JStock team addresses Issue #190, this manual workaround using the HTML webpage offers a viable solution. By fetching current prices from TradingView or similar platforms and inputting them into the webpage, you can generate a properly formatted JSON string to update your portfolio-real-time-info.json file. This process, while not automated, ensures your portfolio valuations remain current, mitigating the impact of the 0.00 price bug. The webpage simplifies the task with its dynamic form and clipboard feature, but it requires periodic manual updates as stock prices change. Keep an eye on the

for any official fixes or community pull requests that might resolve this issue permanently. In the meantime, this approach empowers you to maintain accurate tracking of your investments despite the software’s current limitations.