Security Name gets swapped for another (early in list alpha) during keyboard data entry

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kking18474

29 May, 2024 09:51 PM

This is somewhat difficult to describe. It was difficult to diagnose as well. Windows MD 2022.6 (4097) here, but honestly I've noticed this for a while, multiple versions. I've been a user since MD 2015.
I have only noticed this when entering security transactions, mostly DIVX transactions, but it may occur in other ways. After entering the date, DIVX as the action, then tab-ing over to the Security field, you may enter your security by typing the first few letters of its name, normally. If there is more than one matching name in the list you can either click it with your mouse, or if you don't want to leave your keyboard you can keep typing letters, or use the arrow keys to highlight the correct security name, then hit enter or tab again to select the name and move to the Amount field. This normally works quite well, and saves me the effort of moving off the keyboard to the mouse and back.
However, occasionally, after typing and matching the security name or arrowing down to select it before you hit enter/tab, the security name will revert to an earlier security (alphabetically) in your Account, this will vary by account of course. So this manifests as (if you're not paying attention) incorrectly marked transactions for the appropriate security. I'll note that it is an early security alphabetically regardless if you have remaining shares or not. In my case it became apparent to me only after noticing so many DIVX transactions in my register for a security I no longer even own.
Another note, my current fix for this is to type the first few letters of the security until a shorter list of matching (so far) names comes up then select it with the mouse. This works every time, but it means I have to leave my keyboard or risk entering the wrong security. I'm more likely to catch this when double checking my register entries during reconciliation.
I will say it seems to happen for specific securities repeatedly, and in the past I was fairly certain it was an indication that there was a problem somewhere with this specific security in one of my accounts (not necessarily the one I was working in), however I have not been able to find any issues with 3 or 4 prominent securities I am having trouble with today. By "problem", one example I've seen in the past is that I have found unresolved lot matching (for my lot matching securities) and after completing the lot matching pop-up then the problem would go away. So I am still suspect of the problem securities, but unable to find any issues with them right now. I am a toolbox user, but haven't found a tool for this issue yet.
Has anyone else run into this? Thank you for all offered help.
KK

  1. System closed this discussion on 28 Aug, 2024 10:00 PM.

  2. kking18474 re-opened this discussion on 05 Nov, 2024 03:55 PM

  3. 1 Posted by kking18474 on 05 Nov, 2024 03:59 PM

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    Let me ask this another way.
    Within an investment account when you initiate a new transaction, what determines the default SECURITY that shows up in the SECURITY field? and why?

    I can tell you what it is NOT in several of my accounts:
    it is NOT the first security in the account alphabetically (even if not held anymore -0 shares),
    it is NOT the first security in the account alphabetically with current holdings,
    it is NOT the last security with activity in the register,
    it is NOT the default category on the account.

    In these investment accounts it's also causing other register problems for me and trying to troubleshoot this in my data.
    I think it SHOULD be the first security in the account alphabetically (regardless of holdings), as it is in some of my other accounts, so I think this discrepancy may help me determine what is going wrong.

    thanks, KK

  4. 2 Posted by bcurtis on 06 Nov, 2024 02:22 PM

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    This can happen in any transaction, not just investments. I’ve struggled with it, too. It is reproducible by starting a new transaction and tabbing into category field where the category dropdown will appear. If you use the arrow keys to select a category and then tab out of the field your category will not be selected. Hitting return will make the selection, but not tab.

  5. 3 Posted by Chris on 15 Dec, 2024 06:43 PM

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    I came here today to complain about this. Essentially, selecting security name with keys does not work, you can get all the way to highlighting the exact security you want in the dropdown, using only keys, but then you have to reach for the mouse to click on it, because there is no keyboard key that can cause the thing you have highlighted to be entered into the field. My expectation is that either tab or enter keys should select it, but they don't. Tab causes dropdown to vanish and goes to the next field, but the filled-in security is not the one that was highlighted. (In my case it's usually the one that was first in the dropdown before I started filtering the list.) I don't know if this always happens, but it happens regularly, and has been bugging me for a long time.

    This is basic data entry functionality that is not working as it should.

  6. 4 Posted by kking18474 on 15 Dec, 2024 06:57 PM

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    bcurtis, my issue is that not even return works in these cases, (it normally does) only hitting it with a mouse click works. It's not all my securities, in fact it's a short list.

    Chris has identified the same thing that I have seen. This is basic to data entry and it's very frustrating to have to use a mouse for this transaction entry. Chris, one thing I found the other day that resolved it, maybe you can try this. When I ran into a security where this was occurring, I stopped and edited that security in the interface. I simply made a cosmetic change to the name then changed it back. After doing this and going back to the transaction, the data entry could be completed without jumping to an earlier (alphabetically) security in the list.
    In my case, within the account, if it is going to jump to another security, it ALWAYS jumps to the same one. There should be something telling about the security that it picks, I'd like to understand that as well.

  7. 5 Posted by Chris on 15 Dec, 2024 07:01 PM

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    Experimenting, even if you ignore the dropdown completely, and type in perfectly the whole of the very long name of my typical security, exactly as it appears in the dropdown, even matching case on each letter, if you then press tab to go to the next field, everything you have just typed is wiped out and replaced with the default contents of the field that were there before you started overtyping.

    Further experimentation shows that some security names work, and some don't. I haven't found a pattern as to which security names can be specified using only the keyboard, and which require the mouse.

  8. 6 Posted by Chris on 15 Dec, 2024 07:07 PM

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    I tried renaming the actual security that triggered this today, did not fix the problem.(I actually renamed it, not just temporarily, it did actually need renaming by removing one character.)

  9. 7 Posted by bcurtis on 15 Dec, 2024 07:33 PM

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    I was able to reproduce this problem. I had to go through a half dozen, or so, securities to find one that would exhibit the behavior of reverting to default when enter is pressed.

  10. 8 Posted by kking18474 on 16 Dec, 2024 03:15 AM

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    Yes bcurtis, it is not all of my securities either.
    So two questions:
    1. what causes these securities to revert? (and how to reliably fix it)
    2. how does a security become a default security? (and thus a target for the reverting transactions above)

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