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New Chart Properties Window and Tabs, IB refresh |
Sept 14 , 2005
16:31 @Ensign_HA: Welcome to today's training class with Ensign. I hope you all have had a good week trading. I have been super busy with priority projects, and catching up on answering e-mail. The priority project being worked on is implementing a refresh using the IB servers for IB customers. Progress has been made, and I am refreshing from IB in my development version.
16:32 @Buffy: great Howard
16:32 @Ensign_HA: Here is an example 5-min chart for ES #F (Dec contract) and the 5-min bar data returned from the IB servers.
16:32 cc_k: that's great!
16:33 @Ensign_HA: Where I am headed with this is to have a private property for each chart that is expanded that permits the user to identify the prefered source for the refresh. Let me show you the form that will be in the major release for this IB feature (and for other vendor versions too)
16:34 @Ensign_HA: This is an example of the redesigned Chart Properties form (CTRL-P). The first tab will show the color properties and the show options. You will note that all of the Candlestick properties have been gathered from the various places such as the Setup | Charts | Candlestick form and now are available right on the chart's private property form.
16:35 @Buffy: neat
16:35 @Ensign_HA: So it will be MUCH easier to set the candle colors and styles you desire all in one place and the form is much smarter to enable or disable properties based on the color bar selection.
16:35 cc_k: fantastic
16:35 TOC: this will now be totally chart specific?
16:35 @Ensign_HA: yes TOC
16:36 @Ensign_HA: for example, in this example the Close Vs. Open color bars selection is in effect, and it ONLY uses the Up and Down colors so you will see the name of the color bar selection in words like you do on the main form color bar drop down panel instead of a cryptic number, like 8. So the Color Bars selection box on this private property is informative, and operates just like the color bars selection panel on the main form. You can select some different color bars choice right on this form as well.
16:38 cc_k: great
16:38 @Ensign_HA: Now, the ONLY color bars selection that can be used by Solid Candles is Close vs Open. With the form being smarter, if you change the color bars selection to something like Dunnigan, then the bar style will auto change to the Ensign Rockets selection so accomodate. Let me show example where I change just the color bars selection.
16:40 @Ensign_HA: The style changed to Rockets, and the 3rrd and 4th color labels show enabled. This being smarter will go a long ways towards keeping users from being confused as to which combinations of parameters work together to give you a desired effect. This type of interface might even allow for adjusting parameters (like number of bars) of such color bar types as turning points, major/minor trends etc. Now another really cool improvement is as you make changes on the property form, the change is immediately shown on the chart so as you change the show properties, the bar style, any of the colors, etc, you see the immediate effect without having to close the property form. This makes this property form for the chart behave very much like the changes that you make on a study property form. So.... all of these changes are for the better.
16:43 @Ensign_HA: Now the color theme will as a group change all 14 color boxes on this form, and the Grid Style frame. For the settings you have, you can click the Save button to record your current setting as the definition for the Color Theme whose name shows in the Color Theme box. If you want all of this form to be the default for new charts, then click the Save Default button. If you want to reset this form to use the default properties, click the Load Default button. The Load Default in your current version is the Reset to Defaults button.
16:44 TOC: Are Color Themes private or universal?
16:45 @Ensign_HA: The color theme is a singular file for its definition and if you have another chart with the same color theme name but different properties, the different properties are privately loaded by that chart. However, you can reselect the color theme name in the drop down box and it will load your global definition file and then fall into line for what you have in mind for that color theme.
16:46 @Ensign_HA: I think the organization of the information is better presented in this redesigned form. The Scale frame has all of the scale selections in one place, etc.
16:46 @Ensign_HA: Now let me move on to the next tab labeled Symbol on the chart property form.
16:47 @Ensign_HA: This form will show all the market hours in use, price formating, and roll schedule. You can make changes right on this form and thus not need to go to the Setup | Symbol Properties form. You can do the checking or changing in either place. Both adjust the table of properties for hours, formats, and roll schedule. While I was at it, I am headed to show separate hours for Sunday evening, and for Friday
16:49 cc_k: wow
16:49 @Buffy: ahha hadn't noticed that - cool
16:49 @Ensign_HA: Some markets are starting to close later on Friday, or even have an evening session for Friday. Also, now a format for Studies can be different, ie more decimals shown, than the regular price.
16:49 dpg2: But changes here affect all charts of same symbol, correct? i.e. these properties are tied to symbol, not the chart?
16:50 @Ensign_HA: Correct, dpg2, this is a global set of hours for this symbol, and thus for all charts. but it is super nice to be able to edit the symbol's hours on the chart property form. And I think the presentation of the information is better organized now, as shown in the example.
16:51 @Ensign_HA: now for the 3rd tab
16:51 @Ensign_HA: This is the Data tab for information about the chart file and refreshing it. On the left we show information such as the symbol, market group, time frame, file path, number of bars in the file and the Max Bar setting. Also here you can enable the Spike Filter, etc. The middle section is a private refresh control, such as where the data is to be refreshed from.
16:53 @Ensign_HA: All vendors will have the data vendor as the 1st bullet. So eSignal users will show eSignal as the 1st bullet, and IQFeed will show IQFeed as 1st bullet, and IB show IB as 1st bullet as in this example. This vendor source can be overridden by selecting 2nd or 3rd bullets.
16:54 @Ensign_HA: 2nd bullet will be the DTN Market Access source where we buy data for refreshing our Ensign Internet and IB users - 3rd bullet will be an alternative Internet source and as more internet sources are found 4th and 5th bullets will be enabled.
16:55 @Ensign_HA: Now, for some symbols, there is a symbol difference between what is used for the data feed (chart symbol) and the data source's symbol. In the past we had a little cross reference table buried in the Symbol Properties table and in the redesign have made it more visible and easier for uses to enter symbols. Let me demonstrate a change of the selection to the DTN Market Access selection
16:57 @Ensign_HA: When 2nd bullet is selected, note the Source Symbol changed to the DTN symbol of @ES#. Source happens to have two choices of either the ES Z5 for the specific month or the Continuation symbol. Either might be useful for refreshing the ES #F chart so the Select frame gives you the choice of which of these 2 symbols available from DTN is the one you want to get data for. So the form is very flexible.
16:58 @Ensign_HA: Occasionally, the source symbol uses a different decimal placement in their prices. So the Price Adjustment box allows you to either divide by or multiply by 10, 100, 1000, or 10000, etc.
17:00 @Ensign_HA: 98% of the symbols will have None as the selection, meaning they do not need the refresh data adjusted for decimal placement to match the live data vendor broadcast.
Global settings check box for Auto Refresh Charts.
This check box is a global way to enable or disable automatic requesting a
refresh when a chart is opened either individually or via a workspace. This
check box is equivalent to the older Ensign version's Disable bullet selection
on the Setup | Manager form for the History and the Intra-day frames. In the
Beta version, this Disable selection is combined into a single check box labeled
Auto Refresh Charts. When the box is checked, the quantity to refresh will
be automatically determined by the time stamp on the last bar in the chart.
If 2 weeks of data are needed to bring the chart current, 2 weeks will be requested.
If less is needed, then less will be requested.
17:00 @Ensign_HA: Anyway, the presentation is more flexible and easier for users to use or control. My hopes are up that I may be a week away from a beta release for IB refresh. I have it working, which was the hard part. Now I need to work on generalization so that we handle some of the particulars of the IB refresh to make it flexible and powerful, and check out what is truly available. I do not yet know if they will refresh Forex, Hang Seng, and other overseas exchanges. My hopes are up that they will and if that is the case, then the IB refresh will be super beneficial as it will give a refresh feature that the DTN Market Access does not fully cover.
17:03 @Ensign_HA: DTN may have more data for long term refreshes, and the user can easily switch the source to DTN and IB refresh may solve the issue some IB users complain about that DTN refresh is different than what they collected in real-time. I have compared bar by bar refresh for ES Z5 between DTN and IB and most of the bar volumes match exactly. Occassionally there is a small difference such as this example - one bar has IB=3714 and DTN=369717:05 @Ensign_HA: then the next bar has IB=14212 and DTN=14228
17:05 @Ensign_HA: So on one bar the IB was 17 ahead of DTN and on the next bar IB is 16 behind DTN - the net difference was 1. My conclusion is just simply a difference of which bar a particular tick got logged into by the two different vendors. All volume was accounted for, in my opinion, and this slight difference is trivial. Neither has a claim on any absolute, and there is no such thing as a definition of perfection. If users think perfection exists, they are in the wrong business trading the markets.
17:05 kongfuzi: do these refresh issue not exist with e signal feed?
17:08 @Ensign_HA: kongfuzi, there are refresh issues with esignal as well, but again they are very minor like unto the example just given.
17:08 kongfuzi: thx
17:06 jr01: Howard how is it that when two people in this room that have IB and the same isp can get different volume for charts - not just volume also major differences in the indicators and the way the charts are plotting.
17:08 @Ensign_HA: you might have logged a tick in one bar and esignal might refresh with that tick in an adjacent bar, etc. Or you might not have received a tick that they logged or vice versa, you might have received a tick that they decided to filter from their database for refresh purposes. Again, perfection does not exist, absolutes are undefined.
17:09 Shar: Agree jr. Just today I copied the way Sniffy did fib prices on his 30M chart and mine had different fib numbers even though we both use IB and both use YM Z5.
17:09 @Ensign_HA: if you think you are getting everything, you just need to go to the exchange and watch the open outcry pits and the chaos. What is called out of the pit is just a sample of what goes on in the pit. Many of you chart constant tick, constant volume and constant range charts. All of these are subject to a starting boundary issue and then all bars are built relative to that boundary. It is quite like the analogy of the dashed lines on the highway center line. They are equally spaced, but their absolute position depends on the starting point of where the painting began.
17:11 jr01: is there a way of resolving those issues of starting boundaries??
17:12 @Ensign_HA: The suggestion for having a common starting point for greater synchroniztion with your friends is for both of you to have the option on the Setup | Charts form for New Tick Bar at Open and New Range at Open and New Vol bar at Open
17:13 Shar: I see.
17:13 jr01: We went thru this with Mike and still had a major difference in volume that he could not explain
17:13 @Ensign_HA: Then hopefully, you both get in sync at least once per day at day session open.
17:13 terry: which open is used?
17:13 @Ensign_HA: day session open
17:14 terry: thx
17:14 Randy1: FWIW, I think it should be required that every trader visit the floor before even getting in this business.. as usual H is right...
17:14 @Ensign_HA: thx Randy - too often user deify the data feed to be more than it really is
17:14 @Ensign_HA: You can see from this post that the Candlesticks tab is gone, this Chart tab is simpler, etc. All part of the redesign to have more information directly controlled on the chart private property form.
17:15 cc_k: IB stuff is great news! Thank you so much Mr Arrington. One question: what if one wants to run some charts like tick or range as all sessions for a symbol and simultaneously side-by-sde an intraday minute chart of day session only? Won't this new feature of globally changing the settings for the symbol from any chart make that impossible?
17:15 @Ensign_HA: They think that if they chart does not show a particular tick, or get some volume value that their charts, studies, and decisions are inferior to someone elses - If your trading success is so dependant on that perfection in detail, then you are in the wrong business.
17:16 Shar: Well Randy and Howard, maybe that info should be given to the consumer by Ensign if that's the case. A Warning Sign.
17:16 jr01: Howard are you saying that two people using the same software ie Ensign should not expect to have the same volume on a perticular chart??
17:16 Randy1: It's in every document provided at every exchange
17:16 @Ensign_HA: that is what I have said jr
17:17 Shar: I never saw it.
17:17 TOC: @Ensign_HA, all great enhancements to this area...would it be possible to either move or add the "Day Session Only" check box to the "Properties" tab? that one gets used alot and would save a step to change/ or verify.
17:17 @Ensign_HA: Let me post a knowledge base article, 1 moment
17:17 Randy1: lol.. Your broker has you sign a concent before trading... have a look
http://www.ensignsupport.com/email/361.mhtml
17:18 Shar: We asked a question Randy. I don't think many of us realized that was a problem. Now we know it's a problem and won't question the differences using the same data provider.
17:19 @Ensign_HA: ok, I have lots of work to do, so I want to keep the class short today
17:19 Randy1: have a good one...
17:19 @Ensign_HA: Thanks for attending and you all have a good week
17:19 Randy1: Thanks Howard lookin forward to the new experience
17:19 @Buffy: you too Howard, thanks
17:19 terry: mas mejor Howard. ty
17:19 cc_k: thanks Mr Arrington
17:19 @Ensign_HA: Shar, the Internet is an unreliable data delivery mechanism. It can introduce some of the differences. Different routing can be involved, and some data may get dropped etc.
17:20 Shar: ok, thanks Howard.
17:20 kongfuzi: thx
17:19 timNY: Thanks for everything Howard
17:20 cc_k: that's true - i've seen trade desks where they get dedicated lines to sources like Bberg if they really want to make sure every single tick in real time is accounted for
17:21 TOC: @Ensign_HA, all great enhancements to this area...would it be possible to either move or add the "Day Session Only" check box to the "Properties" tab? that one gets used alot and would save a step to change/ or verify.
9:38 @Ensign_HA: TOC, it is on the chart property tab now, on the Data tab - so I think we are covered. The single check box on the Data data for Day Session Only is the sole check box now
19:38 Randy1: Howard how do I get the Moon agle on my chart again? :-)
19:38 @Ensign_HA: Randy, use Cycles tool, and enable the Moon Phases check box on the cycle tool property form\
19:38 cc_k: last question Mr Arrington: new placement of symbol prop in chart window will not change ability to view both all session and day session charts side by side right?
19:38 @Ensign_HA: correct cck, can view both - property is private to the chart.
19:38 cc_k: fantastico - thought changing it on any chart would change setting globally
19:38 TOC: @Ensign_HA, right, I saw it on the Data tab, but my only thought was since it gets alot of use, having it on the first tab would save a click
19:38 @Ensign_HA: Property form will reopen to the tab it was closed on - so if on 1st tab it will reopen to 1st tab and if on 2nd or 3rd, it reopens on 2nd or 3rd
19:38 cc_k: thanks for all your work Mr Arrington - we appreciate and support
19:38 @Ensign_HA: welcome cck
19:38 @Ensign_HA: bye
19:38 cc_k: bye
19:38 @Ensign_HA: oh, by they way, the Data Library for daily and 30 min continuation files on my web site were updated earlier today. So these are current files you can download using Internet Services, 1st tab. if you want to get my big continuation files.
19:38 TOC: ty
19:38 @Ensign_HA: Some with IB who try to refresh QM #F do not get a good refresh - so go get my big, complete, and good file
Hang Seng refresh from IB
