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Date/Time: Tue, 26 Nov 2024 18:50:18 +0000



Reporting long running issues and design flaws with Chart Studies window

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[2023-06-13 08:10:41]
User61168 - Posts: 403
Hello SC Support/Engineering,

I am reporting the following issues which exists in the platform for atleast 2+ years:

1) Whenever I add a new study to my collection that is applied to a chart, then if I hit apply without saving the collection, the file name of the study collection disappears and goes blank! This has been happening for last 3+ years. I am feeling the frustration to get this fixed in the next release.

2) When I add a study collection ending with a + (to append/merge study collections), the original study collection name gets overridden with the new collection (the one ending in +). This is just wrong so it has to be a bug. This is also happening since last 2+ yrs.

3) It is just nuts to not have the ability to "Open" a study collection outside of Analysis selection menu. My Analysis menu is completely tapped out with too many collections in the data folder. I have reported this issue in the past and I realize you are working on a new and improved design of the studies window. In the interim, could you please add a "Open Study" button next to "save all" button as a quick and simple fix in next release?

4) "Save Single" button should always ask for the name of study collection instead of overriding the entire existing study collection name. In the current design, I ironically have to save the original study collection name, enter new collection name for single study and then paste the original collection name back. It's just silly UX design imo

5) It is crucial that you prevent deleting of a study in a study collection that has been password protected. It defeats the purpose of putting a password if it can be deleted.

My wish list of design improvements to incorporate in the future versions:
a) Include a "Enable All / Disable All" studies command button feature similar to Hide/unHide all
b) Include a "Ignore All subgraphs" buttom to ignore all studies subgraphs in a collection
c) If a study is "hidden". perhaps grey it out in the chart studies window for a quick visual
d) Every study available within SC must have a Enable/Disable feature. There are just too many studies that uselessly take up CPU when added to a collection. This is a must to improve CPU and Memory utilization without removing the required studies from the collection.
e) Every chart and chartbook should have to "disconnect from data feed" feature. In the current design, there is no much wastage of pure processing power on charts that are open but not used/referenced within a chart book. This will drastically improve overall performance of sierra chart
f) In relation to #e above, if I have a session window of just one hour, there is no point in feeding data to that chart for 23 hours outside of the session window. This is unnecessarily taking up valuable computing power.
g) Remove the "send trade orders to trade service" feature from all trading studies. It makes SDLC management of trading strategies hard to move from development to production environment forcing two separate versions of each study collection and it is a unnecessary protection. Any automated trading trader should know never to co-mingle simulated trading with production/live trading instance of SC.
h) Save Last 5 frequently used study collections. The Analysis window shows all study collection in alphabetical order which is painful. It should be sorted based on last modified date.
i) Provide a "undo" and "redo" edit button for Alert formula window similar to MS Word or Excel that remembers the history of edits. It will be very powerful tool to make edits, test and undo changes in alert formula without saving code in notepad++ etc
j) Implement a (optional) master password for the entire platform to protect important configuration settings.
k) Implement a (optional) password protection for all Chart and Chartbook settings.
[2023-06-13 08:50:42]
User61168 - Posts: 403
I have some more performance improvement suggestions but I also realize the complications involved in implementing these. Nonetheless, I am sharing as I am a huge fan and SC Enthusiast for years to come :-

l) Bring more "intelligence" to the Calculated Studies feature. I noticed "calculating studies" upon Applying a study collection does not take into account a subgraph that has been put on ignore. By this I mean, if I have a Color bar based on alert condition with number of bars to calculate set at 2147483647 max value with subgraph set at ignore, it should just do nothing with such studies.
2) Why conduct "Calculating Studies" for all 3 buttons buttons Apply, Save all and Okay. It should remember the "state" and if calculation is already done with no new changes, then redo of calculation is just unnecessary.
3) Chart loading function performance could be improved further by tracking/analyzing what's in the study collection as step1. By this I mean:
a) if a study collection does not require lookback of more than 50 bars to display all the studies then just load the 50 bars quickly and then as we scroll back the chart, do subsequent chart loads in small chucks (or do it in background instead of making us wait for the entire chart to load). This would be a huge benefits for frequent market replay users like me to tediously to wait for the entire chart to reload every time I have to test something.
b) Alternatively, give us a configuration option to load only x bars based on what we have in the study collection and defer reloading as and when we scroll chart backwards.

Just suggestions, I don't expect you to incorporate everything given the other priorities you have in the works. Platform Performance seems to be a sensitive topic among professional traders :-
[2023-06-13 13:58:28]
Sierra_Chart Engineering - Posts: 17182
2) Why conduct "Calculating Studies" for all 3 buttons buttons Apply, Save all and Okay. It should remember the "state" and if calculation is already done with no new changes, then redo of calculation is just unnecessary.
We should be able to solve this.

Yes this is something that is planned and we will see if we can do it near term:

3) It is just nuts to not have the ability to "Open" a study collection outside of Analysis selection menu. My Analysis menu is completely tapped out with too many collections in the data folder. I have reported this issue in the past and I realize you are working on a new and improved design of the studies window. In the interim, could you please add a "Open Study" button next to "save all" button as a quick and simple fix in next release?

Sierra Chart Support - Engineering Level

Your definitive source for support. Other responses are from users. Try to keep your questions brief and to the point. Be aware of support policy:
https://www.sierrachart.com/index.php?l=PostingInformation.php#GeneralInformation

For the most reliable, advanced, and zero cost futures order routing, use the Teton service:
Sierra Chart Teton Futures Order Routing
[2023-06-13 18:53:11]
User61168 - Posts: 403
Thanks for your response. I want to add in #i to do the undo/redo for the entire study collection. It's one of the main reasons why I have multiple copies of the same collection to preserve changes for the interim.

Also...

L) add the ability to display the name of study collection directly on the chart. Currently, there is no way for me (that I know of) to tell which collection is applied without opening the chart studies window. There is also no way to tell if the collection applied to a chart is physically saved on the hard drive in a file or saved as part of chart/chartbook definition which is quite confusing.
Date Time Of Last Edit: 2023-06-13 18:55:47
[2023-06-13 20:04:49]
User61168 - Posts: 403
one more design consideration to include in the list...

G) Study collections are either saved in the hard drive as a file or as part of Chart/chartbook definition. Both versions can easily get out of sync and there is no way to tell the difference or whether both the versions are in sync. These two methods of saving study collections can easily get out of sync so there needs to be a universal command or setting to quickly re-apply the hard drive version to all the charts the collection is applied to. In the current design, I do not find any way to 1) highlight the changes/difference or 2) to re-apply the hard drive version to the chart within the Chart Studies window. I am forced to blinding re-apply the collection via the Analysis menu which is not ideal.
[2023-06-17 11:07:16]
User61168 - Posts: 403
Could you please comment on addressing Issues #1,2,4 and 5 I mentioned? #1 and #5 has a higher precedence from my pov.
[2023-06-28 13:09:17]
Sierra_Chart Engineering - Posts: 17182
This is the case:
4) "Save Single" button should always ask for the name of study collection instead of overriding the entire existing study collection name. In the current design, I ironically have to save the original study collection name, enter new collection name for single study and then paste the original collection name back. It's just silly UX design imo
You are prompted to confirm the name. You have to first select or enter the name in the Study Collection name list box. This is not going to change. There is nothing wrong with this. But we did notice that when you are saving a study collection using a new name, the new name is not listed in the box right away. This has already been resolved in the latest release.

We cannot comment on other requests. We can only handle so much. There is a massive amount of requests here and you can have no expectation of any comments on this or that these will be done. Asking for so much is way beyond reason and some things will not be done.

We do not understand this. We cannot reproduce this:


1) Whenever I add a new study to my collection that is applied to a chart, then if I hit apply without saving the collection, the file name of the study collection disappears and goes blank! This has been happening for last 3+ years. I am feeling the frustration to get this fixed in the next release.

Sierra Chart Support - Engineering Level

Your definitive source for support. Other responses are from users. Try to keep your questions brief and to the point. Be aware of support policy:
https://www.sierrachart.com/index.php?l=PostingInformation.php#GeneralInformation

For the most reliable, advanced, and zero cost futures order routing, use the Teton service:
Sierra Chart Teton Futures Order Routing
Date Time Of Last Edit: 2023-06-28 13:10:18
[2023-06-28 19:26:03]
User61168 - Posts: 403
Thank you for #4. I appreciate it. Quite surprised to see you are unable to reproduce #1. This happens to me consistently to any saved study collection and I have 100s of them on my hard drive since Oct 2018.

Steps involved:
1. Apply any existing study collection to a chart
2) Add any new study to the collection OR remove any existing study from the collection
3) Hit OK without doing a "Save All" button
4) Go back to the Studies window and now the collection filename is blanked out

This has been happening to me for past 3 yrs now.

Edit: I have zero expectation to receive a response to my suggested improvement items. I completely understand you have to follow your own priorities and not waste time responding to all the requests you get from users.
Date Time Of Last Edit: 2023-06-28 19:29:28
[2023-07-09 14:50:46]
Sierra_Chart Engineering - Posts: 17182
Regarding the steps in post #8, that may very well be the case because you have modified the studies on the chart but have not resaved those as a Study Collection.
Sierra Chart Support - Engineering Level

Your definitive source for support. Other responses are from users. Try to keep your questions brief and to the point. Be aware of support policy:
https://www.sierrachart.com/index.php?l=PostingInformation.php#GeneralInformation

For the most reliable, advanced, and zero cost futures order routing, use the Teton service:
Sierra Chart Teton Futures Order Routing
Date Time Of Last Edit: 2023-07-09 14:51:08
[2023-07-09 19:18:54]
User61168 - Posts: 403
Thanks. I hope you can address this in the future redesign of Studies window. It's quite an inconvenience as once the collection name is blanked off, the only way for me to 'recall' what collection name was being used is to go into windows explorer, sort by data modified and 'guess' which filename to copy/paste.

Also/it would be great to introduce a way to 1) display study collection name on the chart and 2) insert name of study collection in trade activity log. This linkage would be extremely beneficial to algo traders.
[2023-07-09 20:50:03]
User61168 - Posts: 403
Hello SC Engineering,

I just upgraded SC to the latest version. The "Load" study collection button is working great so thank you for implementing this feature!

Unfortunately, in this new version, the study collection filename is getting blanked off even if I modify an existing study in the collection. It's forcing me to do a "Save All" after every minor change. I desperately hope this is not intended to be the "new normal". We should have the ability to make 'temporary' changes to study collection > apply to chart > test it out > if everything is okay then do a save-all to the file. We need this capability as there is no undo/redo change capability available. Could you please fix this?

EDIT: reporting two more issues...
1) Test Case - Open study collection, do nothing (make no edits), hit okay button and study collection file gets blanked out.
2) SaveAll always pops up a dialog box in the new version (adding an extra click). the dialog should pop up only if I save a single study.
Date Time Of Last Edit: 2023-07-09 21:52:20
[2023-07-20 19:07:17]
Sierra_Chart Engineering - Posts: 17182
We really need you to show us these issues during a remote assistance session, so we can understand the exact steps involved.
Sierra Chart Support - Engineering Level

Your definitive source for support. Other responses are from users. Try to keep your questions brief and to the point. Be aware of support policy:
https://www.sierrachart.com/index.php?l=PostingInformation.php#GeneralInformation

For the most reliable, advanced, and zero cost futures order routing, use the Teton service:
Sierra Chart Teton Futures Order Routing
[2023-07-20 20:48:49]
User61168 - Posts: 403
Absolutely! I am based in pacific standard time and available anytime at your convenience. I would love to show you the steps involved in replicating issues reported in #1, #2 and #5 above in post1.
[2023-07-21 02:57:48]
User61168 - Posts: 403
Quick Update: Since I have been using Sierra chart from 2018 when I was with AMP, I thought I should rule out the possibility of some old stuff hindering with the recent versions. I just dd a brand new install by downloading the installation files and running thru the install. Version 2525 is now installed with configuration files copied following the instructions "Transferring Sierra Chart Settings and Data From Existing Installation to New Installation" in this link > Transferring Sierra Chart Settings and Data From Existing Installation to New Installation

Study collection name still goes blank even with the new install. I am ready to get some remote assistance :-
[2023-07-21 13:42:10]
Sierra_Chart Engineering - Posts: 17182
We need to schedule the remote assistance for next week. We will follow-up then.
Sierra Chart Support - Engineering Level

Your definitive source for support. Other responses are from users. Try to keep your questions brief and to the point. Be aware of support policy:
https://www.sierrachart.com/index.php?l=PostingInformation.php#GeneralInformation

For the most reliable, advanced, and zero cost futures order routing, use the Teton service:
Sierra Chart Teton Futures Order Routing
[2023-10-29 21:34:12]
user_xyz - Posts: 416
The improvements made in this thread were a huge improvement in workflow for loading, adding, saving studies. Thank you.

Can I please add one more request.

You have "Save Single" and "Save All" can you all add a Save Multiple.

If you have 20 Studies and use "groups of studies" that consist of 3-6 studies and need to make a change the only way to save these within the group of 20 is to remove all the studies except the grouping, use Save All for that grouping and then add back all the ones removed. It's pretty tedious to manage...

Click Shift/Ctrl to make the selections of studies and Save Multiple would save so much time and be less prone to errors and overwriting saved configs.
[2023-10-29 22:13:27]
User61168 - Posts: 403
We need to schedule the remote assistance for next week. We will follow-up then.

Hello SC Engineering, Still waiting to get assistance but let's not waste your precious time over this silly issue apparently unique only to me. I have moved away for saving multiple version of study collection files. Nowadays, I just save chartbooks as part of my overall version control which also spares me the hassle of saving multiple version of trade ticket config files. Thanks!

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