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Log of Changes and Improvements to Sierra Chart

This list contains major items of development, and changes and additions which users need to be informed about.

This is not a comprehensive changes and additions log. And it should never be relied upon for such. It only represents a very small percentage of the actual development being performed every day. The vast majority of development is not documented here. Or receives, one small comment after it is all complete. There are not version notes for each version. The main Sierra Chart documentation is updated as needed relating to the changes and additions.

The maintenance of this page has mostly been abandoned by Sierra Chart development for many years due to the difficulty of maintaining it and because users can be incorrectly misled by or misinterpret notes that are made here. This does not change, the development of Sierra Chart which is very active every day and new releases are made nearly weekly or several times a week. The Sierra Chart project is still very active, with extensive development and it remains a very high quality software in the world. The engineering is at the very top of the world.

• 553 Release Date: 2009-12-31

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  • Completed the development of the new management of references to other charts from studies. All of the studies that reference other charts have been reviewed and improved to be as efficient as possible. If you are running version 552, it is important to upgrade to 553.
  • The Sum, Spread - 3 Chart, and any other similar studies have been changed to create complete price bars instead of a single line.

• 552 Release Date: 2009-12-29

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  • Added the Spread-Butterfly study.
  • The internal implementation for the References Other Charts option has been completely re-implemented with major improvements. The prior implementation was very simple in its design and would cause unnecessary calculations periodically (45 seconds by default) which can cause high CPU usage spikes when using the References Other Charts option. In the new implementation, all references between charts are kept track of. When data in a source chart changes, it tags the destination chart (the chart that is making the reference to another chart) and the destination chart is then updated on the next calculation which is at the Chart Update Interval set in General Settings. Therefore, in effect it gets updated immediately. When the source chart tags the destination chart, it indicates whether a minimal or full recalculation is necessary based upon what has changed in the source chart. For example, a full calculation would occur if the source chart was reloaded or historical data has been downloaded to it. The References Other Charts Update Interval (General Settings) and References other Charts (Study Settings) options have been removed because they are no longer necessary. All of these changes are a major improvement. For a complete discussion of all of this, refer to this support board subtopic.
  • All of the Sierra Chart menu commands now have a corresponding Toolbar button. You can add and remove Toolbar buttons by selecting Global Settings >> Customize Toolbar.
  • The Tools menu has now been reorganized. It no longer contains submenus for easy access to all commands. Commands which exist on other menus have been removed.
  • The menu that displays when you right-click on a chart and not in Chart Trade Mode, no longer is the Tools menu and now is a new customizable menu. The menu can be customized by selecting Global Settings >> Customize Chart Shortcut Menu (under development).

• 551 Release Date: 2009-12-23

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  • IMPORTANT UPDATE: Corrected an issue with the new Chart Values window where when it is partially offscreen, it can cause high CPU usage. Therefore it is important that all users update to this version as soon as possible if you experience this issue.
  • Cut Bar at Session Start in Chart Settings has been renamed to New Bar At Session Start. It now applies to all types of bars including bars based upon a fixed time. This means that at the beginning of the trading day as specified by the Session Times settings in Chart Settings, the bar will begin exactly at that time. Generally, this option is useful when you have a time period per bar that does not evenly fit into the time span of the defined sessions.
  • Added a list box to select the data server to use for services that use Sierra Chart's own data servers. The servers are listed based on location: North America and Europe. This list box is found in File >> Data/Trade Service Settings for the applicable services. It is a good idea to check this setting, if it is available for the service you are using and choose the server that works best for you. If one server is not available, automatically Sierra Chart will use the other server. This simply indicates the default server to use.
  • Various other low-level improvements.

• 549 Release Date: 2009-12-18

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  • Updated the Patch Data functionality to specify start and end date/times for the range of data to use for patching from the source file.
  • Fixed issue with not displaying of dashes in price and time scale regions when printing.
  • Added support for reading text files when opening spreadsheets.
  • Corrected an issue with Alert Only Once per Bar for Simple and Spreadsheet Alerts, where during a full recalculation such as when using References other Charts, it would not prevent only one signal per bar.
  • Corrected a small DateTime alignment issue with the Cumulative Profit/Loss study. Also, this study now draws forward the prior profit/loss to create a continuous line.
  • Various other low-level improvements.

• 548 Release Date: 2009-12-15

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  • Corrected a problem from a recent release where extending trendlines would move slightly when they are cut. This has now been solved.
  • Previously with an ACSIL auto-trade system, when sc.AllowOnlyOneTradePerBar is true, which is the default, trading would not be allowed until a 2nd new bar is added to the chart. Now auto-trading can immediately begin on the current bar.

• 546 Release Date: 2009-12-6

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  • Implemented the Maintain Same Quantity For OCO Group Orders command on the Trade Window Settings (S) menu. When this option is enabled and you modify a quantity for an order that is in an OCO group, the other order in that group will be modified with the same quantity. For example, if you have a Target and a Stop in Group 1, and you change the quantity of the Target, the Stop will have the quantity changed to the identical value.
  • Added support for historical Quarterly and Yearly charts. These can be selected in Chart >> Chart Settings or on the Chart menu.
  • Added an Export button to the Intraday File Update List. The list will be exported to a file named ExportedSymbolsList.txt in the Sierra Chart folder.
  • Added support to cut Extending Rectangle Highlight drawings using the Cut Extending Trendline Here command when you right-click the drawing.
  • Added the Daily Volume as an available item to show on the chart header.
  • Corrected a problem from a recent prerelease where modifying live orders when using IB TWS would fail due to the expiration type not being specified. This has now been corrected.
  • Various other low-level improvements.

• 545 Release Date: 2009-12-3

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  • Redesigned the Spreadsheet Sort window and functionality (Spreadsheet >> Sort). Complete documentation can be found on the Spreadsheet Menu page.
  • Various improvements to the Trade >> DOM Mode feature.
  • When an order is canceled and it is partially filled, the filled quantity updates the Internal Position data for the symbol.
  • Corrected a problem from 544, where Market Orders were not canceled on a Cancel All command.
  • When using Flatten and Cancel or Reverse and Cancel and there are working market orders that will reduce or flatten the position, those orders are not canceled they are considered in the quantity calculation to determine what quantity, if any, is necessary to flatten the position.
  • Added options for Quarterly and Yearly periods for Historical charts.
  • Improved the price highlight box on the Chart DOM.
  • Various other low-level improvements.

• 544 Release Date: 2009-12-2

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  • The sc.SetAlert() ACSIL function now accepts a Message parameter. This allows you to add the specified message to the Alerts Log when playing an alert sound. Refer to the updated documentation.
  • Added support for spread symbols when using the CTS T4 trading platform.

• 542 Release Date: 2009-11-23

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  • The Trade >> Switch To DOM Mode command can be checked or unchecked. When unchecked it will restore the chart back to normal. Improvements have been made to DOM mode.
  • Corrected a time display and calculation issue from version 539 where incorrect DST rules were used in certain cases.
  • Various low level improvements.

• 540 Release Date: 2009-11-18

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  • Renamed sc.bid, sc.ask, and sc.timeScaleAdjustment to sc.Bid, sc.Ask, and sc.TimeScaleAdjustment.

• 539 Release Date: 2009-11-17

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  • Added sc.ScaleValueOffset and sc.AutoScalePaddingPercentage to the ACSIL.
  • It is now possible for the parent order for Attached Orders to be a Trailing Stop order type. Enter an order from the Trade Window with the Order Type set to one of the Trailing Stop order types and the Attached Orders will be attached.
  • Corrected some issues with the Fibonacci Auto Retracement study where the resetting of the study data at the start of a trading day was not always correct.
  • Additional improvements to reduce CPU usage with the Spreadsheet studies.
  • Added new Forex feed from Advanced Markets Forex. This will be fully released on November 18, 2009. You can select this service under File >> Data/Trade Service Settings.
  • Trail stop adjustments are now based on the last trade price and not the bid or ask prices.
  • Corrected an issue with the TPO and Volume profile chart study that would cause this error: Error Removing Volume From Last Period.

• 538 Release Date: 2009-11-12

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  • Additional improvements to the TPO Chart study to solve some issues with splitting and merging.
  • The Attached Orders list display has been improved to clearly identify whether an attached order is a Target or a Stop and it's more intuitive.
  • Improved Spreadsheet study performance. You should notice up to 20 % reduction with CPU usage.
  • Added the option Print Only In Black And White in Global Settings >> General Settings.
  • The Interactive Scaling mode (range/move) setting is now remembered per-chart rather than globally.
  • Added a sub-menu when right-clicking a drawing to quickly change the line style.
  • Added an input to the Bollinger Bands study for the type of moving average to use.

• 535 Release Date: 2009-11-05

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  • Corrected a problem arising with a recent release with splitting and merging of TPO profiles, when using the TPO and Volume Profile Chart.

• 534 Release Date: 2009-11-05

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  • Corrected an issue where the Internal Position data outputted to a Spreadsheet where when using the Spreadsheet System for Trading study and performing a Medium, High or Very High Accuracy backtest at a high speed, it would not always be up-to-date. The Internal Position Data is now always fully up to date.
  • Corrected an issue from version 533 where the No Alert setting was treated as Alert 1.
  • Improved the formatting of alert messages from Advanced Custom Studies. They now include the chart name and the study name they originate from.
  • Added the Switch to DOM Mode command to the Trade menu. This configures a chart to be more like a traditional trading DOM. This is still a very new feature, and more work is planned.
  • Added the Market Facilitation Index Colored study.
  • Various low-level improvements.

• 527 Release Date: 2009-10-26

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  • Added color settings to the Time and Sales window for trades below the bid and above the ask.
  • Changed the sc.UseTool() function of the ACSIL so that the UseRelativeValue member works for all tools. Removed the TOOL_STATIONARY_TEXT tool because it is no longer needed as a result of these changes.
  • Added the Slope of MA34 (two stage) study to the user contributed studies source file.
  • Fixed a bug that arose when the feature for interactive scaling in other regions was added that caused the program to shutdown in a special case where a region had no studies in it.
  • Improved the setting of the bar spacing when the TPO and Volume Profile study is applied to a chart.
  • Added the command Chart >> Hide Chart to hide all the graphs and drawings on the chart.
  • Added menu items for the different scale types to the context menu for the chart scale area.
  • Added Edit >> Refresh All Intraday Data For Symbol command.
  • Added support for requesting historical weekly data from Barchart. To do this, add -W to the end of the symbol when opening a historical chart. The -W suffix is mutually exclusive with the -I suffix.
  • Corrected a problem that arose from recent prerelease with the TPO and Volume Profile Chart study where in some cases TPO letters would not be drawn for some time blocks.
  • Corrected a problem where when an alert message was added from an ACSIL study, the chart name was not included at the beginning of the alert line.

• 525 Release Date: 2009-10-22

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  • Corrected some issues with the TPO and Volume Profile Chart study arising from the recent changes to create consistent spacing for the profiles for each period.
  • Corrected a problem where when using default study settings for a particular study and you added a new instance of the study, the study values may have been all zeros.

• 523 Release Date: 2009-10-21

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  • Corrected some issues with the TPO and Volume Profile Chart study arising from the recent changes to create consistent spacing for the profiles for each period.
  • Additional improvements to the user interface for Attached Orders to only allow 2 orders per group and only one target and one stop.
  • Added a new Period Type to the Volume by Price study named One Period Fixed by Time. This provides a single volume by price graph that is a fixed amount of time that always is at the end of the chart. For example, if it is set to 5 hours, then it will be a volume by price graph of the last 5 hours.

• 522 Release Date: 2009-10-18

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  • Completed development of the new Bar Numbering study. This study will number the bars at the bar low starting from the beginning of the session for the trading day.
  • Corrected an issue with Attached Orders where they were not properly identified internally in the second revision of 519.
  • Added an option to Global Settings >> General Settings to hide the scrollbar from charts.

• 519 Release Date: 2009-10-16

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  • Further improvements have been made to the TPO and Volume Profile Chart study to create consistent spacing for each profile in the chart.
  • The Volume by Price, TPO Value Area Lines and Volume Value Area Lines studies have been updated to no longer use an independent start of trading day setting and instead use the start of trading day time based on the Session Times in Chart Settings for the chart. And the studies now use the standard Time Period Type and Time Period Length inputs. Upon upgrade these are reset to 1 Day. So you may have to make some changes to your settings.
  • Various low-level improvements.
  • Added a new auto trade variable: CancelAllWorkingOrdersOnExit.

• 518 Release Date: 2009-10-14

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  • The TPO and Volume Profile Chart study has been improved. The amount of space used by each TPO profile in the chart is much more consistent. This creates even spacing between profiles for a period.
  • The TPO letter handling for the TPO and Volume Profile Chart study has internally been improved and the interface has been simplified. By default the letters are from A to X and then a to x. This repeats as necessary. The letters can be customized by pressing the Customize TPO Letters button on the TPO and Volume Profile Settings Window.
  • The start time for TPO and Volume profiles with the TPO And Volume Profile Chart study are now controlled through the Session Times in Chart Settings. TPO letters also begin at this time. By default this will be letter A.
  • Various low-level improvements.
  • More efficient Spreadsheet Study processing. There have been additional improvements compared with version 517.

• 517 Release Date: 2009-10-10

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  • Reduced CPU usage when using the Spreadsheet studies due to reduced formula calculations. This should be a significant improvement. Feedback is appreciated.
  • Improved Interactive Scaling in other regions to be consistent with the first region.
  • Added the option Draw Bid And Ask Lines At Last Bar When Enabled to the Global Settings >> Graphics Settings window.
  • Re-added the Bid and Ask Average Line.
  • Added the Relative Momentum Index (RMI) study.
  • Added color settings to the Time and Sales window for trades below the bid and above the ask.
  • When Use Attached Orders For New Orders is enabled, and you are reducing the size of your position, the attached orders will not be applied unless Use Attached Orders When Scaling Out is check on the Trade Window Settings menu.
  • When you enter an order that will reverse your position without using Reverse and Cancel and Use Attached Orders For New Orders is enabled, attached orders will be attached with quantities equal to the new resulting position.
  • Corrected a problem from version 516 involving order quantities when modifying orders resulting from the above two new items, which were originally released into version 516.

• 513 Release Date: 2009-10-06

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  • Corrected a problem from a recent prerelease where the initial font size was too small.
  • When Use Attached Orders For New Orders is enabled and the Reverse and Cancel command is used, the existing position will be flattened and the new order to establish the new position will have Attached Orders attached.
  • In an earlier recent release, when the parent quantity is changed all of the Attached Order quantities are adjusted to match. This is part of a series of Attached Orders improvements that we are working on now.
  • Full support for trading when using the CTS T4 trading platform. Support for OCO orders and Automatic OCO orders for CTS T4 will be coming shortly. If you require this functionality, contact support so we can prioritize it for you.

• 512 Release Date: 2009-10-06

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  • Corrected a problem from a recent release with downloading of historical data that affected IB where there may have been repeating data of up to one minute at the end of the chart when reconnecting to the data feed.

• 510 Release Date: 2009-10-05

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  • Simple Alert Formulas now must use US English parameter and decimal number delimiters. This is to create a standard and avoid problems when delimiters from other Regions are used. You will need to update your alert formulas.
  • Corrected a problem with the Export Intraday Data function not exporting any data.
  • The automated trading documentation is now fully up to date and corresponds to version 508 and higher.
  • Added the SCTrading_FlattenAndCancelAllOrders () function to the ACSIL.
  • Improved the way filled orders are displayed on the chart.
  • Added keyboard shortcuts and toolbar buttons for the new Extended Rectangle Highlight tool.
  • Added the Auto-Snap to High/Low option to the Fib Retrace/Ext and 3Pt Retrace/Ext tools settings.
  • Fixed an issue where the scale would change unexpectedly when using the X&Y Constant Relationship scale.
  • Fixed the Save these settings as default feature in the Study Settings window where it had been broken a couple versions ago.
  • Added a spin control to the Speed setting of the Replay Chart window.

• 509 Release Date: 2009-09-30

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  • With the Spreadsheet System for Trading study, the trading related study inputs are outputted to columns I and J beginning at row 50. This data is read-only, it cannot be changed. Any changes do not affect the actual input settings.
  • Added support for intraday files over 2 GB in size.
  • Interactive Scaling now applies to all chart regions other than chart region 1. Therefore, it's possible to click and drag your pointer in the Values Scale on the right side of the chart in any chart region to interactively adjust the scale for that region.
  • Added the Cumulative Profit/Loss study. This data comes from the Trade Activity Log data.

• 508 Release Date: 2009-09-30

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  • The automated trading logic in Sierra Chart has undergone many internal improvements and some logic changes. The changes are described here. In this list, when we mention a "variable", we are referring to both the Spreadsheet System for Trading study input with that name, and to an ASCIL variable beginning with "sc.".
    1. When calculating the position combined with working orders quantities, we no longer distinguish between child orders and other orders. They are all considered independent orders. Although, when we calculate the quantity of orders that can Exit a position, we continue to look at only orders that reduce the size of the position. However, we count them all as if they are independent orders without distinguishing whether they are children or not. For example, if you have a long position with a quantity of 1 and you have 2 sell orders (stop and target) with a quantity of 1 each, the combined effective position will be -1. However, there is still proper interpretation that a long position exists, with Exits and anywhere else a position is important.
    2. The Entry logic has been changed so that a long or short entry cannot occur if there is a long or short position respectively, independent of any working orders. Unless Allow Multiple Orders in Same Direction is enabled. Working orders are also calculated and combined with the actual position to see if an entry is allowed or not, as always.
    3. Reversal Logic: A reversal cannot occur unless a position in the opposite direction actually exists. A working order that can create a position in the opposite direction, is not sufficient. When calculating the quantity for the reversal, we look at the current position quantity and the quantities of orders that can exit the position only. We do not consider working orders that can increase the size of the position. If you have the option to cancel all working orders upon entry, enabled, then only the position is considered.
    4. A new variable has been added to cancel all working orders upon a trade Entry: CancelAllOrdersOnEntriesAndReversals. This replaces the variable to cancel all orders on a reversal. The default for this is true.
    5. A new variable has been added to control allowing an Entry if there are working orders: AllowEntryWithWorkingOrders. The default for this is false. In other words, if there are working orders, a trade entry cannot occur. This also applies to Reversals as well.
    6. The automated trading variable MaximumPositionAllowedInSameDirection has been renamed to MaxPositionAllowed. This is for both ACSIL and Spreadsheets. It will now apply whether Allow Multiple Orders in Same Direction is true or false. It also will be compared to the actual position and to the position combined with working orders quantities. These changes will create a more expected result and provide a safer automated trading environment.
    7. There has been some reorganization of the study Inputs for the Spreadsheet System for Trading study. It is critical that when you upgrade to version 508, that you review all of your input settings to make certain they are correct.
    8. Support for writing trade signals to a text file to be used by another program for trading, has been removed from the Spreadsheet System for Trading study. The reason for this is now that the trading capability in SC is much more advanced, there's no longer a need for this kind of capability. Also it has created confusion for some users because this option was enabled by the user when it should not have been. Additionally, how the SC auto trade logic applies when using an external program, can be very complicated. It is something we just simply do not want to support. We also are going to be expanding support for additional trading platforms to provide greater connectivity, so there no longer is a need to use other trading programs.
    9. The internal auto trade management processing is much more efficient and organized. The code for ACSIL Trading and Spreadsheet Trading is now 100% common.
    10. The Trade >> Trade Service Log now only shows trade signals that are ignored and the reason. It does not show trade signals that are followed and result in an order. You can monitor those through Trade >> Trade Activity Log Or Trade Orders Window.
    11. The automated trading variable AllowMultipleOrdersInSameDirection has been renamed to AllowMultipleEntriesInSameDirection. This is for both ACSIL and Spreadsheets. For all of the auto trade variables and the current names, see the Auto Trade Management documentation page.
    12. It is critical that when you upgrade to version 508 or higher, from a prior version, that you test your auto trade system in Trade Simulation Mode, whether implemented using ACSIL or the Spreadsheet System for Trading study, to be certain that it functions properly. You will need to make any appropriate changes based upon the above described changes.

• 507 Release Date: 2009-09-28

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  • Corrected a problem with the behavior of Interactive Scaling on the right side values scale when the ChartDOM is displayed. This problem arose in 503.
  • Updated the project template for Visual C++ Express.

• 506 Release Date: 2009-09-22

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  • Corrected a problem with Trailing Stops, and made other low level improvements. We continue to recommend that you use trailing stops only with a simulation account. We did do testing with TD Ameritrade and Transact. The trailing stop functionality worked as expected.
  • A Visual C++ Express Template project has been provided. For more information, see this support board subtopic.
  • Maximum Open Position Profit and Loss are reset after a trade order fill. On the Fill tab of the Trade >> Trade Activity Log, the Maximum Open Position Profit and Loss represent the values at the time of a trade order fill.

• 504 Release Date: 2009-09-22

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  • Corrected some issues where when switching between chartbooks in the Windows and Chartbooks window, the charts would not be listed and other issues.

• 503 Release Date: 2009-09-21

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  • Added the ability to rearrange the order of windows/tabs in the Windows and Chartbooks window. This can be found in the menu under Window >> Windows and Chartbooks.
  • Added the Extending Rectangle Highlight tool. This tool can be selected from the menu under Tools >> Highlight Tools >> Extending Rectangle Highlight.
  • Fixed issues with using secondary colors and possibly the color arrays for subgraphs 32 and higher in the ACSIL. This issue was a result of the change when the number of study subgraphs was increased from 24 to 40.
  • Added an Apply button to the Study Settings window when changing the settings of a study directly from the chart.
  • Updated the behavior of mouse pointer input on the Chart DOM so that the input is always accepted exactly where the mouse cursor is over when the mouse button is lifted.