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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.

  • 454 Release Date: 2009-06-16

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    • Corrected a problem with the option "jump to end of all charts when Global Cursor is on and tool is deactivated" for the Chart Values tool where it would not function properly.
    • Improved the Pivot Points-Daily study to always provide consistent values in all cases when there may be incomplete data in the chart.
    • Added an extra subgraph to the Squeeze Indicator 2 study called Signal Values. This subgraph is not drawn, but it's values are set to 1 when the Squeeze Dots are colored outside, and 0 when they are inside. This is to make it easier to base alert conditions off of this study.
    • Added the ability to draw text labels for the line transition points of the Zig Zag study. Use the inputs: Display Reversal Price and Length of Zig Zag Line, Display HH,HL,LL,LH Labels. The Text Labels subgraph is used to control the color and the font height for the labels.
    • Added sc.SwingHigh and sc.SwingLow functions to the ACSIL.
    • Added color coding of the position line. This can be configured in Global Settings >> Trade Settings >> Chart Trade Settings >> Line Configuration.
    • Added a new calculation mode to the ZigZag study. To use this, set the new Use ZigZag Calculation Mode Based on Number of Bars input to Yes, and also set the next two inputs after that.
    • Added alert options to the main price graph in Chart >> Chart Settings.
    • Various low-level improvements.

  • 450 Release Date: 2009-06-11

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    • Added Reset at Session Start Time option to the Cumulative Sum Of Study study.
    • Added the scale command Auto Scale the ChartDOM. What this does is changes the value scale to a constant range that will show every price level in the values scale area without any overlap. To perform this action, right click in the values scale area, and select Auto Scale the ChartDOM. This option is only enabled when Trade >> Show Chart DOM is enabled, and the Tick Size in Chart >> Chart Settings must be set properly.
    • When printing a candlestick graph, candles with white as the fill color are left as white, instead of being shaded.
    • Updated the Bid Volume vs. Ask Volume study to use the last non-zero value when calculating the difference.
    • The Chart DOM Depth Lines are now shaded lighter for each DOM level away form the best price.
    • Added the Hand tool. This tool is designed to easily scroll the chart back and forth short distances. The Hand tool is available on the menu under Tools >> Hand. To use this tool, click once on the chart and move your mouse to the left and to the right, and the chart will follow. Click again to de-activate the Hand tool.
    • Added an option to show or hide the volume numbers on the DOM Graph. Settings for the DOM Graph can be found in Chart >> Chart Settings.
    • Added the option Open the Trade Service Log when a new message is added to Trade >> Global Trade Settings.
    • Added a toolbar button for Undo Erase ChartDrawing. You can set this to be shown in your toolbar by going to Global Settings >> Customize Toolbar.
    • The option to start market depth updates in Chart >> Chart Settings was not being loaded properly. This has been fixed.
    • Added support for displaying the Bid Volume and the Ask Volume in the chart header. You can add these values to the chart header by going to Global Settings >> Customize Chart Header.
    • Added an option to the Chart Values tool to show the Tool Values Window when the Chart Values tool is active on the chart. You can find this setting in Tools >> Tool Settings >> Chart Values >> Show/Hide Tool Values Window When Tool Activated/Deactivated.
    • Added Point On Low and Point On High draw styles. These draw styles will draw a point at the high or the low of the bar on the base graph when the value of the subgraph that's using the draw style is non-zero.
    • Added support for coloring base graph draw types: Box, Point & Figure, Point & Figure XO, and Kagi.
    • Added the option Use GMT Time to the Write Bar Data To File study.
    • Added the ability to change the colors in the Squeeze Indicator 2 study. The colors can be set through the subgraphs Momentum HISTOGRAM Up Colors and Momentum HISTOGRAM Down Colors.
    • Added the sc.ChartBarSpacing member to the ACSIL, which is set to the bar spacing as seen on the chart. This is one less than the number of pixels from one bar to the next. This is a read-only variable.
    • Modified the Point & Figure study. Added the input Adjust High/Low of Last Bar to Match Last Price.

  • 449 Release Date: 2009-06-09

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    • With the Attached Orders feature, as has always been the case when the parent order fills, the children are adjusted to maintain the original specified offsets, in case the fill is at a different price than the original order price. This now applies to market orders as well in Trade Simulation mode. There never was a problem with this when using a trading service.

  • 447

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    • Solved a problem where there may have been inconsistent results during a fast backtest when using High or Medium accuracy, and where the Signal Only On Bar Close option with the Spreadsheet Study and Simple Alerts was not functioning right during a backtest using High or Medium accuracy. This problem arose in version 439 when backtesting was made faster.
    • Added a new subgraph draw style for studies named Text. This style will let you draw the specified text at the values of the subgraph at the corresponding bars.
    • Added a study named High/Low for Time Period. This study will draw lines throughout each day on an intraday chart that are based upon the Highest High and Lowest Low for the specified Start Time and End Time inputs.

  • 446

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    • Corrected another issue with the Volume By Price study arising in SC version 443.
    • Made some changes to IB market depth processing to solve some problems with the display of the data.

  • 444 Release Date: 2009-06-01

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    • Corrected some issues with the Volume By Price study arising in SC version 443.

  • 443 Release Date: 2009-06-01

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    • Various improvements have been made to the Volume by Price study. In the Volume by Price Settings Window, several new options can be found. Additionally, the price bars that are drawn with this study should have used the global color and width settings for the type of bars in the chart. This is now the case. This issue arose in a recent release.
    • When you attempt to log into Transact, the necessary registry setting will be made to allow the Launch Sierra Chart button on the Transact AT software to work properly, in case it does not.
    • Corrected a problem where with newer IB TWS versions, the Tick Size and the Price Display Format were not always being set correctly for NYMEX futures and some other futures. This information may be used for trade order handling and therefore it's important that you upgrade if using the trading features in Sierra Chart with IB and you're trading NYMEX futures.
    • Corrected a problem with automated trading when using IB where all working orders were considered child orders due to a "0" sent by IB for the parent ID instead of a blank. This affected the working orders quantity and Internal Position With Working Orders quantity which are used in the auto trade logic. If you are using automated trading with IB, it is important you upgrade for proper auto trade management.

  • 441 Release Date: 2009-05-29

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    • Various trading interface related improvements including low-level improvements. One such improvement is the position data on the Trade Window is now color coded.

  • 439 Release Date: 2009-05-26

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    • Improved the interface for Attached Orders. The Optional Name setting has been removed. The list of attached orders is now more detailed. It provides an instant view of settings for all attached orders. We are also working on the ability to save an attached order configuration for easy selection.
    • Added new buttons to the Trade Window. These include: Buy Bid, Buy Ask, Buy Market, Sell Bid, Sell Ask and Sell Market.
    • Corrected a minor issue with the Pivot Points-Variable Period study where one additional bar ahead of the prior period of data used for the pivot point lines calculations for the current period of time, was included in some cases. In most cases this was not happening. It was known to happen with Weekly pivot point lines. There were no problems seen with Daily pivot point lines. Keep in mind that when using Tick, Volume, Range, Reversal, or RenkoCharts and the pivot point lines are derived off the data in the intraday chart, then there potentially could be issues with the accuracy of the pivot point lines simply due to the inherent problem where the bars do not start at even times. The Pivot Points-Daily study will be reviewed as well.
    • Added to the right-click menu for the scale area on the right side of the chart, the command Auto Scale the ChartDOM, which will rapidly adjust the scale so that each price increment is visible on the ChartDOM and centers the current price. This allows the ChartDOM to be a more flexible trading tool.
    • Improved the display of the on chart DOM Graph feature. It now displays the volume numbers for each level.
    • Improved trading system back-testing to make it faster. You can now run a chart Replay up to 100,000 times for fast back-testing. Replaying a chart that contains a system study is how back-testing is performed. When using Backtest Accuracy: Medium or High, multiple charts that are being replayed now will stay synchronized. Although there will not be close synchronization if using a very fast replay. To maintain multi-chart synchronization, a replay will have to be at a slow to moderate speed. It cannot be excessively high.

  • 438 Release Date: 2009-05-21

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    • Corrected some minor issues with the Automatic Trend Lines study. This study is now considered finalized.
    • Internal code revisions have been made to the ACSIL trading functions. Be sure to test your ACSIL automated trading system in Trade Simulation Mode before using it live with this version. The functionality is the same.

  • 437 Release Date: 2009-05-20

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    • For the IB trading service, when reconnecting to the data feed or when connecting to the data feed after restarting Sierra Chart, all trade orders from IB will be downloaded and in the case of futures, the symbols will be properly processed and the orders will appear on the chart. Although for this to work properly you must use futures format #1. An example of this is ES-200906-GLOBEX.
    • The Refresh Order List button on the Trade >> Trade Orders Window now works with IB as well.

  • 436 Release Date: 2009-05-19

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    • For ACSIL trading, the sc.AllowMultipleOrdersInSameDirection would always limit the maximum position to 1 even if it was set to a number larger than 1. We have corrected this by adding the sc.MaximumPositionAllowedInSameDirection member. See Advanced Custom Study Interface Variable Members relevant to Trading.
    • The bar spacing can now be changed by clicking and dragging on the Time Scale on the bottom of the chart.

  • 435 Release Date: 2009-05-18

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    • If the Global Settings >> Trade Settings >> Use Internal Position for Charts, Flatten and Reverse option is enabled, then the Flatten and Reverse commands rely on the Internal Position data. This solves the problem where the position from IB simply cannot be determined for some symbols. In this case, Flatten and Reverse were always disabled preventing their use. These commands will now be enabled when a Internal Position exists. However, keep in mind that the Internal Position may not necessarily reflect the actual position with your trading service because it could be out of sync with it. It only knows about trades since you started Sierra Chart.

  • 434 Release Date: 2009-05-15

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    • Updated the TPO Value Area Lines study to use a standard time input control for the Start Of Day input instead of entering the number of seconds since the start of the day.
    • Enhanced the Color Bar Based On Alert Condition study with an input to use the alert condition that already exists on another study.
    • Added the sc.GetStudyNameFromChart function to the ACSIL.
    • With the Automatic Trendlines study, added an input named Number Of New Bars Before Auto-Adjustment. This specifies the number of new bars that must appear on the chart before the trendlines re-adjust automatically. This prevents often adjusting of the lines.

  • 433 Release Date: 2009-05-14

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    • Corrected a problem where an error message would be shown upon startup indicating that the configuration file is not found. This message will no longer be shown. It would show on a fresh installation of Sierra Chart. This error was simply indicating the configuration file is not present and a default one would be used. However, this error is no longer shown so it does not confuse any users.
    • The Spreadsheet studies will now display the Short Name for studies that have a Short Name set. The names will be displayed in the format: "Short Name (Study Name)".
    • Removed the auto-coloring option Based on Open/Close and replaced it with Same as Base Graph. This will use the same logic as the base graph for determining which color to use for the subgraph. This makes it easy to have the colors of the bars of a subgraph match the colors of the bars of the base graph.
    • Minor corrections related to custom charts made with the ACSIL. These corrections only apply to errors that may have been received with custom charts. If you never received errors with custom charts, then there was never a problem that these corrections, corrected.
    • Removed outlines from the Bid Ask Volume Bars graph draw type.
    • Changed the Volume study to use the new auto-coloring option Same as Base Graph. The input that had been used previously was removed.

  • 431 Release Date: 2009-05-11

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    • Corrected a problem with the Donchian Channel arising in a recent pre-release.
    • Corrected a problem where the OrderStatusCode member of s_scTradingOrderDetails was not being set. This applies to the ACSIL Trading functions.

  • 430 Release Date: 2009-05-08

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    • The ACSIL Trading function SCTrading_GetLivePosition has been renamed to SCTrading_GetServicePosition to more accurately reflect what it does. SCTrading_GetSessionPosition and SCTrading_GetServicePosition no longer give an error when position data cannot be found. Instead the Position structure object members are simply empty or zero. However, the Symbol member will still be set.
    • The ACSIL Trading functions SCTrading_GetOrderByIndex and SCTrading_GetOrderByOrderID get all the orders now. There is a new member of s_scTradingOrderDetails named OrderStatusCode that indicates the order status. Refer to the updated ACSIL Trading documentation. SCTrading_GetFilledOrderByIndex is now an unsupported function.
    • If you have developed a system study using the ACSIL Trading functions, then you will need to rebuild it under this version or higher and make any appropriate code changes due to the changes that have been made.
    • Added a Moving Average Type input to the Demand Index study.
    • Made an adjustment to the way range bars are expanded when there would be a gap between the bars. Instead of being expanded based on the direction of the bar, range bars are now expanded in the direction of the next trade. This is to prevent the appearance of a high or low value that was never actually reached. Also the close of a range bar that needed to be expanded remains at the last traded price of that bar instead of being pushed to the high or the low of the bar.
    • Fixed a problem with range bar charts not working when the Price Multiplier was set to something other than 1.
    • Added support for BARDATE, BARTIME, and BARDATETIME for Simple Alert condition formulas for studies.
    • Added the ability to set detached charts to always be on top of other windows. To do this, open a chart, detach it from the main window by selecting Chart >> Detach/Re-Attach Chart Window on the menu, and then select Window >> Always On Top on the detached chart's menu.
    • Intraday charts now load data based on the session times set in Chart Settings rather than always cutting the days at midnight. So now if you set the Days to Load to 1 and the Last Date to Load in Chart Settings to a specific date, the chart will show the full trading day for that date according to the session Start and End Times.
    • The PaintBar study has been renamed to Color Bar Based On Alert Condition.
    • The font size for the volume counts in the Volume by Price study can now be set manually through the Volume Count Text subgraph line width. To do this, set the Draw Style for the Volume Count Text subgraph to Visible, and set the Width/Size to a number greater than 5. A Width/Size of 0 will adjust the size of the font automatically.

  • 428 Release Date: 2009-05-06

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    • The ACSIL sc.SCTrading_BuyExit and sc.SCTrading_SellExit functions would not necessarily flatten the position if an order quantity was not specified. The default quantity was 1 previously. Therefore at most they would give an order of quantity 1. By default the order quantity is now zero which means they will flatten the position. If the order quantity is specified, and it does not exceed the quantity necessary to flatten the position, that quantity will be used. Otherwise the position will be flattened.
    • The ACSIL Trading functions, data structures and documentation have undergone numerous revisions. Refer to the current documentation. It is necessary for you to rebuild your custom studies that use the ACSIL trading functions. You may encounter compiler errors. When you do, refer to the updated documentation for the function, structure member or constant you are using to find out what changes you need to make.

  • 427 Release Date: 2009-05-04

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    • There have been changes to the types used in the ACSIL trading structures. When using this version or higher it is necessary to rebuild your study functions that use the ACSIL Trading functionality, that were built with prior versions in order to work properly on this version and up. Due to type changes, you may also need to make code modifications. Several SCStrings have been converted to either doubles or ints. The Trading From an Advanced Custom Study documentation has been updated on May 5, 2008.
    • Corrected a minor problem with the Pivot Points-Variable Period study when using evening session time settings.
    • Various other low-level improvements.

  • 425 Release Date: 2009-04-30

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    • Corrected some issues with the Automatic Trendlines study.
    • Added the Average Fill Price (AvgFillPrice) to the ACSIL trading s_scTradingOrderDetails structure.
    • The ACSIL Trading functions and structures have been internally improved. When using this version or higher it is necessary to rebuild your study functions that were built with prior versions in order to work properly on this version and up.
    • Various low-level improvements.

  • 423 Release Date: 2009-04-24

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    • Filled Orders can now be displayed on the chart in Chart Trade Mode. The settings for this feature can be found in Trade >> Global Trade Settings in the Chart Trading Section.
    • The Text Size for the Volume By Price study has been fixed so that it resizes to the bar size as it did in previous versions.
    • A problem with trailing stops arising in a recent pre-release, has been corrected.
    • Our simple alert feature for studies has been enhanced. It is now possible to use an Excel-style formula for alerts. Alert condition formulas can refer to other studies on the chart by using this syntax: ID#.SG# where # is the study ID number shown on the right side of the study in the list of Studies to Graph and the number of the subgraph. To use an enhanced alert condition, precede the formula with an equals (=) sign. Documentation is being worked on. An example would be =CROSSOVER(ID1.SG1, ID2.SG1). This would give an alert when the first subgraph of study with ID 1 crosses the first subgraph of study with ID 2.
    • Added a Copy Symbols button to the Alerts Log. When this button is pressed, it will create a list of symbols which have alert lines in the Alerts Log that can be pasted anywhere.
    • Added a new study subgraph Draw Style pair named: Transparent Fill Top and Transparent Fill Bottom.

  • 421

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    • Added a Copy Command to the Trade Orders Window and to the Positions Window.
    • When downloading Historical Data from the Barchart Real-Time and Historical Data Service, the chart is updated as the data is being downloaded.
    • Added a new option to the Study Settings Window to save the current settings as the default for newly added instances of the study. This option is named Save these settings as the default. There is also a Reset Defaults button that will clear these saved default settings.
    • A Length input has been added to the Swing High and Low study.
    • Added a new input to the Envelope Study to support a fixed value.
    • A new function has been added to the ACSIL Trading Interface, sc.SCTrading_GetFilledOrderByIndex(), that is used to get order details of orders that have already been filled.
    • When the connection is lost to the TransAct trade engine, Sierra Chart will retry every 20 seconds for 5 times, then every 1 minute for 55 times and stop. In no case will the Message Log open up indicating the retries during this time. Sierra Chart will not attempt to reconnect to the Transact trade engine if it was never able to successfully connect previously. If Sierra Chart has difficulty reconnecting to the Transact trade engine, then be certain your Transact AT software is fully up to date as Transact has resolved some issues with this.

  • 419 Release Date: 2009-04-10

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    • A new input has been added to the Spreadsheet Study to cancel all orders on a reversal. This input is called Cancel All Orders on Reversals. The ACSIL Trading interface has been enhanced to support the same functionality. The variable that controls this is called sc.CancelAllOrdersOnReversals.
    • For the Spreadsheet System for Trading studies, cell J29 is now used to flatten and cancel all working orders. Be sure to update your formulas if you were using this cell for calculations before.
    • Corrected a problem where when duplicating a detached chart, it would not show.
    • Text drawn with the Stationary Text tool is now Stationary along the Y-axis.
    • Added controls to the Global Settings >> Spreadsheets Settings window for controlling options affecting the interface to Excel.

  • 418 Release Date: 2009-04-08

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    • Support for trading through GAIN Capital (OEC Trader) is now available. This is our initial release. It should only be used with the OEC simulation server until you are certain that it works properly for you. Any problems or questions should be directed to Sierra Chart Support on the Sierra Chart Support Board.
    • A new study input has been added to the Renko Chart titled "Draw Renko Boxes on Bar Close". This tells the study to only draw Renko Boxes when a bar in the underlying base data has completely closed.
    • The Trade Orders Window and Positions Window now use color coding.
    • Downloading Historical Data from the Barchart Service is much faster.

  • 417 Release Date: 2009-04-03

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    • When you double click on a Highlight chart drawing in the middle, it will move it instead of adjusting it.
    • Added new calculated values to the Chart Calculator Tool. These can be found under Global Settings >> Tool Settings >> Calculator.
    • Corrected a problem from the prior release where this error was given: "c_Chart::GetWndPtr: c_Chart object doesn't have assigned Window." This has now been solved.
    • Added the Automatic Trendlines study.
    • Added to the Time and Sales settings window, controls to highlight lines based on the specified price or volume conditions.

  • 416 Release Date: 2009-04-02

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    • Corrected a problem with the sc.Parabolic ACSIL function where it would not function properly when used with the Watcom compiler.
    • Added the study function scsf_StudyPriceOverlay to Studies6.cpp. This function works like the Study/Price Overlay study. It does not copy all of the settings of the source study, as the built-in version. We have provided it as an example of how the Study/Price Overlay study works.

  • 415 Release Date: 2009-04-01

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    • Corrected some issues that arose with version 414 with downloading historical data from the Barchart Real-Time and Historical Data Service.
    • Corrected a problem from version 414 with the Commodity Channel Index not being back compatible with existing study collections.

  • 414 Release Date: 2009-03-31

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    • The Spreadsheet System for Trading study has been improved. There is now a cell that allows you to disable all trading, this is located in cell J28 and titled Disable Auto Trading. There are also 2 new cells that record the last DateTime of Entries and Exits. These cells are located in cell J42 and J43 respectively and titled Last Trade Entry DateTime and Last Trade Exit DateTime.
    • The ACSIL has a minor improvement. sc.PlaySound now displays a more descriptive alert line in the alert log. Additionally, Go To Chart now works with alert lines generated from sc.PlaySound.
    • Historical intraday data for the SC Real-Time Data (DDF) service is now downloaded directly by Sierra Chart instead of using the Barchart API.
    • Added the ability to quickly change the color of chart drawings. To do this, right click on a chart drawing, and select one of the colors from the Color submenu.
    • Settings for the line style and width were added for the Linear Regression tool.
    • Added the Save Message Log To File option in the General Settings that will save the log to a file. The file is saved in the Logs subfolder where Sierra Chart is installed to. The saving of the log is automatic once this option is checked. The file is updated every time a new message is added.
    • Added a new study collection for the Buffy Trading system named Buffy 2. This is installed when you choose to install the Additional Files in the installer.
    • When using the chartbook and window tabs, the active tabs are now highlighted.

  • 413 Release Date: 2009-03-20

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    • Added support for Financial Advisor accounts trading through Interactive Brokers. To fill in your Financial Advisor information, select File >> Date/Trade Service Settings on the menu and go to the More Interactive Brokers Settings... section.
    • Removed the Immediate and Good Till Date/Time expiration types from the TransAct client because they are not known to be supported.
    • If the bid and ask are both the same as the value of a trade, then the volume of that trade will be split evenly into the bid volume and ask volume of the bar so that the sum of the bid volume and the ask volume will equal the total volume. Previously the sum of the bid volume and the ask volume had both been set under this condition so that the sum ended up being greater than the total.
    • A Zoom In tool has been added.

  • 412

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    • The ACSIL Trading interface has been improved. A new member variable has been added, sc.GlobalTradeSimulationIsOn, that is set to TRUE when a user has enabled Trade Simulation, and is set to FALSE when the Trade Simulation is disabled. Another new member function has been added to modify orders. The declaration for this function is int sc.SCTrading_ModifyOrder(const SCString& OrderID, s_scTradingOrderInput& OrderModifications);.
    • Fixed an issue where the replay control window did not work on detached charts.
    • Added Good Till Canceled, Good Till Date/Time, and All or None order options to the TransAct trading interface.
    • Corrected a problem where if a text file did not contain the carriage return character at the end of a line, and only had a line feed character, the lines were not read in correctly. This applies to historical text files and when importing intraday data. Files created by Sierra Chart were not affected.

*Last modified Thursday, 25th April, 2024.