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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.

• 187

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  • Added an option inside of the Volume by Price study to Always Display Volume by Price on Screen. This only applies to periods Fixed by Time so that the volume bars will always stay on the screen.
  • Added 2 Highlight tools. These can be found on the Tools Menu
  • Fixed a bug in the TPO/Volume Profile Study that could sometimes cause splits to not occur when there were too many TPO's on the screen.

• 185

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  • Fixed a member alignment issue in the s_sg structure. Advanced Custom Study code that was built under version 176 or higher may need to be re-compiled to work properly.
  • Corrected a problem with the Fibonacci tool arising in version 184.
  • Corrected a few problems with the TPO and Volume profile study arising from our new pre-release.
  • Added an option to the TPO/Volume Profile Chart to display TPO's as Period Rainbow Colors. This is especially useful for splitting and merging because the periods will all have it's original colors. For more information see the Splitting/Merging Documentation page.
  • Corrected some problems with the new tool development.
  • New tools and improvements to existing tools.

• 184

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  • Updated the Interface to IB to support very latest revision of their protocol. This does not add any new functionality, but may solve disconnection problems some users have experienced.
  • Finalized the 3 Point Extension/Retracement tool.
  • Various other improvements to tools, see the Tool Settings window.
  • Added ability to split TPO's into separate periods. This is an option inside of the TPO/Volume Profile settings window.

• 183

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  • Correct a problem with the TPO/Volume Profile Study where it could cause a shutdown error in Sierra Chart when splitting a TPO profile.
  • Added 3 point extension and retracement tool. This tool still is not finalized yet.
  • Added the TPO Value Area Line study. There are currently 2 line modes. Line Mode 0 means that the VAH/VAL/POC are charted to be all the same throughout the day. Line Mode 1 means the VAH/VAL/POC are charted as developing lines from increment to increment.
  • Various other improvements to tools.

• 181

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  • Time and Sales window has been added. To access the Time and Sales window, select Chart >> Display Time and Sales from the software menu. For more information, refer to the documentation page Time and Sales Window
  • Corrected the problem from version 180 with the horizontal lines on Fibonacci drawings.
  • Corrected a problem from version 180 with Chart Values tool. We are still working on this tool and it may use more CPU time than usual, if you are using the Global Cursor.
  • A new Chart Drawing Properties window is added. You can view it, when you right-click on the line or text. It can also be found on the Tools menu.

• 180

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  • Fixed a bug in the Bill Williams MA study when new bars were added.
  • DTN IQ Feed: More reliable time stamping for the seconds resolution of incoming data until the IQFeed servers are updated to provide seconds resolution in the timestamp of trades.
  • There has been a large amount of development done on this version. The features and documentation will be listed shortly. If you have any problems or comments, please use our support board.
  • This version now includes Notepad++ instead of Programmers Notepad for the development of Advanced Custom Studies. Building a DLL is now performed by selecting Analysis >> Build Advanced Studies DLL. Documentation will be updated shortly.

• 179

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  • Corrected a problem with the Keltner study, where the average type defaulted to exponential.
  • Other minor fixes.

• 178

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  • The following functions have been renamed in the ACS interface:
    

    From	To
    sc.GetIndexForCOleDateTime()	sc.GetContainingIndexForSCDateTime()
    sc.GetIndexForMatchingDateTime()	sc.GetContainingIndexForDateTimeIndex()
    sc.GetNearestCOleDateTimeIndex()	sc.GetNearestMatchForSCDateTime()
    sc.GetNearestMatchingDateTimeIndex()	sc.GetNearestMatchForDateTimeIndex()

  • Added a Duplicate Chart to the Chart Menu. This lets you easily duplicate an existing chart.
  • Changed the MyTrack client to use the local computer's clock for time-stamping real-time data instead of the times sent by the MyTrack server. This will solve a lot of incorrect date and time problems in intraday charts. Now that your local computer clock is used, it is critical that it is set correctly and the time zone setting matches your clock setting. In other words, if your clock is set to Eastern Time, the time zone setting in Windows must be US Eastern.
  • The Advanced Custom Study Interface and Language now supports automatic looping. This applies to new studies. If you have developed Advanced Custom Studies, please be sure to review Updating Existing Code That Uses Array Operation Functions to Work with the New Version of the Interface. The behavior of array operation functions (for example, sc.HighestHigh()) has changed. These functions now set only one output array element at a time. Existing compiled code does not need to be changed. If you recompile your code and are using array operation functions, then you need to make changes as explained.
  • Corrected a data processing problem that may have caused some improper behavior with the following services and functions: Ameritrade, SC Historical Data, Interactive Data (ComStock Historical Data), and Sierra Chart main login.
  • Finalized the programming for image uploading. This can be found by going to Edit >> Screen Images.

• 176

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  • Programmed protection for unstable time stamp information from the MyTrack service. This will correct the problem with the dates in Intraday Charts that some users have experienced.
  • A new feature to upload images is under development and being tested. It can be found under Edit >> Image.
  • This version was built with a new Microsoft compiler. Our testing has not shown any issues. If you experience any issues, please let us know.

• 175

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  • Corrected some problems from 174 that were due to the new compiler that we are using.
  • A new software installer/UnInstaller has been integrated.
  • This version was built with a new Microsoft compiler. Our testing has not shown any issues. If you experience any issues, please let us know.

• 174

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  • There is a known problem that arose in 174 relating to the new Microsoft Compiler we are using. For some reason, not all trades are received or processed from the TransAct Data Feed. This will be noticeable on Tick or Volume Charts. It will be resolved shortly. This has been determined to be from a Microsoft compiler optimization bug that existed in prior versions. This version is built using the new Microsoft compiler. This bug was causing Trade over-counting in prior versions. The new version is providing an accurate trade count. However, Data Throttling from the feed server will effect how much data you receive. This has always been the case. Therefore, you might not always receive every trade.
  • Added a filter that should prevent out of order dates in a chart due to incorrect time-stamping from MyTrack.
  • Disabled the UnInstaller temporarily, until there is a fix, due to a possible problem when there are multiple installations and you uninstall more than one instance of the program. In this case, the root files of the Hard Drive volume may get deleted. The reason this happens is because when the first instance is uninstalled, the Registry data that holds the path to the current installation is removed. Therefore, when additional installations are uninstalled, the delete files command deletes the files at the root of the drive.
  • This version was built with a new Microsoft compiler. Our testing has not shown any issues. If you experience any issues, please let us know.

• 173

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  • Corrected a problem from 172, that caused file errors and prevented the files from being opened.
  • Corrected a problem in the TPO/Volume profile study that sometimes caused the charts to go blank.

• 172

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  • Sierra Chart now does a better job of detecting if the TransAct client loses it's connection.

• 171

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  • Added Bill Williams AC, Bill Williams AO, Bill Williams MA studies.

• 170

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  • Corrected a problem with the Linear Regression tool, arising from a recent pre-release.

• 169

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  • DTN IQ Feed: Supports the latest DTN IQ Feed client and server. The new DTN IQ Feed client and server will provide seconds resolution for data. This means the historical tick data now provides Sierra Chart more accurate seconds, tick, volume and range charts. This seconds resolution will be available with the new client as soon as DTN IQ Feed updates their server.
  • Fixed an issue from a recent pre-release where the Dash draw style didn't use anything other than a Solid line style.
  • Fixed an issue where downloading historical daily data from the SC Historical Data service would not continue properly when a timeout occurred.
  • Fixed an issue where range and volume charts would always cut bars at the session start, even when the Cut Bar at Session Start option was unchecked.

• 168

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  • IB: When downloading historical intraday data, if less than two hours are needed for the last request, Sierra Chart will request the data in 5-second units rather than 30-second units.
  • IB: Corrected a long term problem where the initial bid/ask data was not correctly processed for currency symbols. This would cause the daily low value for currencies to be incorrectly set and would cause a spike in daily charts, and possibly a single spike in intraday charts if backfill was disabled.
  • Fixed an issue from a recent pre-release where some older chart drawings were not showing up, particularly on futures charts where the symbol had changed since the lines were drawn.
  • Fixed an issue from a recent pre-release where horizontal lines did not use the trendline width.
  • Fixed the drawing of line labels when printing to the left and only the name is selected to be drawn.
  • Fixed the Study/Price Overlay study to show all possible subgraphs.
  • Fixed an issue where candlestick bars were not drawn on a chart with a logarithmic scale.

• 167

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  • Added two new Pivot Point study formulas.
  • Volume By Price study improvements.
  • Corrected a problem from a pre-release with the Pitchfork tool.
  • Added an output for a Spreadsheet subgraph on the SideWinder study.
  • Fixed the sc.SecondsPerBar variable in the Advanced Custom Study Interface.
  • Added processing for the DTN IQ Feed extended last field.

• 166

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  • Added the Double Stochastic study.
  • Includes a correction of a problem from version 161 and some recent pre-releases that caused IB backfill data to be time stamped off by one hour in certain timezones during daylight savings time. Versions 144 and earlier were not affected by this. Only some time zones were affected. There currently are some new problems with IB backfill. IB backfill problems experienced with versions 144 and earlier and all backfill problems, other than the one described with later pre-release versions, are due to IB and may include limitations and restrictions with their backfill service. IB is aware of the problems and they are working on correcting them. One of the IB problems is that you may miss the most recent hour of backfill data. This version has a patch that should download that most recent hour.

• 165

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  • A few small issues relating mainly to advanced custom studies have been corrected. Other features to be announced shortly.

• 164

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  • The TPO and Volume Profile Study now has the option to show the Virgin Point of Control. Select the Virgin POC checkbox inside of the TPO Input Settings Window.
  • Made some improvements with the integration to opentick.
  • Corrected a problem from a recent pre-release where text in the fill space on the right side of the chart was not properly aligned.

• 163

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  • The TPO and Volume Profile Study has been significantly modified to be much more efficient on updates. The study should be a lot faster now with no significant calculation time required after the initial calculation. Note that this is a pre-release although there are no known problems with it.
  • Added a new study named DOM Data. This study will display the current Depth of Market data. It is intended to be used with the Spreadsheet Study. Therefore, also add the Spreadsheet Study to your chart. The DOM data will be visible at column AA, or after.

• 162

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  • Added support for the new TransAct trade engine. In order to connect to the TransAct platform, it is necessary to install the new TransAct AT software, which supports the new trade engine. Contact TransAct for assistance, if necessary.
  • Added new draw-style for studies called BoxTop and BoxBottom. These styles work together to draw a rectangular hollow box.
  • Added a new option in the Global Cursor feature to synchronize multiple charts with horizontal scrolling, so that all charts shift to the corresponding time. Also added an option to enable this synchronization for linked charts only. These options can be found under Tools >> Global Cursor Options.
  • With the IB service, backfill data that is beyond your current computer's time is not filtered out from the chart. This change was necessary due to incorrectly timestamped backfill data from IB. It was previously filtered out to prevent out-of-order data in the charts.

• 161

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  • Corrected some issues with the studies of studies feature. See the based on description in Chart Studies for documentation.
  • Updated the opentick interface to filter out values that were causing price spikes in charts.

• 159

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  • The Volume by Price has been modified to be able to specify the Start of Day down to the second. Additionally, you can now display a POC line across the entire period. The POC line can be configured inside of the Subgraphs tab within the Technical Studies Settings window.
  • Corrected some issues with the Advanced Custom Study Interface and Language, relating to unallocated arrays. This may have caused a "Array is unallocated" error, or prevented a subgraph from appearing.

• 158

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  • Corrected several issues with the TPO and Volume Profile study related to changes in a recent pre-release.
  • Added the Color Bar study.
  • The primary start and end times in Chart Settings can now be reversed. There is now even greater flexibility with session time control.
  • Added SymbolData member to the Advanced Custom Study Interface. This provides full access to all pricing data for a symbol. This includes the Depth of Market data, if supported for your service.
  • Added the functions OnBalanceVolume, OnBalanceVolumeShortTerm, MovingAverage, Stochastic to the Advanced Custom Study interface.

• 157

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  • For TD Ameritrade and DTN IQ Feed service integration, the new daylight savings time rules for 2007 and beyond have been included. To ensure proper time stamping of data, it is critical that you update if you are using either of these services.
  • Corrected a problem preventing the source code from being viewed when debugging an advanced custom study. This was due to some recent changes with the folder structure used for the development of advanced custom studies.

• 156

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  • Added a Color Bar draw style for a study subgraph to color a bar when the data in a subgraph at the corresponding bar is non-zero. This is very useful for Spreadsheet Studies and Advanced Custom Studies.

• 155

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  • Corrected the problem that was causing an "Array Is Unallocated" error.
  • Added ability and option to see the volume of a bar within a Volume by Price study.
  • In the Volume by Price study, when using a dynamic period based on the window, you can now estimate the volume of each horizontal volume bar by moving around using the Chart Values Tool. The values are shown in the Chart Values Window.
  • Completed development of the new Studies of Studies feature.

• 154

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  • Corrected a problem where some Advanced Custom Studies did not work on newer pre-releases.
  • Added Average True Range function to the Advanced Custom Study interface.
  • Corrected a problem when using old chartbooks which contained TPO/Volume Profile Studies.