Transferring Sierra Chart Settings and Data From Existing Installation to New Installation

Transferring Sierra Chart Settings and Data From Existing Installation to New Installation

To install Sierra Chart on another computer or another folder on the same computer and use your same data files and settings from your original installation, follow these steps:

1. Install Sierra Chart on your other computer or in a different folder on the same computer. Download Sierra Chart from the Software Download page. Skip this step if the Sierra Chart installation you will be transferring settings to is already installed.
2. It is necessary to determine the location of the Sierra Chart Data Files Folders. Select Global Settings >> General Settings in both the original (source) and new (destination) installations of Sierra Chart.
   
   Make a note of the drive and folder path displayed in the Data Files Folder box for each installation of Sierra Chart.
3. Make sure no copies of Sierra Chart are running. To exit from Sierra Chart, select File >> Exit.
4. Copy the files from the Sierra Chart Data Files Folder from your original installation (source folder) into the Data Files Folder of your new installation (destination folder). Any files that exist in the destination folder, that have the same name as the files in the source folder, should be overwritten and will get replaced. This is safe to do.
   
   The Data Files Folder contains Daily (.dly) and Intraday (.scid) chart data files, Chartbooks (.cht), Study Collection (.StdyCollct), Trade Window Configuration (.twconfig), Dynamic Link Library (.DLL) files.
   
   Chartbook files are your workspaces and contain charts, Chart Settings, Chart Drawings, and the Studies on those charts.
   
   For efficiency, it is not necessary to copy files with an extension .scid from the source folder to the destination folder.
   
   You cannot copy the Data folder itself from the source installation into the Data folder of the destination installation of Sierra Chart. In this particular case you will have a Data folder within a Data folder. Example: C:\SierraChart\Data\Data. This is not correct.
5. Copy the following files and folders in the main Sierra Chart folder of your original (source) installation to the main folder of your new (destination) installation. Overwrite these files if they exist in the folder for your new (destination) installation.
   
   • Sierra4.config (Contains all of the global settings in Sierra Chart. This includes settings set through all of the configuration windows under the Global Settings menu including all of the Control Bar configurations. Chart specific settings, like the settings in Chart >> Chart Settings, are held in Chartbooks and not this file. Sierra3.cfg/Sierra4.config does not include Account related settings or Global Symbol Settings and can be safely shared with others.)
   • Accounts4.config (This contains the Global Settings >> Data/Trade Service Settings and related settings including all Usernames and Passwords. Your Sierra Chart Account Name and Password is stored in this file. This file is encrypted. All saved Data/Trade Service settings configurations are also contained in this file.)
   • KeyboardShortcuts4.config (This contains the Keyboard shortcuts configuration.)
   • TradeActivityLogs (Folder containing the files for the data displayed in Trade >> Trade Activity Log >> Trade Activity. The file format of the files is: TradeActivityLog_[ Date]_UTC.[simulated].data)
   • TradeAccountData (Folder containing the files for the data displayed in Trade >> Trade Account Monitor.
   • TradePositions.data (The data in Trade >> Trade Positions Window)
   • TradeOrdersList.data (The data in Trade >> Trade Orders Window)
   • SymbolSettings (folder containing Global settings >> Global Symbol Settings data)
   • DefaultStudySettings (Folder containing .defaultsettings files which are created when saving Default Study Settings.)
6. Copy the sound files in the AlertSounds folder in the main Sierra Chart folder of your original (source) installation to the AlertSounds folder in your new (destination) installation.
7. If you are using any custom icons for the Control Bar buttons, also be sure to copy the \Graphics\Buttons folder in the main Sierra Chart folder of your original (source) installation to the new (destination) installation.
8. Run the new installation of Sierra Chart by using the icon for it on your system desktop.
9. In the new installation of Sierra Chart, select File >> Clear Recent File List. This is so that you do not use file paths which are pointing to an older installation or to a file path that does not exist.
10. In the new installation of Sierra Chart, select Global Settings >> General Settings. Enable the Always Use 'Data' Folder within Main Folder option. This will ensure the correct folder is always used.
11. If you have any problems with the configuration from your original installation on your new installation, then refer to the Resetting Sierra Chart to a Default State documentation. It is very unlikely you will.
12. The Intraday data files, these have a scid file extension, that have been copied from one installation of Sierra Chart to another installation, may no longer be compressed after the file copy. During the first Intraday data download that occurs when connected to the data feed, the compression will take place if it has not already.
    
    During this process you will notice that Sierra Chart will freeze during the compression. This is just a one-time process because when Sierra Chart gives control to the operating system to compress a file, the operating system does it on the primary thread which will block the user interface of Sierra Chart.
    
    Therefore, after copying an installation to another system or another folder, periodic freezing of the user interface during the compression of large Intraday data files is not unusual. And it will not occur again after the files have been compressed.
13. If the destination installation will be using a different Data/Trading Service as compared to the source installation, then the symbols of charts within Chartbooks will need to be changed to match the Service being used. Otherwise, new historical data and real-time data will not be received into them. For complete details and instructions, refer to Help topic 1.3 (Symbols).

Updating Existing Installation of Sierra Chart with Files and Settings from Another Installation

Follow the below instructions to update an existing installation of Sierra Chart (destination installation) with all of the files and other settings from another existing installation (source installation).

The Transferring Sierra Chart Settings and Data From Existing Installation to New Installation instructions can also be used instead of these instructions.

The instructions here describe a simple alternative method. It is less recommended because it gives you less of an understanding about the file configuration of Sierra Chart.

1. Through your operating system file manager, go to the source installation of Sierra Chart. This is where you want to copy the files from. If you are not sure of the location of this installation, then open the Window >> Message Log in the source installation of Sierra Chart. This source installation of Sierra Chart needs to be running to open the Message Log.
   
   Near the top of the Message Log look for the line Program path: C:\SierraChart\. This indicates the folder that Sierra Chart is installed to. This is the folder you need to go to.
2. Copy all of the files in this Sierra Chart folder and the following subfolders: ACS_Source, AlertSounds, Data, Graphics, SymbolSettings. You may want to exclude files with a scid file extension in the Data subfolder in order to minimize the amount of data copied.
3. Go to the destination installation folder of Sierra Chart. If the destination instance of Sierra Chart is currently running, then exit from it by selecting File >> Exit.
4. Place all of the files you copied from the source installation folder into the folder of the destination installation. It is safe to overwrite the files. Therefore, when prompted to overwrite a file, choose Yes to overwrite.
5. The destination installation will now be the same as the source installation.
6. Start the destination installation of Sierra Chart by running the SierraChart.exe file in the main Sierra Chart program folder for the destination installation.
7. Select Global Settings >> General Settings. Make sure the Always Use 'Data' Folder within Main Folder is enabled. Press OK. If you changed this setting, then reconnect to the data feed.

Simple Transfer/Copy of Sierra Chart Installation to Another Folder or Computer System

This procedure describes a simple method of transferring or copying an installation of Sierra Chart to another folder or computer system.

1. Go to the existing installation of Sierra Chart that you want to copy and run Sierra Chart if it is not already running.
2. Select Global Settings >> General Settings.
3. Enable the Always Use 'Data' Folder within Main Folder option. By default, the Data Files Folder is the Data subfolder within the Sierra Chart main folder. Usually this is: C:\SierraChart\Data. If after enabling this option, the new Data Files Folder has changed, then you need to move the files from the prior Data Files Folder to the new folder location.
4. Open the Message Log with Window >> Message Log if it is not already open.
5. Scroll to the top of the Message Log window. You will see a line like the following which indicates the Sierra Chart program folder: Program path: C:\SierraChart\.
6. Exit from this existing installation of Sierra_ Chart with File >> Exit.
7. Through your operating system file manager copy all of the files and folders in the Program path as shown in the Message Log.
8. Create a new Sierra Chart folder in the destination location to paste a copy of the existing installation files.
9. Paste the files you copied into that new folder.
10. Run the SierraChart.exe file in the new destination folder to start Sierra Chart.
11. In Sierra Chart, select Global Settings >> Create Desktop Shortcut to create a shortcut to the program on your system desktop.
12. Select File >> Clear Recent File List since you may have installed Sierra Chart into a different drive or folder and the saved paths will be wrong.

If you will be copying Sierra Chart to another computer system, then the following instructions can be used in combination to the above instructions, to utilize a USB flash drive to facilitate the transfer.

1. Insert a USB flash drive into the computer you are copying Sierra Chart from.
2. Copy and thus Sierra Chart installation folder to this flash drive.
3. Remove the flash drive from the computer that you are copying Sierra Chart from. Insert the USB flash drive into the computer you are copying Sierra Chart to.
4. Copy the Sierra Chart folder on the flash drive into the location you want to on the destination computer.

Additionally, the File Sharing feature may be useful to you if you just want to copy individual Chartbooks, Spreadsheets, or Study Collections to other installations.

Copying of Market Depth Data Files

Market depth data files can be copied from one Sierra Chart installation to another. This procedure is only intended to be followed if you just want to copy these files only between two installed copies of Sierra Chart. Follow the below instructions to do this.

1. Exit from Sierra Chart through File >> Exit in the copy that you want to copy the market depth data files from.
2. Through your operating system file manager go to the Sierra Chart Data Files Folder. This can be determined through Global Settings >> General Settings >> Data Files Folder.
3. Once you have opened that folder, then open the MarketDepthData subfolder within that folder.
4. Make a copy of the market depth data files that you want to copy to another installation of Sierra Chart.
5. Place these files into the MarketDepthData subfolder of the other installation of Sierra Chart. Make sure the other installation of Sierra Chart is not running when you copy those files into that folder.