Chat and Communications Platform

Introduction

The chat project is part of a larger project to support chat, screen sharing, remote control, voice and video calls. This can be peer to peer, or in groups. And webinar type of functionality where there can be a presenter, providing screen sharing and audio to many users.

The reason we developed the chat, is because what is out there is just simply unacceptable to us. There is nothing good out there for chat that is quality and can be trusted and secure. It is simply nonexistent. Everything out there is all substandard or has problems for one reason or another.

One comment, we have noticed the chat does not work on Linux. It causes the program to freeze. Maybe because the chat window runs on another thread. We will implement an option to not use a separate thread for chat for Linux users.

The remote control and screen sharing functionality is going to be very high quality and high performance. Initially it will support communication through an intermediary server but later support for direct peer to peer communication will be added.

It is the one and only chat in the world, that uses standard operating system windows and edit boxes and menu commands and buttons. Built directly on top of the operating system using C++. All clean and stable. On the server side uses STL, and simple files. Threads for performance. All clean and straightforward good quality.

The voice and video functionality will interface directly with the OS. No libraries involved. Screen sharing also completely written by us. With our own codecs (for screen capture and compression and decompression). All running on a separate thread. Will support an intermediary server, and direct peer to peer connections.

Also we are going to develop end to end encryption for chat messages. Which is not managed on the server but on the client side. So there is 100% security that you are in control of.

There is security that exists already. The connection to the server is encrypted. But the messages still need to be encrypted in a way that they cannot be decrypted other than by the user.

Usage

Follow the instructions below to use the chat.

The chat can be used to chat with another Sierra Chart user. Or multiple users in a Chat Group.

The chat functionality can also be used to create a private chat group with only a single user (yourself) as the member, for the purpose of sending alert messages from Sierra Chart into the chat. So they can be relayed to the Telegram messaging application. And also viewable with our upcoming web-based chat application. So you can access alerts on a mobile device.

1. Open the Chat Window with File >> Open Chat Window from the main Sierra Chart menu.
2. The chat window will be opened. If it is not visible look for it on your System Taskbar. If you still do not see it Window >> Reset Windows. And then open the chat window again with File >> Open Chat Window.
3. The chat window will be opened. If it is not visible look for it on your System Taskbar. If you still do not see it Window >> Reset Windows.
4. Every Sierra Chart user has a unique Chat Username. This can be different from your Sierra Chart username. It is up to you if you want to use the same one or make it different. To set your chat username, go to the Manage Account Information page. Set the username into the Chat Username: field and press the Update Account Information button.
5. To create a chat with another user, select Commands >> New Chat from the Chat Window menu.
6. In the Search Text edit box, enter the user's full chat username because by default chat usernames are not searchable unless the user has chosen to make their name searchable.
7. Press the Perform Search button. You should now see the username listed in the Search Results list. Select it in the list and press OK.
8. In the list of chats on the left side of the Chat Window, you will now see the chat you have with the other user.
9. Left click on that chat, and to send a message to the other user type a message into the large edit box at the bottom of the Chat Window.

Using Chat for Remote Alert Notifications

This functionality replaces email alerts and SMS alerts supported in older versions of Sierra Chart. Even older versions of Sierra Chart can no longer use email or SMS alerts. Those have been permanently discontinued with the replacement functionality below which is very reliable and fast.

Follow the instructions below to enable remote alert notifications.

There are many conditions within Sierra Chart which can trigger Alerts. Whatever the source of an alert is in Sierra Chart, at the location where the condition is configured, you choose an Alert Number. This Alert Number can be configured to send the alert message to a group chat which then can be configured to be relayed to Telegram, or accessed on our upcoming web-based chat application.

1. You need to be running Sierra Chart version 2625 or higher. Update with Help >> Download Current Version.
2. The first step, is to configure a private Chat Group within the Sierra Chart Chat functionality with only yourself, as the member.
   
   Select File >> Open Chat Window. The Chat window runs on another thread, and it may not always become visible when you select this command. You will have to look for it on the System Taskbar on your desktop.
   
   If it is not visible when selecting this command, then select Window >> Reset Windows.
   
   After that select File >> Open Chat Window again. You should then see it but once again you may need to look for it on your System Taskbar.
3. On the Chat window select Commands >> New Group.
4. Enter a Group Name. Must be at least five characters long. Not less. Otherwise, creating the group will fail.
5. Set Relay Own Messages to Telegram to Yes.
6. Press OK.
7. The group will be created and listed in the list of chats on the left of the Chat Window. At this point, only you are the member and it is your own private chat. Whatever messages you send, are seen by no one else but yourself.
8. Select this chat in the list of chats on the left of the Chat Window.
9. After selecting the chat on the left, you will see a Chat ID: at the top of the message list. Make a note of this numeric chat ID. This is a unique identifier for the chat.
10. Select Global Settings >> General Settings >> Alerts from the main Sierra Chart menu.
11. Select the particular Alert Number from the drop-down list of alert numbers you want to configure to send messages to your private chat group.
    
    When you send a message to the chat, it then can be relayed to Telegram. Telegram, is a messaging platform which is freely available.
    
    Telegram can run on your desktop computer or various mobile devices.
12. Set the setting Send Alert as Chat Message when this Alert is Triggered to Yes.
13. Set Notification >> Chat Identifier or Chat Name for Alerts to the integer identifier you made a note of at step 8.
    
    Do not enter the name of the chat here! The name is not currently supported.
14. Press OK.
15. Whenever the particular Alert Number, that is configured to send a message to the chat is triggered, then the message that would normally be sent by email or SMS, is given to the designated chat.
    
    When the Chat Interface is being used for Alerts, the Chat Window needs to be kept open. There is no reason to close it. Just simply minimize it and it will be on the System Taskbar. It will be running in the background on its own thread. There is no need to be concerned with it.
16. The next step is to configure the Telegram integration. To do that, you first need to have Telegram installed. Complete that step first. It is best to install it on your desktop computer where Sierra Chart is running. You can get it from here.
    
    From your mobile device you can install it, by using whatever method to search for available apps on your device and finding it and installing it.
17. To do the Telegram integration, select Commands >> Telegram Notifications from the Sierra Chart Chat window. And follow through the instructions in the pop-up message.
18. If you get any error, when attaching the SierraChartTelegramChat bot in your Telegram installation, then type the command /detach into the SierraChartTelegramChat bot within Telegram and send that first. And then go through the procedure again (prior step).
19. Telegram can be installed on your mobile device, or any device, and whenever an alert sends a message to your private chat group, and is set to be relayed to Telegram, you will then get it on Telegram immediately without delay.
20. You can immediately stop Alerts from being sent to the chat by selecting Commands >> Disconnect on the Chat Window (File >> Open Chat Window). Any subsequent alerts being sent will be kept in a temporary queue. This queue of pending alerts will not exceed 10 elements. So no more than 10 will be queued. And that queue is discarded when Sierra Chart is exited.
21. Eventually we will have our own mobile application to receive the alerts. This is going to be developed very soon. We estimate about 45 days.
22. Finally, this is a reliable, unfiltered, and stable method to receive alerts. We cannot always guarantee delivery through Telegram, but delivery will be guaranteed with our own mobile chat application which will be available as soon as possible.
23. All Sierra Chart users, have a unique username for chat, which can be different from your Sierra Chart username and that can be configured here (Chat Username:)

Telegram Integration

To enable relaying to telegram, of messages that you send it to a particular chat, select Commands >> Telegram Notifications from the chat window menu. Follow the instructions given in the displayed prompt.

In the case of a Group Chat, it is also necessary to enable Relay to Telegram in the Chat Group settings (Commands >> Edit Group Chat). For a peer to peer chat with another user, Telegram Notifications when globally configured, are enabled by default. We are working on adding an option to enable and disable Telegram notifications, for a peer to peer chat with another Sierra Chart user. This is so you can disable Telegram notifications for a particular chat even if telegram notifications are globally configured.

For Telegram notifications, there is a limit on the number of attach requests that can be made per hour. /attach_to cannot be used more than 5 times per hour.

The link is contains a globally unique identifier of an extended length to make the association between a Sierra Chart user's Chat account/username and the user's instance of Telegram. Once connecting a particular Sierra Chart user's Chat account/username with a particular Telegram ID belonging to that user, the prior Telegram ID associated with the Sierra Chart user's Chat account/username, is removed.

Therefore, it is not possible for multiple Telegram IDs to be listening to a single Sierra Chart user's Chat account/username.

Preventing Chat Window from Opening

When starting Sierra Chart, the Chat window will automatically open if it was previously open when exiting Sierra Chart. The window size and position and show/display state is remembered. If you do not want the Chat Window to open, when you start Sierra Chart, then close the Chat window before exiting Sierra Chart.

Alert Numbers can also be configured to send the alert text, when triggered, to a private Group Chat. This is so that you can access the alert information remotely. For more information, refer to Using Chat for Remote Alert Notifications.

In this case, the Chat window will open, when an alert is triggered that sends it to a particular chat. Typically a private Group Chat. Just minimize the chat window in this case . It will not maximize when it is used. And it will run in the background on another thread.

It is possible when you start Sierra Chart, that you could have a particular Alert Number that becomes triggered. This Alert Number may be configured to send the alert to a particular chat. If this is the case, the Chat Window will automatically open at that time if it is not already open. To disable sending an alert to the specified chat, for a particular Alert Number, select Global Settings >> General Settings >> Alerts. Select the Alert Number from the drop-down list that is configured to send the alert to a chat. Set the Send Alert as Chat Message when this Alert is Triggered setting to No for that particular Alert Number and press OK.