MultiCharts 8.0 Beta 3 adds a few minor features, but its main purpose is to fix existing issues and fine-tune features before the official release. Based on the feedback from users, we gauge what else needs to be fixed before we release the Release Candidate, and then the official MultiCharts 8. Main objectives are stability and correctness of functioning.

USE OUR NEW WIKI FOR COMPLETE UP TO DATE INFORMATION ON MULTICHARTS – http://www.multicharts.com/trading-software/index.php/Main_Page

Report bugs and request features in our Project Management system – http://www.multicharts.com/pm/.

NEW FEATURES

Visual improvements

Trade Control Panel, DOM and Trade Bar were made more compact. Colors and fonts were optimized for clarity and easy viewing.

OpenECry UUID interface

MultiCharts now connects to OpenECry using UUID. This means it’s now possible to use OECTrader and MultiCharts at the same time without turning on the Allow Remoting option.

Drawings extend into subcharts

An option added for TimeLine drawing to be extended over all the subcharts within a chart.

Other features

• Patsystems symbols are now added with proper PriceScale, MinMove and BigPointValue settings directly from the provider.
• Requesting a symbol list from eSignal was improved (now does not depend on IE settings).
• OrderID for trading through Interactive Brokers is now generated within MultiCharts.
• Extra messages about IB TWS connection status are filtered out and no longer shown.
• QuantTrade Fractal Five indicators added to the paid Add-on section.
• Order rejection reasons are now shown in the Logs tab in the Order and Position Tracker for Interactive Brokers when MultiCharts rejects the order itself.
• Chart Shift can now be specified in percent and number of bars.
• Switch to “HLC” and “Candlestick” chart types options were added to keyboard shortcuts.
• “Parallel Lines” drawing tool is now called “Equidistant Channel”.
• MIG bank connection parameters changed.
• Log files now include users’ local timezone information.

BUGS FIXED

Charting/Data Handling

• Some ticks were appeared twice if a symbol from Trading Technologies was first requested in the Trade Bar and then on the chart.
• Zero bars would sometimes occur when charting weekly bars.
• Better Renko bars with option Show Wick and Break on Session were not formed correctly at the start of a session.
• Expert Commentary didn’t work if Background Dragging was turned on and then off.
• Symbol list would not show up for Trading Technologies data feed.
• Reload did not work for ASCII Mapping data provider.
• OpenECry data feed would receive a lot fewer ticks than in pervious versions of MultiCharts.
• Statuses for active orders didn’t arrive for after connecting Interactive Brokers profile.
• Chart Shift option worked incorrectly when bar spacing was less than one. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10164&sid=bf18e641adbc07908916caa6b42b7198#p48962
• Playback tick-by-tick stopped working. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10164#p48794.
• PFG FX symbols would be added with incorrect default settings. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9647&p=45795#p45758.

Trading

• Some orders were lost when using Unable to render embedded object: File (From Broker To Strategy MP Synchronizer) not found.signal.
• Sometimes Stop Limit orders would be sent to Patsystems with a slightly incorrect price.
• Impossible to move ProfitTarget and StopLoss orders on FXCM broker profile under certain conditions. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/pm/viewissue.php?issue_no=MC-890.
• Impossible to move Stop Loss and Profit Target after a partial Profit Target execution. More info here – http://www.multicharts.com/pm/viewissue.php?issue_no=MC-901.
• OpenPL for open position for PFG is equal to zero for the first 5 minutes.
• Active ProfitTarget and StopLoss orders would sometimes modify without request.
• Orders would sometimes be stuck in Sent mode after being rejected in Trader Workstation.
• Limit orders wouldn’t get always get cancelled when needed.
• Optimize Order Flow feature worked differently when placing Buy and Sell orders in the same situation.
• DOM in MultiCharts would lag behind X-Trader for Trading Technologies data.
• Connection to Trading Technologies would not re-establish automatically after a short break.
• Fill price equaled zero for BUND-JUN12 contract on XEurex exchange.
• Feature to turn off autotrading if an order was rejected more than ‘N’ times did not work.
• Orders would sometimes be stuck in PreCancelled mode even though they were canceled at the broker.
• Order would be stuck in PreCancelled mode and error “final order status not received” would be displayed for MB Trading broker.
• Orders were stuck in PreModified status for MIG Bank broker.

Scripts/Calculations

• Keyword ‘category’ returned incorrect values for Custom Futures contracts. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10254.
• A certain signal did not generate orders during a backtest on the last bar when it should have.
• Calculation of signals changed incorrectly when using IntrabarOrderGeneration without Bar Magnifier.
• Exit from setstopcontract when using Initial Entry was incorrectly interpreted.
• Signal with command ‘open next bar’ calculated incorrectly without IntrabarOrderGeneration turned on.
• Max Intraday DrawDown was significantly different in Portfolio Optimization Report and Portfolio Strategy Report.
• TradingServer sometimes could not process ticks fast enough when IntrabarOrderGeneration was turned on and set to trade on every tick.
• Skip Identical Ticks status (on/off) was not saved after exporting and importing an indicator.

Stability/Performance

• Increased memory consumption when plotting 1500 symbols in Scanner with real-time from Interactive Brokers provider.
• MCx64 Beta2 slower than Beta1. More info here – http://www.multicharts.com/pm/viewissue.php?issue_no=MC-870.
• Tsserver.exe process had issues processing very large volumes.
• Exception when opening a workspace with several DOM windows from Trading Technologies data feed.
• Exception when turning on Collect Data in QuoteManager for fast ticking Trading Technologies symbols.
• Trading Technologies data feed would not always connect if QuoteManager was turned on and TT symbols had Collect Data turned on.
• Asserts when using Unable to render embedded object: File (From Broker To Strategy MP Synchronizer) not found. signal.
• Deadlock when compressing time scale to show year 2077.
• Assert when creating an attached DOM or Data Window.
• Deadlock when deleting “Market Depth on Chart” indicator in 32-bit MultiCharts with Interactive Brokers profile.
• Exception when opening context menu from column heading in a ticking DOM.
• Cannot close position when using Financial Advisor account through Interactive Brokers (Single Account Allocation)
• Exception when opening the Find dialog in Symbol List in MultiCharts 32-bit.
• Asserts after updating TWS to version 924.3a and broker profile would not always connect.
• Exception in FIXServer.exe with AppVerifier.
• Deadlock when canceling ASCII import and the file contains errors.
• Assert when compiling a study with the following text Alert (“c=”,c,” v=”,ticks) ;
• Assert if opening the ASCII Data Import dialog during ASCII mapping.
• Assert with description __atl_condVal would sometimes appear.
• Assert “nFieldLength < 260″ when importing a QMD file.
• Assert and exception when using Playback for data from TradeStation.
• Deadlock when opening Print Preview for a second time using keyboard shortcuts.
• Deadlock when saving data to local database after closing MultiCharts.
• Deadlock when launching QuoteManager with Collect Data turned on for several Trading Technologies symbols.
• Exception in LMAX data provider when closing and restarting MultiCharts quickly.
• Exception in ZFServerProxy when opening a workspace.
• Error “invalid pointer” when optimizing a signal with keyword “dom_isconnected”.
• Error with text “unknown error” during optimization in the 64-bit version of MultiCharts. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10224.

Usability/Visual

• Ask and Bid values disappeared from Trade Panel after disconnecting and reconnecting to Interactive Brokers.
• Incorrect value of the Outliers field after exporting Strategy Performance Report to Excel.
• Two columns Cum. Profit ($) in the List of Trades after exporting Performance Report to Excel.
• Incomplete indicator name displayed when inserting an uncompiled indicator into the Scanner.
• Symbol list from Patsystems would be different every time and took a long time to display.
• Optimization Report results would sometimes sort incorrectly. More info here - http://www.multicharts.com/pm/viewissue.php?issue_no=MC-876.
• Drawing Hint would not disappear after being turned off through a keyboard shortcut.
• Turning off Background Dragging with a keyboard shortcut did not return the cursor to its original state.
• Sometimes it was not possible to press OK during ASCII Import, although all columns were already selected.
• Sounds Alerts would be turned on although context menu option showed it as turned off.
• Spin buttons did not fit in the field that changes ray positions in Fibonacci drawing tool options. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10164#p48791.
• Filter in Format Instrument dialog worked incorrectly.
• Position on chart blinked after upgrading to TWS 924.3a.
• Extra line was added to Symbol Mapping.
• Visual theme was not saved after closing and reopening a workspace. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10164#p48792.
• After changing the size of dockable DOM, the size of Data Window increases and cannot be decreased. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/pm/viewissue.php?issue_no=MC-886.
• When exporting Strategy Performance Report to Rina XML file format, bigpointvalue for Profit was not taken into account. More info here - http://www.multicharts.com/pm/viewissue.php?issue_no=MC-905.
• Incorrect value of Return on Account after exporting Strategy Performance Report to Excel. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/pm/viewissue.php?issue_no=MC-904.
• Column with Undefined values was not ignored during ASCII Import.
• DOM borders were distorted if the connection was broken, and the Last value shifted during the connection break.
• Incorrect values for Renko and LineBreak definitions in Help for keyword ‘Bartype_ex’. LineBreak is actually 16 and Renko is 17.
• First column was recognized incorrectly during ASCII Import if Price Multiplier or Volume Multiplier fields were changed.
• Dockable Order and Position Tracker window would not receive complete mouse focus if there was an open chart.
• False import occurred if no resolution was chosen during ASCII Import (seemed to import, yet not successful).
• Status fields did not update in the Scanner while “waiting for data”.
• When adding symbol from eSignal to Portfolio, the Instrument field would have ‘eSignal’ written in it, although it should be empty.
• “Trade Bar” title disappeared from the Trade Bar.
• Checkmarks would not appear in some menus when using certain themes in Windows XP and 7.
• It was possible to open multiple Keyboard Shortcuts windows, while only one should be active.
• Visual artifacts remained after creating two drawings and pressing Esc.
• After turning off the Interactive Brokers broker profile, an incorrect number of active orders was shown.
• DOM profile was not saved in the workspace if the profile was connected from the Trade Bar.
• Settings dialog for Strategy Performance Report had an incorrect title.
• Certain parameters of the GetAppInfo function were not described in the Help.
• Symbols from PFG would be added with incorrect settings if requested with an invalid account, and then a valid one.
• Calculator was highlighted on Trade Bar even if broker profile is turned off.
• Some Stop Limit orders sent from MultiCharts were not visible in Patsystems’ J-Traders, and vice versa.
• Strange behavior when opening/closing the dialog Edit Field Delimiters during ASCII Import.
• When opening broker settings window from the SA/AA button menu, the Strategy Properties window would open instead.
• After docking (undocking) of the service DOM window, the Data Window width increases (decreases).
• Windows Xp Classical theme resulted in a thick border around editable inputs in studies.
• In the search window in QuoteManager (Ctrl+F), the Tab, Esc and Enter buttons don’t work.
• End of the file path was not shown when importing ASCII data from a file with a very long name.
• Visual artifacts remained on screen after maximizing a chart and detaching the scanner.
• ASCII import explorer would sometime not show.

BIG NEWS. We are developing a completely new kind of platform.

“MultiCharts .NET” will combine the best features of MultiCharts and with the robust capabilities of the .NET framework.

What does this mean?

Every trader that’s using C#, Visual Basic, Visual Java, or any other language supported by .NET to write indicators and strategies will be able to do so in MultiCharts .NET.

Why it’s BIG

The power of a professional programming language, the kind that a proprietary language just can’t deliver, doesn’t need to be explained to people already familiar with programming. As you get into writing sophisticated studies, it becomes more efficient to have a industrial-grade language at your fingertips.

Pricing

Given the multiple changes and new capabilities, it has to be a separate product. Pricing is still undetermined. It will be competitive, and we’ll offer HUGE discounts to existing holders of MultiCharts licenses – just to show how much we appreciate you

MultiCharts has always been about engineering, that means all we focus on is building new things that will be useful to a larger number of traders. We also want your input – what do you want to see in this new version? What should we keep in mind?

Any comments, suggestions, or wishes go into the space below.

If you want to be considered for closed beta testing, email support@multicharts.com with your request.

What:  The 6th China Derivatives Analyst Forum 2012

When: 4/21 – 4/22, 2012

Where: The Dragon Hotel, Hangzhou, China

Who: over 70 Futures Brokers and 700 Analysts

Conference welcome board with event sponsors

Analyst Forum and presentations

Many participants came to the ICE Tech. booth to learn about MultiCharts

MultiCharts booth outside of the Dragon Hotel

MultiCharts support and service team in China – ICE Tech.

Thanks guys! Keep up the great work.

MULTICHARTS 8.0 BETA 2– WHAT’S NEW

MultiCharts 8.0 Beta 2 focuses significantly improving user experience in terms of convenience and speed when it comes to working with MultiCharts. A number of features were created from user feature requests – Global Hot Keys, Expert Commentary, access to DOM data from PowerLanguage, many drawing tool improvements, and other additions. Next release is planned to be Release Candidate with bug fixes, and then official MC8 release.

USE OUR NEW WIKI FOR COMPLETE UP TO DATE INFORMATION ON MULTICHARTS - http://www.multicharts.com/trading-software/index.php/Main_Page

Report bugs and request features in our Project Management system – http://www.multicharts.com/pm/

NEW FEATURES

Global Hot Keys

Global Hot Keys feature allows user to define and save keyboard shortcuts for pretty much any action in MultiCharts. More info here – http://www.multicharts.com/pm/viewissue.php?issue_no=MC-734&search_queue=5

Expert Commentary

Expert Commentary feature is now available. This feature allows you to add comments and text to be displayed when user clicks on a particular bar. There are new keywords associated with this feature:

AtСommentarybar ( Expert Commentary)

This reserved word returns a value of True on the bar clicked by the user. It will return a value of False for all other bars. This allows you to optimize your trading strategies, analysis techniques, and functions for speed, as it will allow PowerLanguage to skip all commentary-related calculations for all bars except for the one where the commentary is requested

Usage

AtCommentaryBar

Notes

The difference between AtCommentaryBar and CommentaryEnabled is that CommentaryEnabled returns a value of True for ALL bars when the Expert Commentary window is open, while the AtCommentaryBar returns a value of True only for the bar clicked.

Example

The following statements display a 50-bar average of the volume in the Expert Commentary window but avoid calculating this 50-bar average for every other bar of the chart:

If AtCommentaryBar Then

Commentary(“The 50-bar vol avg: “, Average(Volume, 50));

Commentary( Expert Commentary)

This reserved word sends the expression (or list of expressions) to the Expert Commentary window for whatever bar is selected on the price chart.

Commentary(“My Expression”) ;

My Expression is the numerical, text string or true/false expression that is to be sent to the Expert Commentary window. You can send multiple expressions, commas must separate them.

Example

The following will result in the string “This is one line of commentary” being sent to the commentary window. Any additional commentary sent will be placed on the same line.

Commentary(“This is one line of commentary”) ;

Commentarycl( Expert Commentary)

This reserved word sends the expression (or list of expressions) to the Expert Commentary window for whatever bar is selected by the Expert Commentary pointer.

Usage

CommentaryCL(“My Expression”) ;

My Expression is a single or a comma-separated list of numeric, text string, or true/false expressions that are sent to the Expert Commentary window.

Example

The following will result in the string “This is one line of commentary” being sent to the commentary window. Any additional commentary sent will be placed on the next line.

CommentaryCL(“This is one line of commentary”) ;

CommentaryEnabled( Expert Commentary)

This reserved word returns a value of True only when the Expert Commentary window is open and Commentary has been requested. This allows you to optimize your trading strategies, analysis techniques, and functions for speed, as it allows PowerLanguage to perform commentary-related calculations only when the Expert Commentary window is open.

Usage

CommentaryEnabled

The difference between CommentaryEnabled and AtCommentaryBar is that CommentaryEnabled returns a value of True for ALL bars when the Expert Commentary window is open, while the AtCommentaryBar returns a value of True only for the bar clicked with the Expert Commentary pointer.

Example

CommentaryEnabled will return True if the Analysis Commentary Tool has been applied to the chart.

#BEGINCMTRY( Expert Commentary)

The statements between this compiler directive and the reserved word #End are evaluated only when the Expert Commentary tool is used to select a bar on a chart or a cell in a grid. The reserved word #End must be used with this reserved word.

Usage

#BeginCmtry

Commentary(“The indicator value here is ” + NumtoStr(Plot1, 2));

#End;

Notes

All statements between the #BeginCmtry and #End are ignored, including calculation of MaxBarsBack, unless commentary is generated.

Example

An indicator that calculates the 10-bar momentum of the closing price needs ten bars in order to start plotting results. If commentary is added to this indicator and the commentary uses a 50-bar average of the volume, then the MaxBarsBack setting is increased to fifty. However, the 50-bar average is only used for the commentary, so there is no need to have the indicator wait fifty bars before giving results unless Commentary is requested.

To have the indicator plot after 10 bars and ignore the 50-bar requirement, the indicator can be written as follows:

Plot1( Close – Close[10], “Momentum”);

#BeginCmtry;

If Close – Close[10] > 0 Then

Commentary(“Momentum is positive, “)

Else

Commentary(“Momentum is negative, “);

If Volume > Average(Volume, 50) Then

Commentary(” and volume is greater than average.”)

Else

Commentary(” and volume is lower than average.”);

#End;

This indicator plots the momentum and the commentary states whether the momentum is positive or negative, and if the volume is over or under the 50-bar average of the volume. When the indicator is applied without using commentary, it will require only 10 bars to start calculating. When commentary is requested, the indicator is recalculated, the statements within the compiler directives are evaluated, and the new minimum number of bars required is 50. Any series functions within these reserved words are also ignored.

СheckСommentary( Expert Commentary)

Returns True after left click on a chart with the Expert Commentary pointer on the specified bar. False is returned if the pointer has not been inserted, or if the pointer was inserted on a different bar.

Usage

CheckCommentary

Example

If you only wanted code to be evaluated for the bar where the user had inserted the Expert Commentary Tool, you could use the following syntax:

If CheckCommentary Then Begin

{Your Code Here}

End;

Access to Level 2 (DOM) data from PowerLanguage

New keywords allow to level 2 data (DOM data) from PowerLanguage. Now your strategies can reference Depth of Market values for calculations in real-time (not applicable for backtesting as L2 data is not stored in the database). More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/pm/viewissue.php?issue_no=MC-451

om_askprice ( DOM)

Returns ask price for the certain depth level of a particular symbol.

Usage

dom_askprice(num) [data(N)]
where:

(num) is the number of depth level

(N) – number of the data series

Example

dom_askprice(4); will return the ask price for the 5^th level of depth for the data1

dom_askprice(2) data2; will return the ask price for the 3^rd level of depth for the data2

dom_askscount( DOM)

Returns the number of ask depth levels available for a particular symbol.

Usage

dom_askscount [data(N)]

where: (N) – number of the data series

Example

dom_askscount will return 10 if 10 ask levels of the market depth are available for the data1

dom_askscount data2 will return 6 if 6 ask levels of the market depth are available for the data2

dom_asksize( DOM)

Returns the ask size for the certain depth level of a particular symbol.

Usage

dom_asksize(num) [data(N)]
where:

(num) is the number of depth level

(N) – number of the data series

Example

dom_asksize(2) will return 1500 if the ask size for the 3^rd level of depth on data1 is 1500

dom_asksize(0) data2 will return 750 if the ask size for the 1^st level of depth on data2 is 750

dom_bidprice( DOM)

Returns bid price for the certain depth level of a particular symbol.

Usage

dom_bidprice(num) [data(N)]
where:

(num) is the number of depth level

(N) – number of the data series

Example

dom_bidprice (4); will return the bid price for the 5^th level of depth for the data1

dom_bidprice (2) data2; will return the bid price for the 3^rd level of depth for the data2

dom_bidscount( DOM)

Returns the number of bid depth levels available for a particular symbol.

Usage

dom_bidscount [data(N)]

where: (N) – number of the data series

Example

dom_bidscount will return 10 if 10 bid levels of the market depth are available for the data1

dom_bidscount data2 will return 6 if 6 bid levels of the market depth are available for the data2

dom_bidsize( DOM)

Returns the bid size for the certain depth level of a particular symbol.

Usage

dom_bidsize(num) [data(N)]
where:

(num) is the number of depth level

(N) – number of the data series

Example

dom_bidsize (2) will return 1500 if the bid size for the 3^rd level of depth on data1 is 1500

dom_bidsize (0) data2 will return 750 if the bid size for the 1^st level of depth on data2 is 750

dom_isconnected( DOM)

Returns a logical value indicating the availability of the market depth data; returns a value of True if the market depth data is available and a value of False if the market depth data is not available.

Usage

dom_isconnected

Example

Print the ask size for the 1^st level of market depth if the market depth data is available

variables:

var0(0);

if dom_isconnected then

var0 = dom_askprice(0);

print(var0);

Sound Trading Alerts – Orders, Statuses, Positions, Connections.

Sound Alerts were added to walk user through changes in order, position and connection status. The setting is global, which means it affects both manual and automated trading, and can be turned on/off from the Sound Alerts menu.

Alerts in Signals (Strategies)

There are now alerts available for signals (strategies). You can use sounds, visual or email alerts to get notified about orders and position changes. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/pm/viewissue.php?issue_no=MC-319.

Overfill Protection

Mechanism added to avoid situations with possible overfills with OCO group emulation. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/pm/viewissue.php?issue_no=MC-662.

Bar Magnifier improvement

Bar Magnifier improvement – detalization of bars was changed so that prices that were not available in a lower resolution, will not be available in a higher one (i.e. if price of 100 was not available on 1 day series, it will not be possible to fill an order at 100 on a 1 week series with bar magnifier).

Orders now don’t have to be part of OCO

Orders now don’t always have to be sent as part of an OCO group in autotrading. Previous behavior when all orders were part of OCO created problems for some users – when using partial exits (i.e. Master Strategy), when one order was filled, all others would be cancelled and re-submitted. This caused loss of place in queue, and subsequently longer fill waiting times. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/pm/viewissue.php?issue_no=MC-454.

MaxBarsBack – possible to change from PowerLanguage

It is now possible to change MaxBarsBack (max number of bars study will reference) directly from PowerLanguage script.

SetMaxBarsBack

Sets a numerical value indicating the Maximum Bars Back setting for the study.

All studies based on past data use a certain number of bars for their calculations. The number of bars is called Maximum number of bars a study will reference, or Maximum Bars Back

Usage:

SetMaxBarsBack(BarsBack);

Where: BarsBack – numerical expression, specifying the number of bars back

Notes: BarsBack can’t  be a negative value.

Example:

Set a value, indicating the Maximum Bars Back setting for the study to 50.

SetMaxBarsBack(50);

SetCustomFitnessValue

Sets a value of the custom criterion that is to be used for optimization.

Usage:

SetCustomFitnessValue (Criterion);

Where: Criterion – an expression specifying a custom criterion value.

Notes:

• This function can be used only in signals
• To use the custom fitness value:
  1. open genetic algorithm properties window;
  2. set the number of simulations by changing the inputs range;
  3. select the Algorithm-Specified Properties tab
  4. select the Custom Fitness Value from the list under the Standard Criteria section

Example:

Set the gross profit to be a custom criterion for genetic optimization

SetCustomFitnessValue (grossprofit);

Set the formula to be a custom criterion for genetic optimization

SetCustomFitnessValue (totaltrades / (grossloss + grossprofit));

TradingServer notified about backtesting orders

TradingServer now gets notified about orders generated during backtesting when autotrading is turned on. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9715#p46220.

Drawing Tools Improvements

Drawings now have a locking feature, which prevents accidental displacement by the user. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/pm/viewissue.php?issue_no=MC-63.

Fibonacci drawing tools now have extra levels that appear inactive by default.

- Fib Retr Price Lines – 18
- Fib Speed/Res Fan – 16
- Fib Trend-Based PEL – 18
- Fib Speed/Res Arcs – 22
- Fib Trend-Based TL – 16

Background Chart Dragging

There is no background dragging available for charts, which means you can grab the background and move the chart around. This feature is turned on/off with a button on the toolbar called “Control”. When background dragging is enabled, chart hint windows cannot be displayed, and vice versa.

Order and Position Tracker and DOM windows dockable

Order and Position Tracker & Depth of Market windows are now dockable to main workspace. More info here – http://www.multicharts.com/pm/viewissue.php?issue_no=MC-67.

MIGBank Data Feed and Broker added

MIG BANK – the largest Swiss bank specializing in online Forex and CFDs trading services for private and institutional clients.

New Data PlayBack speeds

New speeds were added for Data Playback – 10,000 updates per second and 100,000 updates per second.

ThreadSafe Keyword

Threadsafe keyword added, which can be used in definedllfunc & external [method]. Threadsafe declares the function imported from DLL as thread-safe.
It will increase the performance of calculation and optimization of the studies that use external DLLs. For the declared function MultiCharts will not ensure thread safety. For correct performance the function must be either completely thread-safe or must ensure its own safety.

Threadsafe (DLL Calling)

Declares the function imported from dll as thread-safe. It will increase the performance of calculation and optimization of the studies that use external dlls.

Usage

threadsafe

Notes:

It is not recommended to apply threadsafe attribute to the functions exported from elkit32.dll (for example FindAddress_).

Example:

DEFINEDLLFUNC: threadsafe, “user32.dll”, void, “MessageBeep”, int;

Will declare MessageBeep function of user32.dll as thread-safe.

Other features

• Skip Identical Ticks menu item was added Stude Properties dialog window, which can be called from PLEditor.
• Option to use “Outside RTH” tag for orders for Interactive Brokers was added. This tag is applicable for stocks on real trading accounts – when it’s enabled order can be placed directly to the exchange outside of regular market hours. If it’s disabled, IB will return an error saying that it’s impossible to get to the exchange. It’s enabled by default in the broker profile for IB.
• Session break lines for charts that have only one symbol are now drawn across all subcharts.
• Limitation for mapping and importing ASCII files more than 4GB lifted because of 64-bit version.
• Custom Futures now supports symbols with the following symbology – “NIFTY10APRFUT” using Interactive Brokers data provider.
• Orders are no longer rejected when message “Error 201 (ID=[223]): Order rejected – reason:Order is already being cancelled” appears.
• Connection status messages added to Logs tab in Order and Position Tracker for PFG broker.
• Strategy Properties dialog now remembers the last open tab.
• Optimization report sorting controls were improved.
• Dialog window for OpenECry data feed was improved in the field for choosing the data server.
• New option to change the default Stop Limit Offset in DOM.
• New message added to the installation process to help prevent compiler issues: “The installer has detected that NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation registry key in HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem is set to 1. It may cause a compiler issue: studies may not be compiled in PowerLanguage Editor.
  Click Next to continue or Cancel to exit the Setup Wizard and change registry key above to zero using regedit utility (click Windows Start button, select Run, type regedit and press Enter), restart the computer and run installer again.”

BUGS FIXED

Charting/Data Handling

• When PFG broker profile was turned off, real-time data would stop on PFG charts.
• Bar Maginifier would re-request data for detalization of higher resolutions, even if they have already been downloaded.
• When trendline was drawn beyond the last bar, and chart was resized so that the trend line touched the right margin, the whole drawing would disappear. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9946#p47629.
• Tick Count for Forex in real-time instead of Volume option stopped working.
• Ask/Bid values form a previously connected profile would appear on the Trade Panel for a new broker profile (eg values from ZenFire would appear on a PFG profile).
• PFG FX symbols would be added with incorrect default settings. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9647&p=45795#p45758.

Trading

• When a strategy was active in DOM, the last trade size was invisible when current price is the same as the limit order price. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9946&sid=d2996f3c5ff0dce63106ccc37ce09494#p48515
• Master Strategy behavior improved with partial fills and multiple levels (previously 3 levels with 1 contract each would become 1 level if there was a delay).
• Profit Target would change after moving Stop Loss in manual trading strategies.
• Limit order that expired would not cancel on the next bar after expiration, though it should have. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10006.
• Manual exit strategy Trailing Stop stopped working when applied to short positions.

Scripts/Calculations

• Bar Magnifier would not turn off in MC8 Beta1 when there was not enough data for detailed testing, and would do analysis on strange prices.

Stability/Performance

• Automatic trendline issue which sometimes caused crash after deleting a drawing was fixed. More info here - http://www.multicharts.com/pm/viewissue.php?issue_no=MC-833.
• Deadlock when opening a user’s workspace.
• Strange error message would appear when using MBTrading broker profile. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/pm/viewissue.php?issue_no=MC-808.
• Exception when applying Bollinger Bands indicator in 64 bit version. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10082.
• Deadlock when closing MultiCharts with many active indicators and fast real-time.

Usability/Visual

• PowerLanguageEditor window would not memorize last location and size on screen. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/pm/viewissue.php?issue_no=MC-849.
• Drawings would sometimes become non-transparent and cover the data series.
• When selecting studies in PowerLanguageEditor while holding down Shift, selection would start at the study after the selection. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/pm/viewissue.php?issue_no=MC-821.
• Situation in Scanner possible when scrolling does not reach the bottom of the list.
• If you change Up/Down thickness in chart type, it doesn’t actually change on the chart.
• Selected drawing would not move. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=9500#p46972.
• Visual artifacts remained on screen when creating some drawings.
• Problems displaying fractional prices for PFG symbols with fractional price scales.

We have launched MultiCharts Wiki, which is now the central place for accumulated knowledge about the MultiCharts platform, contributed to by both our users and us.

All current Help files have been loaded there, and all future information about features will be loaded only there (no more CHM Help file in the installer). Help for PowerLanguage keywords will be maintained in sync in the installer and on the Wiki.

http://www.multicharts.com/trading-soft … /Main_Page

Just like regular Wikipedia, MCWiki articles will have fact-based content, and users can edit pages. Our staff will look over recent changes, and maintain integrity of the content.

Community editors are welcome to help. If you want to be a contributor, register on the Wiki and send us an email to support@multicharts.com with a request (including your UserID) to make you an editor. This process was created to combat spam posts.

This tool is for our users, and it’s only as good as the content you help us create. We welcome contributions on existing entries, but also creation of more general articles, such as “FAQ”, or “Beginner’s Guide”, or “Tips and Tricks to PL programming”. The forum remain a place to ask specific questions, but it’s difficult to locate all accumulated information on a topic – that’s where the Wiki steps in and becomes the go-to place.

New articles describing Manual Trading features, Broker Profiles, Custom Futures and Backup Instructions have been added to the Content Section on the Wiki. More articles will be added soon.

Due to a technical glitch, MultiCharts version that was available before noon today will stop functioning. To continue using the beta version, go to http://www.multicharts.com/trading-software-download/, download and install the program again.

We apologize for any inconvenience to the people who already downloaded the program. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

MultiCharts 8.0 Beta 1 is big step forward for our traders. It’s the first time that EasyLanguage scripts can be used on 64-bit software, which means only your physical memory is the limit for backtesting, charting, optimization or trading. Several smaller features were added, and bugs affecting stability and data handling were addressed.

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Traders’ Blog to get timely updates about important changes. Share opinions on the MultiCharts Discussion Forum – http://www.multicharts.com/discussion.

Report bugs and request features in our Project Management system – http://www.multicharts.com/pm/.

NEW FEATURES

64-bit version

64-bit means that all modules in MultiCharts were rewritten to be 64-bit, so they can use all available RAM on a computer. Performance of the application is now limited only by the amount of physical memory in your computer. Limitation on number of bars on charts, mapping and importing ASCII files more than 4GB, number of symbols and plots in Scanner, and displaying strategy performance report with large number of trades were all lifted in the 64-bit version. More information here – http://www.multicharts.com/pm/viewissue.php?issue_no=MC-325, and here http://www.multicharts.com/pm/viewissue.php?issue_no=MC-131, and here -http://www.multicharts.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?t=6534.

Getting Started Wizard

Now the first time you launch MultiCharts you will see a wizard that helps you configure your data feed and create chart.

IWBank data feed and broker added

IWBank is one of the top Italian brokers that offers attractive rates and a premier connectivity to Italian and world markets.

Gather information from a bar through mouse-click

Information gathered about a bar through a mouse click. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/pm/viewissue.php?issue_no=MC-394. There are new keywords that allow processing of captured information in scripts; check our Wiki in the near future for complete details.

aiCalcReason

aiCalcReason – specifies return of the calculation reason. GetAppInfo will return the value, indicating the reason of calculation initialization.

Notes:

calcreason_default – calculation is to be initialized when the new bar/tick appeared.

calcreason_mouseLClick – calculation is to be initialized after left-click on the chart.

calcreason_mouseRClick – calculation is to be initialized after right-click on the chart.

calcreason_timer – the calculation is to be initialized after expiration of RecalcLastBarAfter timeout.

ProcessMouseEvents

Declares that the study processes mouse events.

Usage

[ProcessMouseEvents = LogicalValue]

Where: LogicalValue – a true/false value; True = Enable; False = Disable

Notes:

• If this attribute is not present in the study’s code, the indicator based in the mouse events will not be calculated.
• Can be used only in signals and indicators

Example:

[ProcessMouseEvents = True];

MouseClickBarNumber

After a mouse click on the bar, returns the numerical value indicating the bar number from the beginning of the data series

Usage:

MouseClickBarNumber

Example:

MouseClickBarNumber will return 250 after a mouse click on the 250^th bar on the chart from the beginning of the data series.

MouseClickCtrlPressed

Returns True if the Ctrl button is pressed on the keyboard simultaneously with a mouse click.

Usage:

MouseClickCtrlPressed

MouseClickShiftPressed

Returns True if the Shift button is pressed on the keyboard simultaneously with a mouse click Usage:

MouseClickShiftPressed

MouseClickDataNumber

Returns the numerical value indicating the data series number after a mouse click on the data series

Usage:

MouseClickDataNumber

Example:

MouseClickDataNumber will return 1 after left-click on the main chart with the main data series.

MouseClickDataNumber  will return 2 after left-click on the sub-chart with the second data series.

MouseClickDateTime

Returns a double-precision decimal value in Julian (OLE) date-time format indicating the closing date of the bar after a click on the bar.

Usage:

MouseClickDateTime;

Example:

MouseClickDateTime will return a value of 39449.65625000 for 3:45 PM

MouseClickPrice

Returns a numerical value indicating price level of the mouse pointer position after a click on the chart.

Usage:

MouseClickPrice;

Example:

MouseClickPrice will return 139.60 after a click on the chart on the 139.60 price level.

GetPositionOpenPL keyword updated

Returns Open PL value in:

• Symbol currency for Dukascopy (calculated on MultiCharts side)
• Account currency for FXCM (calculated on the broker’s side)
• Symbol currency for Interactive Brokers (calculated on MultiCharts side)
• Symbol currency for LMAX (calculated on the broker’s side)
• Symbol currency for MB Trading (calculated on MultiCharts side)
• Symbol currency for Open E Cry (calculated on the broker’s side)
• Symbol currency for Patsystem (calculated on the broker’s side)
• Account currency for PFGBEST (calculated on the broker’s side)
• Symbol currency for Trading Technologies (calculated on MultiCharts side)
• Symbol currency for Zen-Fire (Rithmic) (calculated on the broker’s side)

Usage:

GetPositionOpenPL(Symbol, Account)

Where: Symbol – the name of the instrument.
Account – account number at broker.

Example:

Will return 15 if the current value in “Open PL” column in “Order and Position Tracker” window for the account is 15 dollars.

New keyword “GetUserName”

It returns info from ‘registration name’ field, i.e. the MultiCharts license. This allows third-party developers to authorize studies to particular MC licenses and not only to UserIDs (which may change as hardware changes). More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/pm/viewissue.php?issue_no=MC-796. Check our Wiki for complete details – http://www.multicharts.com/trading-software/index.php/GetUserName

RecalсPersist keyword added

Used in variable declaration statements, before a variable name, to specify that the value of the variable is to be updated on every tick and the latest value of this variable is to be saved after the study recalculation.

Usage:

Declaration:[RecalcPersist]Name(InitialValue1)

Notes:

• This keyword can be used only with variables.
• The variable with such an attribute cannot be serial type.

Example:

Declare Max as a numerical value, updated on every tick, with initial value of 100. After study recalculation, the latest value of Max will be saved:

Variable:[RecalcPersist] Max(100);

#return

Returns the control from the study script by analogy with the corresponding C++ statement. Does not return any value.

Usage:

#return;

Notes:

Can be used in all types of studies.

Adding/Removing columns in Optimization Report

You can now add/remove columns in the Optimization Report. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/pm/viewissue.php?issue_no=MC-172.

Access to any bar from a script – new keywords

Now you can access any bar of a price series from a PowerLanguage script with new keywords that are listed below.

symbol_open
symbol_high
symbol_low
symbol_close
symbol_volume
symbol_openint
symbol_date
symbol_time
symbol_ticks
symbol_upticks
symbol_downticks
symbol_time_s

These words return the same thing as corresponsind words without the “symbol_” prefix, but

1)    Bars back are not limited by MaxBarsBack, and are limited only by the beginning of the data series

2)    Bars forward are not limited by zero, and are only limited by the end of the data series

So, you can address any bar irrelevant of which bar you are currently calculating on. Complete information will be posted in our Wiki soon.

Other features

• Connection status messages added to Logs tab in Order and Position Tracker for PFG broker.
• Multiple exchange gateways support was added for Trading Technologies profile to accommodate implementation of Advantage Futures.
• Clients can now connect to Demo and Live accounts from PFG at the same time, even if both use same ports.
• Logging for order modifications is now enabled in Logs tab in Order and Position Tracker, since TT broker converts every market order to limit, and every stop order to stop-limit.
• Open P/L and AvgEntryPrice are now calculated based on prices known to broker profile, and AvgSellPrice is taken from API.
• Strategy name is now displayed in status line. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/pm/viewissue.php?issue_no=MC-80.
• Extended hours are now used for eSignal data feed to get volume outside regular trading hours.
• Unicode support in Symbol Dictionary. More info here - http://www.multicharts.com/pm/viewissue.php?issue_no=MC-370.
• Symbol Mapping improved; it’s now more intuitive after choosing Broker symbol in the Lookup window.
• Price scale markers are now always displayed according to user specifications if such exist.
• Holiday List updated for 2012.

BUGS FIXED

Charting/Data Handling

• Magnification to one minute in the Bar Magnifier didn’t work on daily charts built out of minute data.
• Ask/Bid values form a previously connected profile would appear on the Trade Panel for a new broker profile (eg values from ZenFire would appear on a PFG profile).
• Prices were significantly different for some PFG symbols on historical data and in real-time. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9855.
• Ask and Bid for EURUSD.FXCM symbol from IQFeed would have volume equal to zero.
• Problems displaying fractional prices for PFG symbols with fractional price scales.
• Spikes in data from Interactive Brokers when new high or low values arrive.
• Interactive Brokers shows incorrect volume in real-time data.
• Holes in data when requesting minute chart data from TradeStation.

Trading

• Signal without IntrabarOrdergeneration (IOG) would produce more than one order per bar if another signal with IOG was applied to the chart.

Scripts/Calculations

• Close of the underlying price series would be ignored during Bar Maginifier mode on a larger timeframe.
• AvgFC calculation on data2 series is not the same as in TradeStation. More info here -http://www.multicharts.com/pm/viewissue.php?issue_no=MC-759.

Stability/Performance

• Exception when trying to add an ASCII Mapping symbol from within MultiCharts.
• Assert when doing partial exit of a position in Synchronous Autotrading mode, and no dialog window for closing the position.
• Memory leak when autotrading with ZenFire Local Sim broker.
• SSL connection for some PFG users gave an error.
• Stack Overflow exception after opening Master Strategy after opening several other windows.
• Connection would constantly break with PFG API.
• Some QMD data archives would not import due to being corrupted.
• Exception in FIXServer when working with PFG charts and DOM.

Usability/Visual

• Problems with display of drawings on charts.
• Added proper message when user tries to open too many workspaces at once.
• Visual Order dialog window would not scroll.

If you’ve ever tried to include a stock chart in your blog, you know it’s a real pain: Press prnt-scrn while you’re on some finance website, paste it into a photo editor, crop the image, save, upload the image to your blog, include it in your post. No longer.

Here’s an example chart.

The charts are fully customizable – you can embed a chart for almost all companies traded on U.S., as well as FOREX charts.

You can create your own custom chart at https://www.tradingview.com/widget/.