Message to Multicharts : CLARITY IS NEEDED

Questions about MultiCharts and user contributed studies.
autotrade
Posts: 15
Joined: 04 Apr 2008

Message to Multicharts : CLARITY IS NEEDED

Postby autotrade » 07 Apr 2008

Multicharts:

First let me say that the support team appear to be nice people from my conversations with them, both verbally and via live chat.

However, I am very confused by what is happening and need some clarity.

There are issues with intrabar ordering and breakeven in your last update. Breakeven is not working reliably, profit targets are not working reliably for intrabar ordering, orders appear on the chart and don't execute in IB, the chart shows profit's being taken, none are even placed in IB. I know other users having these exact same issues when working with contracts. Nothing has been voiced by muliticharts detailing there is an issue, but when you call, they say there is one and they are working on a fix due on 04/15 for auto order with intrabar.

My issue is how do we know if our strats are working if there are technical issues with execution. Backtests show success, but paper trading is unreliable because it is not executing correctly. The hotfix are vague in detail and do not tell the users what specifically was corrected, so you don't know if the fix addressed the issue you spend hours finding out and reporting. Please, if there are documented problems, can you please tell us what they are, and then when the fix comes out, what specifically it addresses. This helps the users identify if it is a coding error or a technical issue that you don't need to waste time on.

I have spent countless hours and weekends, as many have, writing programs, getting great backtests and then horrible paper trading execution. I take time off work to watch it trade by trade, and it's simply not executing the code. When I get live chat or call, they tell me it's being worked on and should be addressed on 04/15. It's my opinion that should have been communicated to all users, that there is a problem and wait for the fix to address the specific concerns you are aware of already.

Lastly, amidst all this, there is a limited time release at a low price that expires soon. I guess I don't understand how you can do this right now. I don't see how it's fair to ask people to sign up for several hundred dollars for a permanent liscense when they have no idea if there strats are working because of the technical issues.

Let me say, I love the potential of this software and would sign up immediately long term IF I KNEW IF MY STRATS WORKED. I have no idea because of the execution and reliability issues and won't until the fix is out and that's when the limited time offer expires?

I am just very puzzled as to how Multicharts is going about executing it's strategy. Why would you not first give us a stable release, fix the errors, identify what you did clearly and what works and doesn't and then give users a week or two to choose if this is worth the long term investment, once Multicharts has all the bugs fixed.

Again, I mean this with no disrespect, but I know other users from conversations with them feel the same.

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Marina Pashkova
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Joined: 27 Jul 2007

Postby Marina Pashkova » 07 Apr 2008

Hi autotrade,

In future, we are planning to introduce on-line bug tracking. All the bugs will be documented, illustrated with screenshots and their status (to be fixed, in progress ect) will be indicated.

The problem that you showed us via the remote connection had been identified shortly before you contacted us. It only became visible after we fixed other thigs with autotrading.

As for the program's reliability, in the software industry there is no such notion as a fully reliable product. There is a notion of a 'convergence point' when the number of bugs is reduced to an acceptable figure. Also, because different traders exploit different features, what seems like a bug to one user does not bother others.

We are planning to fix the bug that you pointed out. If you purchase the program now and then will decide that it does not work for you because of this bug, you will be given a full refund. Or, you can wait till be have ironed out most bugs and purchase MultiCharts later.

Regards

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danilo
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Postby danilo » 07 Apr 2008

Hi autotrade,

in the past I have used HyperOrder to place limit order on IB, and also I have found that some times the order, even if accepted by IB, was never executed, after some trial I have discovered that IB never execute the order if the price is not an exact multiple of tick size (the EL function to use to ensure that is RoundToFraction()). I don't know if your bug is related to this issue, I hope that could help. I personally prefer to use the "simulated" limit order because I'm sure that will be excuted even with a small slippage (for competitive markets the slippage now is only 1 tick) and don't change the strategy's execution history.

autotrade
Posts: 15
Joined: 04 Apr 2008

Postby autotrade » 07 Apr 2008

thanks for the responses.

Marina, is the fix still due for 04/15?

Danilo, i'll take a look at the rounded function. The tick error from IB has happened to me. It's not this particular issue, but geez, when it strikes it can launch 100+ orders attempts.

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Marina Pashkova
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Postby Marina Pashkova » 08 Apr 2008

thanks for the responses.

Marina, is the fix still due for 04/15?
Yes, this fix should be available in the 3.0 release.

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MC_Prog
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Postby MC_Prog » 09 Apr 2008

In future, we are planning to introduce on-line bug tracking. All the bugs will be documented, illustrated with screenshots and their status (to be fixed, in progress etc.) will be indicated.
I consider this to be very good news indeed.

I agree with autotrader's well-expressed post above, and I also think that the refund-if-necessary offer is a stand-up response to it by MC.

I would quibble with the notion expressed above that all bugs cannot be eliminated. Yes, I accept that for software this complex, actually having zero bugs in a given build cannot be achieved. However, I would suggest that identified, reproducible bugs should all be eliminated in some reasonable timeframe. If there's a problem stepping up to this in concept, there will surely be a problem with lingering bugs in fact - and that puts the whole product on a foundation of sand.

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Marina Pashkova
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Postby Marina Pashkova » 15 Apr 2008

Hi MC_Prog,

You are absolutely right saying that "identified, reproducible bugs should all be eliminated in some reasonable timeframe"

This is exactly what we are doing. We have an internal bug-tracking system that helps us to systematize bugs, rank them according to the importance and see the progress status. We are eliminating bugs on a daily basis.

In future, as mentioned above, there will be a similar tracking system accessible to the customers as well.


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