Data "Hint" of Subgraph-data not working correctly

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denizen2
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Data "Hint" of Subgraph-data not working correctly

Postby denizen2 » 19 Nov 2006

I notice that the Data-Hint display indicator only seems to work on certain sub-graphs, and not others. E.g., I have a price-plot with indicators, and 3 sub-graph plot windows. The data-hint works on the price-data plot, but NOT on the first sub-graph, nor on the last sub-graph. The only sub-graph of the three that works is the middle one.

This is clearly a 'bug' , right? Is it already a 'known' bug that is on the list of 'to-do' fixes? :)

The 'beta' version I'm using is 1.90.644.1126. Is this the most recent available version? If not, then how to I get the most recent version? As noted by others already, it is VERY frustrating trying to determine the 'status' and 'version' and 'link' for the newest beta. Please upgrade the process of publishing Beta-download-information so that it is more efficient for everybody concerned. :idea:

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Alex Kramer
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Postby Alex Kramer » 20 Nov 2006

I'm currently running an internal beta version .685.1137, and in it the DataHint display window works on all three subcharts equally well.

When the pointer is anywhere in the subchart, the Hint popup window shows brief information (date/time/current price)

When the pointer is on a bar of the subchart, the Hint is shown as detailed - with symbol name, OHLC, volume, bar number.

denizen2
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The Data Hint Popup is working now, but needs improving

Postby denizen2 » 20 Nov 2006

Thanks for the feedback. I just re-checked .... and now it is working properly on my system too. :oops: .

Maybe I did not notice that it was required for the mouse pointer to be exactly on a data-bar. Since the data bars were not being plotted in a subgraph that uses 'lines connecting' the bars there would be no way to know exactly where the 'data bar' is located. This is especially likely in the case of a chart with both 10min, 1Hr, and 4Hr data being used somewhere on the same chart (and its sub-graphs).

I don't understand why there is the restriction that the mouse pointer be exactly over a data-bar. I would suggest that restriction be removed :idea: , and furthermore, that the data-hints would have even greater effectiveness if each data-line in the data-hint was colored the same as on the chart. With no color being used in the data-hint, it is necessary for the user to remember, AND search for, the desired indicator name, and THEN finally get the 'readout'. That readout would be so much more simple if it was just color-coded the same as the plot. :wink:

denizen2
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Data Hints are NOT Reliably Working

Postby denizen2 » 25 Nov 2006

When used on a sub-graph, and contrary to my previous post, the 'Data Hints' function is NOT presenting any data except the date and time, most of the time. :(

It is also 'adding' an 'extra' item called "Price" that is not even one of the indicator 'item' for the subgraph :? .

I can adjust the distance between the bars through a wide range, to a point that the bars are VERY close together, and still the hint displays incorrectly!

I would say that this 'feature' needs some more 'quality assurance' checking, and then fixing the 'bug' :P The only thing really 'unique' about my sub-graphs are that I have 5 or 6 different data-series of the same symbol on the SAME chart :roll: . E.g. 2min, 10min, 30min, 1Hr, 2hr, 4Hr bar spacings on the main graph (i.e., subgraph#1). And all except one (the 10min data) are 'hidden', but the sub-graphs that I am having the 'hint-data' problem with reference those 'hidden' data series. My guess is that situation has something to do with the hint display NOT working properly. :idea: What do you think? Have we got a 'bug' lurking here :?:

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Alex Kramer
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Postby Alex Kramer » 27 Nov 2006

So the hint works - or does it not? Dear denizen2, we need to take a look at this directly.

denizen2
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Postby denizen2 » 27 Nov 2006

So the hint works - or does it not? Dear denizen2, we need to take a look at this directly.
Alex, doesn't my post make it clear enough :P . It does NOT work properly, or at least not as 'expected'. After much testing we both have confirmed so far that the hint function is 'sensitive' to the *exact* location of the mouse relative to any 'intended' chart-bar. What doesn't work is the fact that the 'bar-location-sensitivity' issue is TOO *sensitive* :o . That is how I see it. In particular, when the bars are VERY close together, the 'precision' of locating *any* bar is such that it is almost impossible to 'hit' any bar, maybe because they are as small as only 0.5 pixels wide?

It seems to me that the program logic for identifying the 'bar' to use for the 'hint' needs some more work :shock: . The current program logic only makes sense when the bars are spaced way apart from each other. BUT when the bars are very close, then the bars occupy very small number of pixels, right? So what is the user to do, when he trying to locate a bar that is not even 5-10 pixels wide?

There needs to be some kind of interpolation BETWEEN the bars, as far as the program locating the 'closest bar' part of the process. That 'locating' process should not be just the user's responsibility.... since doing so (as currently designed) makes it almost impossible to 'hit' any bar (for the hint display).

I'm sorry if my 'tone' is getting to be a little too much like 'raze' :P :roll: . I know you guys (and gals?) are doing a terrific job, and I love the software too, but I do see signs that there is some 'burn out' [understandable, after 3+ years of development]. I am a programmer with over 10 years of experience, (or I used to be, cause now I am 'retired') , but my forum-post during the debugging of betas is done with the best of intentions to help as much as possible, ... and without too much time-consuming efforts on either your part, or mine.

So that is why I suggest that the next step could be to confirm whether, or not, there are any provisions in the software design to accomodate very small (maybe even sub-pixel width) bar spacing in the process of 'locating' the bar intended by user to display a 'hint'. IF such program logic is intentionally designed for handling the 'very-small-bar-spacing' issue, then it *should be*, just as a part of any good 'design review' would have said, right? The data-hints display should work perfectly under *all* possible bar spacing, not just 'normal' bar spacing, right?


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