I the past I have suggested that the tool (once highlighted) should turn the snap on or off based upon its setting using the standard MC default check box method. For example, I would mark text as a snap default of "do not snap" yet trend lines I would set as a default of "Yes snap". Also I would set arrows to "do not snap" as the default.
Taking it to a new level would be to tell the individual tool what to snap too. However that might be a bit extreme. One step back from that would be to tell all the tools (which have been told to turn the snap on) what to snap too (within each chart). I noticed in MC 6.0 a new column was put in the plot attributes which is the (studies, format, style, marker). This is probably where it needs to go (another column). The reason is below.
Some advanced traders know that, in certain symbols at least, the trend line is (OFTEN) in the RSI. At times you need a trend line there (the straight lines). Not always but sometimes. The rushed day trader may not have time to place the line but they see it at a glance and that is good enough (they really have to be very fast at what they do). However at times after market hours I personally just can't resist putting one of these lines on. I have the RSI main plot in my RSI study but I also put color coded plots to mark the even 10 increment levels so I can see very fast where the RSI is relative to these levels. During trading hours I do not try to place a line here because;
1/ Turning the snap on is too slow a process in MC because the tool does not control the snap as I have suggested before and summaried at the top of this post.
2/ The line snaps to these other color coded plots when I really want it to snap to the RSI plot only. This inability for MC to exactly target the proper plot creates an impossible battle which the day trader just can not afford to fight with. One solution might be to have the RSI such that these levels can be color coded without having to place plots. However an extra column beside the (studies, format, style, marker) column to target the snap to one or more specific plots is probably better.
That sounds great except for one problem. In the main subchart the snap is normally to price and it does not have a plot column anywhere. So maybe the solution to that is if no plots have been check marked then the snap is to price. But what if the trader wants it to snap to price and also some other plot (in my case, in subchart #1, I want it to snap to price only and in subchart #2, I want it to snap to the RSI plot only). Maybe a checkbox in the tool itself could take care of that. So here it is.
Tool check boxes (that can be controlled by the standard default method):
Snap to price (yes/no) (if two data sets it snaps to the closest - a battle)
Snap to other plots (yes/no). (if yes go search for these using the new marker column I am suggesting).
If both are turned off just do not snap this tool (saving the rushed day trader the hassle of having to keep turning the snap on and off). Text is a tool that I bet no trader wants to snap. However currently if you turn snap on then text snaps, which is why I always have snap turned off.
Perfecting the snap.
Maybe changing the above tool snap checkboxes idea to something like this (shown below) would save some computer processing time.Tool check boxes (that can be controlled by the standard default method):
Snap to price (yes/no) (if two data sets it snaps to the closest)
Snap to other plots (yes/no). (if yes go search for these using the new marker column I am suggesting).
Tool check boxes (that can be controlled by the standard default method):
Snap to price (yes/no) (if two data sets it snaps to the closest) YES
Snap to other plots subchart1 (yes/no). No
Snap to other plots subchart2 (yes/no) Yes
Snap to other plots subchart3 (yes/no) No
In my case I would check yes for price and check yes for other plots in subchart2 (see right hand side) and I would only check the RSI main plot so that would be the only one it would find of the many plots I have in the RSI.
With a system like this anyone can snap any tool to anything and even taylor it different on different charts.
The main advantage is speed with very little setup time for the trader. Less time having to correct a bad snap and day traders need all the time they can get.