Comparing Charts to Scanner

Comparing instrument values on charts and in scanner

When you have one and the same symbol used in the scanner and on a chart it is natural to start comparing the data values in both windows. This is when you can spot slight differences. As a rule they are caused by the difference in the symbol settings in these windows. Cross-check that the following settings are identical:

1. Data source and symbol;
2. Chart type - regular or non-standard;
3. Resolution;
4. Quote Field;
5. Sessions;
6. Build volume on;
7. Data Range* - should be specified as Bars/Days Back on the chart because there’s no From-To data range in the scanner; make sure that the pin position is identical in both cases;
8. Time Zone*.

The easiest way to guarantee that the settings are similar is to create a chart for a symbol used in the scanner! [[Working_with_Grid#Creating_Chart_Directly_from_a_Scanner_Window|See here}.

Note: It is worth mentioning that even with all of these settings being identical, the values in the scanner might not coincide with the data series on the chart. That’s because of the fact that the scanner uses a special realtime source for the data – the same as the one that’s used for the Status line of the chart. And in case your data provider sends different status line values compared to the chart values, there’s nothing that can be done to rectify this.

Note 2: the following data sources don’t have status line values: ASCII Mapping, CSI, Free Quotes, Metastock.

Note 3: Avatrade, LMAX, OANDA, Universal DDE don’t supply or return zeros for some or all of these values to status line: Open, High, Low, Prev, Volume.

Comparing indicator values on charts and in scanner

If there’s a discrepancy in the chart and scanner indicator’s calculations, then it may be related to:

• different symbol settings (see point 1 of this article);
• different indicator settings. In this case compare and adjust:

1. the input values;
2. the Max Bars Back setting;
3. the Update on every tick option state;
4. the Skip identical ticks option state.

Also verify that you don’t use additional data series in the indicator’s calculation on the chart, because in the Scanner you can only use Data1 for calculations. If you still observe the differences in the indicator values, cross-check the logic of the indicator.