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On Thursday 23 March 2006 10:16 pm, ninja500@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
> The issue of real-time quotes not being saved has come up many times, but
> has not been made clear to all users. (maybe knowledege base/plugin help
> page should be updated). Basically, if your RT symbol is not displayed in a
> chart, you have to do a scan/explore of all symbols for data to be
> transferred from the plugin to the AB database or else the data will not be
> saved.
I see that doing a Scan works now. Thanks! This should *definitely* be
added to the documentation. It is not at all obvious that doing a Scan or
Explore on the Automatic Analysis window is the way to get RT quote data
added to your database. I just did a scan through all the docs and could not
find any mention of this side effect of doing a scan or explore. The nice
tutorials are all about setting up the database connections, but nothing
about how to use them for real time quotes.
However, there are a few more issues regarding this way of getting RT data.
* The time range of the scan makes a difference, I would guess. You should
not select a date range, or if you do, the "to" time of today or later might
work. If all you want is the RT data updates, it should be sufficient to
select "n last quotations" for a small number of n (5?). What the formula
script is doing otherwise is unimportant (I think). Is it even necessary?
* You would probably want to select the option to periodically "Scan every
(min): ___" for whatever interval of time you want. Does a fractional number
of minutes work? This periodic scan happens automatically even if you are
trying to do some other backtesting or optimizing, and you will lose your
last result display the next time a scan kicks in. The periodic scan happens
even when you close the AA window.
* Combining the RT fetching and persisting of data via a scan with a formula
that determines when to buy is not always what you want. Suppose you want
real-time data for all symbols, but you only want to trade with a smaller
subset which you can set up by selecting the "use filter" option and clicking
on the Define... button to select a category. That combination doesn't seem
to be supported, so you would have to do the filtering in the formula
instead.
Given the above, I suggest the following changes:
* Separate out the RT fetching and persisting of data from the AA window. No
analysis is required to do RT fetching. RT fetching of data is more
logically tied with the Realtime Quote window (I kept looking there for how
to do this). Provide easy ways to select several symbols at once, e.g. a
whole folder, for viewing in the Realtime Quote window, and for periodic
scanning of same.
* I don't understand what value Scan has that is not covered by the RT aspect
together with some aspects of Explore and Backtest, so maybe remove it from
the AA window. Otherwise, explain how it is unique.
* Even if you do the above, there is more to do to make automated trading
clear. Automated trading is related to analysis, but perhaps the button
should be "Automated Trading" rather than "Scan".
To allow formulas to be used in different contexts, (Indicators, Trading
Systems, or otherwise) there should be more explanation of how to check how
the formula is being used. I.e. check Status("action") == 3, meaning that
the formula is being used in "Scan" mode (maybe renamed to "Trading").
Then one also needs to determine whether the "current" bar in the script is
for the present time/date - I still don't have a clear understanding of how
to determine that. It doesn't make sense to make a call to PlaceOrder() at
any time but the present moment, so this is an essential feature. How is it
done? Checking Timenum() == LastValue(Timenum()) might work, assuming we are
actually getting invoked on each RT scan rather than within a date range that
ends in the past. Please explain.
I suspect the RT aspect of Amibroker is relatively new, and the automated
trading certainly is new. As such, I am not too surprised if there are
usability/design/documentation problems. I bought Amibroker hoping to use
these features, although the graphics and analysis are well worthwhile. Hope
my ideas will be helpful to you.
dan
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