Hi Chris,
I would really appreciate {as I'm sure David, Yourself and Many others would too} a Simpler, Quicker method of converting a VT Indicator to a VT Trading System.

Presently, after long arduous labour in building an Indicator, the simplest method I have found to convert it to a TS {so far} is to open the Indicator, also open a New Trading System then copy/paste All the Formula, Inputs and individualy their defaults, Outputs and individualy their styles, Then add code to execute trade Orders, Signals and Alarms etc...

Would it be very difficult {I'm not sure exactly how this would be accomplished} to add a Save AS option to both the Edit windows {Indicator and TS} that would allow to Save As the other *.extension. I appreciate there may be some syntax errors that would have to be attended to, but feel we would still be way farther ahead than the method I am using presenty

This way I/We could then open the "Unfinished Reflection" of the work we have already completed as opposed to regenerating it.

I also think it may encourage those who think themselves less proficient in code to attempt converting existing Indicators to their Trading Systems of choice.

Thanks Chris,
Really appreciate how you hold it all together.

B

Hello,

Interesting idea Bemac. I'd have to confer with the devs to see if that would even be possible. I currently use the same method that you do to re-create indicators in trading systems.

The only other way is to reference the indicators using their Short Name function from within the trading system and then reference the various output variables (if required) by appending them to it. Then, all that's left is creating the input variables.

I wonder (thinking out loud)... if we could create an "Import" feature that would allow users to click an Import button and then import an indicator directly into a trading system. An interesting idea... more thought and some converstion with the devs will be rrequired.

Regards,
Chris

Here's a suggestion that I think would be very useful and time-saving. I think most people write their trading systems by combining existing indicators or pieces of code using the copy/paste functions. It would be nice to be able to transfer the attached input/output variable setups as well. If you combine three or four indicators into a trading system you can get quickly into 20 or more input/output setups you have to write from scratch. So, perhaps through an import function you would be able to add an indicator with its attached I/O setups.

Hello,

Thank you for the suggestion. This is right "in line" with a feature myself and one of our other feature specialists also have in mind for a future version of VT Trader that should make indicator to trading system conversions much simply for the average user (hopefully).

Regards,
Chris

i think it would be nice if the trade system builder would let you import an indicator into it and automatically load all the variables for you...it would seem like an easy update
Thanks

Hello,

This is a feature I've considered in the past. However, it's not quite as easy as you might think. For example, what if there's already input variables in the system that have the same name as 1 or more you're trying to import? What if existing output variables in the system have the same name as output variables you're importing? How would you determine in what frame to place each indicator (or each line of the indicator if it includes more than 1)? These, and more, are all questions I've asked myself. There's not really a "good" answer to them that I've come up with thus far. It seems that the most likely way this could be made possible would be through the use of some "intelligent" wizard... which would have to be capable of problem-solving issues like duplicate input/output variables, name changes of the duplicate variables through the formula, etc. etc. etc. It's a daunting challenge, but it's one I may try tackling in the future. :-)

Regards,
Chris

Chris,

Actually, it wouldn't have to be that sophisticated. All it would have to do is color-code any duplicate variable names between the existing and the imported variables. Same color for duplicates according to their category, i.e. input, output, etc. Then you can change them manually. If you want to get a bit more fancy you can have the system automatically go through each duplicate with the option of renaming one of them, similar to a find and replace (replace with) function in a word processor.

Hello,



This could work for those users that are familiar with editing code, but the majority of our users are completely unfamiliar and uncomfortable with that.



This is more along the lines of what I was thinking and similar to what I envision as an "intelligent" wizard of some sort. It would also have to allow the user the possibility of renaming input variables' names and output variables names (those shown to the user in the Inspection Window). The reason for having to allow that additional functionality is that many of the standard indicators in VT Trader share similar input variable names for things like "Price", "Periods", etc. Imagine having a trading system with 3-5 indicators and every indicator has "Price" and "Periods" input settings. There would be no easy way to identify which input variable corresponds to each indicator.

Thank you for the feedback!

Regards,
Chris

I agree. On the other hand, those who are unfamiliar with simply changing a variable name, would probably also not know how to import an external indicator into a trading system.


This situation would never arise. Obviously, a functioning trading system has unique names as does an indicator. Since indicators would be imported one at a time, the most you could have are pairs of identical variable names. These are then renamed before the next indicator is imported, where you can have again only doubles, and so on.

Hello,



This is true. However, the goal would be to ultimately empower more users to learn how to create trading systems rather than being afraid of even trying. :-)



I wasn't referring to 'variable' names persay. I was referring to the names the user provides that are displayed from the properties window. There's no "harm" to the system if those are duplicated since each would have a unique variable name assigned to it. It would be confusing for the user to end up with several duplicates in the properties window if they were not able to change the displayed names when importing.

Regards,
Chris

I know what you mean about the duplicate indicator variables...my system uses multiple indicators and it gets confusing sometimes tryin to sort thru every occurrence when renaming......of course maybe a wizard like you can solve it some day...lol

thanks Chris