Load indicator data from an external file

[eneratom]

I am currently evaluating V6.5 Beta and it is impressive. Thanks for the fantastic work.

I am doing a lot of annotations on my chart; however, the drawing tools are not very convenient enough for now. I hope you guys can make it easy to use in the future.

Meanwhile, I am trying to create an indicator so that I can define my annotations in a text/xml format file. During onBarUpdate call, the data file will be loaded to draw my annotations. In order to do that, I have to create another indicator to number each bar as references in my data file.

Is this feasible? Is there any sample code available?

Thanks,

Eneratom

[NinjaTrader_Ray]

Welcome!

Unfortunately there are no reference files specifically demonstrating what you want.

Here are some reference samples for reading files.

http://www.ninjatrader-support.com/vb/showthread.php?t=3476

Also, could you comment on why you find the drawing tools not convenient? Specific examples on what could be improved would be helpful.

[eneratom]

Thanks for the quick response

Ray,

Thanks for the quick response. Based on your sample indicator, I created my very first indicator to read information from text file on each bar close. It works.

Although I think the drawing tool is not perfect, it might be my limit knowledge on how to use them or my very specific requirement. Here are a couple of thoughts:

1. The snap to OLHC is a good feature. If I use it to draw channel, the start point and end point are on the exact locations; however, there is no hot key (for example CTRL+->) to extend channel line once it is drawn. If you use mouse to extend the line, it's very hard to maintain the slope of the line.

2. Even the drawing objects are selected on the chart, the right click menu is not switched to drawing context. When users select an object on the chart, they just want to change the attributes for the object, not the chart properties. These attributes need to be changed within the menu without open a dialog box. For example, when I finish a channel line, I need to change the style of line and color. If most frequently used styles and colors (<= 16) are accessible from sub-menu, it will be great. QuoteTracker does it this way.

3. Rule-based default attributes for drawing objects. This is a special requirement for a group of users only. For example, when I draw a down slope channel, the default color is red. If I draw a big channel across over six bars, it want to set line width as 2, etc.

4. Custom drawing object. Different users have their own annotation style. If they can define/script their own customized drawing object, they will be very happy. For example, I only need certain mark/text to annotate my chart in real time. Now, I have to put those objects on my chart and copy/paste to the critical points I identified.

Above are my thoughts and I only represent a group of users. If someone needs the same/similar features, please make a comment here.

Thanks,

Eneratom

[NinjaTrader_Ray]

Thanks for taking the time to provide your input.

1. Would drawing a "Ray" or "Extended Line" instead of a "Line" work?

2. This makes sense and I had been thinking about this myself, will add to our list of future enhancements.

3. Will add to our list of possible future enhancements.

4. Will add to our list of possible future enhancements.

[eneratom]

Ray or Extended Line

Unfortunately, Ray and Extended Line are not controllable in term of length. They will make my chart not readable if I have over a dozen of lines. In fact, Ninja has more features than my current charting software; however, extending lines is really painful for me at the moment. Somebody told me to make a copy before extending line so that you can have a reference to make sure the slope is not changed, but you lose the end snap point on a bar when extending it with a mouse.

Thanks,

Eneratom