ES Workspace with stable indicators locks up

[ohtrader]

I am running NT 7.0.1000.10 with CQG data feed on a trading-dedicated desktop (e.g. no additional pgms running) running up-2-date Win 10.
I close down NT and reboot my trading desktop every night.

Since Monday, I have been fighting with my NT ES workspace, and am unsure how to identify & resolve my problem.
The indicators that I use have been stable for over 4 months, with no modifications.

ISSUE: When I try to delete a chart from this ES workspace, it hangs. Reboot required.
When I try to repurpose one Vol chart to another Vol chart, the ES workspace hangs. Reboot required.

I've looked at the LOG tab, and the only thing that it notes is

CQG.Adapter.ScubscribeMarketDataResolve: F.US.EP.H18 could not be resolved

I cannot find any information about this message - so I do not know if it is the crux of the problem or not.

I know that the issue has to be related to this ES workspace, because I have a second ES workspace for a high-level view of ES, and
when I try to make changes/add a chart to that workspace, no problem...

Also, after the Workspace hangs, no error messages are visible in the LOG file or the TRACE file.

Suggestions on how to proceed will be greatly appreciated.

[NinjaTrader_Jesse]

Hello ohtrader,

I noticed that you posted in the Indicator development forum however the question does not seem to relate to development. Is this a general support request or does this involve your custom programming in some way? I can update the thread location if necessary.

I look forward to being of further assistance.

[ohtrader]

Hi Jesse:

I could have posted in the General Support, and if I was using ONLY NT Standard Indicators, I would have posted there.

As I said, I haven't made any mods to the indicators in the trouble ES Workspace for over 4 months, and I suspect; but can't
fully confirm (unless I go thru all charts in both workspaces) that the Hi Level ES Workspace contains the same indicators.
Also, the ES Hi Level Workspace has 5 charts (min & R), and consumes 118 MB memory, and the
ES Problem Child has 10 Charts (min, R, VOL), and consumes 1,670 MB memory.

So, if you want to relocate the request to General Support, feel free to do so.

[NinjaTrader_PatrickG]

First off, you're using a very old and supported version of NinjaTrader 7. We cannot proceed with any troubleshooting until you've updated to the latest version of NinjaTrader 7:

To update NinjaTrader, please follow the steps below:

• First get your license key from NinjaTrader under Help> License Key then exit NinjaTrader
• Click on the link: http://ninjatrader.com/PlatformDirect
• Enter your license key and press Submit
• Select 'NinjaTrader 7'
• Select 'Download'
• Critical: Before running the installer, ensure NinjaTrader is closed.

Then, to reset your instruments, please follow the steps below:

• Disconnect from your data feed: NinjaTrader Control Center> File> Disconnect> Select your data feed
• Reset your Instruments: NinjaTrader Control Center> Tools> Options> Data tab> Reset Instruments>OK
• Restart NinjaTrader> Connect (NinjaTrader Control Center> File> Connect> Select your connection

Please let me know what, if any, symptoms persist after these steps.

[ohtrader]

Patrick:
I ran the steps you requested. I can only speculate that I thought I had duplicate downloads, and kept pulling in the older version. Steps have been taken... Will not
happen again.
Almost all issues resolved, except when I try to modify the color of a line, when whatever the issue is, if it takes > 2 min to update the color, the chart will hang.

The odd thing is that whenever I take the same chart, recreate it in the Default Workspace, I NEVER have any delays in changing the color, or have the application
hang. Since I realize that my ES workspace is still active until it is closed, this is still a mystery to me. Also, checked the logs after having the problem,
and no error messages in the log.

Your additional thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[NinjaTrader_PatrickG]

It sounds like the ES workspace is corrupt in some way. I would suggest rebuilding the workspace to eliminate any suspected corruption.

[aligator]

Patrick:
I ran the steps you requested. I can only speculate that I thought I had duplicate downloads, and kept pulling in the older version. Steps have been taken... Will not
happen again.
Almost all issues resolved, except when I try to modify the color of a line, when whatever the issue is, if it takes > 2 min to update the color, the chart will hang.

The odd thing is that whenever I take the same chart, recreate it in the Default Workspace, I NEVER have any delays in changing the color, or have the application
hang. Since I realize that my ES workspace is still active until it is closed, this is still a mystery to me. Also, checked the logs after having the problem,
and no error messages in the log.

Your additional thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

ohtrader,

The XML file _Workspace for some reason gets corrupted quite often and causing unreasonable delays and hangups, not a new issues and for some reason has never been dealt with.

A work around that most likely will fix your issue is to:

1. Close NT first. Then go to Documents > NinjaTrader 7 (or 8) > workspaces. Click on workspaces folder and delete the _Workspaces file.
2. Restart NT. A new _Workspace file will be created and all your workspaces will also be recovered.

That is it.

Just a couple of notes:

1. If you are using a 1-min ES chart, the 1-min ES charts freeze or are delayed quite frequently (for whatever reasons that NT Support has not explained yet - explanation could be at the data vendor) while tick data for the one 1-min time span is a lot faster, or even the 60 Seconds data is faster than a 1-min chart.

2. Loading too many days of 1-m data would slow down the calculations, 2-days of data is more than enough for a 1-m chart.

3. Some custom indicators due to code deficiency under certain conditions (i.e. sessions, etc) might hang in a loop calculation and cause the freezing. Try to isolate the culprit indicator by elimination process.

Cheers!

[ohtrader]

Patrick: I closed out the old ES Workspace, and restarted NT.
I rebuilt a new ES (new name, etc) and recreated the Workspace.
No change.
The problems I mentioned still existed until I completed the steps that aligator suggested. Now all seems back to normal.

[ohtrader]

aligator:

Hey, thanks so much for giving me your suggestions. They worked!!!

One thing, though - I moved the XML Workspace files to another of my directories (old habits die hard), and found that none of
the Workspaces are there, but no big deal. I can still reference them one at a time, if I need to. I realized that I need to trim
the XMLs in the Workspace directory waaayyy down.

I was keeping 2 contracts back for ES, ZB, and ZN - and I can just as easily move all the old Workspaces to a new holding directory.

One other question (actually for you and Patrick) is: Is there any reason for a +/- 9% flux ( ~ every 5 seconds) in the NinjaTrader CPU now???
Memory CPU
Before Workspace Anhiliation: 730MB 28% constant
Clean Workspace 580MB 19% - 28%

I can live without knowing why, but it seems curious...

Salud!

[aligator]

It sounds like the ES workspace is corrupt in some way. I would suggest rebuilding the workspace to eliminate any suspected corruption.

Hi Patrick,

The _Workspace file corruption has been a major reason for people having so much problems with NT freezing and chart delays for many years. Yet, NinjaTrader seems to not taking notice.

I have been deleting the _Workspce file routinely before the start of NinjaTrader and having very little issues there, except when there is very high volatility.

I would suggest one of the two thing to help put your customers at ease:

1. I don't know what the function of _Workspace file is, but if possible either eliminate it or fix it.

2. Better yet, make an improvement to NT in future revisions to delete the _Workspace file on shutdowns and recreate it on startups. This seems to be an easy fix (other than the high volatility issues) that will save your resources dealing with so many complains and reduce the level of customer frustrations.

Good luck!

[NinjaTrader_PatrickG]

Thanks for the feedback. The _workspace.xml is a workspace manager which remembers which workspaces are opened on startup. The only thing that removing this file will do is force NinjaTrader to open with no workspace (i.e. a 'blank' workspace).

No major changes are planned for NinjaTrader 7 moving forward since the release of NinjaTrader 8. We continue to provide critical updates to NinjaTrader 7 when needed but all new development will be focused on NinjaTrader 8.

[aligator]

aligator:

Hey, thanks so much for giving me your suggestions. They worked!!!

One thing, though - I moved the XML Workspace files to another of my directories (old habits die hard), and found that none of
the Workspaces are there, but no big deal. I can still reference them one at a time, if I need to. I realized that I need to trim
the XMLs in the Workspace directory waaayyy down.

I was keeping 2 contracts back for ES, ZB, and ZN - and I can just as easily move all the old Workspaces to a new holding directory.

One other question (actually for you and Patrick) is: Is there any reason for a +/- 9% flux ( ~ every 5 seconds) in the NinjaTrader CPU now???
Memory CPU
Before Workspace Anhiliation: 730MB 28% constant
Clean Workspace 580MB 19% - 28%

I can live without knowing why, but it seems curious...

Salud!

ohtrader,

You are welcome! I have been dealing with this same issue for so many years.

My suggestion is to use the default locations for NT-related files and folders, and not giving more reason for additional frustration that can happen with NT.

Sorry, I don't even watch NT CPU (a distraction) and can't comment on flux issue.

Just my 2 cents: I have learned in 45 years of trading that it is very hard to trade and watch more than one or 2 instruments. Almost all professional traders get to know one instrument well and specialize in trading that instrument. Frankly, watching monthly, weekly, or even daily charts for day trading is not relevant other than knowing what the general trend of the market is. So, my take is to eliminate any workspaces or anything on my charts that is not a direct part of my decision making process for placing or closing trades.

For day trading, more data analysis means more trading paralysis.

Keep it Simple!

Cheers!

[aligator]

Thanks for the feedback. The _workspace.xml is a workspace manager which remembers which workspaces are opened on startup. The only thing that removing this file will do is force NinjaTrader to open with no workspace (i.e. a 'blank' workspace)

Patrick,
Perhaps you are commenting on item 1 in my post #10. Agree, I thought that _Workspace might be an index of workspaces.

But, with regard to item 2 in my post #10 (the workaround for corrupt _Workspace), If I delete _Workspce file before starting, NinjaTrader will open with the last saved workspace, and I do not get a blank workspace. At the same time a clean _Workspace file is created that includes all my work spaces.

Cheers!