patsystems connection - kicked out this morning

[anothertoy]

i connected to my broker through a patsystems connection yesterday but i found it to be disconnected this morning. when i try to reconnect, ninja trader says i need to restart ninjatrader. is the disconnection common? is it triggered by my broker or something else. the same system is also connected to zenfire and that has not be disconnected so it is unlikely an internet connection issue.

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

Hello anothertoy,

Unfortunately NinjaTrader does not dictate when a connection is lost. It operates like a radio receiver in that it receives a signal from your broker and then displays/reports these signals back to you the trader. When a connection is lost, it is the broker's API that determines this and reports this to NinjaTrader which in turn reports this back to the trader.

The common problems that contribute to this are:

- ISP issues

- hardware firewall issues changing IP addresses frequently

- Dynamic ISP address switching the address frequently intraday. Usually this happens once a week but you may want to check with your ISP. If they do change daily, a static IP address may work.

- With Windows XP SP2, if you have more than 10 open TCPIP socket connections open (10 programs making connections through the internet) windows will randomly shut down some connections

- Broker servers having problems

Unfortunately, it is as expected that you will need to restart NinjaTrader once you are disconnected from Patsystems.

[heech]

i connected to my broker through a patsystems connection yesterday but i found it to be disconnected this morning. when i try to reconnect, ninja trader says i need to restart ninjatrader. is the disconnection common? is it triggered by my broker or something else. the same system is also connected to zenfire and that has not be disconnected so it is unlikely an internet connection issue.

The real answer is: Patsystems servers are apparently restarted every day, during market maintenance. (2:30 PM PST) I lose my connection, and have to restart NT every day after that point.

It's a royal pain.

[anothertoy]

yep, server restart for me too ... wish nt6.5 didn't require a reinput of all strategies on a restart ... can't there be a fix until nt7?

[anothertoy]

heech, as a fellow patsystems user, do u get issues regarding getting:
- cash balances in the accounts tab;
- getting live p&l in the positions tab for treasury positions (eg. zb and zf)?

i get blanks for the above.

[heech]

heech, as a fellow patsystems user, do u get issues regarding getting:
- cash balances in the accounts tab;
- getting live p&l in the positions tab for treasury positions (eg. zb and zf)?

i get blanks for the above.

I've given up tracking *positions* in patsystems, forget P&L.

Half the time I restart, I get a "position doesn't match"... and previously filled orders show up "Active" and "PartFilled". I then have to restart Ninja again. And the executions shown on the chart itself are also strange... they seem to be reset to the time of restart rather than actual execution time.

I'm trading both ZF and Patsystems on the same platform (as well as IB)... so I know the problem isn't with Ninja.

If I had ANY other option, I would *not* be trading Patsystems... unfortunately, one of my brokers doesn't offer any alternative.

[NinjaTrader_ChristopherJ]

yep, server restart for me too ... wish nt6.5 didn't require a reinput of all strategies on a restart ... can't there be a fix until nt7?

Hello anothertoy,

Unfortunately this will not be available until the release of NinjaTrader 7.

I have provided a link below to the public announcement of NinjaTrader 7 which includes a section that goes over new features and improvements.

http://www.ninjatrader.com/webnew/NT7/NinjaTrader7_Letter.htm

Please let me know if I may be of further assistance.

[anothertoy]

seems like i am also getting problems if i execute with a gtc command. how can i code it in ninjascript to enterlong x units but DAY order only?

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

Hello anothertoy,

Please see the link below for more information regarding 'time in force' as per NinjaScript.

http://www.ninjatrader-support.com/HelpGuideV6/TimeInForce.html

[anothertoy]

so i change my ES strategy to use Day orders (as per your reply below) but now it fails to show its position that it would have had had i left it as GTC orders. So with Day orders set, my strategy currently shows 0 position. if i load the same strategy with GTC orders, it shows +1 long.

Do you know why it does that? Seems to only be an issue with my ES strategy so far (i run fx futures and treasury futures strategies as well).

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

Hello anothertoy,

Did you use the exact same settings when you tested the same strategy with Day orders?

Could it be related to strategy position vs. account position. Please see the link below for more information.

http://www.ninjatrader-support2.com/vb/showthread.php?t=4033

[anothertoy]

exactly the same settings except day vs gtc orders.

i am referring to strategy position only ... when set to day orders, strategy position = 0 but when set to gtc orders, strategy position = +1.

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

Unfortunately when using a different setting for 'time-in force', a discrepancy can occur. Since Day orders are cancelled the end of the day, while Gtc orders not. This causes different historical executions, which causes a different strategy position.