Lock interval with another data series

[Deterministic J]

Hi support team,

I use a volume chart on MES Futures and I wanted to pull up a $TICK that would add bars to the chart at the same interval (meaning when a bar on my MES chart appears, so does a ^TICK bar). Is this not possible on Ninjatrader 8?

[NinjaTrader_BrendanC]

Hello Deterministic J,

Thank you for creating your forum post with these details today.
While it would be possible to set 'Volume' as the 'preset' bar type for quick selection when you are creating a data series, I would not expect the ^TICK instrument to produce any data with this bar type selected as it relies on volume to produce bars. I tested on my end and was unable to recieve any data with this bar type selected. This is because the Tick index is a calculation of stocks or equities that make an uptick and then subtracts stocks making a downtick, this isn't technically an instrument that can be traded directly, such as the MES and so it would not have any volume data to create the bars, like the MES does.

Here is a link with additional information regarding the Volume Bar Type: Understanding Volume Bars

Please note that I tried setting the Tick bar type as the preset (1000 Ticks) and I was able to "lock" the interval for quick selection this way. Here is another helpful link that goes into details regarding setting the default settings for a data series: Understanding Data Series default settings

Please do not hesitate to reach out to us for additional NinjaTrader questions or inquiries.

[Deterministic J]

Thanks for the quick response.

I knew that TICK would not have volume. I'm trying to get TICK to update when my main MES data series prints a new bar. Just like an indicator. When MES prints a volume bar, TICK automatically prints a bar (not based on volume but based on MES printing a bar). Based on your response, I am assuming this is not possible? Could a custom indicator be coded to do this?

[NinjaTrader_BrendanC]

Hello Deterministic J,

Thank you for your follow-up post.

In general, if multiple data series are being used and only one data series is time based, and the other is not, furthermore, if neither of the data series are time based (using any other bar type besides a time based bar), it would not be expected for the bars to line up exactly as the calculations required to form the bars vary and are not created the same way, therefore they would not be able to match up or create bars at the exact same time.

My knowledge on coding and creating custom indicators is very limited, however I believe the ^TICK would need to have a bar type designed for it that created a bar based on whenever the MES bars are formed, however this is merely a speculation on my part as like I said my knowledge is limited on the subject of coding custom indicators. Here is a link to our Indicator Development section of the forum you could find another user or coder that could potentially know how to create a custom code to accomplish this: Indicator Development

Please do not hesitate to reach out to us for additional support or if you have any other NinjaTrader inquiries.