Extend Vertical line to chart panels...& Optional Fixed Scaling

[Alfred]

If you are using Fixed mode without the centered option...will prices remain within the chart as they did in Ninja 6.5...?? Preferred the 6.5 version.

With center on price scale option...much of the chart patterns can possibly be obscurred...

Thanks...

[NinjaTrader_AlexC]

Hi Alfred,

If I interpret what you are asking correctly, then yes. I would recommend loading up a quickly moving chart with lots of price movement in the NT8 beta and taking a look for yourself. If it does not match your vision, please write back and let us know how it could be improved.

[Alfred]

Hi...Downloaded NT8 Beta...
In fixed scale prices can move off the chart as in NT7.
You do not want current prices moving off the chart.

With price centered NT8 past chart action can move off the chart...

I suggest doing fixed scale as in Ninja 6.5...prices always stay on the chart.
This worked great there and I never understood why it was changed.

And similarly with prices centered you could have all past price action remain on the chart.
You want to be able to see the chart patterns etc there also...
Centered pice action in TradeStation allows all prices to remain on chart...
this works well there..

Update...!!
As fixed scaling is now...in some cases this can be valuable....as on volume indicators....you may want to cut off ocassional spikes in volume in order to see the usual volume patterns clearly without being distorted by a spike.

So, perhaps allow two types of fixed scaling (easily toggle between per chart or panel)...so this way you could have fixed scaling as in NT 6.5, so prices will never go off the screen, or have the option to elect fixed scaling as it is currently in NT 7 & 8 for data and indicators.

Example in screenshot...


Thanks much...

[Alfred]

Do fixed scaling so prices can always remain on screen...

When in fixed scale now prices can move off the top or below the bottom of screen.

What exactly is the advantage of that ?? Can Ninja show any screen shots of the advantage of this....why is this supposedly an actual advantage...??

In Ninja 6.5 it was possible for prices to always remain on screen even if initially in fixed scale. You simply do not want prices running off screen....what was Ninjas precise thinking here anyway ??

If you use the centered price option you often get 1/2 of the screen blank....you need to see the max vertical scale for evaluating chart patterns etc....centerd price is not a solution for Ninjas problem here. Screen shot below shows this problem.

I know of no other charting program that allows prices to run off screen. Does Ninja know something here no one else seems to know...??
I well remember the hullabaloo that erupted when this problem initially came up and Ray said "he was listening" (& this was years ago)....but nothing so far has come from this.


Thanks....

[NinjaTrader_Matthew]

The advantage is it allows you to navigate to a point on a chart and "fix" the scale to that area.

NinjaTrader 6.5 did NOT have a fixed scale. It was only one mode, automatic. Changing the price scale would automatically set the margins to the top and bottom of the chart, which is the behavior you desire. Thank you for your feedback it has been logged to bring back the automatic chart scaling as it worked in NinjaTrader 6.5.

We have done research for introducing a Fixed Percent Chart Scale which will help in your request, but did not have the bandwidth to introduce that concept in NinjaTrader 8. We added the center on price scale in NinjaTrader 8 which will prevent the price from running of the fixed scale to help mitigate the complaint, although we understand it does not fix all of your points - # SFT-222

[Alfred]

Thanks Mathew...

The main thing is you do not want prices running off the chart.
For those who do not mind prices running off the chart...that is their problem.

If you want to look at fixed scaling...look at Gann squaring of price & time...
the initial price and time scaling of your Gann square will remain wherever prices may go. Integrity Traders (one of your partners) offers Gann squares.

As things are now, once you set a fixed scale to a point and then prices run off the chart....what is the advantage of your fixed scale then ??

Any idea when we might expect a fix on this ...??

Thanks ...

[Alfred]

Fixed Scaling

Below is a particular example where fixed scaling can be useful...to more easily see volume trends where volume spikes may occur...(lower panel of chart below)

But generally my view is that a solution like Ninja 6.5 is more often better on chart scaling with no prices accidentally running off the screen...

Perhaps best to give users both options...

I recently did a search on:
site:ninjatrader.com fixed scaling examples
....no user examples showed up in the search images area...

thanks...

[Alfred]

Fixed Scale Options...

Again....how about two user options on fixed scale in Ninja...

1)...keep as is now
2)...return to 6.5 scaling (so prices will not run off screen)...

Each method can be useful....


Thanks.....

[Alfred]

Viewing orders in fixed scale...

Here is another potential problem with fixed scaling...in the first screen shot below (chart is in fixed scale)....an order has been placed with a hot key to buy limit bid -5....but the order does not show because of chart fixed scale....when fixed scale is removed the order then shows (screen shot 2 below)...

Thanks....

[eDanny]

By definition, fixed scaling has to allow previous price action to move off the chart. The only way to eliminate that is to allow the tick size to auto scale (which is not fixed scaling). Are you instead looking for a way to keep current price centered or in a center zone while in auto scale mode? BTW, for NT7 the updated IT_ChartSquare, now in addition to allowing you to accurately square up the chart (which of course puts it in fixed mode), also lets you keep current price inside a center zone of your own specification. Unfortunately historical price action will still run off the chart vertically because it is in fixed mode.

Thanks for the free advertising in post 21 Alfred.

[Alfred]

By definition, fixed scaling has to allow previous price action to move off the chart. The only way to eliminate that is to allow the tick size to auto scale (which is not fixed scaling). Are you instead looking for a way to keep current price centered or in a center zone while in auto scale mode? BTW, for NT7 the updated IT_ChartSquare, now in addition to allowing you to accurately square up the chart (which of course puts it in fixed mode), also lets you keep current price inside a center zone of your own specification. Unfortunately historical price action will still run off the chart vertically because it is in fixed mode.

Thanks for the free advertising in post 21 Alfred.

In searching Ninja posts for user desired examples of fixed scaling.... I have found only one guy who wanted fixed scaling in order to be able to trade the slope of a moving average !! And searching site:ninjatrader.com with Google (images) did not turn up any visual trading example screen shots from users that use the current fixed scale....

Perhaps Ninja could provide some actual visual examples of the advantages of the current fixed scaling ??....perhaps users sent in to Ninja examples in this area that precipitated the current fix scale from the 6.5 version....??

Personally feel the way fixed scale was handled in Ninja 6.5 was much much better than the current version...there is no advantage of possibly having the current price move off the screen that I can see...and am not at all interested in centering price on a chart to maintain the current price on the screen....

It is possible with a Gann square to allow portions of the square to be above and / or below the screen and still show the price and time in relation to ones initial square setup....no need to have fixed scaling for this I believe.....the square can be adjusted if price should move above or below your initial square....

Thanks....

[koganam]

In searching Ninja posts for user desired examples of fixed scaling.... I have found only one guy who wanted fixed scaling in order to be able to trade the slope of a moving average !! And searching site:ninjatrader.com with Google (images) did not turn up any visual trading example screen shots from users that use the current fixed scale....

It has been a long understood and rarely spoken tenet of technical support that you pretty much only hear from customers who are dissatisfied. Rare is the customer who calls technical support to say: "I just wanted to tell you what a fine product you have and how completely satisfied I am with it."

So your lack of results from your search may be well because, as you imply, maybe nobody is using it. On the other hand, it may simply mean that those of us who ever have cause to use it, find it adequate, and are willing to accept the very limitations of which you write, as the cost of using "fixed scaling".

Perhaps Ninja could provide some actual visual examples of the advantages of the current fixed scaling ??....perhaps users sent in to Ninja examples in this area that precipitated the current fix scale from the 6.5 version....??

Personally feel the way fixed scale was handled in Ninja 6.5 was much much better than the current version...there is no advantage of possibly having the current price move off the screen that I can see...and am not at all interested in centering price on a chart to maintain the current price on the screen....

It is possible with a Gann square to allow portions of the square to be above and / or below the screen and still show the price and time in relation to ones initial square setup....no need to have fixed scaling for this I believe.....the square can be adjusted if price should move above or below your initial square....

Thanks....

Unfortunately, I do not remember how it was handled in the days of NT6.5, so I am not qualified to make any comment about that, but yes, if you are using any kind of fixed geometrical shapes, like squares, I can certainly see the objection that you raise as to how price gets displayed.

Truth to tell, who knows? If I did remember, I might actually also have preferred the way that it used to be done in NT6.5.

[Alfred]

Some specific visual examples please....

Some specific visual examples that require using current fixed scaling and actually work for trading would be interesting to see.

Say you set up something with fixed scaling in order to make decisions for trading...what happens when price exceeds your fixed scale set up??....do you start over then with a new fixed scale set up or what. ??...some specific examples on this from Ninja or users would be helpful...

Why is it more advantageous to have fixed scaling and price most assuredly eventually trade off the screen ??....some specific examples on this advantage please....

Thanks much........

[koganam]

Some specific visual examples that require using current fixed scaling and actually work for trading would be interesting to see.

Say you set up something with fixed scaling in order to make decisions for trading...what happens when price exceeds your fixed scale set up??....do you start over then with a new fixed scale set up or what. ??...some specific examples on this from Ninja or users would be helpful...

Why is it more advantageous to have fixed scaling and price most assuredly eventually trade off the screen ??....some specific examples on this advantage please....

Thanks much........

Not quite what I said, but to answer your question about price going out of view, if I want to maintain the aspect ratio, I just will bring the price back into view by shifting the whole chart down while maintaining the original scaling aspect ratio. "Ctrl + drag" in the margin is the ticket.

I do not trade with Gann squares and other such arcana, so I rarely need to keep the aspect ratio, but I often will for the simple reason that my eyes have gotten used to what price travel means visually, and I do not want to have to retrain my eyes while the trade is still on.

[eDanny]

Most of the people I talk with who use fixed scaling are geometry users such as those using Gann theory. They want to see real pattern angles on their charts which means the chart has to squared up. Once squared and in fixed mode the problem is having current price action marching off the chart boundaries and it takes sliding the chart vertically without re-scaling to bring it back in view. In most cases this is just a visual preference but there are a few cases where auto changing the scale of the chart is problematic, with tools like NT's Fibonacci Circle or the IT_Emblem for instance. With these tools you may have to manually scale the chart to get your desired results and then keep the scale fixed. This is where keeping price on the chart without having to touch the right axis can be handy. Unfortunately historical price sometimes has no choice but to disappear off the high or low chart borders.