Using Alerts to Highlight Events

Ä    Note: Alerts are only available in the real time version of TradingSolutions. Alert definitions and alert fields can be created in other versions, but they will not issue messages when the condition is met.

Alerts can be used to generate a message in the Messages and Alerts window each time an event occurs. Here are several examples of when alerts can be used:

·      When an entry/exit signal indicates to take a new position.

·      When a price or indicator crosses a specified value.

·      When the volume or another value is above a specified value.

Alerts are similar to functions and entry/exit systems. They are defined using formulas in a definition. This definition can then be used to generate any number of alerts in data series or entire groups.

Like functions and entry/exit systems, alerts are assigned to data series or groups by creating new fields. However, unlike functions and entry/exit systems, the value of the individual alert fields is typically not used directly. Instead, the value simply indicates when to generate the message associated with this alert. Anytime the value of the alert is not zero, a message will be generated.

TradingSolutions includes several common alert definitions that can be used as soon as TradingSolutions is started. Additional alerts can be easily defined. See Writing Your Own Alert Definitions for more information.

Creating a New Alert Field

To create a new alert field, open the Create a Field Wizard and select to create a new field to Generate an alert. This will begin the Generate an Alert Wizard.

The Generate an Alert Wizard begins with the Select Function page, which allows you to select which function to use for calculating the value. The functions are broken into groups of functions that have different purposes. For example, there are function groups for statistical functions, trigonometric functions, and different types of financial indicators. A brief description of each function group and function is displayed when they are selected, helping you to understand what the selection includes.

The wizard continues with the Select Inputs page, which allows you to select which inputs to provide to the selected alert definition. Inputs to functions are typically data fields from the data series to which the field is being added; however, they can also be numbers (constant values) or data fields from other data series in the portfolio.

Ä    Note: If a data field is selected from a data series that does not have the same dates or periodicity as the target data series, TradingSolutions will use the last known value as the input. For example, if quarterly data is used for a calculation in a daily data series, the value from the preceding quarter will be used until a new quarter is reached. This holding of values can also be seen when charting values from different data series.

The final page of the Generate an Alert Wizard is the Select Name page. TradingSolutions provides several suggestions for names for the new field based on the definition and inputs selected. Any of these names can be used directly from the combo box, or you can enter your own. The name of a field should be something meaningful so that you know what the values in the field are without having to see how they are calculated.

&  For more help generating alerts, see the help for the Generate an Alert Wizard.

Working with Alerts

After you create an alert field, it will be calculated the same as a function or entry/exit system field. In other words, alerts have values just like functions. Because of this, alerts can be verified in charts and spreadsheets while they are being developed. When all of the conditions of an alert are true, the value is non-zero; otherwise, it is zero.

When new data is imported or streamed into TradingSolutions, any newly imported data that causes the alert conditions to be true will generate a message in the Messages and Alerts Window.

If the most recent bar has a true alert, the text associated with the alert definition will be displayed. If previous bars are also imported or updated, the message will still be generated, but the message will indicate "Delayed Alert" and the icon will be gray. The sound associated with delayed alerts is also different.

Ä    Note: If more than two delayed alerts are generated by one field due to the same data update, a single message will be issued indicating how many delayed alerts were generated by the updated data. In addition, the most recent delayed alert will be displayed.

Ä    Note: If TradingSolutions needs to recalculate an alert field from the beginning following an update, a message will be issued indicating how many delayed alerts were generated over the entire date range.

The dates associated with alerts and delayed alerts are related to the data that generated them. Because of this, these dates are for the exchange time of the data. This is different from most other messages which use the time on your computer.

&  For more help with messages and alerts, see Working with Messages and Alerts.