Writing Your Own Entry/Exit Systems

TradingSolutions comes with many built-in entry/exit systems for you to use. However, there may be many situations in which you want to write your own entry/exit systems. In fact, one of the core purposes of TradingSolutions is to help you develop and refine your own entry/exit systems. To this end, adding a custom entry/exit system to TradingSolutions is simply a matter of entering the rules for when to enter and exit the market.

&  For a step-by-step introduction to this topic, see the tutorial called Writing Custom Entry/Exit Systems.

Creating a New Entry/Exit System

To begin creating a new entry/exit system, use the Define Entry/Exit Systems button in the toolbar or select Define Entry/Exit Systems… from the Processing menu. Either of these options will display the Define Entry/Exit Systems Dialog, from which you can view existing entry/exit systems and create new ones. From this dialog, select the New… button beneath the list of systems. This will display the Create an Entry/Exit System Wizard.

Ä    Tip: TradingSolutions uses groups to separate entry/exit systems and make them easier to find. When creating a new entry/exit system, try to place it in an appropriate group to make it easier to find later. This can either be an existing group or a new group that you use just for your own systems.

The Create an Entry/Exit System Wizard begins with the Basic Information page. This page allows you to enter the name and description of the new entry/exit system, as well as assign it to a group.

Ä    Tip: Try to name your entry/exit systems something that will help you to remember what they do. Using a name like "Enter on Upswing" will probably be more useful than a name like "Dan’s First Entry/Exit System" when you go back to use it.

The next page in this wizard is the Enter Rules page. This is the page where you actually enter the rules for your new entry/exit system using combinations of function definitions. This can be a fairly complex process to get used to, but after writing a few entry/exit systems or functions, it should become a very intuitive process.

&  For help entering formulas in general, see Formula Entry.

Ä    Note: More complex entry/exit systems can be created in the Visual C++ programming language using the TradingSolutions SDK add-on. For more information about this add-on, see the TradingSolutions web site.

The final pages of the Create an Entry/Exit System Wizard are the Verify Inputs page and, optionally, the Enter Notes page. These pages allow you to verify the order and types of inputs that you will specify when you want to use it. In addition, you can specify any notes about using the entry/exit system at this time.

&  For more help creating entry/exit systems, see the help for the Create an Entry/Exit System Wizard.

Modifying an Existing Entry/Exit System

There are two ways to modify an existing entry/exit system. The easiest way is to actually modify the definition itself. To modify a definition directly, simply select the entry/exit system definition you would like to modify on the Define Entry/Exit Systems Dialog and press Edit…. This will display the Modify Entry/Exit System Dialog, where you can modify the name, rules, input order, or descriptions.

Ä    Note: Entry/exit systems that are provided with TradingSolutions are protected from changes. Instead of modifying these directly, you should make a copy and modify the copy.

If you would like to modify an existing entry/exit system without changing the original, you can create a copy of the definition and modify it to suit your needs. For example, if a provided entry/exit system uses one type of moving average and you would like to use another type, you can copy the entry/exit system and replace the type of moving average that is being used.

To copy an entry/exit system, begin by creating a new one. As described above, this is done from the Define Entry/Exit Systems Dialog by pressing the New… button beneath the list of entry/exit systems. Then, from the Create an Entry/Exit System Wizard: Basic Information page, press the Copy another Entry/Exit System… button. This will display the Copy Entry/Exit System Dialog, where you can select which definition to copy.

Once you select an entry/exit system to copy, your new system will have copies of the rules, descriptions, and notes ready for you to modify. Simply continue through the Create an Entry/Exit System Wizard as you would when creating a new entry/exit system.

&  For more help with entry/exit systems, see Creating and Analyzing Entry/Exit Signals.

&  For help distributing your entry/exit systems, see Sharing Your Functions with Other Users.