Data/Trade Service Settings
Introduction
To display the Data/Trade Service Settings window select Global Settings >> Data/Trade Service Settings on the menu.
This window is for viewing and specifying settings for Sierra Chart to work with data and trading services. See the Data/Trade Services page for links to pages for your service with specific instructions for setting the controls in this window for the data or trading service you are using. Settings controls which are specific to a particular service and only display for that service, are not be documented here. You will need to consult the corresponding Data/Trade Service page for that service, for the specific information.
Click OK to save the settings or Cancel to not save them.
Controls
- Connection Details
- Historical Data Service Settings
- Service Settings
- Data Settings
- Large Data File Settings
Connection Details
Service
Sets the data and/or trading service you are using.
Server
Sets the server name and port number of the server to connect to. You can either enter the information or select one from the list.
Username and Password
Set these to your Data or Trading Service username and password.
Historical Data Service Settings
Historical Daily Data Download Time
This sets the time at which historical daily data will be downloaded for the open historical charts. This should be set to a time after the market closes for the day session. This time setting is relative to the Time Zone setting in the Data/Trade Service Setting window. Historical charts are also automatically updated when the chart is opened.
Service Settings
Connect on program startup
If this option is checked, the program will connect to the data feed when you start Sierra Chart.
Reconnect on failure
If this option is checked, then the program will reconnect to the data feed when it is lost or it will retry to connect to the data feed if it could not connect.
HTTP SSL Proxy Port:
For services that use a HTTP SSL connection, such as TD Ameritrade, this specifies the port number used by an HTTP proxy for SSL connections. Normally this should be set to zero if a HTTP proxy is not used on your network. This is normally the case. A proxy may be used in a corporate environment. If there is a HTTP proxy, and a different port is used for SSL connections compared to non-secure HTTP connections, then specify the port here.
Data Settings
Time zone
Please see the Time Zone Settings page for more information on this setting.
Intraday Data Storage Time Unit
This sets the time period for each record of data in an intraday data file (.scid). Using 1 Tick means there will be one data record for each tick. This is only necessary in the case where you are using Tick, Volume or Range charts. Even with these chart types, you may want to use 1 second or 2 seconds instead. It's more efficient. 1 Tick will give you the greatest amount of accuracy. However, it will consume a lot more disk space, and cause slower chartbook loading and data downloading. File compression is used. However, there will be an increase in disk space usage. Using 60 seconds will save disk space. If you do not use chart bar periods less than 1 minute, then use a setting of 60 seconds. This setting affects data collected in real-time and depending upon the service you are using it may affect the historical data downloaded. With some services, historical data is provided in fixed time frame records such as 1 Tick or 1 Minute, and are not affected by this setting. No matter what the setting is, all ticks/trades are stored. No data is missed by using a setting of 60 seconds. Your charts will still update at the same speed. This setting is independent of the Chart Update Interval.
Maintain Time and Sales
This option is always enabled and cannot be disabled. Sierra Chart will maintain Time and Sales data for the number of Records specified. The number of records applies for each symbol being tracked. Note, that using a high Records setting could potentially take a considerable amount of memory. It is recommended to maintain about 5000 Records. If you use 100000, that's going to consume a lot of memory. NOTE: Changes to this option do not go into effect until the next reconnection to the data feed.
Store Bid and Ask Data
When this option is enabled, all Bid, Ask, Bid Size, and Ask Size data received from the data feed is also stored in the Time and Sales list. Total market depth is also stored as a separate record. This information is used by the "Time and Sales Ask Size", "Time and Sales Bid&Ask", "Time and Sales Bid Size", "Bid and Ask Depth Bars" studies. Even if this option is Off, the current Bid/Ask data is still stored with the trade records when a trade occurs. When this option is On, every quote change is stored and this can consume a significant amount of space. If this option is On, you should increase the number of Records setting.
Simulate Trades to Match Daily Volume
When this option is enabled, there are simulated trades generated in response to Daily Volume messages received from the data feed which are used to make up for missing trades. This setting is ignored for some data feeds. It may be assumed to be On or Off depending upon what gives the best result based on the behavior of the feed.
Daily Volume messages for a symbol sent by the data feed indicate the total daily volume for the trading day at the current moment. When a Daily Volume message is received from the data feed, Sierra Chart calculates the difference between this daily volume message and the prior daily volume. If the sum of the volumes for the trades received since the prior Daily Volume message is less than that needed to match the current Daily Volume message, then a simulated trade is generated with the volume needed to fill in the difference. The price of this simulated trade, is the last trade price received. The volume of this simulated trade, is the quantity of the difference as explained. This trade will be considered to be at the Bid price if the price of the simulated trade is at the current Bid price or lower. Or it will be considered to be at the Ask price if the price of the simulated trade is at the current Ask price or higher. If it is considered at the Bid, then the volume will be added to the BidVolume for the data record. If it is considered to be at the Ask, then the volume will be added to the AskVolume for the data record.
Large Data File Settings...
This button on the Global Settings >> Data/Trade Service Settings window opens the window for editing the Large Data File Settings.
Automatically Move Out Data From Large Intraday Data Files
Enabling this option will cause intraday data files, that exceed the specified size set with the Maximum File Size option, to have 50% of the data from the beginning of the file moved to an intraday data historical file. When this happens an entry will be made in the message log. The extension of the file will still be .scid. The symbol part of the file name will have -# appended to it. Example: ESM0-1.scid. The numeric part (#) will be incremented until a filename is found that does not exist in the Data Files Folder. The reason the data is moved out is to keep the data file from becoming too large, since intraday data takes a lot of space.
If you want to maintain continuous long-term intraday data for your symbols, then be sure to disable this option.
If data has been moved out of an intraday data file to a historical intraday data file (*-#.scid ) and you did not want that to happen, then you can join the files back together again. For instructions, please see the Join Intraday Data documentation.
Maximum File Size
This setting sets the Maximum File Size for intraday data files. Any file larger than the size set with this setting will have records from the beginning of the file moved to an intraday data historical file.
The Maximum File Size refers to the actual size of the file and not the compressed size. Please be aware of this. The compressed size is the size the file occupies on the disk drive.
Only Move Out Data On Weekends
When this option is enabled, then the moving out of data from large intraday data files will only occur on weekends. The files will be checked when Sierra Chart is started on a weekend. If there are large intraday data files that exceed the specified Maximum File Size, then you will be prompted to perform the move out of data. Sunday afternoon and evening is not considered the weekend since trading will begin at this time.