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Log of Changes and Improvements to Sierra Chart

This list contains major items of development, and changes and additions which users need to be informed about.

This is not a comprehensive changes and additions log. And it should never be relied upon for such. It only represents a very small percentage of the actual development being performed every day. The vast majority of development is not documented here. Or receives, one small comment after it is all complete. There are not version notes for each version. The main Sierra Chart documentation is updated as needed relating to the changes and additions.

The maintenance of this page has mostly been abandoned by Sierra Chart development for many years due to the difficulty of maintaining it and because users can be incorrectly misled by or misinterpret notes that are made here. This does not change, the development of Sierra Chart which is very active every day and new releases are made nearly weekly or several times a week. The Sierra Chart project is still very active, with extensive development and it remains a very high quality software in the world. The engineering is at the very top of the world.

  • 246

    • Corrected a problem that arose from 245 that prevented the trading functionality from working properly and caused errors.
  • 245

    • Added Bracket Trader Integration for Back Compatibility purposes. We do not provide support for this, you will have to contact Bracket Trader.
    • Added the Demarker study.
    • Added support for reading number of trades and Bid/Ask Volume when directly opening an ASCII file to chart. Added support for more ASCII data file formats. All of these formats, other than the standard export format for SCID files, can be imported into a SCID file in an upcoming version.
    • With the Study Overlay study, the name of the main price graph from the source chart is shown on the data line above the study for easier identification.
  • 244

    • For the DTN IQ feed service, out of order time-stamps in historical Intraday data records are not filtered. This solves the problem that some users had with missing data. We have also advised DTN of this out of order time-stamp problem.
  • 243

    • Corrected a problem from version 242 for the DTN IQ Feed Service that did not filter out data earlier than the last time in the file. This would cause duplicated data. DTN IQ Feed has had time stamping problems with their historical data. This will cause Sierra Chart to filter out some historical data. We are working on removing this filter. This problem arose from the work we did to remove this filter.
  • 242

    • Corrected a problem with IB backfill downloading of FOREX data that arose in version 240.
    • During a chart replay, the chart will update more often when using a fast chart update interval. This provides much smoother replays. Especially when tick data is used.
    • Optimized and added Kiwis Trailing Stop to the list of available studies.
    • For Internal Positions, the Profit and Loss field is always up to date and is based upon the unrealized Profit/Loss for the current position.
  • 240

    • Forex sell orders now work correctly with IB.
    • Corrected a problem where the Go To Chart command on the Alert Log may not always work in some cases.
    • Various other low-level improvements.
  • 239

    • Improved the downloading of OEC Historical Intraday Data and other OEC interface improvements to resolve issues that you may have experienced with data.
    • When using TD Ameritrade, historical daily data comes from Ameritrade by default now.
    • Stop-Limit orders can now be inputted through the chart trade interface. 4 new menu items have been added: Buy Stop-Limit, Buy Limit-Stop, Sell Limit-Stop, Sell Stop-Limit. The order of the words Stop and Limit indicate the order in which the 2 prices are inputted. If stop is first, then the price level where you initially click on the chart sets the stop price. You can then move your mouse pointer around to the limit price level. The second left click will then set the limit price. Right clicking during this process cancels the input of the Stop-Limit order.
  • 238

    • Updated the OEC Historical Intraday Data download interface to work with the major changes they have made in their version 3.1.2 client software.
    • Added support for getting more historical data from TD Ameritrade. TD Ameritrade now provides historical daily data going back 15 years, and historical Intraday data back to May 1, 2007.
  • 236

    • Corrected a problem with reversal handling in the Spreadsheet System for Trading study. Reversals only apply when the Support Reversals input is set to Yes.
    • Other minor improvements.
  • 235

    • Support for GAIN Capital/Forex.com has been added. Shortly, an account will not be required with them to access the forex data. Standard forex symbols such as EURUSD can be used. EURUSD-BID and EURUSD-ASK can also be used. Without -BID or -ASK the average price of BID and ASK is given.
    • Some improvements with Spreadsheet System/Alert For Trading study. "Allow Opposite Entry with Opposing Entry Count" input has been added.
    • Other minor improvements.
  • 234

    • Change to Spreadsheet System/Alert for Trading study: If the Buy Entry count is 1 or greater, and there is a Sell Entry, then Buy Entry is decremented by 1. Sell Entry is only incremented by 1 when Buy Entry is 0. The opposite rule applies when Sell Entry count is 1 or greater and there is a Buy Entry. Another change planned is that we will add an input named Allow Opposite Entry with Opposing Entry Count. When this input is set to No, then when Buy Entry count is greater than zero, then Sell Entries are not allowed until it reaches zero. The opposite rule when Sell Entry count is greater than zero.
    • Herrick Payoff Index has been rewritten, it is now more efficient and has more inputs
    • Various low level improvements
    • Added Alligator as a separate study. Added Moving Average - Smoothed study.
  • 233

    • This version supports the Open E Cry version 3.1.2 client software which is required to connect to the simulation system. This will be required for the production system very shortly. Therefore, if you are using the simulation system, you must use this version or higher.
    • Corrected a problem with the processing of position data by automated trading system formula's in the Spreadsheet System/Alert for Trading study.
    • Added a new tab in the Positions and Balance window that keeps track of all the positions of the current session, that is, since Sierra Chart was started. This new tab is called "Internal Positions".
    • Added the ability to use the Internal Positions for position calculations in both the Spreadsheet Study and the chart trading feature. This option can be found under Trade >> Global Trade Settings on the menu.
    • Added a study named Percentage Price Oscillator.
  • 232

    • Corrected a minor issue with the Chart Values Tool from a recent release.
    • TransAct Trading has been updated to work directly with their trade server. However, it can not be used until it is approved by TransAct. This is pending.
    • Other low level improvements
  • 231

    • Corrected a problem with the Spreadsheet Study from a recent release where the "Use Excel" and "Use Price Graph Style" inputs did not work when set to Yes.
    • Changed the behavior of the sc.BarHasClosedStatus ACSIL function.
    • Improved the reporting of trade position data from IB in the Spreadsheet System/Alert for Trading study.
  • 230

    • The Sierra Chart trading interface now supports the TransAct trading service. This is still new. If you have an suggestions or problems please let us know.
    • Corrected a problem with the color coding of the alert flag on the data line above chart regions.
    • Corrected a problem where pivot point and daily OHLC lines for Tuesday may not have correctly referenced the correct prior day when using session times that would span two different days.
  • 229

    • IB: The current real-time daily data is forward adjusted to match the historical data if it is behind it. This should solve the problem of historical charts having out-of-order data at the end when using IB.
    • IB: For symbols that only provide bid and ask data such as Forex, we ask for midpoint data instead of bid_ask data when downloading historical data. One kind user pointed out that IB is not properly setting the open/close for daily historical data records when we were asking for bid_ask data. Midpoint data seems to be better in this area. We take no responsibility for what IB sends. We chart exactly what they provide. It is responsible and detailed user feedback with proper foundation that does help us make improvements.
    • Invalid IB volume or number of trade values are filtered.
  • 228

    • IB stop orders will now be processed at any time. We set a flag in the order structure sent to IB to support this.
    • Now downloading the last two days of data when downloading historical daily data from IB.
    • Various other low-level improvements.
  • 227

    • Put a patch in to solve the problem where IB historical data would be dated 1 day ahead of time during the evening session. It is critical to have your computer clock set correctly with this patch, otherwise you may filter out data from your historical charts.
    • Made changes to greatly reduce the possibility of pacing violations when downloading historical daily data from IB. Due to this change, we now request one full year of data as previously was the case. It recently was reduced to six months, but it has been put back up to one year.
    • Tick and volume charts are now 100% constant. The volume or tick count per bar will be exactly what is specified. This is accomplished by splitting data records, if necessary. 100% constant tick charts have been available since the introduction of our new file format recently. Although, if a data record is longer than 1 Tick there would be an over-count. Now data records can be split to create 100% constant Tick and Volume counts per bar. Although, this is not always desirable if data records cover a large period of time such as one minute. Therefore, this can be disabled by unchecking the Split Data Records option in Chart >> Chart Settings.
    • Made a modification to reversal handling in the Spreadsheet System/Alert For Trading study. This applies when the buy or sell counts are over one. The handling is now consistent to what actually happens in the market.
    • Corrected a problem from a recent release where adding or subtracting a fixed amount with the Adjust Data function would cause all values to be set to this amount. It is critical to update before using this function. This affected versions 224 through some revisions of 226.
  • 226

    • Corrected some problems with the Spreadsheet System/Alert for Trading study which is used for automated trading. Support for Reversals has also been added.
    • Allowed uploading of multiple images at the same time. This also solves the problem where you would not be able to continue to upload images when 1 upload failed due to a communications problem.
  • 225

    • Spreadsheet System for Trading Study: Buy and Sell are now associated with each other, for more information see the Spreadsheet Systems documentation.
    • The Spreadsheet System/Alert for Trading study now shows the Buy Entry, Sell Entry, Buy, Sell counts in column I and J. This allows you to a better understanding of how the column signal types are working, and lets you reset them. For example, if Allow Multiple Orders in the Same Direction is Set to No, and Buy Entry count is 1, then you need to have a Buy Exit in order for Buy Entry to trigger another order.
  • 224

    • Completed development of our Automated Trading Support. Automated trading is performed using our Spreadsheet System for Trading study. See the Spreadsheet Systems/Alerts documentation for more information. This study also supports stops and targets through custom Spreadsheet formulas, letting you use the most advanced exit strategy that you require. This study directly integrates with your trading service. It requires no other front end. If you have any problems or suggestions, please let us know on our Support Board. Trading is still in development and is still being updated continually with new features.
  • 223

    • Corrected a problem with pivot points when used on a TPO Chart.
    • Also corrected some other minor issues
  • 222

    • Updated the trading interface of Sierra Chart to work with the new version of the Ameritrade Server. This will solve problems of trade functionality not working with Ameritrade. Additionally, Chart Trading now works with Ameritrade as well.
    • Corrected a problem with the function that moves out data from large Intraday data files.
    • Added the following functions to the Advanced Custom Study Interface:
      1. DMI
      2. ADX
      3. ADXR
      4. TrueRange
      5. WellesSum
      6. DMIDiff
    • Spreadsheet trading is now supported inside of the Spreadsheet System For Trading study. When a system condition formula is true or non-zero in the last column, then an order may be placed depending on the column type. The different column types consist of Buy, Sell, Buy Entry, Buy Exit (Sell), Sell Entry, Sell Exit (Buy). This study is still being improved upon and will be completed in version 224. It will have the ability to support advanced exit strategies.
  • 221

    • This version fixes the problem where you may have gotten an application error "The application failed to initialize properly (0xc0150002). Click on OK to terminate the application." or some message saying that the DLL file MSVCR80.DLL could not be found. This was an issue introduced in version 218. This was not an issue if you had the .NET Framework version 2.0 installed on your computer. This version does NOT require the .NET Framework.
    • Fixed a minor issue where the time zone defaulted to Other/Custom DST... rather than UTC (+0 UTC) in the Data/Trade Service Settings when starting from a fresh install or with no stored configuration.
  • 220

    • This version no longer supports integration with Bracket Trader. The reason for this is to provide a clear and direct interface for trading within Sierra Chart. If you still require Bracket Trader integration, then continue to use previous versions of Sierra Chart until the trading features that are now under development meet your requirements. Basic trading development has already been completed within Sierra Chart. More advanced trading features are still being worked on. We have added a new study called Spreadsheet System/Alert for Trading which directly integrates to the Sierra Chart trading interface. This study will be released in a later version. Buy and sell orders will be able to be triggered by Spreadsheet conditions. We are still developing documentation for this. The existing Spreadsheet Study/System/Alert study no longer supports trading. Trading will be supported by the new study.
    • Corrected various minor issues.
  • 219

    • Added a new Pivot Points study formula.
    • Corrected a problem where the menus do not display correctly when Sierra Chart is installed to a folder other than the default, and instead display the programmatic names which do not include spaces and shortcut keys. This was most noticeable for Transact users because in most cases Sierra Chart is not installed to the default location. Another issue is that the German and Czech menu names do not show up on the menus when the default folder is not used.
    • Supports the new AddMethod constants for the UseToolEx function in the Advanced Custom Study Interface. Added support for LineStyle and LineWidth for all tool types.
    • Corrected a problem that arose with the release of the new .scid file format that may cause extra bars to appear when using tick or volume charts, and the Intraday Data Storage Unit was not 1 tick. It is important that you upgrade if you have experienced this issue. However, it is recommended that you set your Intraday Data Storage Unit to 1 tick for tick, volume, and range bar charts.
  • 217

    • A new member namedAddMethod was added to the s_UseTool struct to replace the AddIfExists member. This new member supports several new methods of adding or updating a chart drawing when using tools from an Advanced Custom Study. See the Using Tools From an Advanced Custom Study documentation for details.
    • Fixed an issue with the Intraday editor that caused times to be saved incorrectly in the file when the time offset was non-zero.
  • 216

    • Corrected a problem from version 214 and 215, that would cause chart windows to continuously redraw at the update interval. In most cases this would not be noticeable or cause any problems. It would cause higher CPU usage though.
    • Corrected a problem from a recent release where historical charts using data from the SC Historical Data Service would not automatically update when you are connected to the data feed. It is very important if you are using the SC Historical Data Service or you notice this problem, to upgrade to this version or higher. This problem has nothing to do with the recent IB Historical data problem. If for any reason you wish to update your historical daily data files and charts, you can select File >> Download Historical Data on the menu. This command is used to download historical daily chart data. It is not for Intraday data.
  • 215

    • Improved chart updating efficiency.
    • Fixed a bug with Chart Trading that did not display fraction correctly.
    • Chart Trading now works correctly with TD (True Data) symbols with IB.
    • You can now type in the Price Increment in the TPO/Volume Profile chart using the short format.
    • Completed development of the Gann Grid Tool.
    • Corrected a bug relating to the UseToolEx function in the Advanced Custom Study Interface.
  • 214

    • Fixed some bugs with the UseTool Function that arose from recent versions.
    • Trading has been significantly updated with new dialog boxes and various options. Always keep confirmations on, and use the trading interface on a simulation or demo account until you are comfortable with it. This is still a relatively new feature.
    • The new IB TWS versions have changed the time-stamping of historical daily data. This causes historical daily downloads to fail and results in an incorrectly timestamped bar in the chart. We have put a patch in version 214 which solves this issue. If you have any problems with Historical daily downloads, then use this version. This will not solve pacing violations. Although in this release we have limited the daily downloads to 6 months to minimize the pacing violations. If you want reliable historical daily data, then you can use the SC Historical Daily Data service if it includes the markets you follow.

*Last modified Sunday, 25th February, 2024.