Alerts

A very important feature of charting software is the alert function. It helps you keep an overview even when working with a large number of running processes and functions. Use the alert function in Tradesignal for the following:

• Trading systems that alert you of certain activities
• Indicators that offer an inbuilt alert function in their codes
• The chart tools trend line, trend channel, regression channel, stop line and the Fibonacci Retracement
• Your own programs in which you can include offer alerts

Alert Window

There is a specific alert window on the bottom of the workspace. The displays differ slightly depending on the alert category.

• Alerts coming from chart tools or indicators are listed in the "Chart Alerts" tab, with the triggering symbol and reason, for example a trend line crossing or an indicator crossing a signal line.

• Alerts coming from trading systems are listed in the "Trade Alert" tab. Here, the triggering symbol and all events of the trading system are listed, like opened or canceled orders, and also feedback from your broker in case of activated automatic order routing. The latter depends on your settings in the Order Routing options.

Output Window

The tab labeled "Output" contains the output of Equilla's Print() command and also the errors and warnings generated by the Equilla compiler. The text box at the top allows filtering of its entries to show only matching lines.

The output window contains a maximum number of 100,000 entries. If you need a larger number of entries, you can edit the file tse.ini in the application data folder of Tradesignal by adding a value up to 10,000,000 for the setting MaxOutputMessage in the General section. However be advised that increasing this number may negatively affect your performance.

Alerts in Trading Systems

Alert Functions in Indicators

Many indicators included in the software are equipped with an alert functionality. As default, the alerts are deactivated. However, you can switch on the alerts by opening the property inspector in the toolbox and setting the option ShowAlerts to Yes. As of that moment, signals like line crossing or extremes are reported as alerts.

Alert Functions in Money Management

The Money Management alerts in four different situations:

• Order added
• Order changed
• Order cancelled
• Order filled

The alerts are reported by the trading system.

Alert Functions in Chart Tools Alarm

Set an Alert Mode

For the chart tools trend line, trend channel, regression channel, stop line and Fibonacci Retracement, the following alert modes are available:

• Always - An alert is always set off when the condition is met, e.g. a line crossing. In realtime operation, this can result in multiple alerts from the same tool, if the stock crosses the line several times.

• Once Per Bar - An alert is only set off once per Bar. For example, if the price crosses the threshold several times during the period, only one alert is issued and all others are ignored. Once a new Bar has been created, a new alert will be issued when the condition is met.

• Once - An alert is set off only the first time the condition is met. All other events are ignored.

Set an Alert Direction

You can also set an alert direction for the chart tools to define in which "direction" the crossing has to take place to set off an alert.

• All - Alerts are set off no matter whether the lines are crossed downwards or upwards.

• Support (downwards) - Alerts are only set off in the case of a downwards crossing.

• Resistance (upwards) - Alerts are only set off in the case of an upwards crossing.

Global Alert Settings in Tradesignal

In the Tradesignal Options, you can define several global settings for the alert output, like an E-Mail address or the type of alert sound.

For this, open the file menu and select the Tradesignal Options entry. Then choose the area Alerts in the Options window. The following options are available:

• Number of alerts in alert history - Here you can select how many alerts shall be saved in the alert window. Each new alert with overwrite the oldest one.

• Display flashing alert icon in the system tray - Here you can select whether the alert shall be shown as small blinking symbol in the tray. Set the Duration to flash alert icon (seconds) accordingly.

• Display popup when alert occurs - Here you can select whether the alert shall be shown as a special popup on the bottom of your screen. Set the Duration to flash display popup alert icon (seconds) accordingly.

• Play sound effect when alert occurs - Here you can select whether an alert sound shall be played for each alert. Click on Browse to select any audio file from a file dialog. To preview the sound, click on Play.

• Send an E-Mail when an alert occurs - Here you can select whether an E-Mail should be sent when an alert is issued. Select whether you want to send via the MAPI or SMTP protocol and enter the SMTP configuration, if necessary. You can send a test E-Mail and also set an interval (shortest time between two sent E-Mails).