Chart Sheets ^ Date / Time Axis'
TABBED MENUS
AmiBroker has several "tabbed" menus. These can be "torn off" from their present location and re-docked wherever you want them. And they can be set to slide to the side of the window (in an auto-hiding technique) giving more screen real estate to the charts.
The next few pages describe the "tabbed" menus and windows. They include menus Layouts, Symbols, Layers, Charts, Notepad, and Inter-pretation, and windows Symbol Information, Real-time Quote, Alert Output, Time and Sales.
RE-DOCKABLE MENUS
All of these tabbed menus are implemented as "tear-off tabs" and can be re-docked wherever you wish. To re-dock a menu into any side of the application or as a tab simply click on docking window's caption bar and drag it. Docking stickers will appear. Drag the pane until the cursor is over one of the docking stickers, then release. The pane will dock in that position. (See figure on next page.)
When you re-dock the pane back into its original location, it may not be in the same order relative to the other tabs.
If there is a pin in the upper right hand corner of a tabbed menu, that menu may be set to auto-hide. Auto-hiding brings the menu out when you want it, and lets it slide out of the way and off the chart's real estate when you do not need it.
To set Auto-hiding On, just click the pin. The pin icon will turn from up-right to sideways and the menu will be auto-hiding, as in the illustration to the left. Click the tab and the menu will slide out.
A U T O - H I D I N G SLIDING MENUS
O
Symbols 9 X
I Layouts j Layers Chart? j Symbols ^
it! Cl Markets SB LJ Groups Sft GJ S e c t o r s (& Cl Watch lists
!1 LJ Favourites it; CJ Indexes
L AmiBroker [QQ.QQ
-ע File £drt View Insert F
# H i ® >
״ q q q q (Daily) * 7/30/20DB O
J QQQQ [Daily IjlJUU (Daily) X Q Q Q Q - Dally 4 / 1 8 / 2 0 0 8 O p e n 4 6 . 5 1 , Hi 4 6 :
D o c k i n g s t i c k e r s Cursor
4 5 . 4 3 7 1 4 5 1 6 0 8 L A m i B r o k e r - [ Q Q Q Q - P O W E R S H A R E S Q Q Q T R U S T - U N I T S E R 1 - D a i l y ]
For Help, !yess F1 Nasdaq, ETF, Financial, Fin-ETF * QP End of Day
4 4 . 0 0 M 0
LAYOUTS, LAYOUTS TABBED M E N U , LAYOUTS C O N T E X T M E N U
Layouts are the highest level of the AmiBroker chart structure. They are described in Chapter 4, AmiBroker Chart Structure.
Layouts Tabbed Menu
The Layouts tabbed menu shows which layouts are available for use with the database that is open (local layouts), and which are available with any database (global layouts).
Layouts 1
Layouts | Layers j Charts, j Symbols | Ss LJ Local layouts
• Default 0 Vanilla
& CJ Global layouts
« Daily_Weekly
• Default
• Local layouts
• Two Broad
Show or hide the Layouts tabbed menu using View > Layouts.
The Yellow icon shows which layout is currently open and active.
Double-click any entry to open it and make it the active layout.
Layouts Context Menu
The Layouts context menu opens when you right-click in the Layouts tabbed menu.
O p e n - loads selected layout.
Save - saves current w i n d o w layout under cur-rent name.
Save As... - save current window layout under new name.
Save as default - save current window layout as default (startup) layout for given database.
Delete - delete selected layout.
I 2 5 3 2 3 3 1 S I
Open •
S a v e S a v e As...
S a v e a s default • Delete
LAYERS, LAYERS TABBED M E N U , LAYERS C O N T E X T M E N U
Layers are like pieces of transparent plastic. You can put drawings on them. Showing or hiding a layer allows you to display or hide the drawings placed on that layer without affecting the drawings placed on other layers.
Layers Tabbed Menu
The Layers tab lists the pre-defined layers.
j Layouts j Layers J Charts j Symbols j The checkboxes on the left side of each layer control
₪ Default layer
• Intraday layer 0 Dally layer
• Weekly layer P Monthly layer
• Custom layer 1
• Custom layer 2
• Custom layer 3
• Custom layer 4 0 Custom layer 5
• Weekly stuff
layer visibility. If the box is checked, then that layer is visible; if it is unchecked, that layer is invisible.
Show or hide the Layers tabbed menu using View
> Layers.
The first five layers are built-in and special. They are:
1. Default layer - always visible.
2. Intraday layer - visible only w h e n viewing intraday charts.
3. Daily layer - visible only when viewing daily charts.
4. Weekly layer - visible only w h e n viewing weekly charts.
5. Monthly layer - visible only w h e n viewing monthly charts.
The visibility of these five is controlled by the charting interval select-ed, and cannot be changed using the checkboxes. The remaining layers can be shown or hidden by marking the checkbox.
To draw a study on a given layer:
1. Select the layer by clicking on its name.
2. Draw the study as usual.
You can move a study from one layer to another using the Properties menu of the study (not the Properties of the layer). That is, right-click the study, choose Properties, select the layer you want this study to be on.
Layers Context Menu
Add layer Remove layer
Show All Hide All Toggle
Lock built-in layers Unlock built-in layers
When you right-click on a layer name, you will see the context menu containing the following options:
Add layer - Adds a new layer.
Remove layer - Removes the selected layer. Note that you cannot remove any of the first five, built-in layers.
Show all layers - Shows all non-locked layers.
Hide all layers - Hides all non-locked layers.
Toggle - Toggles the visibility of all non-locked layers.
Lock built-in layers - Lock the first five, built-in layers. When these layers are locked, their visibil-ity changes w h e n the charting interval changes.
Unlock built-in layers - Unlocks the first five lay-ers. The visibility now depends on the checkbox.
• Properties - Launches the properties box that allows you to rename layers, and decide if the layer should be locked to the charting interval dis-played. There is a separate vis-ibility setting for each interval.
Check the boxes where you want the layer to be visible and uncheck those where you do not.
Layer properties
!*/]Lock visibility to selected interval Visibility
Interval *
• Monthly
• Weekly M Daily
• D a y l i g h t
• Hourly F " | 15-minute
5 ח - m i n u t e r~1
SYMBOLS, SYMBOLS TABBED M E N U , SYMBOLS C O N T E X T M E N U
The Symbols Tabbed menu displays the ticker symbol of all issues in the active database. Each symbol may be a member of several categories.
The ticker will be listed in every category to which it belongs. (See Categories, page 177.) Show or hide the Symbols tabbed menu using View > Symbols.
<s LJ Consumer Services g LJ Energy
The Symbols context menu opens w h e n you right-click in the Symbols tabbed menu.
• Add to favorites - Add the active sym-bol to the Favorites category.
• Remove from favorites - Remove the ac-five symbol from the Favorites category
• Erase favorites - Remove all members of the Favorites category from that catego-ry (not from the database).
• Web research - O p e n a new w i n d o w in the AmiBroker Chart window, and use the built-in browser to display a page of information about the active symbol.
(See figure next page.)
li L J All
f Mc Remove from favourites IT: U ם נ 3 ס
4 AMIBROKER - [Q.Q.QQ - HEADLINES (Y! FINANCE)]
! 4 5 ׳ ^ \ e s Symbol Analysis Tools Window Help
© © 0 13 , QQQQ ' m ® <f
Address Headlines (Yl Finance) a Ells edit y i e w Insert F g r m a t 301 W. Roosevelt Road Wheaton It 60187 Exchange Traded Funds
Company at a Glance
Fiscal Year-End: n / a
Return on Equity (1 year):
Return on Assets (X year):
Return on Investment (1 year):
Price/Earnings (1 year):
Price/Book (1 year):
Price/Cash Flow (1 year):
Gross Margin (1 year):
Operating Margin (1 year):
Profit Margin (1 year):
Price and Volume
Vol Average 200-day: 162,861,800 S2wk high (10/31/2007): $ 5 5 . 0 7 52wk low (3/17/2008): $41.05
Bid: $48.16
Ask: $48.17
I Share Related I t e m s |
Market Cap: $ 18.73B
Shares Out: 389.00M
1 Per Share Data j Nasdaq, ETF, Financial, F
=or Help, p r e s s F
• Watchlist - The expanded menu is shown on the next page.
• Add to Real-time quote window - Add the active symbol to the real-time quote window.
• Delete - Delete the active symbol from the database. Use with care - this action cannot be "undone".
Add selected Symbol - Add the active symbol to a watchlist. A dialog box will open so you can choose which watchlist.
Remove selected symbol - Remove the active symbol from one or more of the watchlists of which it is a member.
Type in symbols - Opens a dialog box and allows you to type in a comma separated list of symbols to add to a watchlist.
Import - Opens a dialog box and allows you to specify a list of symbols to be added to a watch-list.
Export - Export the tickers of a watchlist to a text file.
Erase (make empty) - Remove all entries from a watchlist.
Sort Alphabetically - Sort the symbols in a watchlist into alpha-betical order.
Hide Empty Watchlists - A toggle to either hide or display watchlists that have no members.
New Watchlist - Establishes a new watchlist at the end of the list of existing watchlists. Uses a name you specify.
Delete Watchlist - Deletes the watchlists that are selected.
Watchlist Submenu
Add selected symbol Remove selected symbol Type-in symbols...
Import,..
Export...
Erase (make empty) Sort alphabetically
</ Hide Empty watchlists
New watchlist.,, Delete watchlist
(See Watchlists, page 179.)
CHARTS (FORMULAS) TABBED M E N U , CHARTS C O N T E X T M E N U
The Charts Tabbed Menu gives access to the charts, formulas, and indica-tors that can be applied to the chart panes.
Show or hide the Charts tabbed menu using View > Charts.
A later section, Charts (Formulas), page 190, lists the formulas and indi-cators, explains them, and shows how to apply them in more detail.
Layouts ן layer? | Charts י Symbols j j Averages
/ DEMA - Double Exponential Moving Average / DispMA - Displaced Moving Average / EMA - Exponential Moving Average / Linear Regression - Least Squares Moving Average / MA - Simple Moving Average
/ TEMA ־ Triple Exponential Moving Average / TSF ־ Time Series Forecast / Wilders ־ Wilders Moving Average / WMA - Weighted Moving Average D Bands
f Bollinger Bands f Keltner Bands / Percent Bands
1ג Basic Charts / Open Interest (futures)
/ Price / ATC Trading Figure_17_ll / Liquidity
/ ABI - Absolute Breath Index / AccDist ־ Accumulation Distribution / AD Price - Williams Advance Decline of Price / AD Ratio ־ Advance Decline Ratio f ADLine - Advance Decline Line / ADX - Directional Movement Index / ASI - Accumulation Swing Index / ATR - Average True Range / Beta
/ Breadth Thrust
f CCI - Commodity Channel Index / Chaikin - Chaikin Oscillator
Charts Context Menu
Right-click any entry to display the context menu.
• Insert - inserts a copy of the selected indica-tor into a new pane. The copy of the original formula file is created and placed in a hidden drag-drop folder. The original formula will not be affected by subsequent use or editing, and other formulas can be applied to the same chart without conflict. Double clicking on a formula n a m e is equivalent to choosing Insert from the menu.
Insert Linked - Inserts the selected indicator into a new pane directly. Insert Linked does not create a copy of the formula. Instead, it
ere-\ Symbols 1 Layouts Layers j Charts i j is C3 Averages
i • • ® Bands S C־| Basic Charts
/ Open Interest (futures) / Price
f f5T89Bjfl • ! I S I S / Price (for Insert / Relative Insert Linked / Volume Overlay
;!••£נ Indicators Delete i! Oil QTS Book
ates a new pane that is directly linked to the original formula. Any modifica-tions to the original formula will be applied to the one being inserted.
• Overlay - Overlay the selected indica-tor into the selected (active) pane. The overlay command appends additional code to the formula used by the pane.
If the given pane was created using Insert Linked, it will modify the origi-nal (linked) formula. If there are several data series in the pane being overlaid, a dialog box will appear and you will be able to select which one is to be over-laid.
• Analysis - Opens the Automatic Analy-sis window with the selected formula chosen.
• Edit - Opens the Formula Editor with the code for the selected formula load-ed.
• Rename - Rename the selected formula.
• Delete - Delete the selected formula.
• New
Formula - Creates a new formula file in the selected folder.
Folder - Creates a new subfolder under the selected folder.
• Refresh - Re-reads the Formula direc-tory and re-displays the formula tree.
See the section Charts (Formulas), page 190.
NOTEPAD, NOTEPAD TABBED M E N U , NOTEPAD C O N T E X T M E N U
Notepad window
4 AmiBroker - [MSFT - MICROSOFT CORP-COM 'm £ite Edit View Insert F'ormat Symbol Analysis Iool
ם & a m ־§ © © . a
Notepad י * IMSFT (Daily) x MSFT - Microsoft - pays $ 43 MS FT - Daily 3/9/2007
The Notepad w i n d o w allows you to store free-text notes about a particular security. Type any text into the Note-pad w i n d o w (no editor required). It will be associated with whatever ticker symbol is in the active w i n d o w and au-tomatically saved. The text will appear in the Notepad w i n d o w whenever that symbol is in the active window.
Notes are global, not database specific, and are saved in C:\Program Files\AmiBroker\Notes subfolder as ordinary text files.
Notes can be also written and read using AFL langauge NoteSet and NoteGet functions.
AmiBroker Notepad, one of the Tabbed menus, should not be confused with Microsoft Notepad, a general p u r p o s e text editor that is a compo-nent of Microsoft Windows.
Show or hide the Notepad tabbed menu using View > Notepad.
Notepad Context Menu
The Notepad context menu opens when you right-click over the Notepad window. The menu is a basic editing m e n u with options to cut, copy, paste.
QQQQ Is the NASDAQ 100 tracking
Select All
OpenlME
INTERPRETATION, INTERPRETATION TABBED M E N U , INTERPRETATION C O N T E X T M E N U
The Interpretation w i n d o w shows chart-sensitive commentaries that are created by the execution of an AFL program. To add an interpreta-tion, see Commentary and Interpre-tation, page 524.
Show or hide the Interpretation tabbed menu using View > Interpre-tation.
Interpretation Window
Interpretation י I Price
Date: 3/18/2008
Price and moving averages:
MSFT(MlCROSOFT CORP-COM) has dosed above its Short j time moving average.
־ Short time moving average is currently below mid-time, AND
׳ below long time moving averages.
The relationship between price and moving averages is:
neutral in short-term, and bearish in mid-long term.
! Bollinger Bands:
! MSFT(MICROSOFT CORP-COM) has closed below upper band by 0.3%.
Bollinger Bands are 37.6% narrower than normal.
The current width of the bands (alone) does not suggest anything conclusive about the future volatility or movement I of prices.
This commentary is not a recommendation to buy or sell. Use at your own risk.
Interpretation Context Menu
The Interpretation context menu opens w h e n you right-click over the Interpretation window. The menu is a basic editing past־ menu with options to cut, copy, paste.
Select All
A L E R T O U T P U T , A L E R T O U T P U T C O N T E X T M E N U
Alert Output Window
The Alert Output Window receives the messages sent by the Alertlf function as an AFL program runs.
Show or hide the Alert Output win-dow using View > Alert Output.
Alert Output 9
T cker Date/Time Text 4 AAPL 7/29/2008 MA Cross - Sell 4־ ADSK 7/29/2008 MA Cross - Sell
׳ f B B I i
4׳ ALTR -j. Delete i s s - Sell
| AMAT 7j Delete All | s s - Sell -f AMGN 7/2972008״ "MATross - Sell 4 AMLN 7/29/2008 MA Cross - Sell 4 AMZN 7/30/2008 MA Cross - Sell 4׳ APOL 7/29/2008 MA Cross - Sell 4׳ ATVID 7/29/2008 MA Cross — Sell
Alert Output Context Menu
The Alert O u t p u t Context menu gives only two choices:
• Delete - Delete the selected row
• Delete All - Delete all rows in the window.
REAL-TIME Q U O T E , REAL-TIME Q U O T E C O N T E X T M E N U
Real-Time Quote Window
^ j y ׳ jb d w :m
4 AmiBroker - [XLY - CONSUMER DIS SS SPDR - 1-minute]
צ EHe Edit View Insert Format Symbol Analysis !ools Window Help
ם & y & m o o a = XLY י• « & a & 1 * !
2 XLY ( 1 - m i n u t e ) :
XLY - 1 - m i n u t e 8 / 1 4 / 2 0 0 8 2:22:00 PM O p e n 31.05. Hi 31.05. Lo 31, C l o s e 31 ( - 0 . 1 % ) Vol 13.247 MA(CI0se,15) = 31.02, Mid
J
11 3 : 4 511 4 ' 8 / 1 3 / 2 0 0 8 113:00 113:30 114 0 0 ' 14 30 11 5 0 011 5 : 3 0 ' 8 / 1 4 / 2 0 0 8 11 0 : 3 0 11 1 : 0 0 ' 11:30' 12:01' 12:30 11 3 00
y (• \ S h e e t 1 / Sheet 2 ץ Sheet 3 Sheet 4 \ Sheet 5 ^ Sheet 6 ^ Sheet 7 \ Sh - 5 - 1 <
Realtime Quote
T... Sf Open High Low Last Change % Ch... Volume Trad... ! Bid Bid size I Ask Asks... 52w ... i 52\a XLB 39.64 39.80 39.06 39.49 " -0.19 ־0.48% 8,013,... 100 39.49 30 39,50 """""I'D"'' XLE 72.90 74.38 71.36 72.36 ־1.14 ־1.55% 27,44... 100 72.36 70 72.37 5 XLF 20.46 21.26 20.38 21.06 0.49 +2.33% 89,40... 1,800 21.06 850 21.07 1,855 XLI 35.07 35.73 34.89 35.50 0.18 +0.51% 5,579,... 100 35.50 130 35.51 116 XLK 23.41 23.75 23.28 23,67 0.21 •>•0.90% 3,320,.., 100 23.66 524 23,67 237 XLP 28.54 28.89 28.35 28,76 0.19 +0.67% 3,385,.,, 100 28.76 195 28.77 205 XLU 37.17 37.17 36.65 36,94 -0.20 -0,54% 2,479,,,. 100 36.93 195 36.94 39 XLV 32.91 33.57 32.89 33,43 0.13 +0.39% 2,394,... 100 33.41 274 33,42 261 XLY 30.04 31.28 30.01 31,00 0.60 + 1.97% 3,955,... 300 31.00 115 31.01 164
i i • •1 V - i s t A « 2 Y U S . 3 ^ List 4 . u s t s X List 6 \ u s t 7 \ List 8\L < ׳A--j i : Undefined, Undefined, Services, Advertisinc > QP RealTi me
X; 8/13/2008 3:02:00 PM, Bar: 2465 Y: 31.0864 For Help, press Fl
The Real-Time Quote window shows the tick-by-tick information about the symbols that have been added to the window. Fields depend some-what on the data provider, but include:
• Prices for the session - Open, High, Low, Last.
• Change from previous close.
• Percent change from previous close.
• Volume for the session.
• Last trade volume.
• Bid price and size.
• Asked price and size.
Show or hide the Real-Time Quote w i n d o w using View > Real-Time Quote.
Real-Time Quote Context Menu
The Real-Time Quote context menu opens when you right-click in the Real-Time Quote window.
• Time and Sales - O p e n s the Time and Sales window that provides information about every bid, ask, and trade.
• Easy Alerts - O p e n s the Easy Alerts w i n d o w that provides a way to define real-time alerts executed w h e n bid, ask, or last hit user-defined levels.
• Add Symbol - Adds the current symbol to the Real-Time Quotes list.
• Add Watchlist - Adds all the symbols in a watchlist to the Real-Time Quotes list.
• Type in Symbol - O p e n s a dialog so you can type in a symbol to add.
• Insert Empty Line - Inserts a blank row in the Real-Time Quote w i n d o w to help visual organization of the window.
• Remove Symbol - Removes the symbol in the high-lighted line from the Real-Time Quote window.
• Remove All - Removes all symbols from the Real-Time Quote list.
• Hide - Hides the Real-Time Quote list and window.
Time a Sales...
Easy alerts
Add symbol Add watch list.,.
Type-in symbol(s) Insert empty line Remove symbol Remove All Hide
The Time and Sales w i n d o w displays in-formation about every bid, ask and trade streaming from the market. Each row dis-played represents either a new trade, a new bid, or a n e w ask that is sent by the stream-ing data source.
Each line in the time and sales w i n d o w is marked with color to make it easier to dis-tinguish between various conditions.
• Light green background means a new ask.
• Light red background means a new bid.
• Normal (white) background means a n e w trade.
• Red text for the bid price, ask price, or size means that the value is less than the previous value of the same category. For example, if the bid price is written in red letters, that m e a n s that the new bid is lower than the previous bid.
• Green volume field m e a n s that the volume of last trade, or ask or bid size, is greater than the last.
• Black text for the bid/ask price/size/volume means that the value is the same.
• Red last trade price means the trade occurred at or below the current bid.
• Green last trade price means the trade occurred at or above the current ask.
• Black last trade price m e a n s the trade occurred inside the cur-rent bid-ask range.
Time and Sales Context Menu
The Time and Sales Context Menu appears when you right-click in the Time and Sales Window.
Show Trades - When checked, displays trades.
Show bid / ask Quotes - When checked, displays bid and ask prices.
Clear display - Clears the window.
HfflBBBBB
Price Size A
129.89 10000 129.89 10200 129.90 *000 129,90 3900 129.89 10400 129.89 10600
* Show Trades
* Show Bid / Ask Quotes
Clear display
129,89 18100 129.89 18800 129.89 19800 129.89 20300 129.89 205C0 129.89 20700 Time Type
10:37:16 Bid 10:37:16 Bid 10:37:16 Ask 10:37:16 Ask 10:37:16 Bid 10:37:16 Bid
10:37:16 Bid 10:37:16 Ask 10:37:16 Ask 10:37:16 Bid 10:37:16 Bid 10:37:16 Bid 10:37:16 Bid 10:37:16 Bid 10:37:16 Bid 10:37:16 Bid 10:37:16 Bid
CATEGORIES
AmiBroker has the ability to assign ticker symbols to different cate-gories, and then use categories as filters, selecting symbols based on membership in a particular category.
There are two types of categories:
1. Those with mutually exclusive membership: groups, markets, sectors, and industries. This m e a n s that a symbol must belong to exactly one group, one market, one sector, and one industry at a time.
2. Those with free membership: watchlists, favorites, and
indexes. This means that a symbol may belong to any n u m b e r (including zero) of watchlists, and, optionally, belong or not belong to the favorite and index categories.
GROUP - M A R K E T - SECTOR - INDUSTRY
For stocks, each stock belongs to one industry. It belongs to one sec-tor based on its industry and on an assignment table - each industry belonging to exactly one sector. For example: GM (General Motors) be-longs to the "Auto & Truck Manufacturers" industry, and this implies that GM belongs to "Consumer/Cyclical" sector.
AmiBroker can handle up to 32 sectors and up to 256 industries. The
AmiBroker can handle up to 32 sectors and up to 256 industries. The