03/30/03 03/28/03 03/27/03 03/26/03 03/25/03 03/24/03 03/18/03 03/17/03 03/14/03 03/13/03 03/12/03 03/10/03 03/09/03 03/06/03 03/04/03 03/02/03
The sling.to redirector was down all day Friday. I have been using it for a while and this is the first time it went down. But just in case, I registered with another redirector as backup (or you can use it as the main link). You can now also access this site by using http://autotrader.browse.to or http://browse.to/autotrader. These are just redirectors with easy to remember URL that brings you to my website.
I made several incremental updates since Friday night to version 1.14x. Now I think finally the program is quite stable. I am releasing version 1.15. This contains mostly bug fixes. The only new feature added here is support for fractions. If you go to your contracts setup in Preferences, you can now specify if you want the contract to use fractions for display. If a symbol is specified to use fractions, internally, all price values are stored to 5 decimal places to support price down to 1/32. Also the fraction display is always reduced to the lowest fraction, so 16/32 is displayed as 1/2. Here is a screenshot sample of AutoTrader using fractions display.
I updated the files to version 1.14e this afternoon, I think this is a stable version. Many thanks to those people who diligently submitted bug reports. Please download and use this latest version. The sling.to redirector is still down, I don't know when they are coming back up again.
If you are having trouble accessing http://sling.to/autotrader/ this morning, you can try directly my ISP address http://jerrysy.home.attbi.com/AT. Please bookmark that link.
I updated the files to version 1.14d. The market depth bug is finally fixed. This caused some of the other invalid orders other people reported because the program was getting disconnected because of the market depth bug. Read the release notes for more details.
Version 1.14c is now available. New feature added is the ability to cancel a selected open order on the Order Status Panel. Also, profit for all closed positions is now displayed. Read the release notes and download the program.
A couple weeks back, I mentioned Woodie's CCI trading club for those who were asking me about ES trading strategies. Well, my trial copy of hotcomm software has finally expired, so I am looking for someone who is willing to sponsor me a one year (or even a three months for $29.95) license to hotcomm. The cost is $99.95. Thanks in advance.
To join the club, install hotcomm software from www.hotcomm.com, then connect to relay:woodiescciclub.
Version 1.14b with some bug fixes is released. Please read release notes for details. Also changed is stop orders with stop on bid/ask trigger are now submitted to TWS with a trigger type of double bid/ask. Previously, the order is not submitted, and just monitored on AutoTrader. This has a risk of having an unprotected position if the program or your computer hangs. If there are non-U.S. exchange traders that absolutely need the stop order to stay on AutoTrader because the exchange/TWS does not accept stop order, please let me know right away.
I also added a new button on the toolbar for submitting bug reports. The best way you can tell me about a bug is to send me the log file. To make it easier, as soon as you encounter a bug or a problem, click on the "bug" button right away, and it will take you to your email software and will include that last 20 or so lines of your message log. You can type in a short description of the problem and then send me the email. If possible, for more complicated bugs, you will need to turn on Debug messages to log, and then send me the AT.log file as well.
I want to point out that AutoTrader software is free, you are not paying me $50 to buy a piece of software, you are making a voluntary donation and I am not obligated at all to customize AutoTrader for you if you make a donation. I do however, as a sign of appreciation, make my best effort to respond to those who make donations and implement their enhancement requests. If you feel the program is of some value to you, please consider making a donation, it will pay you back more than the amount you donated.
If you downloaded beta version 1.14, please download the new 1.14a. This version works in live mode properly. Read the release note for more details.
I am realeasing a beta version of 1.14. Try it in simulation mode and give me your feedback. Some of the new features are ability to add to existing position (in the same direction), breakout entry (stop buy and stop sell OCA orders). Read the release notes for more details.
I received a lot of support questions today, I try to answer them as soon as I see them. For most questions, I think the answers can be found if you read the FAQ, documentation, and info on this page. If that does not answer your question, send me an email, attach your log file (AT.log) to the email. The log file contains helpful information for me to troubleshoot the problem you are reporting. Finally, I received a lot of questions regarding how to use some features of AutoTrader, and I added the info in the FAQ. Click on the link to read about it. I got busy last weekend, so I do not have any updates on the program. I have a small list of bugs to fix already and will probably come out with a new update later this week. Keep your feedback coming.
No new updates. A bug was reported regarding data collection. If you already started data collection, do not attempt to switch the symbol to a different one, as it will mix up the data stored to the file, and playback of the file will cause a runtime error. I will be fixing this problem sometime this week.
Release 1.13c is out. Minor bug fixes, include fixed the disconnection problem when you switch from a stock symbol to a futures symbol in the Quotes Panel. Made the Toolbar fixed to the top of the window when you undock the Info Panel. Fixed cause of runtime error when you stop the simulator playback from the Preferences dialog.
I tested AutoTrader on Unix, and it works without any modifications. I added screenshots of AutoTrader running on Solaris and Linux. If anyone has a Macintosh running OS X with Java 1.4.1, please try running AutoTrader and send me a screen shot. Thanks.
Don't forget to switch to June 03 contracts today for futures. Apple announced the other day the release of Java 1.4.1 for Macintosh. If anyone reading this owns a Mac running OSX or later, can you please test to see if AutoTrader will run on the Macintosh? I previously made a special version 1.11 for Macintosh upon the request of a Mac user. If you do run 1.13b on the Mac, just ignore the message about ATDLL.dll. Please email me your findings. Thanks. I will be testing to see how AutoTrader runs in Sun Solaris and Linux tonight to find out if it works.
Also, some people have been emailing me asking for ES trading strategies. I can only refer you to check out Woodie's CCI club room at hotcomm channel relay:emini. Go to www.hotcomm.com to download the needed software. Woodie's club also has a message board at talkstox.
Version 1.13b is out with minor bug fixes. Mainly to close the zip file on program exit so the collected data will not get corrupted. Also added a safety feature for the data playback, data is now played back only if the requested symbol is ATPB (stands for AutoTrader PlayBack, there is no such symbol yet in Nasdaq), MSFT or IBM (the last two are there so it will work with Sierra Chart trial). This way, the playback data will not interfere with your chart data. So even though your collected data is for ES, when you start playback, you need to open a chart using one of those three symbols in order for playback to start. Also tweaked the window sizing a little bit and Window Always On Top now also applies to undocked panels.
Releasing version 1.13a with some bug fixes. Read the release notes and download the new file. Also read the FAQ. Thanks.
Sun released Java 1.4.1_02 recently. If you currently are not experiencing any problems with your setup, then you probably do not need to upgrade. Look here if you want to find out about the new version I am using version 1.4.1_02.
I added two new sections, Sierra Chart custom study dll, and screenshots. Click on the links to read about them. I have a sample DLL in the SC Custom DLL section that you can download and use. Read that section if you need any custom dll written. I also updated the FAQ section to explain how TWS API client works.
The unique market data playback feature of AutoTrader can be used to expand the capabilities of the current TWS API client that you use. If the client knows how to connect to TWS, it will not know the difference that it is connecting to AutoTrader and receiving playback data from AutoTrader. Read the FAQ to see some examples on how AutoTrader can expand the capabilities of other TWS API client programs.
When you are prompted for a filename when you select Start Collecting Data, you need to type the filename with a .zip extension, for example es031003.zip. If you do not specify the .zip extension, then no data will be collected.
Have you made your Paypal donation yet? If not please consider doing so, the $50 contribution you make compared to the feature you get is a bargain.
Version 1.13 is out. AutoTrader now works as a TWS proxy server. If you replay your collected simulation data in AutoTrader, it will now prompt you if you want to proxy TWS, if you answer yes, then you can start your charting program such as QuoteTracker or SierraChart, and it will connect to AutoTrader. I used to use QuoteTracker but now only use SierraChart. If you do subscribe to SierraChart, please indicate that I referred you so I can get some credits. I have tested this feature with the latest version of QuoteTracker and SierraChart. When the charting program calls reqMktData, AutoTrader will start serving the replay data to the TWS client of the charting program, they would not even know the difference that it was coming from AutoTrader and not from TWS. This feature truly pushes the TWS API usage to a level beyond what anyone else has tried. Try this feature and give me your feedback.
The collected data is now streamed to a zip file on the fly. When the program prompts you for a file to save the collected data, enter a filename with .zip extension, and collected data is stored compressed on the fly while it is collected. Same is true during playback, playback data is read directly from the zipped file. This will save you lots of disk space if you collect data everyday. Note that this means all data collected using earlier version will not work with this version.
Also new to this version is the ability to dock and undock windows. I think the AutoTrader window is getting a bit large, so now I give you the ability to break it down into smaller windows, so you can minimize those less frequently used windows, and leave the ones that you need open, like the market data panel. Access this feature from the View menu. Note that because of this change, the AutoTrader preferences and contract symbols are now stored into a new file called AT.prefs and will not be compatible with the old AutoTrader.properties and AutoTrader.symbols files anymore. So you will have to enter your contract information again with this version. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Now I think I am done with all of the major changes I wanted to make with the User Interface of the program, my next tasks will be updating the order entry and order exit part of the program, and I will try to deliver the same level of features there as I did with the User Interface, features that will be seen first in AutoTrader. Please continue to give me your feedback. Thanks for using AutoTrader.
Version 1.12c is out, fixed a few bugs and added display of Market Depth information. Collecting market data now also collects market depth data if it is enabled. So when you playback the market data later for simulation, you also get market depth data. Yet another feature brought to you first by AutoTrader.
After being absent for the past few months, I have returned and finally finished the new version of the AutoTrader program. I got busy at my new job and just recently got some free time to work on the program again. Read the Release Notes for version 1.12 to find out what has changed. Starting with this version, I am going to keep older stable versions of the program available for download (version 1.11 was build on TWS API version 4 and still works on version 7). Also, I have made available a windows "exe" version of the program. The major new feature for this release is the addition of Trading Simulation using live or saved market data feed.
I have also updated the look and feel of this web site. I still keep the site simple (actually, my ISP only allows static html pages) so it does not take a lot of bandwidth to browse this site. Email me your comments about the new program and the new website.
If you downloaded 1.12, please redownload 1.12a, I fixed a couple minor bugs in displaying of Change and Trade Rate.