Release Notes (print this page out for your reference)

1.18a/b

• Fixed bug in Cancel Open Entry button, and the Stop Limit button in Breakout Order section.
• Added a local time display on the status bar.
• Removed the requirement to enter your Account Number in the Preferences dialog. AutoTrader still needs the Account Number in order to perform critical tasks such as failure recovery and transaction matching in Reports, but it will automatically determine your Account Number based on the Execution record TWS provides.
• The Position Entry and Position Exit Panel can be separated by selecting the menu View / Entry Exit Panel / Separate. If it is combined, I made the program to automatically switch to Position Exit if an entry order is filled.
• I am introducing the AutoTrader to TWS Http Interface in this version. This is new and will be refined as needed. Open the AT2TWS_Demo.htm file in a browser to read more about this feature and test it out.
• New features in version 1.18a. Program preferences now stored in AT.xml file in XML format. This is a text file and will allow users to modify certain values if necessary. Using XML format isolates AutoTrader program from future changes in TWS API code. TWS API changed "public" names between version 6.x and 7.x. Standard software development practice normally do not rename published class, methods and variable names.
• Look and Feel is now user selectable. There are currently 4 options to choose from if you use the Metal Look and Feel. The option to use the System Look and Feel (same style as the native operating system) is still available. You can switch this in the AT Preferences dialog. Switching between Metal L&F and System L&F requires a program restart.
• AutoTrader packaging change. There will be 2 packages available, a full install package that contains all the files needed to run the AutoTrader program, and the AutoTrader.jar file only package. For first time users, get the full install package. For upgrading between versions, you can just download the AutoTrader.jar and replace the one you have in your system. I provided a DOS batch file called AT.cmd that you can double click to start the AutoTrader program. The only prerequisite to run AutoTrader is you must have Java 1.4 runtime software installed.
• Stop Orders can now be submitted as Stop Market or Stop Limit Orders. So for Globex traders who wants to have Globex native stop orders, submit your stops as Stop Limit orders. For ACE traders, submit stops as Stop Market to have native ACE stop orders.
• Time in Force can be set to DAY or GTC.
• A new Position Exit option is added. You can now Offer Out to exit a position.
• Modify Stop and Target orders by Price instead of by Offset. Once a position is opened, you now have the option of modifying stop and target orders by price or by offset. The offset and price display box are synchronized, so changing one will change the other correspondingly.
• Updated the exchanges supported. Now all exchanges current as of today is supported by AutoTrader, this includes new exchanges recently added such as Toronto Stock Exchange, FTA in Netherlands, Tokyo and Osaka exchanges in Japan.
• Improved fractions support. Bond traders now have the option of displaying quotes in fractions or in '320 format.
• Trading performance report. There is a new Report tab in the Info Panel. Import your monthly statements (in Excel format) for the previous months and the daily statements for the current month, and it will t Friday, October 10, 2003 1:18 AM Profit calculation includes commissions. This section currently only works with Stocks and Futures. This also assumes you are trading in a single currency.
• Hotkeys! Now you can configure all your Fkeys and assign actions you previously would do by changing values and clicking buttons. You have a total of 48 assignable Fkeys plus 16 combinations of the Arrow keys for a total of 64 assignable hotkeys.
  An example setup you can make for hotkeys is as follows:
  F1 subtract 4 ticks from stop offset ___________ Shit F1 substract 4 ticks from target offset
  F2 subtract 3 ticks from stop offset ___________ Shitf F2 subtract 3 ticks from target offset
  F3 subtract 2 ticks from stop offset ___________ Shift F3 subtract 2 ticks from target offset
  F4 subtract 1 tick from stop offset ____________ Shift F4 subtract 1 tick from target offset
  F5 add 1 tick to stop offset __________________ Shift F5 add 1 tick to target offset
  F6 add 2 ticks to stop offset _________________ Shift F6 add 2 ticks to target offset
  F7 add 3 ticks to stop offset _________________ Shift F7 add 3 ticks to target offset
  F8 add 4 ticks to stop offset _________________ Shift F8 add 4 ticks to target offset
  The possibilities are only limited by your imagination.
• Program state is now persisted into a SQL database. AutoTrader now comes with HSQLDB database and it stores all the order status and execution details into the database, so the state of the program is remembered between program starts. This means you can resume trade management if the program crash, your computer reboots, etc. This makes AutoTrader a truly fault tolerant TWS API client program. Banking and financial institutions' mission critical software are all fault tolerant, why should your trading software not have this feature ?
• Database can be switched to MySQL (download and install first from http://www.mysql.com). I may add more database support in the future such as Oracle, SQLServer, Pointbase, etc (any database that has a JDBC driver), if there is enough demand for it. If you plan on running multiple instances of AutoTrader to trade multiple accounts, then it is highly recommended you use MySQL or any commercially available database software. There are many free tools available that you can use to connect to the database used by AutoTrader and do maintenance and generate reports out of the data stored by the program.
• Link to QuoteTracker symbols. If you are using QuoeTracker for viewing charts, if you select the Link QT Symbols option, whenever you change the symbol in AutoTrader, the chart displayed in QuoteTracker will automatically switch to your selected symbol. This way, traders using QuoteTracker charting program will not make the mistake of viewing the wrong chart when making a trade.
• I have updated the TWS API client to version 7.3. Due to the change in TWS API from 6.x to 7.x, the old format of AutoTrader collected data will not be compatible with this new version. IB modified "public" class variable names between API version 6.x and 7.x, as such, the old file format will not be compatible with the new file format. Other playback data source will continue to work as before.
• Internalization support is now complete. AutoTrader is written to take advantage of Java's internalization feature. If you like to see the display strings and messages on the AutoTrader windows displayed in your native language, all you need to do is modify the ATResources.properties file, and translate the strings on the right hand side of the"=" sign, save the file (use UTF-8 byte stream if you are using a Double Byte Character set such as Japanese or Chinese) to the same location as AutoTrader.jar, and next time you start up the program, all the display strings and messages will be in your native language. Note that the ATResources.properties filename needs to be in the format ATResources_XX.properties, where XX is your Country Locale code, such as de for Germany, ja for Japan. Information about supported locales can be found here http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/docs/guide/intl/locale.doc.html
• Bugs fixed in version 1.18a. Partial fill logic now works properly again.
• Breakout Order entry section now has two buttons, one for placing Stop market breakout orders, and one for placing Stop Limit breakout orders. Previously, once a value was entered into the Limit price, it is not possible to submit Stop Market breakout orders anymore.

1.17a/b/c/d/e/f/g

• New features in version 1.17g. Added support for CME Globex Time and Sales data for playback and QuoteTracker data for playback.
• Changed in 1.17g. Filtered out single stock futures list from showing up in Bulletins.
• New features in version 1.17f. Added support for Currency trading. The program will now detect tick size if 4 or 2 decimal places are needed, so Currency symbols which uses 4 decimal places will automatically display and use 4 decimal places .
• Bug fixed in version 1.17f. Simulation trading runtime error using Ensign playback data fixed.
• New feature added in version 1.17e. Added Ensign Playback Data as a new playback source. Now you do not have to collect data everyday (unless you want full details when you playback, including market depth data) for index futures symbols. You can playback Ensign Playback data files for ES, NQ and YM using AutoTrader. These files only contain last price data, bid and ask price data is simulated, size info is fixed at 100. Playback timing is accurate to the minute based on the info from the playback file. The tick rate is spaced as 60000/number of ticks for that minute in milliseconds. The typical rate I see during the first hour is about 4 ticks per second.
• New feature added in version 1.17d. Added Random Data as a new playback source. Don't have playback data to use for simulation ? No problem, AutoTrader can now generate playback data using a random number generator. This source generates bid, ask and last data. Size is currently fixed at 100, and the tick rate is about 110 ticks per minute.
• Bug fixed for version 1.17d. Position order entry quantity modification before order is completely filled now correctly adjust the values for Qty Open, filled and remaining. Position entry order quantity value cannot be modified to a value lower than the quantity already partially filled..
• Enhancementss added to version 1.17c. Full support for symbols using fractional tick size. The program now works with symbols using the following tick size: 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 1/64, and 1/128. The program has been tested with ZT, ZF, ZN and ZB U.S. Treasury Bonds symbols. Prices are displayed in fractions, so 21/64 is displayed as 21/64, not '105. Fractions are also displayed without reducing tolowest denominator. So 16/32 is displayed as 16/32, not 1/2.
• Problems fixed in 1.17b. The second order status report for orders placed on ACE is now used and updates the value of the first order status report.
• Qty used for placing exit orders is now correct if you updated the Qty for the entry order before it was filled.
• Fixed a problem in simulation mode that can cause a rare multithreaded race condition in the java program.
• Added uptick/downtick indicator. The uptick/downtick bar shows the last 8 to 10 uptick or downtick, if the tick price is the same, then there is no new tick bar displayed, only tick changes are shown.
• Added a price thermometer indicator (color indicator inside the last price box). The price thermometer shows the relative position of the current last price to the high of day and low of day.
• The connection status box in the status line of the main window now displays the Account name when you have a trade executed for the day. You can toggle between the connection information and the Account name by clicking on the box.
• In Classic mode, I changed the layout to a Buy and Sell button instead of a Buy and a Sell radio button and a Submit button.

1.17

• Upgraded the program to use TWS API client version 7.2. And as always, everything is self contained, so you don't have to go through the hassle of upgrading your TWS API client software
• The program now displays TWS Bulletins in the Info Panel, . Whenever a new bulletin arrives, the color of the word "Bulletins" will change to red, until you click it to read the bulletin. This way, you know if you have unread bulletins since you started the AutoTrader program.
• If you are using AutoTrader for the first time (no AT.prefs file), the 3 default symbols it creates now contains the multiplier value for profit calculation.
• A new status line is added at the bottom of the main window to display the last message logged and connection information. You can show or hide the status line from the View menu. The purpose of showing the connection information on the status line is if you have multiple copies of AutoTrader running and you use each one to connect to a different account, it is a way to identify which account you are connected to.
• Log files are now created and stored in a subdirectory called logs at the location where you started the AutoTrader program. I did this to organize the log files better and not to clutter the AutoTrader directory with tons of log files.
• Stop and Target order OCA string is now set as "ATX"+<stop order id>. This change is needed in order to allow running multiple copies of AutoTrader all connected to the same TWS for trading different symbols (so the OCA orders will not interfere with each other). Read the FAQ for more details.
• Added futures contract expiration warning message. During contract expiration month, from one week before expiration, if you trade futures, a warning message will pop up to remind you to switch to the new front month contract.

1.16a/b/c/d/e/f/g/h/i/j

• Version 1.16j. Trailing stop when Stop Trigger on Bid/Ask option is selected now works properly.
• Fixed problem in submitting of stop and target orders on partial fill for large volume entry order.
• Fixed updating of Qty in sumulation mode for partial fills.
• Symbol ticksize is now checked to have a non-zero value.
• There is no restriction to the limit price when submitting a stop limit entry order.
• Version 1.16i. AutoSend Exit is now permanently on, so the checkbox for this option is now removed.
• Bugs fixed in version 1.16h. Fixed market order in simulation mode. When I added the partial fill feature to simulation mode, I missed updating part of market order handling, this is now fixed.
• I noticed recently that I have been getting" Error 201 COULD NOT VALUE THIS CONTRACT AT THIS TIME" quite often. Some users have reported this as well. I added code to resubmit rejected Stop and Target orders that have been cancelled by TWS.
• Fixed ESTX50 handling to ignore fill status with bad price info (usually fill price of 0 or sometimes some small negative number), and wait for the amended fill status with the correct fill price before placing the exit order.
• Bug fixed in 1.16g, partial fill are now handled properly. Previously, if you placed an entry order for say 3 contracts, then get a fill of 2 contracts and then the third, the program will incorrectly add 3 to the open qty instead of 1 on the last fill, so you end up with exit orders for 5 contracts instead of 3. You probably will never see this problem during live trading except for slow midday hours. This problem is now fixed. As a bonus for fixing this problem, the simulator now simulates partial fills.
• I also fixed the calculation of trade rate. Previously I only get the total qty reported in last size every ten seconds. This was not an accurate number as TWS updates only the last size value if it is different. So if there were 10 trades of 100 contracts, TWS would only report last size of 100 once. Now, I take the difference of the total volume every ten seconds, and this truly reflects the actual volume traded. Now you can see when institutions trade when those thousands of contracts show up on the trade rate.
• Program will now automatically resubscribe Market Depth Data when TWS reconnects.
• Bug fixed in 1.16f, use market order to close option restored to modify the target limit order to a market order to close a position. The workaround to a TWS bug that submits a new market order to close a position introduced a bug that causes the quantity calculation for exit orders to not be reset after a position is closed.
• The Cancel Open Orders button has been restored as Cancel Open Entry Orders, and now only cancels entry orders.
• Removed the Cancel Open Order button in version 1.16e.
• Added support for FOP (option on futures) and new exchanges for trading Single Stock Futures.
• Fixed in 1.16d. Problem with Reverse, Close Position and Cancel Open Orders button not working is now fixed.
• Fixed the Preferences to remember the default Contract to display setting.
• Target order limit price is now recalculated from the last entry price + target offset. Previously, this was set to the initial entry price + target offset. So now when you scale in, the target price will be based on the last scale in order that filled.
• If you select Stop Trigger on Last, simulation fill for both Target and Stop will now be based on Last price match. If you select Stop Trigger on Bid/Ask, both Target and Stop will be based on Bid/Ask price match. Previously, price match was always based on Bid/Ask only.
• Fixed in 1.16c. Profit calculation in simulation mode when a position is closed now displays the correct value.
• Bugs fixed in 1.16b. Total profit value is updated after a position is closed.
• Fixed duplicate ticker id bug.
• Bugs fixed in 1.16a. Market orders receiving a fill price of 0 will now assume a fill price equal to the last price from the quotes in order to submit the exit orders, as the exit order prices are calculated as offsets from the fill price.
• Duplicate order status reports from TWS are now ignored. This was causing a problem where the Qty Open is doubled everytime a duplicate order status is received.
• Added a routine to catch any runtime errors that occur to prevent TWS from disconnecting. This will allow you to close any open position you have before closing the program. Please email me the AT.log file as soon as you encounter a runtime error.

1.16

• Bugs fixed for 1.16. The disconnection problem is fixed. This problem only occured if you were using live market data in simulation mode.
• Fixed use market to close option to submit a new market order to close instead of modifying the target order from a limit order to a market order, which is causing a rejected order error.
• Fixed keyboard entry of values and right click selection of values bug. These mode of number entry now works again.
• New features in 1.16. Added a "Time in Trade" display. This shows you how long the current position has been open.
• New mode of data entry using Keypad. When you click the mouse wheel while pointer is inside a numeric box, a keypad will pop up below the price box (Did you know the mouse wheel also functions as the middle mouse button?). While the keypad is up, if you left click a number, it will add the corresponding number of ticks to the price box, or Qty increment if it is a Qty box. If you right click or middle click the mouse, it will subtract the corresponding number of ticks from the price box, or decrement the Qty if it is a Qty box. For example, if the price right now is 800, and you want to move your target up 25 points (100 ticks), all you need to do is middle click on your mouse, click 50 twice (each click will add 50 ticks to the price), then click Ok. Clicking Cxl (cancel) will revert the original value, and clicking Clr will set the value to Zero.

1.15a/b/c/d/e/f

• Bug fix for 1.15f. At startup, if after connection, the prgram receives an error 503 (TWS is out of date), the program will now quit.
• Bug fixes for 1.15e. Order ids now continue from the next id from your order status list or the one returned by TWS.
• Simulated orders now do not wait for the next tick price before checking if the order can be filled.
• Bug fixes for 1.15d. Stop limit orders are now submitted correctly as "STP LMT".
• Safety ticks choice now goes up to 5 ticks for limit order for position exit.
• Bug fixes for 1.15c. The values on the main window does not get reset anymore when you switch to another window and then back.
• When you close a position, all unfilled additional entry orders are now cancelled.
• Fixed duplicate order id error when connected to TWS Demo System.
• Both legs of a breakout order are now checked if valid before submitting the two stop orders.
• Bug fixes for 1.15b.Fixed divide by 0 bug for contract symbols with whole number tick size.
• You can now edit the breakout orders before they fill. If breakout order fills, the One Click tab will be selected.
• Fixed problem in simulation mode where the status of the last entry order that is filled is changed to cancelled, resulting in wrong calculation of total profit.
• Fixed the limit price and stop price problem in Classic order entry. The default values are now back to the last price again instead of 0.
• A known problem is if in Simulation mode, if you submit a breakout order at current bid and current ask price, both orders will be filled. This scenario will not happen in live mode, and it is unlikely anyone would want to submit a breakout order at bid/ask.

1.15

• New feature for 1.15. Attention Bond traders, AutoTrader now supports fractions. You can specify in your contracts setup section in Preferences, to display contract values in fractions.. 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. You can even use fractions on ES if you want to.
• Bug fixes for 1.15. Fixed order id sequencing bug. Version 1.14f has a bug in which the order id is adjusted even if the order originated from AutoTrader, that problem is now fixed. Also previously, if a new order was placed directly on TWS and the order id sequence is adjusted in AutoTrader, the succeeding display of Order Status may have skipped rows, this is now fixed.

1.14a/b/c/d/e/f

• One more bug fix for 1.14f, fixed problem if used with Demo System. Program was disconnecting if used on demo system.
• Bug fixes for 1.14e. Scale out quantity was accepting a value of 0, and hence causing a problem when the exit order is submitted. If scale out quantity is set to 0, it will now reset to the default quantity of the contract.
• More market depth bug fix, it now works on both simulated or live data.
• Bug fixes for 1.14d. Fixed bug to stop sending the request for open orders to TWS after it is disconnected.
• Fixed market depth bar bug that causes disconnection when you switch symbols.
• Fixed scale out quantity bug. You can now change the value for scale out quantity at any time.
• New features for 1.14c. Added a Cancel Selected Order button at the bottom of the Order Status Panel. Previously, if you entered multiple orders, you are not able to cancel individual orders, now you can select the Open Entry order you want to cancel, then click the Cancel Selected Order button.
• Total profit is now calculated. Total profit for all closed trades are calculated and displayed at the bottom of the Order Status Panel.
• Bug fixes for 1.14c. When you click the reverse button, the entry price is reset to the fill price of the reverse order, so the profit is calculated from that price from there on.
• Fixed problem in order reversal causing invalid order id = 0.
• Fixed simulator to cancel OCA orders properly.
• Fixed email button. It now works in Windows 2000 running Outlook.
• Clear the limit and aux price box values when you switch to a different symbol.
• Bug fixes for 1.14b. If you previously had open positions or open orders on TWS and then start AutoTrader, you may get invalid OrderId=0 error messages. This is now handled properly.
• Stop trigger on bid/ask now uses native TWS stop order with stop trigger method = double bid/ask. This will avoid the problem of having unprotected position in case the program or the computer hangs.
• AutoTrader now checks TWS every 30 seconds for new open orders entered directly on TWS.
• Fixed order id number sequencing. Previously, if you placed orders directly on TWS, it will increment the order id without notifying the TWS API client.
• Added a new toolbar button for submitting bug reports. Please click this button as soon as you see a problem to send an email with the last 20 or so lines of your message log.
• Bug fixes for 1.14a. Fixed an order updating bug when you add to an existing position.
• Fixed Reverse button bug.
• Fixed button enable/disable logic.

1.14 beta

• New features. Ability to add to existing position using One Click or Classic mode. Note that Profit is calculated based on the Average fill price of all entry orders, while Target price is calculated as an offset from the Initial entry price.
• Classic Order entry mode now supports stop limit orders. You can also specify the order to be OCA. The OCA label used is ATE (for AutoTrader Entry). The target and stop orders are always an OCA pair with an OCA label of ATX (for AutoTrader Exit).
• Breakout Entry. Specify the buy and sell price (and a limit price if you want), and a stop buy and stop sell order are placed. Once a breakout order is submitted, you cannot add new orders until the order is filled or you cancel the orders.
• If you move the mouse cursor to the Trade Rate box, it now displays the last 10 values.
• Some cosmetic changes to the toolbar buttons.
• The order status now displays all your orders with the latest status and timestamp. The lines are color coded, blue = order is filled, red = order is cancelled, yellow = order is presubmitted, and green = order is submitted and currently active. What you want to look for are green and yellow lines for current active orders.
• Bug fixes. Switching symbols while data collection is on will now prompt if you wish to continue or not, if you continue to switch to a new symbol, the data collection is terminated and the file is closed.
• Force AutoTrail increment value minimum to be the tick size. This will prevent newly opened position to close immediately because of invalid value in trail increment
• Adding or Modifying Contract data before required a connection to TWS. This is not needed anymore. If AutoTrader is not connected to TWS, then the tick size value is not validated against the exchange if AutoTrader is not connected to TWS.

1.13a/b/c

• Version 1.13c. 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 runtime error when you stop the simulator playback from the Preferences dialog.
• 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, 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 existing 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.
• Tweaked the float window size for info and quotes panel and Window Always On Top also applies to undocked panels.
• Bug fixes. Fixed file naming bug for Data Collection. When you are prompted for a filename when you select Start Collecting Data, and you do not specify the.zip extension, no data is collected. This version will automatically append the .zip extension if you do not specify it at the prompt.
• Fixed data playback problem if data is streaming too fast during a fast market. You will need this version in order to playback the es030703.zip file I uploaded.
• Fixed the Classic Order Entry Submit and Cancel button disabling problem.
• Fixed the URL link for sending me email.

1.13

• TWS Server proxy in Simulation playback mode. You now have the option to make AutoTrader work as a TWS API server when you playback your collected data. You can then start your Quotetracker or SierraChart charting software, and it will connect to AutoTrader and start receiving the tick data. The client programs would not even know the difference that they are connected to AutoTrader and not TWS. Practice your strategy and trades in the ultimate simulation package available using IB TWS.
• In TWS Server proxy mode, the very first reqMktData command is the only one that will be served, all the other commands are simply ignored. So for example, if you use SierraChart in trial mode, it will allow you to use IBM or MSFT symbol, just use any one of these, and start charting the data you are playing back.
• Panel sections in AutoTrader can now be undocked and docked. Access this new feature from the View menu. All the window size and location are remembered when you exit AutoTrader. Note that because of this additional feature, the AutoTrader.properties file has become too big to maintain, so I am creating a new AT.prefs file to store all the preferences and contract symbols. So you will need to enter you contract info again with this version.
• Please consider making a donation to make my efforts worthwhile.

1.12b/1.12c

• I just fixed a bug for market depth for stocks in v1.12c. It seems stocks get a market depth level of greater than five.
• Added option to display market depth information. When you collect your simulation data, it will also collect market depth data, so when you later playback the data, it will display the market depth information as well.
• Increased size of Quantity entry field.
• Fixed Contract Details windows close button problem.
• Fixed the ticksize setting for stocks. ContractDetails API is returning 0.001 instead of 0.01.

1.12

• Trading Simulation feature now available. By selecting the "Simulation mode" in preferences, any orders placed will not be submitted to IB, but will be tracked as a simulated live order in the AutoTrader program.
• Frustrated from using the TWS demo system ? Now you can save and playback tick market data for trading simulation in AutoTrader. Simulate using live market data during trading hours, and use collected market data for simulation during off trading hours. AutoTrader is the first to use mousewheel support, and is now the first to introduce market data playback for trading simulation.
• AutoTrader now uses the industry standard log4j libraries for logging messages. If you are familiar with log4j, you can modify the log4j.properties file to customize the log messages printed out according to your needs. There are also many third party programs available to process log4j messages. Visit http://jakarta.apache.org/log4j if you want to learn more about it.
• The file naming convention for the log file has changed as a result of using log4j. The current day's log is always logged to a file called AT.log. At the end of each day, the log file will be renamed to AT.log.MM-DD-YY.log, and the AT.log will contain messages for the new day.
• A new feature, as a result of using log4j, is logging debug messages to file. If you select from the menu File/Debug Msg to Log, then additional debugging messages will be printed to the log files that you can send to me when you report any bugs. This will help me troubleshoot any problem you are reporting.
• Uses TWS client API version 7.0.1. The program now displays Account information, Trade Executions, Open Orders (only orders originated from AutoTrader will display), and Positions are now displayed.
• Added IDEM exchange so our Italian traders can use the program.
• Changed the Contract year selection choices to 2003 to 2009.
• Fixed window resizing layout. This resulted in the main window increasing in length a little bit, but window resizing now works better as the program uses the Java dynamic layout feature.

1.11

• I decided to make the mouse wheel value change to go down when you pull the wheel towards you (kinda like finger down), and value up when you turn the wheel away from up (finger up). Users seem to prefer this, and I think it makes sense.
• Fixed a bug in the Symbol combo box where it could not handle Options of the same underlying.

1.10

• Added Mouse Wheel support !! You can enable or disable this feature from the Preferences window. I can't imagine why anyone would want this disabled. If this feature is enough to get you out to go buy a Wheel Mouse, I strongly urge you to make a suggested $30 donation.
• To use the Mouse Wheel feature, enable it in the Preferences window. On the main window, make sure the main window is the top window, move the mouse cursor inside one of the fields where you enter a number, like Stop Offset or Target Offset, and start turning your mouse wheel. Turning the mouse wheel towards you will increase value of the field, turning it away from you will decrease the value. If the value changed from the original, the background color of the field turns to yellow. If you scroll it back to the original value, background color returns to white. After setting the new value, moving the mouse out of the field will apply that new value, that's it! Note that user is responsible for making sure the value you choose is what you want, don't get carried away and scroll the Qty to 10 because you can end up with more Qty than what you really want.
• Popup list choice feature is still there to support those who do not own a wheel mouse. It seems that for popup list to work properly, the focus (the blinking text cursor) must not be in the field you are using the popup list on. So if you want to make a choice for Stop Offset, make sure the blinking cursor is not in the field when you do a right click on it. I will try to fix this problem in the next version or so. In the meantime, if you start using the wheel mouse feature, you will probably never need to use the popup list anymore.

1.09

• Java 1.4 is now required. In order to support new features now and in the future, I need to use J2SE 1.4. Please upgrade your Java runtime program to 1.4 if you have not yet done so.
• AutoTrader now supports unlimited number of symbols. Note that users of previous versions will lose all their contract settings when they upgrade to this version. My apologies for the inconvenience.
• You can add, modify and delete Contract information from the Preferences window. To modify, change the values of the contract and click Save button. To create a new Contract, click the New button, enter the values, then click the Save button. To delete the current contract displayed, click the Delete button.
• Fixed window maximize/restore problem.
• Fixed Scale Out feature problem, it now works again.
• Stop Trigger radio buttons are now disabled when Position Exit orders are active to avoid confusion.
• Qty and Scale Out Qty are now stored per contract also. Default Qty in Preferences window is now used as the minimum quantity and the quantity increment in the Qty popup list.
• Fixed icon size so they are now all the same size.

1.08

• SmartTrack is now available! Buy on Bid, Buy at Ask, Sell on Bid, Sell at Ask limit orders are now tracked automatically. This feature can be turned on or off "on the fly" while the order is active. This feature is most useful for Buy on Bid or Sell at Ask orders where the "spread" is usually larger than the tick size. For Buy on Bid, if the Ask Price ticks down, SmartTrack will automatically move down the bid price one tick. Not only that, if the Bid Size is the same as your Order size, it will move the bid price down one tick. If the ask price ticks up, SmartTrack will update the limit order to move up one tick. You are almost guaranteed the best fill price at that moment it filled. Usual disclaimer applies during fast and volatile market.
• SmartTrack works on Buy at Ask also, if you click Buy at Ask, and did not get filled because ask price moved up, SmartTrack will update your order to the new ask. This is better than Buy at Market, since you can specify your limit on how many ticks you want to go after the ask before giving up, with market order, it is possible to get a fill at a price way further than you wanted.
  Manual tracking button is enabled if SmartTrack checkbox is not selected. So if you do a Buy on Bid, and bid price starts moving up, but you decide you want to update the order to match the new bid price, just click the "Update" button and the order is updated.
• Of course you do not want to track the bid/ask price automatically forever, so you specify the number of ticks you want to track the bid/ask price. For example, if you specify 10 ticks, that means on initial limit buy on bid at 900, if the bid price moves up to 902.75, SmartTrack will cancel the position entry order since it went beyond 10 ticks from the initial order price. To track an order beyond 10 ticks, you have to track it manually.
• You can now specify any number on the Trail Increment. A lot of people requested to remove the limit, now you got it.
• Reverse position button can be disabled from the Preferences window.
• Qty popup list now increments in the amount of the default Qty.
• Target Offset, Stop Offset and Trail Increment are now tied to the Contract information.

1.07

• Support for Non-US Stock Exchanges - IBIS, EBS, LSE, VIRTX.
• Support for "Always on Top" for the main window. (This feature only works on Windows OS) Go to Preferences to turn this feature on or off. This version will create a file named ATDLL.dll in the same directory where AutoTrader.jar is run.
• Fixed all the double precision number rounding errors.
• Fixed double submission of Position Exit Order. For some reason, IB sometimes reports Order Filled status twice on the live system. AutoTrader now checks and ignores the duplicate status report.
• Fixed Position Entry Limit or Stop Order in Classic Mode sending order at Bid/Ask instead of the limit or the stop price.

1.06

• Fixed problem with Average Fill price generating invalid Order price for the position exit orders. This problem only occurs if your position entry order was filled partially at different prices. TWS reports the final fill price as the average price of all the partial fills. This version will now round the price to the next nearest tick price.

1.05

• Fixed Buy/Sell Radio button synchronization problem in "Classic" mode with the "One Click" mode. This problem will affect you in 1.04 only if you were switching between one click and classic mode in doing your trading.

1.04

• Buttons galore !! You now have one click position entry buttons.
  Full contract information is now displayed in the main window.
  Position reversal button. This allows you to reverse a long to short (and vice versa) in one click.
• Option to choose to close a position using Market order or Limit Order. For Limit Order close, you have the option of adding 1 or 2 extra ticks past the current bid/ask to make sure the limit order fills in a fast market. This applies to clicking on the "Close Position" button, or whenever a Stop is hit when "Stop Trigger based on Bid/Ask" option is selected. Stop Trigger on Last Price is still a Stop Market order. (Note: Some exchanges do not accept market orders during certain times, so you will need to close using limit order, make sure you understand how the exchange you trade in works, in order to use this feature effectively).
• Change Qty, Stop Price or Limit Price for Position Entry "on the fly" while Position Entry order is not yet filled.
• Enable/Disable Scale Out Option "on the fly" while Position Exit Orders are active. You can even change the Scale out quantity "on the fly" now.
• Popup menu choice (use right mouse click) now works on Stop price, Limit price, Qty, Stop Offset and Target Offset fields.
• Fixed bug in the Symbol selection combo box in the Main window.
• Fixed bug in Stop Order window button enable/disable handling..
• Fixed bug in Popup menu choice double precision rounding error.
• Fixed bug in Strike Price field in Preferences window.

1.03

• Popup Menu choice for limit order price, stop order price, stop offset and target offset
• Stop Trigger based on Bid/Ask now does not transmit the Stop order to IB anymore. This change was made to support FTSE traders on LIFFE exchange which does not support native stop orders at the exchange.
• Order Status table column width is now user adjustable. Some people were reporting the last column is not visible.

Friday, October 10, 2003 1:18 AM