Autoscale Oscillation

[aslane]

Occationally a chart will oscillate as an indicator or even price tickles the autoscale algorithm (running with calc on close == false). Typically it fixes itself on the next bar, or if the indicator moves far enough to stop the oscillation.

It would be nice to fix this with a slight change to the autoscale algorithm. If the autoscale would only grow in dimention intrabar, and do a full recalc on a new bar, the problem would be eliminated. Of course, it might rescale when the new bar shows up, but that is fine compared to oscillating on each tick that comes in.

I know this is a minor problem, but the fix is also rather minor. Please consider.

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

Hello aslane,

I am not sure if I completely follow, however you can set Auto scale to False for your indicators.

The indicators values will now be excluded from display if they are outside the current price range in the chart.

If this does not addresses your issue, please let me know and provide me some clarification.

[aslane]

Sorry if I was not more specific. The problem is not with "my indicators", it is Ninja's autoscale algorithm. Of course turning autoscale off fixes it, but then why have autoscale in the first place. It is also not technically a bug, but a quirk that I would like you to address if possible. Some other platforms have the same issue, but not all.

The issue: when autoscale is on and CalulateOnBarClose == false, an indicator can generate values that are right on the edge of the chart range. When it goes outside that range it autoscales the range up. Now if the indicator backtracks inside the autoscale range it scales the range back down. This can happen tick to tick causing the autoscale to oscillate. Perhaps, it also depends how often you refresh your chart, but that is another discussion.

I have also seen this with just price on a chart (rare), though I think this is more of a double precision rounding issue, the same solution would address this case.

The solution: somewhere Ninja runs thru its autoscale algorithm of checking everything on the screen to figure out the price axis range. Ninja should remember this value intrabar, and using a MAX type function only grow the axis range intrabar. When a new bar is generated the axis range is recalculated larger or smaller as it is today. Obviously this is only a real time issue, and historical bars are a non-issue.

I know this is a minor fringe issue, but it seems pretty easy to address. Please pass this on to the real developers instead of saying I should turn off autoscale.

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

Hello aslane,

I see and thank you for your detailed description.

I will forward your suggestion to our development team and ask them if they can add this to the list of future considerations for the software.

Thank you for your feedback.

In addition, NinjaTrader 7 will allow you to use fixed scaling. Please see the link below for more information.

http://www.ninjatrader.com/webnew/NT7/NinjaTrader7.html

New Fixed or Automatic Scale Range
Each panel in a chart contains three scales, right, left and overlay. Each scale's range can be automatically calculated based on the highest high and lowest low of all plotted objects or the scale can be manually set by defining the value as per the image below. You can also set the scale range via mouse dragging in the y axis. If the range is manually set (Fixed) an "F" in the upper right portion of the panel will be displayed. You can also set the scale to be linear or logarithmic.