Drawing order

[Titus]

Sometimes bars are drawn over inidators rendering the indicator plots mostly not visible (only parts of the plot between two bars are visible). This behavior is not consistent though, I could not find a way to reproduce it on purpose. It happens occasionally only, but frequently enough to be an annoyance. When it starts happening it does not matter if I use indicators from NT or custom ones, they all end up behind the bars. Sometimes opening a new chart fixes it, but not necessarily. Sometimes I even have to restart NT a few times to stop it from happening. Is there a dependable way to put indicator plots on top of bars? Is there a way to set what indicators cover what other indicators when they overlap?

As a related question, is there a way to set plot priorities within indicators? Meaning that if there are multiple plots withing one indicator, which covers which one when they overlap? Are tried changing the Add() sequences, but it doesn't seem to be a dependable way. Any ideas, suggestions?

[NinjaTrader_ChelseaB]

Hello Titus,

I believe you are referring to the z-order.

As in, you are asking how to ensure your indicators renderings are layered on top of the bars on the chart, is this correct?

This is not possible to control in NinjaTrader 7.

Also, it is not supported by NinjaTrader Support to override the Plot() method in NinjaTrader 7 and do custom drawing.



However, this is fully supported in NinjaTrader 8.

The z-order can be set with with SetZOrder(int DesiredZOrderLevel).

http://ninjatrader.com/support/helpGuides/nt8/en-us/setzorder.htm

[Titus]

Yes, that is correct.
So is it a matter of luck whether indicators are visible or hidden by bars? That is an interesting approach, indicators seem to be important enough to be visible. It is not a big problem though, most of the time I am lucky enough to have visible indicators. Other times I'll just keep rolling the dice until I end up with visible indicators.

The NT8 SetZOrder method looks promising enough for custom indicators. But what about vanilla NT indicators? Can their Z order be specified when setting up a chart? Say, I want to see LinReg all the time (i.e. layered on top of bars), but I am not too interested in Bollinger, and want to have it covered by bars when that happens. Is it doable? Can a Z order set by the method in a custom indicator be overriden at chart setup? Can these Z order settings be saved in a template?

[NinjaTrader_ChelseaB]

Hello Titus,

You can manually set the z-order.

It just can't be set by code.

To manually set the z-order, hold the shift key and scroll the mouse scroll-wheel up.

Below is a link to the NinjaTrader 7 help guide on Navigating a Chart. Please see the section 'How to change the z-order (paint order) of a chart object'.

http://ninjatrader.com/support/helpGuides/nt7/navigating_a_chart.htm

As well as the same for NinjaTrader 8.

http://ninjatrader.com/support/helpGuides/nt8/en-us/index.html?chart_objects.htm#HowToChangeTheZorderpaintOrderOfAChartObject

[Titus]

Thanks Chelsea, that is exactly what I was looking for

A note for anyone else who needs this feature: "Allow the selection or drag/drop of chart series" has to be set to true in Chart Properties. Took me a while to find out why it was not working for me.

[NinjaTrader_ChelseaB]

Hello Titus,

That is correct.

To select and item and change its z-order, 'Allow the selection or drag/drop of chart series' must be true so that you may select the item.