Indicator for Data Box only

[StealthM93]

Hello,

I coded an indicator that is really only useful in the Data Box. But, I needed plot info for looking at information for a given bar. Is there a way to just have the indicator show in the Data Box without being on the chart?



Bar Info is the indicator and it show the ranges of the bar, Low-to-High, Open-to-Close, what percentage of the candle is body, and whether the bar is an Up (1), Down (-1), or Doji(0). As you can see, the plots are meaningless, but knowing the characteristics of the bar is helpful in debugging indicators or strategies.

So, the Data Box entry is useful but the plots are not. And, I have to minimize the panel whenever I add it or make changes to the indicators applied to the chart.

Anyway to avoid adding a panel and still have the info in the Data Panel?

Thanks,
Matt

[NinjaTrader_Emily]

Hello StealthM93,

Thank you for your post.

If you would like to add the indicator without adding a panel by default, you can set IsOverlay to true in State.SetDefaults:

https://ninjatrader.com/support/helpGuides/nt8/isoverlay.htm

Additionally, although you need the plots in order to see the values in the databox, you can set the plot colors to transparent and then also enable ShowTransparentPlotsInDataBox to true in State.SetDefaults:

https://ninjatrader.com/support/helpGuides/nt8/showtransparentplotsindatabox.htm

With these changes, adding the indicator should result in no visual changes to your chart; it will be adding transparent plots to the same panel as the input series and the plot values will still show in the data box.

Please let me know if I may be of further assistance.

[StealthM93]

Thank you, NinjaTrader_Emily,

That works! But, something rather odd has happened. The indicator has an option to display the ranges in Points or Ticks. When in Ticks, the range numbers would be whole numbers (see original post). Now, they are shown with 2 decimals places.


This is for the same bar in my original post.

So, I'm getting the same info but having the whole numbers for the Ticks setting would be nice (same for the UDD value). Is there something I can do to revert this?

[EDIT, added this question]
What is the difference between DrawOnPricePanel and IsOverlay?


Thanks!
Matt

[NinjaTrader_Emily]

Hello Matt,

Thank you for your reply.

In relation to the values shown with two decimal places, I am curious - which version of NinjaTrader are you using? This may be found at Control Center > Help > About. Are you able to reproduce this behavior with any other indicator that would normally display values in a whole number, such as VolumeUpDown? I tried making a copy of that script and the only change I made was setting ShowTransparentPlotsInDataBox to true in State.SetDefaults. When I set the plots to transparent, the plot values were still in whole numbers in the data box.

DrawOnPricePanel is related to drawing objects; when set to true, which is the default value, draw objects are painted on the price panel. If it is set to false, the draw objects will be painted on the indicator panel. For more information:

• DrawOnPricePanel - https://ninjatrader.com/support/help...pricepanel.htm
• IsOverlay - https://ninjatrader.com/support/help.../isoverlay.htm

I look forward to your response.

[StealthM93]

Hello NinjaTrader_Emily,

I am using 8.0.27.1. One thing to note, since I use the same field for either Ticks or Points, it is a double field. The UDD result is an integer. Of course, all the Values[] are doubles. The script is below, very simple. I have not tested with another indicator.

Thanks for taking a quick look.

Matt

----------

public class jtBarInfo : Indicator
{
protected override void OnStateChange()
{
if (State == State.SetDefaults)
{
Description = @"Displays bar information for the Data Box";
Name = "jt Bar Info";
Calculate = Calculate.OnBarClose;
BarsRequiredToPlot = 2;
IsOverlay = true;
DisplayInDataBox = true;
DrawOnPricePanel = false;
PaintPriceMarkers = false;
ScaleJustification = NinjaTrader.Gui.Chart.ScaleJustification.Right;
ShowTransparentPlotsInDataBox = true;
//Disable this property if your indicator requires custom values that cumulate with each new market data event.
//See Help Guide for additional information.
IsSuspendedWhileInactive = true;
AddPlot(Brushes.Transparent, "High-Low");
AddPlot(Brushes.Transparent, "Open-Close");
AddPlot(Brushes.Transparent, "Percent Body");
AddPlot(Brushes.Transparent, "Up Down Doji");
}
else if (State == State.Configure)
{
}
}

protected override void OnBarUpdate()
{
if (CurrentBar < BarsRequiredToPlot) return;

double barRange = High[0] - Low[0];
double barBody = Close[0] - Open[0];

Values[0][0] = SelectPointOrTicks == PointsOrTicks.Points ? barRange : barRange / TickSize;
Values[1][0] = SelectPointOrTicks == PointsOrTicks.Points ? barBody : barBody / TickSize;
Values[2][0] = (barRange > 0.000000001) ? (Math.Abs(barBody) / barRange) * 100.0 : 0.0;
Values[3][0] = barBody > 0.0 ? 1 : (barBody < 0.0 ? -1 : 0);
}

[HASHTAG="t3322"]region[/HASHTAG] Properties

[NinjaScriptProperty]
[Display(Name = "Display Value", Description = "Select to show Points or Ticks", GroupName = "Settings", Order = 1)]
public PointsOrTicks SelectPointOrTicks { get; set; }

[Browsable(false)]
[XmlIgnore]
public Series<double> BarRangeHiLo
{
get { return Values[0]; }
}

[Browsable(false)]
[XmlIgnore]
public Series<double> BarRangeOpenClose
{
get { return Values[1]; }
}

[Browsable(false)]
[XmlIgnore]
public Series<double> BarPctBody
{
get { return Values[2]; }
}

[Browsable(false)]
[XmlIgnore]
public Series<double> UpDownDoji {
get { return Values[3]; }
}
#endregion

}​

[QuantKey_Bruce]

That works! But, something rather odd has happened. The indicator has an option to display the ranges in Points or Ticks. When in Ticks, the range numbers would be whole numbers (see original post). Now, they are shown with 2 decimals places.

You can FormatPriceMarker to address this.

[NinjaTrader_Emily]

Hello StealthM93,

Thank you for your patience.

Is the points or ticks input set up as an enum so it shows up on the UI as a dropdown menu? I am not seeing the enum in the snippet you shared. You could try adding print statements that print the value of each variable used throughout your script to see if the formatting is changing at some point due to one of the values used. For more information about using prints to debug your script:

https://ninjatrader.com/support/forum/forum/ninjatrader-7/strategy-development-aa/99209-date-conditions-not-working#post791121

Otherwise, along the lines of FormatPrice that Bruce has mentioned, you could try using FormatPriceMarker() if you'd like to specify the number of decimal places shown:

https://ninjatrader.com//support/helpGuides/nt8/formatpricemarker.htm

For more information about formatting numbers:

https://ninjatrader.com//support/helpGuides/nt8/formatting_numbers.htm

Please let me know if I may be of further assistance.

[StealthM93]

Hello NinjaTrader_Emily / QuantKey_Bruce

Yes, the PointsOrTicks is an enum in a supporting utility static class that I wrote.

Thank you for the reference to FormatPriceMarker method. However, that does not apply here as I'm not dealing with price. If I'm missing something and it does apply, how do I apply it to the different Valuesx] entries?

All the Values[x] are doubles. It just happened that when those values were whole numbers, they displayed as such. That is, the Values[0] and Values[1] displayed as whole when the SelectPointsOrTicks is Ticks. Same with UDD, which is just -1, 0, 1. None of that code changed from before, so no need for print statements.

Any other ideas are welcome! (But, this isn't a major issue as the correct data is being displayed.)

Thanks,
Matt

[QuantKey_Bruce]

If you override FormatPriceMarker you can do something like number.ToString("#") and it will just display the whole number, both in the floating marker (if enabled) and in the data box.

[StealthM93]

Thank you QuantKey_Bruce.

I understand that. The challenge is that Values[0] or Values[1] maybe decimal or whole number (Points - decimal, Ticks - whole). Values[2] will always be decimal (% of the bar that is body) and Values[3] is always whole (-1 down, 0 doji, 1 up). I'm now added two more values that always doubles (%'s).

In looking at examples, there is a single override on a price parameter. So, how do I apply a Formatter to each?

Thanks,
Matt

[QuantKey_Bruce]

FormatPriceMarker, unfortunately, would not be able to distinguish which plot it is formatting because it only accepts a double as a parameter.

One possibility you could explore is to just output it like number.ToString() - that would be just "3" in the case of 3 or it would be 1.234567 in the case of that number.

Another possibility is you could do something like .ToString("0.####") which would be a whole number for a whole number, or up to 4 decimal places but not more.

[StealthM93]

Thanks Bruce. This is for the display in the Data Box, which takes its values from the Plots. This is not for an Output window or for text on chart.

[NinjaTrader_Emily]

Hello StealthM93,

Thank you for your patience.

I would like to take a step back and try to further evaluate the underlying concern. Initially, before the plots were transparent, you were seeing the values in the data box as either whole numbers when set to ticks or with two decimal places when set to points, correct? Yet after changing the plots to be transparent, you now see the numbers with two decimal places whether they are set to ticks or doubles?

Please provide a reduced version of the script (or scripts) that still demonstrates these two behaviors so I may test on my end. To export a script, please go to Control Center > Tools > Export > NinjaScript AddOn. Once exported, you may upload the file as an attachment to your forum post. I would like to test the colored plots that show the values as expected in the data box as well as the transparent plots that do not.

I appreciate your time and look forward to your reply.

[StealthM93]

Hello NinjaTrader_Emily,

I'm finally getting back to this. Thank you for your offer to investigate further.

Hello StealthM93,
Before the plots were transparent, you were seeing the values in the data box as either whole numbers when set to ticks or with two decimal places when set to points, correct? Yet after changing the plots to be transparent, you now see the numbers with two decimal places whether they are set to ticks or doubles?

Yes, that is correct, just as you described.

Unfortunately, exporting with NT8 install is not working (already reported), so I modified the script to be self-contained so that it doesn't rely on my "library" class. That is, I have a local enum for the Point or Ticks option. I have confirmed that the same behavior exists with this small update.

The indicator file is attached. Thank you for taking a look!

Kind regards,
Matt

[NinjaTrader_Emily]

Hello Matt,

Thank you for that information.

Using the script you provided, I was able to get the values to show in the data box with the decimal places. Please advise what needs to be modified or provided a separate script that reproduces the original behavior where the plots were not transparent and the values for ticks were whole numbers in the data box.

I look forward to assisting you further.