Stock Charts - Tips & Tricks and Troubleshooting
If you want to recognize which FnCharts version is referred to by a given question or answer, pay attention to the following symbols (given in parentheses):
- PRO - Professional version of the program
- ADV - Advanced version of the program
- STD - Standard version of the program
- ALL - All versions of the program
Q: Is it possible to draw candle bar with red for bearish candles and green for bullish candles? (PRO ADV)
A: Of course. Color values for bullish and bearish candles are found in BullishCandleColor and BearishCandleColor parameters. To specify color values for these parameters, use the following format:
"0xRRGGBB", where:
- RR - is the two-digit hexadecimal value of the red color
- GG - is the two-digit hexadecimal value of the green color
- BB - is the two-digit hexadecimal value of the blue color
In order to change the color of bearish candles to red and the color of bullish candles to green, the values of these two parameters should look like this:
<param name="BullishCandleColor" value="0x00FF00">
<param name="BearishCandleColor" value="0xFF0000">
The color of Doji candles is determined by the value of PriceColor parameter. This parameter is also used to set the color of line and bar price charts.
Q: Is it possible to have more than 2 indicators on the graph? (ALL)
A: It is possible to have the following technical indicators displayed on the chart at the same time:
- Parabolic SAR
- Bollinger Bands
- SMA1
- SMA2
- SMA3
- EMA (up to three lines in FnCharts Professional)
- Volume EMA
and one or two other indicators placed in separate graphs under the main chart.
In the Standard version, it is possible to have only the following technical indicators displayed on the chart at the same
time:
- Bolinger Bands
- SMA1
- SMA2
- SMA3
and one other indicator placed in a separate graph under the main chart.
In the Free version, it is possible to have only the following technical indicators displayed on the chart at the same
time:
Q: Do you possibly have a consolidated list of what all the indicator acronyms stand for? (ALL)
A: They are listed below:
- Acceleration (ACC)
- Accumulation Distribution (AD)
- Average True Range (ATR)
- Balance Of Power (BOP)
- Bollinger Band (BOL)
- Bollinger Oscillator (BOS)
- Chaikin A/D Oscillator (ChAD)
- Chaikin Money Flow (ChMF)
- Chaikin Oscillator (ChO)
- Chaikin Volatility (ChV)
- Chande Momentum Oscillator (CMO)
- Commodity Channel Index (CCI)
- Detrended Price Oscillator (DPO)
- Directional Movement Index (DMI)
- Ease of Movement (EMV)
- Exponential Moving Average (EMA)
- %D Fast (FastD)
- %D Slow (SlowD)
- %K Fast (FastK)
- Force Index (FI)
- Intraday Momentum Index (IMI)
- Mass Index (MI)
- Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD)
- MACD Oscillator (MACDO)
- Momentum - type 1 (MTM1)
- Momentum - type 2 (MTM2)
- Money Flow Index (MFI)
- Negative Volume Index (NVI)
- On Balance Volume (OBV)
- Parabolic SAR (PAR SAR)
- Positive Volume Index (PVI)
- Percentage Volume Oscillator (PVO)
- Price Oscillator (POS)
- Price and Volume Trend (PVT)
- QStick Indicator (QStick)
- Rate of Change (ROC)
- Relative Strength Index (RSI)
- Relative Volatility Index (RVI)
- Simple Moving Average (SMA1, SMA2, SMA3)
- Standard Deviation (StDev)
- Stochastic (STS)
- Trend Deviation (TRD)
- TRIX Index (Trix)
- Ultimate Oscillator (ULT)
- Volatility Ratio (VLT)
- Volume Moving Average (exponential) (VOL EMA)
- Volume Oscillator (VOS)
- Volume Rate of Change (VROC)
- Williams Accumulation Distribution (type 1) (WAD1)
- Williams Accumulation Distribution (type 2) (WAD2)
- Williams' %R (%R)
Q: Could you explain the difference between MTM1 and MTM2 technical indicators? (PRO ADV)
A: There are two Momentum versions in FnCharts. They are calculated differently. The first version is a "classic momentum". It is calculated in the following way:
MTM1 = ExpAvg(Close - Close(Param1), Param2)
The second version is calculated using different algorithm:
MTM2 = ExpAvg(Close - SimpleAvg(Close, Param1), Param2)
and one other indicator placed in a separate graph under the main chart.
Q: I would like to have the three SMAs set at 20,40 and 60 and the single EMA set at 200. What's the easiest way for these to be set as default values? (ALL)
A: The easiest way to set these as default values, is to use the PriceIndicators parameter as shown below:
<param name="PriceIndicators" value="SMA1(20);SMA2(40);SMA3(60);EMA(200)">
In Standard version of the program the EMA indicator is not available.
Therefore, the value of the PriceIndicators parameter would look
like this:
<param name="PriceIndicators" value="SMA1(20);SMA2(40);SMA3(60)">
Q: How can I hide the toolbars or at least some elements of the toolbars to offer a simpler interface to our users? (PRO ADV)
A: In order to hide the toolbars the values of Toolbar1 and Toolbar2 parameters found in the applet tag must me set to "" (empty
string) as in the example:
<param name="Toolbar1" value="">
<param name="Toolbar2" value="">
You can use Toolbar1 and Toolbar2 parameters to design your own toolbars.
Both toolbars are a list of comma-separated controls. Every control (with the exception of separators) can be used only once. The following controls are available:
- SeparatorX - X-pixel wide separator (empty area)
- btnMaximize - window maximization/applet detachment button
- btnUseBrowserCache - enables users to change browser cache usage
- btnAutoRefreshSwitch - automatic data refresh switch (this button can only be used/displayed when AutoRefreshTime is set to a value greater than 0)
- btnAutoRefreshBeepSwitch - enables users to switch on/off the sound played when data is automatically updated
- btnRefresh - refresh data button
- btnMoveLeft,btnMoveRight - scroll buttons
- btnZoomIn,btnZoomOut - zoom in and out buttons
- selectRange - preferred range selection
- btnLine,btnOhlc,btnCandle - chart type selection buttons
- btnScaleLogCor, btnScaleLogUncor, btnScaleLinCor, btnScaleLinUncor, btnScalePercent - axis scale selection buttons
- selectDataCompression - data (time) compression selection
- btnSetTimeFrame - a button that opens timeframe selection dialog
- btnChartProperties - a button that opens chart properties dialog
- btnVolumeSwitch - volume panel visibility switch (this button can only be used/displayed when AutoHideVolumePanel parameter is set to false)
- btnSymbolEntryVisibilitySwitch - symbol entry form visiblility switch (this button can only
- be used/displayed when DisableSymbolEntryFormVisibilitySwitch is set to false)
- selectIndicator1 - first indicator selection control
- selectIndicator2 - second indicator selection control
- txtParam1,txtParam2,txtParam3 - indicator parameters (these controls will display parameter values and enable users to change the parameters of the most recently accessed indicator)
- btnParabolicSAR - enables users to display/use the Parabolic SAR indicator
- btnBol - enables users to display Bollinger Bands
- txtBolParam - enables users to adjust the parameter of Bollinger Bands
- btnEma - enables users to display the Exponential Average indicator
- txtEmaParam - enables users to adjust parameter of the Exponential Average indicator
- btnSma1, btnSma2, btnSma3 - enables users to display Simple Averages
- txtSma1Param,txtSma2Param,txtSma3Param - enables users to adjust the parameters of different Simple Average indicators
- btnVolEma - enables users to display the Volume Exponential Average indicator
- txtVolEmaParam - enables users to adjust parameter of the Volume Exponential Average indicator
Please note that in FnCharts Professional (version 7+) there are 3 EMA lines supported. Therefore:
- "btnEma" and "txtEmaParam" strings in "Toolbar1" or "Toolbar2" parameters (if in use) should be changed to "btnEma1" and "txtEma1Param"
- if you want to enable EMA2 and EMA3 indicators, use the following
options in your "Toolbar1" or "Toolbar1" applet parameter: "btnEma2", "btnEma2",
"txtEma2Param", "txtEma3Param"
Q: If the data I request contains 6 digits after the coma (like for example 20.123456 ) the chart will display the scale such as
20.000000 ; 20.500000 ; 21.000000. Is there a way to make the applet display only two digits after the comma other than changing the data format? (PRO ADV STD)
A: To have exactly two decimal digits displayed on the scale, just set the DecimalPlaces parameter value to 2. For example:
<param name="DecimalPlaces" value="2">
Q: Our stock is working every day except Friday and Saturday - is there a way for the program to display weekends? (PRO ADV)
A: This option is available in the EnableWeekends parameter. It specifies whether FnCharts applet will process and display or ignore weekend days (Saturday, Sunday). When you want to be able to display weekends on charts, set this parameter to "true". The default value is "false". When you change the parameter, the new value will be applied after the browser is restarted (the JVM must be reinitialized).
Q: How to detach the chart from the web page? (PRO ADV)
A: To detach the chart from the web page push the chart detach button,
usually placed in the upper left corner of the applet. If the icon is not present, modify the applet tag so that the value of
DisableAppletDetachment parameter is set to "false" and check the values of your Toolbar1 and Toolbar2 parameters to make sure, that one of them contains the btnMaximize entry.
Q: Where is the indicator definition dialog? (PRO)
A: The indicator definition dialog is a feature available only in FnCharts Professional. In order to open the dialog, right-click on the indicator selection field and choose either "Define new indicator" or "Edit indicator" for the dialog to open. Also make sure that you have the EnableUserIndicatorDefinition parameter set to true in your <applet> tag used for FnCharts.
Q: How can I set the applet so that is shows Intraday data by default? (PRO ADV)
A: Please set the value of the TimeCompression parameter to one of the following values:
- intraday - for intraday chart displaying every tick
- intraday_1s - for 1-sec. intraday chart
- intraday_2s - for 2-sec. intraday chart
- intraday_3s - for 3-sec. intraday chart
- intraday_4s - for 4-sec. intraday chart
- intraday_5s - for 5-sec. intraday chart
- intraday_10s - for 10-sec. intraday chart
- intraday_15s - for 15-sec. intraday chart
- intraday_20s - for 20-sec. intraday chart
- intraday_30s - for 30-sec. intraday chart
- intraday_1 - for 1-min. intraday chart
- intraday_2 - for 2-min. intraday chart
- intraday_3 - for 3-min. intraday chart
- intraday_4 - for 4-min. intraday chart
- intraday_5 - for 5-min. intraday chart
- intraday_10 - for 10-min. intraday chart
- intraday_15 - for 15-min. intraday chart
- intraday_20 - for 20-min. intraday chart
- intraday_30 - for 30-min. intraday chart
- intraday_60 - for 60-min. intraday chart
Q: For an active stock, after a couple of hours of collecting ticks, I have more than 40,000 of them. At that point it takes a very long time to refresh the chart and the application becomes useless. What should I do? (PRO ADV)
A: With that amount of data points any program, even running on fast computer may become slow. You can solve this problem by using time compression (for
example 5-sec. compression) for large amounts of data, instead of using individual
ticks. The charts can still be refreshed every second (the last 5-sec. packet will be updated every second). Doing this will significantly improve performance and will allow you to display large amounts of data very quickly.
Q: I am keen on using the buy/sell buttons on the charts, but can't see them. Can you help? (PRO ADV)
A: You have to define the behavior of these buttons first.
Use the settings in the following section to do it:
<!-- configuration of buy and sell buttons -->
<param name="BuyURL" value="">
<param name="SellURL" value="">
<param name="target" value="_blank">
<param name="BuySellAction" value="">
You will find more information in the Installation Guide,
chapter: Configuration of Buy and Sell buttons.
Q: When FnCharts requests end-of-day data from our server-side script, we send 7 columns. The first six ones are used by the applet (<DTYYYYMMDD>, <OPEN>, <HIGH>, <LOW>, <CLOSE>, <VOL>) but the last one (that we currently call <NOTHING>) is not. Is it possible for us to safely use the column header <NOTHING> and not have this column taken into account by the applet? Or do we have to re-format the data to clear this last column? (ALL)
A: You can safely keep the additional column, as long as you give it the header that is not recognized by the applet. It can be <NOTHING> - that way the column will be ignored.
Q: We bought FnCharts professional some time ago and we are experiencing some problems with the new 5.5 version. It seems that it saves the SMA values entered by the user but fails to load them properly (if you push repeatedly on the load configuration button you can see that the saved values appear for a short period of time and then they are replaced with the default values). (PRO)
A: The behavior you described occurs when you save the configuration, and then save the studies (with different settings, for example different SMA parameters) and the configuration you save has automatic loading of studies switched on.
Then, when you press the "Load configuration" button, the following happens:
- first, the configuration is loaded (with saved SMA parameters which are temporarily visible)
- then FnCharts sees that the automatic loading of studies is switched on, so the applet loads the studies (with different SMA parameters) and overrides the ones loaded with the configuration.
This is exactly how it should work.
If you don't want the studies loaded automatically (and possibly override some configuration settings), switch off automatic loading of studies, then save the configuration (with desired SMA settings), and then reload your configuration.
Remember, the configuration is applied to the program globally, and studies are saved and loaded for individual stocks (which can cause the program to override some configuration settings).
Q: We use EOD data and yet the chart is refreshing, can we turn this off, along with the beeping sound? (PRO ADV)
A: In order to turn off automatic chart refreshing, please set the value of the AutoRefreshTime to 0 (zero), as in example below:
<param name="AutoRefreshTime" value="0">
To switch off the sound accompanying the refreshing of the chart, set the value of the AutoRefreshBeep parameter to false, as in example below:
<param name="AutoRefreshBeep" value="false">
Q: Is it possible to remove the first icon on the FnCharts Toolbar (window maximization/detachment)? (PRO ADV)
A: To disable the said function of FnCharts set the value of the DisableAppletDetachment parameter to true, as in example below:
<param name="DisableAppletDetachment" value="true">
Q: I would like to know what 'Built-in data cache system', 'Fast and efficient Real-Time data updates' and 'Minimized bandwidth use during data updates' really mean for a user. (PRO ADV)
A: The cache system (available in FnCharts Professional) is used to store previously loaded data, so your server will only need to send the new data on subsequent updates (only the new or changed data since last request).
In FnCharts Advanced, your server will always have to send the whole data in response to every request form FnCharts (even when part of the data was already sent earlier).
The data cache system is very important if you want to display frequently updated charts (for example Real-time intraday charts) to a large group of users. It allows you to minimize bandwidth use (because you will be able to send significantly less data), and speed-up data delivery. For instance, let's say that first data request (for intraday data) is sent by FnCharts to your server at 11:00:00, and the second request at 11:00:02.
In this situation:
- With FnCharts Professional, your server will need to send the whole data (until 11:00:00) in response to the first request, and only the new data (between 11:00:00 and 11:00:02) in response to the second request.
- With FnCharts Advanced, your server will need to send the whole data (until 11:00:00) in response to the first request, and then the whole data again (until 11:00:02) in response to the second request.
So when you use the professional version, your data updates will be significantly smaller and faster.
Q: Is it possible for me to use your evaluation copy of either FnCharts Professional or FnCharts Advanced directly on my website before I buy it? (PRO ADV)
A: You can use evaluation versions internally to test the differences. However, you cannot use them publicly.
The list of differences between the two versions is shown below:
- In the Advanced version users will not be able to save their studies and objects drawn on charts. This is only possible in the Professional version.
- New indicators and buy/sell signals can only be defined in the Professional version. You cannot define new indicators in the Advanced versions - you can only use built-in indicators.
- There is no printing support in the Advanced version.
- There is no data cache in the Advanced version. Therefore you will need to send the whole data history every time data is requested by FnCharts Advanced (in FnCharts Professional you can significantly lower bandwidth use by sending only the new data in subsequent requests).
You can find detailed feature matrix on the following page:
"Charting Tools Comparison"
Q: There are some indicators I do not want to be shown on the list. Is there a way to hide some of them? (PRO ADV)
A: You can do it with FnCharts Professional or FnCharts Advanced. Just use the DisabledIndicators parameter (see the description below).
DisabledIndicators
Specifies comma-separated list of indicators to be disabled. Users will not be able to use (or even see) any of the disabled indicators. Indicator names used in the list must be identical to the names displayed in the indicator selection field.
Q: How can I dynamically resize the display area? (ALL)
A: In the applet tag, use percentage values for your "width" and "height" parameters. It should enable the applet to automatically resize when you resize your browser window. You need to test it across different browsers to make sure it works correctly.
Q: We are creating a window for symbol search. Resultant symbol should directly go to the applet in order to open the chart. is it possible to do so? (ALL)
A: This can be done quite easily, but you will need a server-side script to generate a HTML page with FnCharts applet tag containing a value of the 'Symbol' parameter.
Let's suppose you want to display a MSFT chart in FnCharts when a user clicks on a link. In this situation you should have this link point to a server-side script, for example:
http://www.yourserver.com/show_chart.php?symbol=MSFT
The server-side script (here called show_chart.php) should then read the value of the 'symbol' (which is MSFT) and should generate a HTML page with FnCharts' <applet> tag. The <applet> tag should contain the following parameter:
<param name="Symbol" value="MSFT">
This will tell FnCharts applet to load MSFT data and display MSFT chart on startup.
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