Crosshairs on charts should show details for point of interest

[carlisle]

Currently on crosshairs, it snaps to the close value of the candle one hovers over. 

Though that option can be handy, it really should have the option to show the value of the area one is attempting to point it to, for cases where one is trying to pinpoint areas of interest on a chart, the way QT does it.

[carlisle]

Regarding the note above, I spend an awful amount of time assessing charts.  Probably an unusual amount of time.

 

When trying to pinpoint areas, the fact that there is no way to pinpoint the exact area with the chart is absolutely frustrating.  I do realize that the crosshairs in current configuration  serve a different and valuable purpose which gives more information by snapping to the close levels and populating the OHLCV etc values in the Pop up menu.  But I am going nuts here having to draw physical or imaginary lines to figuring the points to arrive at the value.

 

Any suggestion to overcome this is more than welcome.

 

My suggestion:

Is it possible to have that pop-up box populated with one additional value?:

 

The Price value that the cursor is over  (not crosshair at this point) .  If this is feasible, then this frustration may be resolved while keeping all of the current features.

 

so we could see:

 

O: 79

H:  80

L:  77

C: 78

V: 89,100

------

P: 66  ... or whatever the  cursor is pointing to.

[Mike Medved]

That has been done. press Ctrl-Shift, then move the cursor over the chart.

[carlisle]

Shame!  I should have seen that in the last update change-log.

 

Thank you.  This is certainly an improvement and I welcome this as opposed to where I was.   Will still hold out hope that a better implementation can be found .

[Jerry Medved]

Better than the new free floating?  what do you want it to do?

[carlisle]

I think I am inclined to support a comment made my Saty on another thread about keyboard shortcuts.   They are not natural for the typical user. 

 

However, for me, considering what I had to do to accomplish the task before, it is now a tremendous relief, though awkward, to now just press CTRL+SHIFT to get the number.

But I think that the number should be represented probably something along the line of what is suggested in my second post, (or maybe the use of a single keyboard key, which would disqualify my next statement).  This way the task would be readily available for new users and the forgetful memory of those that may use the feature now and then, without the need for discovery of  the keyboard shortcut or remembering it. 

 

As often as I use it I am sure it will be easy for me to remember. but then again, I am getting older. .

[Jerry Medved]

I see, so your complaint is not with the free floating trace functionality itself, but rather with the use of the keyboard shortcut used to trigger it. 

 

We may add a checkbox in Options to have Free Floating trace on by default. 

 

Also note - I plan to add Tip of the Day window to help expose these little nuggets

[carlisle]

Awesome on not only the default Free Floating trace option selection, but also tip of the day.

 

Thank you very much.

[Jan]

Yes, "Tip of the Day" is a great idea!

[Saty]

I have a comment.

 

Try to limit the Keyboard Shortcuts as the main operatives . . .   DOS age has gone . . .  Can't or want to memorize all the shortcuts anyway.

I am going to say something in a pragmatic way, but you may laugh reading  this.

This is a software for stock market traders.   Please be aware of the end user’s psychology.  The behavior of most traders is not like an active Programmer or a Journalist or an Engineer who often sit upright and use their both hands flying around on a Keyboard .  

Most stock traders sit on an inclined chair, leaning backward and watching multiple graphs or portfolios. They are waiting to buy or sell stocks at a point.  Naturally, they lean backward on their easy cushioned chair sipping beer or whatever with only one hand on the desk with a mouse to click.  

It is a punishment for them to lean forward to use their both hands to hit on the Keyboard for a simple task than a right clicking menu.

[Jerry Medved]

we are trying to satisfy both the mouse and keyboard people. The keyboard shortcuts are mostly a secondary way to access some command. It is pretty rare for it to be the only way to access something, In the case of the crosshair, I really don't want to make the user have to click on something in order to bring it up. User has the option to have it always on, one way or another (the choice has been added to the next version). The keyboard shortcuts are only used to temporarily toggle the selection.

 

As for right click menus, I mentioned before my apprehension of overcrowding them again. I do plan to add some user customization for that in the future.

[carlisle]

we are trying to satisfy both the mouse and keyboard people. The keyboard shortcuts are mostly a secondary way to access some command. It is pretty rare for it to be the only way to access something, In the case of the crosshair, I really don't want to make the user have to click on something in order to bring it up. User has the option to have it always on, one way or another (the choice has been added to the next version). The keyboard shortcuts are only used to temporarily toggle the selection.

 

As for right click menus, I mentioned before my apprehension of overcrowding them again. I do plan to add some user customization for that in the future.

 

This is GREAT.

[smtrader]

yes, I'm a trader but I also make video to illustrate the trade setups for my followers, so it will be convenient for me to use the keyboard shortcut to invoke different features instead of right mouse click to pop up a menu and select.  Having the key shortcut and the context menu select would be ideal.

 

BTW jerry, I set the 'Always Show Trace' option and the 'Freestyle' for the default trace, the crosshair still snap to the close.  It will be good to have the crosshair free flow instead of snapping to the closing price as a default option.  Many traders including myself use the crosshair to dynamically look at possible support/resistance levels based on price bar high/low instead of the price bar close.  I know I can use the CTRL-Shift key combo to get the free flow, but that requires the combo key be held down if one was to inspect the chart for many different levels.  Would also be good to have an option to switch from a mouse pointer to a crosshair with a keyboard shortcut.

[Jerry Medved]

I added the checkbox, but it wasn't hooked up yet in the version you have. Will be in the next release.

[Jerry Medved]

Not sure why mike used pointer vs crosshairs on the chart most of the time. will have to revisit that

[smtrader]

thanks

[vrtrader64]

Speaking of crosshairs and keyboard action, is it possible to allow for the crosshairs to be moved left/right using arrowkeys?

 

Sometimes it is easier to do that, than using a mouse, esp when moving only one tick at a time.

 

Thanks! 

[Jerry Medved]

No, those are really tied to the mouse