Ninjatrader 8 not ready for prime time?

May 9th, 2018, 05:05 PM

I have heard that the programmers at Rancho are very good. Reach out to them with your problem and let them dig into it. Clearing the cache and the data as mentioned above will also help a lot. They probably will need your log and trace file from when the issue happened.

Bob

xiaosi

I never had such a problem.....until last night. Even with nothing open in a workspace it's using 2100 mb of ram FFS! This must be the data caches. I didn't have an issue until I started using the new version of rancho....

May 11th, 2018, 07:08 AM

bobc635

I have heard that the programmers at Rancho are very good. Reach out to them with your problem and let them dig into it. Clearing the cache and the data as mentioned above will also help a lot. They probably will need your log and trace file from when the issue happened.

Bob

I rebuilt my workspaces, this time much more simple with only session profiles. I�ve subscribed to TradingView for longer term composite profiles, which I had to for hkex and Osaka stuff anyway as ninja doesn�t carry the historical data anymore. Eventually when I have time for the learning curve I�ll make the permanent switch to CQG and kiss ninjas sorry a$$ goodbye once and for all.

Thanks though, Troy from Rancho did offer to have a look, but with the time difference I just decided to rebuild again from scratch.

June 1st, 2018, 12:48 PM

isomorph

I'd recommend AlgoTrader (it uses tradingview for charts, plus all the pro goodies for algo development), Jigsaw daytradr, AlgoTerminal (formerly IQBroker), AgenaTrader, Bookmap (which is similar to Jigsaw Auction Vista, just mentioning it to give more choice) in that order.

AgenaTrader and AlgoTerminal also let you write scripts in C#.

AlgoTerminal is 'endorsed' by Collective2 (https://trade.collective2.com/). Well, perhaps 'endorsed' is not the right word, but C2 recommends it to their clients.

Then there always is the Javascript webapp UI from Tradovate. Not bad for beginners, but.... At least, it doesn't have the issues NT has. And wherever there's a browser, you can trade without having to install anything or paying close to $1,000 per install just for a lifetime NT license.

I was tempted once to buy Algotrader platform to develop my scripts I think it has several flaws too, according to several users experience in other forums. In your experience: Would you really trust Algotrader for serious "live" trading with your own ATS scripts ?

Thanks in advance

June 3rd, 2018, 03:48 PM

pstrusi

I was tempted once to buy Algotrader platform to develop my scripts I think it has several flaws too, according to several users experience in other forums. In your experience: Would you really trust Algotrader for serious "live" trading with your own ATS scripts ?

Thanks in advance

You're right. Trust is a huge issue with AlgoTrader, AlgoTerminal, or any algo dev platform as long as they don't offer an encrypted sandbox preventing them from stealing your code.

June 10th, 2018, 11:03 AM

NT 8.0.14.1 issues.

I'm putting this post here because I think a number of NT 8 users will see it.

A post by @Silvester17 today (

www.LizardTrader.com

if you're using "lizard indicators" there might be some issues with latest release 8.0.14.1. the problem has been addressed by Fat Tails

), directs us to a post by Harry ( @Fat Tails ) on the NT Support Forum regarding issues in NT 8.0.14.1, the newest release, that cause problems with his "ama" NT8 indicators, and, of course, potentially many more.

See link to the NinjaTrader site here: https://forum.ninjatrader.com/showthread.php?p=543768

Quoting

We need to inform all our customers NOT to install NT 8.0.14.1, as it breaks the code that we have produced for NinjaTrader 8.

Worst release ever since NT 8 BETA.

Probably most users should wait to download the current version until the issues are addressed, as of course they will be. You can also always to back to NT 8.0.13.1 if you already have installed 14.1, and you probably should if you have any issues.

Thanks to @Fat Tails and @Silvester17 for the heads up.

Bob.

June 10th, 2018, 11:24 AM

bobwest

NT 8.0.14.1 issues.

I'm putting this post here because I think a number of NT 8 users will see it.

A post by @Silvester17 today (

www.LizardTrader.com

if you're using "lizard indicators" there might be some issues with latest release 8.0.14.1. the problem has been addressed by Fat Tails

), directs us to a post by Harry ( @Fat Tails ) on the NT Support Forum regarding issues in NT 8.0.14.1, the newest release, that cause problems with his "ama" NT8 indicators, and, of course, potentially many more.

See link to the NinjaTrader site here: https://forum.ninjatrader.com/showthread.php?p=543768

Probably most users should wait to download the current version until the issues are addressed, as of course they will be. You can also always to back to NT 8.0.13.1 if you already have installed 14.1, and you probably should if you have any issues.

Thanks to @Fat Tails and @Silvester17 for the heads up.

Bob.

if you decide to go back to version 8.0.13.1:

- the download link for version 8.0.13.1 is still available on the nt download site
- you need to uninstall version 8.0.14.1 first
- your settings (indicators, templates, workspaces etc) will still be there

good luck

June 10th, 2018, 11:39 AM

NinjaTrader 8.0.14.1 does have a problem. Depending on conditions, it may call OnRenderTargetChanged() prior to State.Configure().

The proper order of calling the different methods - as implemented with all releases until including NT 8.0.13.1 is

1. State.Configure()
2. OnRenderTargetChanged()
3. OnRender()

What NinjaTrader 8.014.1 also does is

1. OnRenderTargetChanged()
2. State.Configure()
3. OnRender()

Now when you code a custom plot in an efficient way, you would not want to set and dispose of DX brushes with every single refresh of the plot. It is best practice to

- declare the DX brushes in the variables section of the indicator
- then set and dispose of value in OnRenderTargetChanged()

which makes it unnecessary to set and dispose of the brushes with every single refresh of the plot.

Opaque brushes:
Let us assume that your indicator shall display a shaded area and that you wish to use an opaque brush. In this case you would

(1) set a Windows Media Brush and a value for the opacity in the variables section

Code

private System.Windows.Media.Brush rangeBrush = Brushes.Blue;
private System.Windows.Media.Brush opaqueBrush = null;
private SharpDX.Direct2D1.Brush opaqueBrushDX = null;
private int opacity = 50;

(2) then set and freeze the opaque brush in State.Configure()

Code

opaqueBrush = rangeBrush.Clone();
opaqueBrush.Opacity = (float) opacity/100.0;
opaqueBrush.Freeze();

(3) The opaque brush is now frozen and ready for use in OnRenderTargetChanged()

Code

public override void OnRenderTargetChanged()
{
    if opaqueBrushDX != null)
	opaqueBrushDX.Dispose();

    if (RenderTarget != null)
	{
		try
		{
		     opaqueBrushDX = opaqueBrush.ToDxBrush(RenderTarget);
		}
                catch (Exception e) { }
	}	
  }

In case that OnRenderTargetChanged() is called prior to State.Configure, "opaqueBrush" has not yet been set, and the attempt to set a non existing value to "opaqueBrushDX" in OnRenderTargetChanged() will throw an exception. In a second step when OnRender() tries to call "opaqueBrushDX", NinjaTrader will freeze and halt.

The joke is that all (inefficient) indicators that do not make use of OnRenderTargetChanged() are not affected by the new bug in NT 8.0.14.1. For example, if you look at the inbuilt NinjaTrader indicator "VolumeZones", you will notice that it creates and disposes of all DX brushes with every single refresh of the plot(see lines 82-84 and lines 169-171).

Summary:

NT 8.0.14.1 does not properly synchronize calling State.Configure() and OnRenderTargetChanged(). This may result in NinjaTrader freezing and crashing. Affected are indicators that use public override void OnRenderTargetChanged() to reduce CPU load resulting from creating and disposing of DX brushes.

My recommendation is to stay with NinjaTrader 8.0.13.1 until the issue has been fixed.

June 10th, 2018, 11:46 AM

i stopped using NT8, i'm back to NT7. because of script are incompatible.

June 10th, 2018, 01:53 PM

how do you uninstall 14.1 gracefully without losing all your custom coded indicators, workspaces etc?

June 10th, 2018, 03:35 PM

mmaker

how do you uninstall 14.1 gracefully without losing all your custom-coded indicators, workspaces etc?

Rename your NinjaTrader 8 folder (NinjaTrader Old). Remove your version of NinjaTrader and install the 13.1 version. You will not lose any of your indicators or workspaces and only you will need to copy them to the new folder created for NinjaTrader.

Ninjatrader 8 not ready for prime time?

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Ninjatrader 8 not ready for prime time?