AmiBroker 5.29.6 BETA Read Me

December 24, 2009 22:22

THIS IS A BETA VERSION OF THE SOFTWARE. EXPECT BUGS !!!

Backup your data files and entire AmiBroker folder first!

WARNING:

VERSION 5.27+ CHANGES FILE FORMAT FOR DATABASE FILES. THIS MEANS THAT FILES THAT ARE ONCE SAVED
WITH VERSION 5.27+ WILL NOT BE READABLE IN ANY OLDER VERSION. BACKUP YOUR DATA FIRST.

INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

IMPORTANT: This archive is update-only. You have to install full version 5.20 first.

Just run the installer and follow the instructions.

Then run AmiBroker. You should see "AmiBroker 5.29.6 BETA" written in the About box.

See CHANGE LOG below for detailed list of changes.

CHANGE LOG

CHANGES FOR VERSION 5.29.6 (as compared to 5.29.5)

• Race condition between UI threads eliminated (resulting in "wait for plugin" window not being closed sometimes)

CHANGES FOR VERSION 5.29.5 (as compared to 5.29.2)

• Sometimes when copying AA list to clipboard three dot (...) sequence appeared every 2048 characters of copied text and some characters could be missing. Fixed.
• GUI: chart context window items re-arranged - 'Close' menu item moved to the bottom and 'Properties' menu item moved to top (after Parameters)
• styleClipMinMax constant is now highlighted in AFL editor
• When different symbol were selected in active chart and in the Symbols pane (because of filtering) operations like adding/removing from watchlist got confused. Now AmiBroker asks the user what to do.
• NumToStr/WriteVal are polymorphic now (means better performance for scalar input arguments)
• Aux1/Aux2 reserved variables are highligted now in AFL editor
• PREV/NEXT sibling keyboard shortcut functionality restored
• Added "wait for plugin" window when switching external plugin-driven databases because sometimes plugin may take long time to shutdown/initialize
• New symbol bar: inability to select first symbol after new search when previously displayed was one symbol, current symbol is re-selected automatically when search string changes. In-place symbol editing disabled.
• Under some circumstances when broker.master was deleted/corrupted/inaccessible AmiBroker could hang loading database. Fixed.
• Cum() function does NOT use all bars any more by default.
  In the past versions Cum() functions effectively turned OFF QuickAFL feature by requesting all bars to be processed.
  Since Cum() function was popular it caused that many legacy formulas that used it were not benefiting from QuickAFL.
  To enable QuickAFL with such formulas now Cum() function does NOT affect required bars count (previously it forced all bars).

  This change may lead to different results when comparing with old versions. If you are interested in getting old behaviour and use all bars just add:

  SetBarsRequired( sbrAll )

  anywhere in your formula.

• BarIndex() now returns values always starting from zero (even if QuickAFL is turned on).
  This change is required because Cum() now does not require all bars and formulas mixing Cum(1) and BarIndex would work improperly otherwise.
• Due to operating system changes in Vista and Windows 7, structured exceptions like address violations were not handled properly by exception handler and caused immediate program exit. Fixed.
• Status() function new fields
  Status can now retrieve "quickaflfirstdatabar" and "quickafllastdatabar".
  This feature is for internal use only.
  These are bar indexes of actual underlying compressed quotation array that make up AFL's array[ 0 ] and array[ BarCount - 1]
• Crash report now properly lists Windows Vista (OS 6.0) and Windows 7 (OS 6.1)
• Crash recovery window now sends bug reports directly over http (WWW) protocol instead of relying on clients' MAPI email program as on Windows 7 e-mail program is no longer installed by default.
  
  Improved crash recovery should also be able to catch exceptions in more (all?) cases.
  New direct send in future will offer immediate resolution to problem once given exception is identified and entered into database.
  Privacy:
  Direct bug reporting allows to send bug report to amibroker.com on user request (click on "Send report" button).
  It works over regular http (www) port 80, and sends only the information displayed explicitely on screen
  (i.e. AmiBroker version, OS version, crash information, database info (number of symbols) and machine info (memory figures)).
  No other information is sent. The user has option to send anonymously (without providing e-mail address). Although e-mail
  address is optional, it is recommended to provide one if user wants to receive e-mail response to the error report.
  

CHANGES FOR VERSION 5.29.2 (as compared to 5.29.0)

• Some issues with datestamps (including wrong montly compression) were introduced by change to EOD markers done 5.29.0. Reverted/fixed.
• New symbol window is properly filled with categories even if not initally visible
• New symbol window category/list panes can be resized now
• GetPlaybackDateTime did not return zero when playback was not active in 5.27-5.29. Fixed.
• When plugins used InfoSite.AddStock (old one) more than once per symbol certain category assignments could be improperly set in 5.27..5.29.0. Fixed.
• Added fopen()/fclose() tracking and error message (Error 51) when user forgot to close files. On such error files are automatically closed by AB
  

CHANGES FOR VERSION 5.29.0 (as compared to 5.28.1)

• ASCII importer: added GICS support
  
  Now you can import GICS symbol-code assignments using ASCII importer.
  $FORMAT command now supports GICS code
  and there is $GICS command for single-symbol files.

  For example if your file looks as follows:
  (format is symbol, full name, gics sub industry code)
  AAN,AARON'S INC,25504060

  Then to import it usign AmiBroker's import wizard use the following
  $FORMAT Ticker,FullName,GICS
  $OVERWRITE 1$
  $SEPARATOR ,
  $CONT 1
  $GROUP 255
  $AUTOADD 1
  $NOQUOTES 1

  
  
• Fixed loading of old AA settings so Chart dimensions are initialized with (500,300) instead of zero
• Trade.EntryDateTime, Trade.ExitDateTime were reporting values incompatible with DateTimeToStr in 5.27/5.28. Fixed
• Fixed assertion in Import Wizard (refering to non-existing combo box)
• A blank chart timing is now set to arbitrary value of 10ms
• All numeric edit fields in AmiBroker now display numbers in regular (non-scientific) notation upto 10^15 and max available precision (7 significant digits in case of single-precision IEEE)
• ASCII importer: removed 2^31 cap on volume field and removed some (int) conversions that were left from old days
• Implemented protection against re-entrant WM_PAINT messages sent by Vista and Win7 during COM calls
• New symbol list is repainted immediately after some changes now.
• Quote Editor in 5.28 editing EOD records caused creation of duplicates. Fixed.
• When converting from old database format, Aux1/2 fields are initialized with zero instead of some random values.
• When focus was inside new symbol window, accelerator keys did not work in 5.28. Fixed
  

CHANGES FOR VERSION 5.28.1 (as compared to 5.28.0)

• Re-based DLLs included to increase contiguous virtual memory space
• " Index" category was showing nothing in a new symbol window. Fixed.
• Quote Editor - multiple quote deletion was not possible in 5.27/5.28.0, only first selected item was deleted. Fixed
• Right-click beyond last symbol in the symbol list in a new symbol window caused crash in 5.28. Fixed.
• Changed the way in DateTime() values are coded to support legacy formulas that are not using currently recommended comparision method via DateTimeDiff()
• OLE: ZoomToRange() method works for floating windows
• ADK: Added GetDateTimeArray to site interface
  
  GetDateTimeArray returns a pointer to internal date time array. Array of DATE_TIME_INT elements.

  The SiteInterface structure now looks as follows (struct size = 40 on 32-bit platforms, 76 on 64-bit platforms)

  struct SiteInterface
  {
  int nStructSize;
  int (*GetArraySize) (void);
  float * (*GetStockArray)( int nType );
  AmiVar (*GetVariable) ( const char *pszName );
  void (*SetVariable) ( const char *pszName, AmiVar newValue );
  AmiVar (*CallFunction) ( const char *pszName, int nNumArgs, AmiVar *ArgsTable );
  AmiVar (*AllocArrayResult) (void);
  void * (*Alloc) (size_t nSize);
  void (*Free) (void *pMemory);
  DATE_TIME_INT* (*GetDateTimeArray) (void);
  };

  
  
• In 5.27/5.28 DateTimeConvert function returned incorrect datenum. Fixed
• New symbol list supports selection via typing few first letters (like symbol combo)
• When saved Automatic Analysis settings contained some garbage data in MaxLongPos/MaxShortPos parameters the backtester could exit with "Not enough memory" error. Fixed
  

CHANGES FOR VERSION 5.28.0 (as compared to 5.27.3)

• GICS is now available as Filter category (in Automatic Analysis, Quick Review and DB Purify)
  
• Completely redesigned Symbol window (View->Symbol)
  New symbol window now features:
  a) separate category/filter view
  b) full text search with category filtering
  full text search works in two modes:
  - simple substring search (enter the text into "<search>" edit and
  it will find all symbols that contain search phrase in either symbol or full name (anywhere, not just at the beginning)
  - wildcard search (if you enter the search phrase with either * or ? wildcards
  AmiBroker will perform wildcard search. For example ??? will return only 3-character symbols, and *-A0-FX - will return all forex symbols on eSignal database. Please note that search feature operates on symbols PRESENT in the AmiBroker database, it will not find symbols that do not exist in the AmiBroker database yet but are generally accessible after importing/adding them.
  c) sorting by symbol or by full name
  d) GICS support
  e) hierachical filtering (if you select sector from category view it will show symbols
  belonging to all industries within given symbol)
  f) multiple selection of symbols (hold down CTRL key while selecting, or SHIFT to select groups)
  allowing watchlist/favorite operation on multiple symbols at once
  g) super-fast operation (all filtering/search/display takes less than 0.01 sec with 10000 symbols)
  
• Quote Editor Aux1 field was overwritten with value of Aux2 field. Fixed
• Quote Editor column layout/width is saved between sessions (again)
• N-second custom intervals can now be defined in Tools->Preferences->Intraday
• GICS categorisation
  AmiBroker now reads GICS.txt file from its installation folder.
  It contains GICS categories listed one by one in order of GICS code in the following format
  GICS;Name;Description<CRLF>

  GICS is numeric code from 2 digits upto 8 digits
  Name is GICS category name
  Description is GICS category description
  These fields must be separated by semicolon
  < CRLF> means carriage return/line feed characters (means "new line" - just press ENTER/RETURN key if you are editing with text editor)

  There must be only one category per line in GICS.txt file

  The default GICS.txt file is supplied already.

  
  
• Added support for GICS to AFL
  
  There is a new constant : categoryGICS that works
  in conjunction with category functions like
  CategoryGetSymbols
  CategoryGetName
  CategorySetName
  CategoryAddSymbol
  CategoryRemoveSymbol
  CategoryFind

  Note that these functions take index parameter, but the meaning of index parameter is different for GICS category - the index for categoryGICS is actually GICS code. Such as 10 for energy sector or 351010 for "Health Care Equipment & supplies" industry.
  The codes are fixed even if new classifications are added at some point in the future. This means that you won't need to change AFL codes even if new classifications are added. But it is important to understand that these codes work in hierarchical way. So
  GetCategorySymbols( categoryGICS, 10 ) will return all symbols belonging to energy sector, including those in 10101010 - Oil & Gas Drilling sector as well as 10102050 - Coal & Consumable Fuels; for example.
  See
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Industry_Classification_Standard
  for more details on GICS system

  NOTE: current databases DO NOT have GICS codes assigned to symbols.
  As far as I know PremiumData http://www.premiumdata.net/ is planning to release AmiBroker-compatible database with GICS support.

  
  

CHANGES FOR VERSION 5.27.3 (as compared to 5.27.2)

• HighestSince/LowestSince ignored very first bar [0] in the array. Fixed
• Stock object date fields can be set to "empty" by assigning zero.
• Aux1,Aux2 added to Import Wizard comboboxes
• View->Data window is now present in Customization dialog
• Weekly chart was not displayed if settings were to show first date of week and first date was before 1970. Fixed.
• Added DateTimeDiff( arg1, arg2 ) AFL function that returns difference in seconds between two date time arguments
  It is important to understand that DateTime is not a simple number but rather bitset and two datetime values can only
  be reliably compared for equlity or inequality using == or != operators. Any other comparisions (less than/greater then)
  using normal operators > < can lead to wrong results, therefore to compare two datetime numbers you should use
  DateTimeDiff( arg1, arg2 ) which will return positive values if arg1 > arg2 and negative values if arg1 < arg2.
• Symbol->Quote Editor now uses fully virtual mode - it does not require extra memory and shows up immediatelly and works fast regardles of number of quotes per symbol and is auto-refreshed every 5 sec
• eSignal plugin does not fill AuxData with random data (they are initialized with zero now)
• Fixed DateTimeToStr and StrToDateTime
• Fixed crash when saving symbols that had name() longer than 32 characters
  

CHANGES FOR VERSION 5.27.2 (as compared to 5.27.1)

• Fixed 16-character name problem in Metastock plugin
• Fixed monthly compression problem present in 5.27.1
• Fixed problem when OLE automation was used to modify symbol properties on OLD format databases without saving them first in new format
• Aux1 and Aux2 are new built-in AFL price arrays
• Fixed Text tool bug (Vertical text instead of horizontal in 5.27.1)
• 'Avg' field compression with TimeFrameSet fixed.
• Added AUX1 and AUX2 to ASCII importer field definitions
• Auxilliary data fields writable by AddToComposite field "1" (aux1), and field "2" (aux2)
• Quotations object added new method: long RetrieveEx(long Count, VARIANT* Date, VARIANT* Open, VARIANT* High, VARIANT* Low, VARIANT* Close, VARIANT* Volume, VARIANT* OpenInt, VARIANT* Aux1, VARIANT* Aux2);
• Aux1/Aux2 available as properties of Quotation object (OLE interface)
  

CHANGES FOR VERSION 5.27.1 (as compared to 5.27.0)

• Fixed incorrect year when importing intraday data using ASCII importer
• Fixed intraday filtering issue that occurred for auto-converted databases
• Market ID was not properly set in 5.27.0 alpha
  

CHANGES FOR VERSION 5.27.0 (as compared to 5.26.5)

• changed core data structures to support the following

  • 64 bit date/time field with date range of 4095 years and resolution down to microseconds
  • floating point volume and open interest fields
  • two new auxilliary data fields per bar (internally, not yet exposed)
  • 100 new user-defined fundamental data fields (internally, not yet exposed)
  • support for GICS (internally, not yet exposed)
  • upto 48 character length in Symbol/Alias/WebID fields
• Updated plugins for eSignal, IQFeed, Interactive Brokers, Quotes Plus, Metastock to support floating point volume/open int and 64 bit date/time
• Metastock plugin now reads long symbol description
• Symbol lock fixed (does not interfere with Interval linking)
• Added simple "BackupAB.exe" to backup entire AmiBroker folder after installation to prevent data in old format.

CHANGES FOR VERSION 5.26.5 (as compared to 5.26.0)

• Symbol lock on per-chart window basis (available via padlock button next to chart sheet tabs and chart context menu)
• User interface dialogs now use MS Shell Dlg 2 (Tahoma) font on Windows 2000, XP, Vista and Windows 7
• several minor fixes for 64 bit version

CHANGES FOR VERSION 5.26.0 (as compared to 5.25.0)

• Implemented user-definable report charts
  
  Now it is possible for the user to create any number of charts that will be automatically generated and included in the backtest report.

  To add user-defined chart to the report, simply save your chart formula under "Report Charts" folder.

  That's all.

  Any formula present in the "Report Charts" folder will be executed after completion of the backtest using ~~~EQUITY as selected symbol.

  The beta ships with 3 sample charts:
  a) portfolio equity
  b) underwater equity (drawdown)
  c) profit table

  The charts are displayed in alphabetical order (using file name as a chart name).

  
  
• Built-in price arrays (OHLC, V, OI, Avg) are protected against assigning the value of wrong type (non-array)
  

CHANGES FOR VERSION 5.25.0 (as compared to 5.24.0)

• StaticVarGet() now has additional parameter - align
  
  StaticVarGet("varname", align = True );

  second parameter - 'align' - booleand True/False, default: True
  - decides whenever AmiBroker performs timestamp synchronization/alignment or not.

  The default value is True and it means that values stored in static variables
  are retrieved and aligned to currently selected symbol data/timestamp
  on each bar basis so data for corresponding date/time stamps match.
  This is recommended setting and this is the way it worked in previous versions.

  When align is switched to False - it means that AmiBroker does not perform
  any checks nor any alignment and will fill the array with consecutive values
  stored in static array regardless of their timestamps.
  If there are less bars in the static array than in the current arrays, the last
  value of static array will be propagated till BarCount - 1.

  It is advised NOT to use align=False, unless you know exactly what you are doing
  and you are aware that date/time stamps have no meaning in particular variable
  or in case when date/time stamps are are aligned using your own method.

  Note that speed difference between align 'on' and 'off' is usually negligible
  because alignment algorithm is very fast and has similar complexity as plain
  memory copy.

  
  
• AFL: HighestVisibleValue( array ), LowestVisibleValue( array )
  
  Two new functions that calculate single value (not array) representing
  highest and lowest values of given array within VISIBLE range (on chart).
  Should be applied only in indicators as only indicators have concept of "visible" bars.
  The function will return Null value if no visible bars are present.

  They are equivalent to the following coding:
  function HighestVisibleValueEquivalent( array )
{
 bv = Status("barvisible");
 Hh = -1e8;
 for( i = 0; i < BarCount; i++ )
 {
  if( bv[ i ] AND array[ i ] > Hh ) Hh = array[ i ];
 }
 return hh;
}

function LowestVisibleValueEquivalent( array )
{
 bv = Status("barvisible");
 ll = 1e8;
 for( i = 0; i < BarCount; i++ )
 {
  if( bv[ i ] AND array[ i ] < ll ) ll = array[ i ];
 }
 return ll;
}

  As you can see the AFL equivalent is simple, but native functions
  are faster.

  
  
• When user picks a drawing tool, AmiBroker offers switching to default layer (0) if current layer is not visible
  
• StaticVarRemove("varname") now supports wildcards in the variable name
  
  "varname" parameter can be either exact variable name or wildcard match string.
  The '*' matches any number of characters, including zero characters. The '?' matches exactly
  one character.

  Example 1:

  StaticVarRemove("MyVariables*");
  // this will remove all static variables beginning with MyVariables prefix.

  Example 2:
  
  StaticVarSet("DifferentName", 1 );

printf( "Total static variables = %g\n\n", StaticVarCount() );

for( i = 1; i <= 5; i++ )
  for( j = 1; j <= 5; j++ )
   {
     VarName = "Test_X=" + i + "_Y=" + j;
     printf("Setting variable " + VarName + "\n" );
     StaticVarSet( Varname, 1 );
   }

printf( "Total static variables = %g\n\n", StaticVarCount() );

printf( "Now wildcard remove *X=1*\n" );

StaticVarRemove( "*X=1*" );

printf( "Total static variables = %g\n\n", StaticVarCount() );

printf( "Now wildcard remove Test*\n" );

StaticVarRemove( "Test*" );

printf( "Total static variables = %g\n\n", StaticVarCount() );

printf("Removing 'differenname' variable\n");

StaticVarRemove("DifferentName" );

printf( "Total static variables = %g\n\n", StaticVarCount() );
  
• StaticVarCount function added - returns the total number of static variables in memory
  
  
• Study() function now allows to specify which Y scale to use (Study( studyid, chartid, scale = -1))
  
  Study( studyid, chartid = 1, scale = -1 )

  scale parameter specifies which scale should be used
  scale = -1 : automatic (default value) - either linear or logarithmic depending on actual chart setting, chart is specified by chartID
  scale = 0 : linear scale
  scale = 1 : logarithmic scale

  
  
• data and optimizer plugins are loaded later (saves upto 15MB of RAM)
  
• Fixed GetChartBkColor function
  
• " show trading arrows" feature optimized for significantly lower CPU usage
  
• hi-density (>2x more data bars than pixels) variable color styleHistogram charts are plotted with correct colors
  
• less reallocations in real-time mode, 10% performance improvement and less fragmentation
  
• arrays for storing dynamic stop levels are only allocated/filled when needed (saves about 10% of AFL setup time)
  
• Added miny/maxy parameters to SetChartBkGradient (allows gradient area charts in combination with cloud style)
  
  Example Gradient Area chart:
  
  function PlotGradientArea( array, caption, ColorTop, ColorBottom )
{
 bkclr = GetChartBkColor();

 HH = HighestVisibleValue( array );
 if( NOT IsNull( hh ) ) SetChartBkGradientFill( ColorTop, ColorBottom, bkclr, Null, HH );
 Plot( array, Caption, ColorBlend( ColorBottom, colorBlack ) );
 PlotOHLC( HH, HH, array, HH, "", bkclr, styleNoLabel | styleNoTitle | styleCloud, Null, Null, 0, -10 );
}

_SECTION_BEGIN("Price");
SetChartOptions(0,chartShowArrows|chartShowDates);
_N(Title = StrFormat("{{NAME}} - {{INTERVAL}} {{DATE}} Open %g, Hi %g, Lo %g, Close %g (%.1f%%) {{VALUES}}", O, H, L, C, SelectedValue( ROC( C, 1 ) ) ));
PlotGradientArea( C, "Close", ParamColor("Top", colorLightOrange), ParamColor("Bottom", colorPaleGreen ) );

_SECTION_END();


CHANGES FOR VERSION 5.24.0 (as compared to 5.23.0)

• typeof() incorrectly returned compile-time type instead of run-time type. Fixed.
• Static array variables implemented
  
  StaticVarSet( name, value ) and
  StaticVarGet( name )
  AFL functions now accept arrays in addition to numbers (scalars).

  Static arrays can be even 100 faster than AddToComposite/Foreign, however these two are not strictly equivalent.
  There are following limitations / differences of static arrays as compared to Foreign/AddToComposite:
  a) static array variables store only as many bars as there are currently in use by given chart
  (so they do not affect QuickAFL in any way). This is different that AddToComposite that forces usage and store of all bars.
  b) static array variables work best if you read them using the same interval as they were written to. I.e when you create static array variables using 5-minute chart, for best results read them in some other 5-minute chart. Reading in different intervals is possible, but subject to limitations
  of timestamping (see below)
  c) when you read static variable in a different interval that it was originally stored,
  static variables perform padding/synchronization and time compression/decompression automatically in a similar way as foreign,
  however Foreign compresses data always from base-time interval, while static variables operate on previously stored interval,
  hence result may differ. For example, if previously stored data was in daily interval, and you read such static variable in intraday
  chart, you will see essentially flat lines for each day, representing static data from daily interval.
  d) static array variables do not work well for non-time based intervals (tick/n-volume/n-tick) because timestamps in those intervals
  may not be unique (i.e. several bars may have same time stamp), so time synchronization is not reliable.
  e) static array variables are little slower than normal AFL variables, so for best performance, use read-once, write-once paradigm, using
  temporary normal variable for any processing during formula execution, like this:
  // start of the formula:
  temp = StaticVarGet("mystaticarray" );

  // now perform all necessary calculations using temp variable

  temp = Nz(temp) + C/2;
  ...

  // at the end of the formula store to static
  StaticVarSet("mystaticarray", temp );

  
  

CHANGES FOR VERSION 5.23.0 (as compared to 5.22.0)

• Font used by progress window, string input, tip of the day, search file is now "MS Shell Dlg" (the same as elsewhere in AB) that means that is CoolType friendly (TTF)
  
  
• AFL: SetOption("ExtraColumnsLocation", col) - this new option allows the user to change the location of custom columns added during backtest/optimization
  
  "extra" columns mean:
  a) any custom metrics added using custom backtester
  b) any optimization parameters defined using Optimize() function

  If both custom metrics and optimization parameters are present then
  custom metrics appear first then optimization parameters

  This function is provided to allow the user to change the default "at the end" location of custom columns/optimization parameters.
  For example

  SetOption("ExtraColumnsLocation", 1 );

  will cause that custom metrics and opt params will be subsequently added starting from column 1 (as opposed to last column default)

  Note that this setting changes "visual" order of columns, not really in-memory order or export order, so
  exported data files or copy/paste format do not change.

  
  
• Implemented hiding columns in all list views (right click over list view HEADER to bring "Setup Columns" dialog)
  
  
• Storing column state (widths/ordering/visibility) in automatic analysis implemented
  The widths, ordering and visibility of all built-in columns in automatic-analysis is stored between runs.
  This works for each operation mode (i.e. scan/backtest/optimization) separately, so column setup
  for scan does not affect stored column order for backtest, as well as state of columns for optimization does not
  affect backtest, etc.
  Note also that state of exploration mode is not stored, due to its complete user-configurability from AFL level.
  
  
• Data Window implemented (available from View->Data Window menu)
  
  (if you can not see this menu, you would need to reset the menu using Tools->Customize, select "Menu Bar" and then press "Reset" button).

  If you prefer to use Data Window over data tooltips, you can turn off data tooltips using Tools->Preferences, "Miscellaneous" tab, UNCHECK "Price data tooltips" box.

  
  
• Home key was working incorrectly when more than one pane was used in the chart. Fixed
  
  
• Implemented simple performance monitor Tools->Performance Monitor
  Showing some memory and usage statistics:
  - number of symbols in the database
  - number of symbols cached in RAM
  - quotation data memory usage
  - current symbol memory usage
  - total chart refresh time
  - real-time data stream update frequency

  The contents of the window is updated automatically every 3 seconds

  This tool is intended to be used now for two purposes:
  a) tweaking cache settings for best RAM usage (for example optimizations will run faster if all quotation data can be kept in RAM)
  b) monitoring real-time performance

  More uses will probably come in the future.

  
  
• Time&Sales window now shows some "recent statistics" regarding trading
  
  Time&Sales window now shows some "recent statistics" regarding trading namely:
  - number of trades and average # of trades per second
  - number of trades and shares traded at ask or above
  - number of trades and shares traded at bid or below
  - ask minus bid difference expressed in number of trades and shares
  - ask minus bid difference expressed as percentage ratio to total trades/total volume traded

  A little background:
  Ask minus bid: the positive numbers represent more transactions occuring on ASK side than on BID side.
  This in theory may mean more buying than selling, but in practice things are largely dependent
  on security traded. Esp. dark liquidity pools do not show in order books and
  may report trades to the tape several seconds later thus invalidating relationship between
  bid/ask and actual trade prices.

  IMPORTANT:
  These are temporary, short-term stats - they cover ONLY trades displayed in the T&S window since opening of the window OR
  resetting stats.

  You can reset statistics using right click menu : "Reset Stats"

  
  

CHANGES FOR VERSION 5.22.0 (as compared to 5.21.0)

• added ability to extend blank chart area by pressing END key multiple times (each time 10 blank bars are added) and restoring preferences value by subsequent pressing of HOME key.
  
• added option to always require variable declarations (using local/global) on formula-by-formula basis:
  SetOption("RequireDeclarations", True );
  global test1;
  test1 = 5; // OK variable declared
  test2 = 3; // error: assignment without declaration
  
  
• added typeof() operator
  
  The typeof operator is used in the following way:
  typeof (operand)
  The typeof operator returns a string indicating the type of the *unevaluated* operand. operand is the string, variable, function identifier, or object for which the type is to be returned.
  When supplying identifier, it should be provided alone, without arithmetic operators, without extra arguments and without braces.
  If you want to check the type of value returned by the function, you must first assign the return value to a variable and then use
  typeof( variable ).
  Possible return values are:
  " undefined" - identifier is not defined
  " number" - operand represents a number (scalar)
  " array" - operand represents an array
  " string" - operand represents a string
  " function" - operand is a built-in function identifier
  " user function" - operand is a user-defined function
  " object" - operand represents COM object
  " member" - operand represents member function or property of COM object
  " handle" - operand represents Windows handle
  " unknown" - type of operand is unknown (should not happen)typeof operator allows among other things to detect undefined variables in the following way
  if( typeof( somevar ) == "undefined" )
  {
  /// when somevar is undefined the code here will execute
  }
  The following sample COMMENTARY code shows the output of
  typeof in some common situations
  x = MACD();
  y = LastValue( x );
  function testfun() { return 1; };
  printf( typeof( test ) + "\n" ); // the undefined variable
  printf( typeof( 1 ) + "\n"); // literal number
  printf( typeof( "checking" ) + "\n"); // literal string
  printf( typeof( x ) + "\n"); // array variable
  printf( typeof( y ) + "\n"); // scalar variable
  printf( typeof( MACD ) + "\n"); // function identifier
  printf( typeof( testfun ) + "\n" ); // user function identifier
  
  
• GetSignalQty member function of Backtester object returned zero. Fixed now
• In the Plot() function Xshift parameter was used as z-order in 5.21 beta. Fixed now.
• Plot, PlotOHLC and PlotForeign() are no longer limited to -5..+5 zorder range. You can use any zorder value now.
  
  Note that if you use zorder outside default range -5..+5, you may see performance degradation for big positive and big negative z-order values.
  Approximate performance penalty is 10 milliseconds for 100 z-orders (or 1ms for 10 z-orders)
  
  
• SetChartOptions now adds ability to programmatically extend blank space on chart-by-chart basis
  
  SetChartOptions( Mode = 0, Flags = 0, gridFlags = chartGridMiddle, ymin = 0, ymax = 0, blankbars = 0 )
  New, 6th parameter "blankbars" defines the minimum number of blank bars for given chart. The default value of zero means no change
  (use preferences setting).
  if specified value is less than value set in preferences, it is ignored, so you can not decrease the blank bars below value set in preferences.
  if many panes within same chart use this function, then the largest specified blankbars will be used
  Note that you can still extend blank space further using END key.
  Special feature - if "blankbars" is negative then extra blank bars added are equal to absolute value of blankbars parameter plus chart gets scrolled to rightmost position.
  Caveat: forcing custom blankbars via SetChartOptions effectivelly disables HOME key scroll to begin operation.
  
  
• the feature to extend blank area via mouse wheel and > button is removed, due to complaints received
  

CHANGES FOR VERSION 5.21.0 (as compared to 5.20.0)

• Added optional data padding for non-trading days (switchable from View->Pad non-trading days menu) - for daily and higher intervals only (FC#1136,FC#1174)
• All drawing tools now can define Z-order (from -5 to +5).
  
  Z-order.
  Imagine that you could see the drawing objects arranged on the chart page like puzzle pieces on a table. Some objects may appear to be placed one on top of another, and others may be overlapping.
  This third dimension of chart page is known as "Z order." If the X axis relates to width and the Y axis to height, then the Z order relates to depth. Although Z order cannot be seen directly, just as can you position objects along X and Y (horizontal and vertical) axes, you can also position them in the Z order.
  Every object on the page has its Z order, positioned in back to front order, so that objects at the front will take precedence over objects behind.
  Z order gives you the ability to superimpose objects one on top of another.
  You can change Z-order parameter using Properties dialog
  as well as using Format->Z-Order->Bring Forward / Send Backward menus
  (and default keystrokes Shift+Page Up, Shift+Page Down)
  Negative values mean BEHIND axis/grid, positive mean above grid.
  
• Blank area past last available quote can be now enlarged on the fly by simply using > arrow in the scroll bar or using mouse wheel (just roll the wheel past the last bar) (FC #430,#1516, #1500, #1239, #982, #808, #561 )
• CBT: Backtester.GetSignalQty( bar, type ) method implemented (FC#1671)
  
  Backtester object
  GetSignalQty( bar, type ) method
  - retrieves the number of signals occuring on given bar
  type = 0 - both entry and exit signals
  type = 1 - only entry signals
  type = 2 - only exit signals
  Note that AmiBroker to conserve memory keeps track only of 2 * MaxNumberOfPositions entry signals on any single bar,
  however it keeps track of ALL exit signals (because they consume much less space and at the time of signal collection
  it is not known which positions are already open, so all exits must be tracked to prevent missing an exit)
  
• E-mail alerts can now be sent through different port than 25 (see Tools->Preferences->Alerts) (FC#1641)
  
• Early warning of indicator space running out. At application exit the message is displayed when less than 10% indicator space is left, plus an offer to run Indicator Maintenance (FC#1667)
• new AFL functions ColorBlend
  
  ColorBlend( colorFrom, colorTo, factor = 0.5 )
  - the function blends (mixes) colorFrom with colorTo with 'factor' proportion using the following algorithm
  RGB = ( 1 - factor ) * RGB(colorFrom) + factor * RGB(colorTo );
  So factor = 0 means use colorFrom only, factor = 1 means use colorTo only. All in-between values
  mean create mix of colors. The lower the factor value means more colorFrom.
  This function makes it easy to lighten or darken colors like this:
  function ColorLighten( color )
  {
  return ColorBlend( color, colorWhite, 0.5 );
  }
  function ColorDarken( color )
  {
  return ColorBlend( color, colorBlack, 0.5 );
  }
  
• Plot, PlotForeign and PlotOHLC now have new parameter zorder which defines the Z-axis position of given plot. (FC#257)
  
  zorder can be set from -5 to 5.
  The default is zero.
  Zorder = 0 means also where the "grid" is located.
  So if you want to plot BEHIND the grid you need to specify negative zorder parameter.
  Smaller values mean draw first (i.e. BEHIND others), higher values mean draw later (ON TOP of others).
  Plots are drawn in the following order:
  • zorder parameter takes precedence over the order of calling Plot() functions, so if z-order is set, it determines plotting order.
    See http://www.amibroker.com/gifs/zorder.gif
  • If multiple plots use the same z-order parameter they are plotted in reverse call order (ones that appear last in the code are plotted first). This rule can be changed by already existing switch graphzorder = 1 which, when specified, reverses this behaviour (so plots are drawn in call order).
  Please note the above applies to each zorder "layer" separately (so within same zorder "layer" reverse call rule applies)
  This may sound complicated but is required for backward compatibility.
  Example:
  Bollinger bands with "cloud" fill behind price (zorder = -1)
  P = ParamField("Price field",-1);
Periods = Param("Periods", 15, 2, 100, 1 );
Width = Param("Width", 2, 0, 10, 0.05 );
Color = ParamColor("Color", colorLightGrey );
Style = ParamStyle("Style") | styleNoRescale;;
Plot( bbt = BBandTop( P, Periods, Width ), "BBTop" + _PARAM_VALUES(), Color, Style );
Plot( bbb = BBandBot( P, Periods, Width ), "BBBot" + _PARAM_VALUES(), Color, Style );
PlotOHLC( bbt, bbt, bbb, bbb, "", ColorBlend( Color, colorWhite, 0.9 ), styleCloud, Null, Null, Null, -1 );
  
• Rectangle and Ellipse drawing tool now are by default SOLID, with default fill color being a blend between background and selected drawing color, they are use ZOrder = -1 (behind regular plots) by default
• Support for SSL (secure connection) e-mail alerts added, so now you can use your GMail accounts. (FC#83)
  Steps:
  1. Download and install AmiBroker 5.21 or higher
  2. Download and run SSL add-on from http://www.amibroker.com/bin/SSLAddOn.exe
  3. Configure (Tools->Preferences->Alerts) with SSL enabled as shown in this picture:
  http://www.amibroker.com/gifs/gmailalert.gif
  
• X-Y co-ordinate labels on axes implemented. Can be controlled using View->X-Y labels menu. (FC#1621, FC#732)
  

If you experience any problem with this beta version please send detailed description of the problem (especially the steps needed to reproduce it) to support at amibroker.com