To open an existing scan workspace or create a new one
Click File and then click Scan Workspace.
Select Open Existing Workspace and then click OK. Select a file and then click Open.
To Create a new workspace
Click File, then Scan Workspace, select Create New Workspace and click OK. Then, click on the first empty scan line to start the process of parameter selection.
The following must be specified on the workspace form for each separate search line:
1. T/S file
2. Data file(s) (must have proper format)
3. Trade parameters: Exits based on percentages (%) or points (pts) of entry price, trade inputs on Open or Close
4. Performance Constraints: Minimum success rate for long and short strategies, minimum Profit Factor (sum of winners/sum of losers) minimum number of historical trades and maximum number of consecutive losers
5.Major Features Cluster: Choice of major features cluster
To Select a T/S file
Select a T/S file from the appropriate directory. Click on a file to highlight it and then click the hand icon pointing down to move it in the selection field. Alternatively, you can just doubleclick a file and it will automatically get selected. To change the T/S file click the hand icon pointing up and repeat the selection process. Note: in the case that next close (NC) is selected as the exit parameter, a dummy T/S file must be selected with just one pair of target/stop values but these will not be used by the program.
To Select data file(s)
Select the directory where the data files are located and mark the box next to the option Select all files, to select all files in the directory specified (default option). If this option is checked, the same T/S file, Trade and performance parameters will apply to all data files. Note: To select a single file from a directory you must first uncheck the box next to the Select all files option and then highlight the file to scan.
Trade Parameters and Performance Constraints
Specify the type of exits (profit target and stop-loss) to use by selecting either % for percentages of entry price or inc for points (pts) added to entry price. Specify the type of trade input by selecting either Open or Close. If Open is selected then the entry price will be the open of the bar following a signal generation by a strategy. If Close is specified, then the entry price will be the close of the bar where a signal is generated.
Specify the minimum % profitable (success rate) for long and short strategies by inputting the appropriate value to use in the fields. This parameter is equal to the number of winning trades divided by the total number of trades multiplies by 100. (The defaults are set to 66.00.) Then, specify the minimum Profit Factor, which is equal to the sum of winning trades divided by the sum of losing trades). Next specify the minimum number of trades strategies must generate in the train and test sample combined. (The default is 20 trades). Finally, specify the maximum number of consecutive losers each strategy is allowed to have in the combined data sample, max Consecutive Losers. (Default is 3 consecutive losers and shown as “< 4”). These performance constraints will apply to all strategies identified by the program and only those that meet them will be reported on the results.
Major Cluster Types
Basic: 20 sub-clusters with 2-6 bar lookback
Extended: 120 sub-clusters with 2-6 bar lookback
Extended1: 60 sub-clusters with 2-6 bar lookback
Extended2: 60 sub-clusters with 2-6 bar lookback
Close: 25 sub-clusters with 3-6 bar lookback. Only the Closing prices are used in features
2-bars: 34 sub-clusters with 2 bar lookback
3-bars: 41 sub-clusters with 3 bar lookback
4-bars: 31 sub-clusters with 4 bar lookback
5-bars: 47 sub-clusters with 5 bar lookback
6-bars: 54 sub-clusters with 6 bar lookback
Note that number of sub-clusters in Extended1+Extended2 = Number of sub-clusters in Extended
Default workspace
You may mark a workspace as the default workspace of the program by checking the box next to Make this my default workspace.
To create a new scan line, click on the first empty scan line. After the file and parameter selections click on the hand icon pointing downwards. To delete a scan line, click on that line and hit the DEL key, or use the hand icon pointing upwards to remove its contents.
Saving the workspace and Running a scan
Click Save to save the workspace. Click Run or hit the F3 key to start the scan.