TJ, >Did I say you can not run multiple computers? >No I didn't. No, and I did not say that you did.
>Did I say you can not share files? >No I didn't. No, and I did not say that you did. Possibly there is a difference between what I was writing/intending and what you were reading/interpreting. I apologize for any misunderstanding here. ___ The following is mostly a copy of a post I wrote in the AB section of my own CFT Forum. (original: http://codefortraders.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=104) It comments on one aspect of the way AB interacts with a user's attempts to do multi-machine file synchronization. I don't think this is the only aspect of the issue, but nor do I think that I myself at this point am aware of every aspect of the issue. Therefore, I present this topic on it's own, without trying to address all possible aspects in a single post. I have a background in TradeStation (TS), so I do a little bit of compare/contrast with it. The relevance of this is that TS is an application where code, charts, workspaces, desktops can be created on any machine and easily synchronized with any other using common file/directory sync tools. I find this VERY helpful, as I routinely do creative work on multiple machines. I'm finding it more difficult to do this with AB. Part of this may be that I need to become a "better driver", but part of it (I believe) is a consequence of the current AB architecture. ___ Indicator Application in AmiBroker has Implications for Multiple Machines (per my understanding so far ...) Case 1 Applying an indicator to a pane as "linked" (via the right-click context menu) keeps it tied to the original file location, and edits made will apply to the original code in the original location where you selected the indicator from. Edits, in this case, refers to both code edits made "manually" by opening the text in an editor, and the code edits that are made "automatically" by dragging and dropping more indicators on top of the first (in a given pane). This is the closest scenario to TradeStation, where: * indicator code only exists for change in one place (the EL library) * indicator code only changes when the user edits it * edits are reflected everywhere the indicator is applied (i.e. on all charts) In the scenario just described (indicator applied as "linked" using context menu), these bullets are also true with AmiBroker, but with the additional feature that "editing" may be accomplished by drag-and-drop as well as by the code editor. Case 2 However, if you apply an indicator by double-clicking on it to create a new pane, or by dragging it to an existing blank pane, a totally different behavior results. In this case, the indicator code is immediately copied from it's original location to a new location (the drag-and-drop folder) and given a new name (with a numeric suffix). Subsequent edits ("manual" or "automatic") to that indicator will NOT change the original code, but will instead changethe copied code in the drag-and-drop folder. Thus, if you are doing arbitrary applications of indicators into chart panes on two different machines, with the results going into the drag-and-drop folders, then in general, identically named files in the two drag-and-drop folders will NOT in-fact be identical code. When this situation is operative, you will not be able to correctly sync the machines by simply copying files. Instead, file copy operations from one machine to another will result in loss of your work on the destination side of the transfer. If your typical mode of maintaining and working with multiple installations relies upon "file copy synchronization" of multiple machines, you will almost certainly wish to avoid this situation by being sure to operate under Case 1 instead. This means that you will need to take care not to double-click on indicators (which is a very natural action, and somewhat hard to not do), but to apply them using the "linked" option of the context menu instead. Of course it is still possible, even using Case 2, to wind up with indicators of the same name being different on different machines after editing. But in this case there will be no more than a single instance of this per indicator (i.e. no ' 1', ' 2' etc.) and the difference will be flagged by your file sync utility (e.g. SyncIt, or similar ) so you will know the situation exists, and can choose to do execute that particular file copy only if you are distributing a desired update to other machines by choice. As I see it at this point, the Drag-and-Drop folders (DDFs) are NOT to be copied when doing a bi-directional sync of new work on two different machines. The idea is to keep intact a clear mental paradigm and corresponding operating procedure such that: * there is single name and directory location for each indicator * there is a single indicator for each single name and directory location * a new, non-temporary indicator gets it's own name and permanent location immediately * changes to an existing indicator, when made, are made with the intent to propagate across all machines You have to take care to do this in AB because it is not done for you! Progster www.CodeForTraders.com
