DAS Trader Pro is a trading platform in constant development, while the documentation of the new features is often lagging behind, the new features exist and can make traders lives much easier. There are many reasons to chose DAS Trader Pro for your trading. The Risk controls feature is probably the most important one. The next one for sure is advanced hotkeys scripting with custom variables.
What is advanced hotkeys scripting?
As many trading platforms, besides the rich amount of features, in standard operation we can use scripts (hotkeys) for our actions like
- placing orders
- drawing lines to the charts
- placing alerts
but with advanced hotkeys scripting and custom variables we can do much more
- automating actions
- do conditional actions
- repeat actions up to 200 times
- perform complex calculations
- code our own indicators
- code our own functionalities
What are custom variables?
Usually, the hotkeys in any application have prescribed rules. You have to use one specific command or variable to do one thing. For example
Obviously, we do not want to buy always 100 shares, so we can make the number 100 to be a variable. Same for the price 150 etc.
With custom variables we can change the code to be more readable, especially if we need to use some calculations for the values to be used in the variables
This way we can name the things the way we want, which is easier to remember and easier to understand, troubleshoot and use. Once we define a custom variable like $MYVWAP, from that moment we can use it in any script without needing to do any action. Just read the value of $MYVWAP.
What are hotkeys?
A hotkey is a script, which is a list of commands being logically ordered. For example
use the price where I clicked as a stop loss calculate how many shares I can afford to buy place the buy limit order at current price place a stop loss order after the buy order is filled place a profit taking order at 3R distance
Despite living in the age of AI, this has to have a special syntax. In the real life, the above script would look something like this.
$montage=getwindowobj("MONTAGE1");
$montage.CXL ALLSYMB;
$buyprice=$montage.Ask-0.01;
$risk=GetAccountObj($MYACCOUNT).equity/80;
$mystop=$montage.price;
$pricetostop=$buyprice-$mystop;
$target=3*$pricetostop+Ask;
$amount=$risk/$pricetostop;
$montage.StopPrice=$mystop;StopPrice=ROUND2;
$montage.Share=$amount;
$montage.ROUTE=$ROUTE;
$montage.Price=$buyprice;Price=ROUND2;
$montage.TIF="DAY+";
$MYBP=GetAccountObj($MYACCOUNT).BP;
$WANT=$montage.share;
if ($montage.last*$want>$MYBP)
{
$montage.share=$montage.bp;
}
$montage.BUY=Send;
$montage.TriggerOrder=RT:STOP STOPTYPE:RANGEMKT LowPrice:$mystop HighPrice:$target ACT:SELL QTY:POS TIF:DAY+ PREF:VFAN;the above script can be in a form of a
- a hotkey for a keyboard shortcut
- a named hotkey to be called by other scripts
- a hot button on a montage
- a window button on any window
- a script ran on opening of the application
- a script ran every second
- a script ran every price change of the symbol
- a script ran in an alert
- a variable
As you can see there are already too many options so in this and following articles, I will try to describe the useful features and scripting techniques so you understand better their use.
Get the latest version
You can download it from here QNTX download page. Usually the latest is the best, even if it is the beta version. If you are concerned running beta versions, you can go for the latest
"Production" version from the list.
Name the windows
When you right-click any window header, the window configuration opens. There you can name the window. The window names need to be unique.
For example, I name my chart windows as MY1MIN, MY5MIN, MY60MIN, MYDAILY etc. while the montage window is named MONTAGE1
Change these settings
Configuration Management - Go to Setup⇾Other Configuration
Hotkey Advanced Script - Enabled
Chart config
Toolbar - Enabled
Double-click to trade - Enabled
Maximum number of trend lines - 600
Chart area
Enable order line movement
Montage
anchor the charts and the watch list
set the montage style to stop order style
Name your chart studies
it is good to name the studies (indicators)
Set up the layout
Everybody likes it different, so this is not about where to place your chart windows. For many of the hotkeys and solutions I will write about, you will need
- 1 montage window
- few chart windows
- positions window
- orders window
- market viewer window (aka watch list window)
- short locate window if you are trading HTB symbols
- alerts window
For troubleshooting
- event window
- variables window
Save your desktop
This is the most important step, after all the work with set up has been done. Every time you change some hot button or chart setting you will need to save the desktop to keep the changes for the next time.
At this point, your DAS Trader Pro should be ready for using hotkeys with advanced syntax, which is covered in other articles from the DAS Hotkeys series.
For more advanced scripting, You can visit my substack - Peter's Substack where I elaborate on newest features, ideas and do custom solutions for specific needs.
Author: PeterB
Disclosure Statement 1. Hotkey scripts should always be thoroughly tested in a paper trading environment prior to any live deployment. Guardian Trading assumes no responsibility for errors, malfunctions, or financial losses arising from the use, misuse, or modification of custom hotkey configurations. Traders are solely responsible for the creation, testing, and implementation of their own scripts.This guide is provided for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute trading advice or an endorsement of any specific configuration. The examples herein are illustrative in nature and should not be copied, replicated, or relied upon without independent verification and testing. Use of this material constitutes acknowledgment and acceptance of these terms.
2. No information provided by Velocity Clearing, LLC (“Velocity” or the “Firm”), directly or indirectly, should be considered a recommendation or solicitation to adopt any particular trading or investment strategy or to invest in, or liquidate, a particular security or type of security. Information provided by Velocity on its Twitter, Facebook or Blog pages is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended as a recommendation of any particular security, transaction or strategy. Commentary and opinions expressed are those of the author/speaker and not necessarily those of the Firm. Velocity does not guarantee the accuracy of, or endorse, the statements of any third party, including guest speakers or authors of commentary or news articles. All information regarding the likelihood of potential future investment outcomes are hypothetical. Future results are never guaranteed. Any examples that discuss potential trading profits or losses may not take into account trading commissions or fees, which means that potential profits could be lower and potential losses could be greater than illustrated in any example. Users are solely responsible for making their own, independent decisions about whether to use any of the research, tools or information provided, and for determining their own trading and investment strategies.