An Important Note about Input Settings

Every time you load one of the Arps studies, you will see a message in the cursor window asking you either to accept the default values provided for the inputs or to enter a value you would prefer. In writing and testing each of these studies, we often use values for our inputs that fit our sample data, and, so, we allow you to accept the values that we used, if you wish. It is extremely important to note, however, that, because we chose a certain value for an input, we are not trying to imply that the value provided is the “best” value, or that there is any intended significance to it.

Input values have been chosen to make our studies work well over a broad range of data and time frames. However, you should take an active interest in exploring different input values because each data set will tend to have unique characteristics that you may be better able to adapt to with different input settings.

For example, if you are interested in larger or longer-term trends, you may find it profitable to explore longer values for inputs such as "nLength” or "nLookbac” and higher settings for inputs such as "nStrength” or "nSensitiv.”

If you are interested in longer-term trends, you will usually need to increase the number of bars on the chart. You can accomplish this by scrolling backwards until you find the beginning of the chart. eSignal will then automatically load more data for you, starting from prior to the old beginning of the chart, and the entire study will be recalculated from the new, older beginning of the chart.

The best way to modify the Input values is to right click on the study in question and choose the “edit studies” option from the pop-up window. You will then see the “Study Properties” window, and, at the very top, a drop-down list of the studies that are active on the current chart. When you highlight the study you wish to modify, you will see a list of the input settings, and you will also see fields that will allow you to override the displayed name of the study, as well as other properties.

If you modify the inputs for a study, be sure to follow the rules set out below, or unpredictable errors will result:

Rule 1:
If you change the input settings, those values should be of the same sign (positive or negative) and of about the same order of magnitude as the default setting. In other words, you probably don’t want to enter a value of 50 for an input with a default value of 5. Similarly, entering a -5 may cause unpredictable errors.

Rule 2:
Any input prefixed with an “n” must contain a number, and only a number. Any input prefixed with a “t” must contain the letters “T” or “F,” which stand for true and false.

Rule 3:
After changing any of the Input values in the “Edit Studies” window, you must click the “OK” button to get it to accept your choices. Using the “enter” key on your keyboard will only cancel the previous actions. (This is due to a bug in the eSignal charting platform that will be corrected soon, we are told.)