Lesson 1 Lesson 1

Essentials of the TradeStation Desktop

Essentials of the TradeStation Desktop

Table of Contents

Installation and System Requirements................... 1 Customize Toolbars…………………………………….. 10

Live Trading vs. Simulated Trading……………… 3 Command Line Macros - Hot keys, Toolbar Buttons.. 11
Desktop Components……………………………….. 5 Window Linking…………………………………………. 14
Workspaces and Windows…………………………. 6 TradeStation Desktop Preferences…………………… 16
Multiple Desktops and Multiple Monitors………….. 8 TradeStation Help………………………………………. 17
Backup and Restore………………………………… 9

Installation and System Requirements

Before installing TradeStation, it is important to consider your computer’s performance specifications.
The quantity and quality of your computer’s system resources will directly affect the TradeStation
platform’s overall performance. Following are the minimum and recommended resource levels
depending on which type of TradeStation user you will be.

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Understanding User Profiles

Minimum Standard User Power User

Requirements User
A standard user is generally A power user is generally a
The common profile of the anyone who is moderately user utilizing computationally
minimum requirements user is a sensitive to real-time market intensive EasyLanguage
TradeStation platform user who data updates and makes studies, utilizing large amounts
is not sensitive to real-time intraday decisions based on of tick or intraday data, or
market data updates and who intraday market analysis. generating a large amount of
makes decisions based on Traders who fit this profile are trading activity. Traders who fit
market analysis that is not time swing or trend traders. This this profile are active
sensitive. Traders who fit this type of user generally doesn’t TradeStation traders or users
profile are usually position need more than a handful of who require the ability to follow
traders or end-of-day traders. market data requests and multiple active markets
follows specific symbols that simultaneously while using
are not extremely active. The complex EasyLanguage studies
standard user doesn’t rely on and strategy optimizations.
processor-intensive analysis
techniques running in real time
on multiple charts.

There are three icons that are displayed as part of the TradeStation installation. Click on the Start – All
Programs – TradeStation menu sequence from the Windows Task Bar to access all icons.

This icon launches This icon launches the This icon launches a
TradeStation, a comprehensive TradeStation Development customizable ticker bar across
trading platform that enables Environment, which provides the bottom of your screen,
you to execute trades, monitor you with an integrated set of which allows you to track the
your positions, analyze markets tools to write, edit and verify market through the use of hot
and use built-in and custom EasyLanguage analysis lists, real-time quotes and news
analysis and strategy trading techniques, strategies and headlines.
tools. functions.

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Live Trading vs.

Simulated Trading
The TradeStation Network Logon
dialog appears when you click the
TradeStation icon. It allows you to
choose whether to trade in your
actual brokerage accounts or using
a trading simulator. The Live
Trading button will log you in to your
real funded brokerage accounts;
trades will be real and profit and
losses will affect your funds. To
practice trading with simulated
accounts, click on the Simulated
Trading button; any orders placed
will not be real, nor will any profits
or losses be real.

Keep in mind that pressing the

Enter key on the keyboard after
entering the password will default to
Live Trading.

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When logging on to simulated trading, the confirmation window below is displayed.

The Status Bar displays “Trading: Sim” in blue to confirm that you are using simulated trading. Your
account numbers should start with the letters “SIM” to confirm that you are using simulated accounts.

To switch from simulated trading to live trading or vice versa, double-click on the “Trading” or “Data”
indicators on the Status Bar to log off the TradeStation Network. Double-click again to return to the
Network Logon dialog. When logged on to live trading, the Status Bar shows “Trading: Live” in green.

You may also disconnect TradeStation from the data and trading networks by clicking on the File – Work
Online menu sequence. To reconnect, click on the File – Work Online menu sequence again.

The Work Offline button on the TradeStation Network Logon dialog allows you to use
TradeStation offline. This is convenient when an Internet connection is not available.
TradeStation automatically saves historical data for all the Chart Analysis windows
you loaded while connected to the Internet. This way, the data is available for offline viewing and
analysis. You will not receive any new data until you log back in to the TradeStation Network.

Click the Network Status button to see information about the TradeStation data and
order execution networks.

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Desktop Components

Menu Bar

Tool Bar

Order Bar

Position
Graph Bar

TradingApps
Launcher Workspace
Area

Status Bar

Menu Bar ● This provides drop-down menus to access general program features as well as features
related to the currently selected window.

Toolbar ● This contains buttons for accessing tools specific to the currently selected window.

Order Bar ● This is used for manually placing orders in your TradeStation brokerage accounts.

Position Graph Bar ● This displays the status of positions in your TradeStation brokerage accounts.

TradingApps Launcher ● This tool allows you to launch new windows or TradingApps in the platform
with a single mouse click. Its rollout functionality saves space on your desktop.

Status Bar ● This bar is located at the bottom of the TradeStation screen display and provides a current
summary of your brokerage account as well as network connection status. It is also used to lock and
unlock manual order-entry tools.

Workspace Area ● This is the open area inside the TradeStation desktop that is used to create and
display windows such as Chart Analysis, Quotes, etc.

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Desktop elements may be removed or enabled by using the View menu. In the View drop-down menu,
the top five elements will be checked or unchecked. Click the unchecked elements to enable them.

You can position the TradingApps Launcher anywhere along the edge of the desktop.
The Order Bar and the Position Graph Bar can be removed by clicking the “x” in one of
their corners. You may also click and hold the handle that appears as a dotted line
next to the “x” to drag the bar and move it to a different location. Double-clicking the handle will make it
float. Double-clicking the title bar of a floating bar will dock it to its previous location in the desktop.

Workspaces and Windows

Workspaces are groups of TradeStation windows that you want to view, save and re-open as a group. In
fact, each workspace is a file containing the windows you have placed in it.

Create your workspaces so that they help you organize your trading ideas. You can create workspaces
with any variety of windows for a single stock, a group of stocks, an industry, futures, forex or any other
information that you want to view together. TradeStation includes sample workspaces so you can get an
idea of how they look.

When you first create a workspace, it is blank. You then add windows to the workspace (Chart Analysis,
RadarScreen, Matrix, and so on). When you want to analyze other stocks, industries or markets, and
want to keep your ideas separate, you can create additional workspaces.

Workspace tabs

Note: For an Alert to be triggered or Strategy Automation to be active, the workspace containing the
window with the Alert or Strategy must be open.

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TradeStation displays a tab for each open workspace. You may click on these tabs to switch between
them. To create a New Workspace, click on the File – New – Workspace menu sequence. Other useful
functions from the File menu are: Open Workspace, Save Workspace, Save Workspace As…, Save
All Workspaces and Move Workspace.

Right-click on any of the workspace tabs

and use the shortcut menu to create, save,
Right-click menu close and move workspaces. You may
also click and drag workspace tabs to
change their order.

Copying and Pasting Windows

You may copy and paste windows within a workspace or from one workspace to another. The Copy
Window command makes an exact duplicate of any TradeStation window, including symbol settings,
applied Analysis Techniques or columns and any window formatting settings. The Paste Window
command will place that window into the active workspace. The copy is fully functional and may be
edited or saved in the same ways as any other window. These commands are available from both the
Edit menu and right mouse-button shortcut menu for each window.

Note: Strategy Automation is automatically disabled in a Chart Analysis window that is being pasted.

Managing Windows in a Workspace

Resize Windows
All windows in TradeStation are created using a default size. You may click and drag any of the side
borders of a window to resize it; clicking and dragging the corners of the window will resize the width and
height of the window simultaneously.

Move Windows
Click and drag the title bar of a window to move it to another location within the workspace.

Maximize and Minimize Windows

To maximize a window, click the Maximize button on the top right corner of the window. Maximized
windows cover the whole workspace area and other open windows are behind it. To restore the window
to its original size, click on the second (lower) Restore Down button at the top right corner of the
TradeStation desktop.

Minimized windows appear as icons at the bottom of the workspace, right above the Workspace tabs.
Click on Window from the Menu Bar to see a list of windows in the workspace; click on any of them to
restore it and make it the active window.

Arrange Windows
Click on the Window – Arrange All menu sequence to evenly resize all open windows and arrange them
to fill the whole workspace area. Other options in this menu are: Arrange Horizontally, Arrange
Vertically and Cascade.

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Multiple Desktops and Multiple Monitors

TradeStation allows you to create multiple instances of the TradeStation desktop. Each desktop is a
complete version of TradeStation with access to all of its features. Each TradeStation desktop may then
be placed on any of the monitors connected to your computer.

When you first install TradeStation, the installation process will recognize all monitors connected to your
computer and will prompt you to select how many monitors to use for TradeStation. Once installation is
complete, TradeStation should open a new desktop on each of the monitors selected.

To create an additional TradeStation desktop, click on the File – New Desktop menu sequence. The
new desktop should automatically open on any available monitor. If it opens on the incorrect monitor,
click on the “Restore Down” button located between the “Minimize” and “Close” buttons on
the top right corner of the desktop, and then click the desktop’s title bar and drag it to the desired monitor.

You may open as many additional desktops as needed.

Desktops may also be saved, each with its associated workspaces, so that you can retrieve the desktops
when needed. Use these menu sequences:

File - Save Desktop

File - Save Desktop As… or
File - Save All Desktops.

To open a saved desktop, click on the File – Open Desktop menu sequence. All workspaces associated
with this desktop will open. To close a desktop, click on File – Close Desktop menu sequence or click
on the “Close” button at the top right corner of the desktop.

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Backup and Restore

The TradeStation backup feature makes it easy to save – in a single archived file – all of the changes you
make while working with workspaces, templates and dialogs. This allows you to save custom
configurations and to efficiently transfer your custom settings between computers or to a newer installed
version.

Backup archive files may be created as needed or they may be generated automatically on a regular
schedule. To create a backup, use the File – Backup/Restore TradeStation menu sequence and
choose the Backup TradeStation… sub-menu. From the TradeStation Backup dialog, place a check
mark next to those components that you want to include in a specific archive.

The archive file name is made up of the backup configuration name selected from the drop-down at the
top of the dialog, the TradeStation version number, and the date and time. For example, an archive file
named “Monthly (9.00.00.8732 – 2011-07-06 0910)” means that it was created using the Monthly backup
configuration, using TradeStation version 9.0, and created on July 6, 2011 at 9:10 am. The archive file is
stored by default in the C:\Program Files\TradeStation Archives directory. You may choose a different
location by clicking on the Browse… button.

To restore saved data, choose the Restore TradeStation Archive… option from the File –
Backup/Restore TradeStation menu sequence. Browse to find the name of the archive file you would
like to restore. A checkmark next to each component indicates that it will be restored.

Note: TradeStation stops updating during a backup or restore cycle and automatically reconnects when
completed. Therefore, it is recommended that you not perform backups and restores during your regular
trading hours.

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Customize Toolbars
Toolbars display buttons that provide quick shortcuts to certain commands. There are two types of
toolbars in TradeStation: Shared Toolbars and Window-Specific Toolbars. A Shared Toolbar is available
across all TradeStation windows. Window-Specific Toolbars are only available for a certain type of
window, such as Chart Analysis, and contain buttons that are only applicable to that specific window type.
You will notice that as you create different window types, a different toolbar with an applicable set of tools
is displayed at the top of TradeStation.

You can also create your own custom toolbars with your most frequently used toolbar buttons. These
custom toolbars can be either shared or window-specific.

To create a custom toolbar click on the View – Toolbars – Customize menu sequence. In the Toolbars
tab, click on the New button and give your custom toolbar a name. In the New Toolbar dialog, you may
specify whether this toolbar will be shared by
multiple windows or not by checking the Shared
toolbar checkbox. Keep in mind that if it is not
shared, the toolbar will only appear when the
same window type is active, and will disappear
when different types of windows are.

Once you click OK, an empty floating toolbar will

be displayed, ready to accept toolbar buttons.

To add buttons, click on the Commands tab in the

Customize dialog, and commands are displayed
on the right based on the category selected on
the left.

Keep in mind that only commands for the window

that is active on the desktop will be displayed in
this dialog. If you are looking for a window-
specific command, it will not be available unless
you open that window type and then customize
the toolbar.

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To add buttons to the toolbar, simply click on a command button and drag it inside the new toolbar.
Continue to do this until all the command buttons that you need are added to the toolbar. You may then
click the title bar of the new toolbar and drag it to the desired position. You may use it floating, you may
drag it until it docks to the top with the other toolbars or you may choose to dock it to a different location
such as the right, the left or even the bottom edge of the platform.

To remove buttons from existing toolbars, click on

the View – Customize – Toolbars menu
sequence, select the Commands tab and then click
and drag the buttons from the toolbar to the
Commands tab.

Command Line Macros with Hot Keys and Toolbar Buttons

TradeStation's Command Line is the central command post from which you can control the TradeStation
desktop, workspaces and windows. The Command Line makes it easy to
execute common commands in windows by simply typing them.
Commands are short instructions with optional parameters.

The Command Line accepts the following types of commands:

• Symbol - Symbol commands insert or change the symbol in the active window.

• Interval & Range – Interval & Range commands are used to change the bar interval and/or
amount of data in the active window.

• Action - Action commands access many of the same operations that can be accessed from
menus or toolbars in the TradeStation desktop or the active TradeStation window. Action
commands are preceded with a period (.).

• Macro - Macro commands are action and/or symbol commands combined into a single string.
Macro commands are preceded with a period (.).

To access a list of commands you may

use in the Command Line, click on the
right-pointing triangle next to the Symbol
Lookup button and select Other
Commands… from the drop-down menu.
To access Macros, click on the View –
Macros… menu sequence. Here you will
find built-in Macros under two main
categories: Command Line Macros and
Order-Entry Macros. You may run any of
the built-in Macros by selecting it and
clicking the Run button. You may also
run them by typing their names preceded
by a period (.) directly into the Command
Line. To create a new Command Line
Macro, click the Create button.

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The Create Macro wizard will

prompt you for the required
information, including the
command or series of commands
to be included in the macro.
Keep in mind that multiple
commands are separated by
double semicolons. Once the
macro is created, you may run it
by typing the macro name
preceded with a dot directly in the
Command Line.

You may also run Macros by

assigning them to a user-defined
hot key or a toolbar button.

To assign a Macro to a hot key, click on the Hot Keys… button in the Macros dialog.

In the Hot Keys dialog, select Command

Line Macros under Categories. Most of
the built-in Macros have assigned hot keys.
Select any of the Macros under
Commands and a hot key is displayed
under Current Keys if it is already
assigned.

To assign a hot key or change the existing

one, click inside the “Press new Hot Key”
field and press the hot keys directly on the
keyboard. The keys pressed will appear
inside the field. Click the Assign button at
the bottom of the dialog to save the
changes.

Once the hot key is assigned, you may

press it at any time to run the Macro.

Click on Save As… at the bottom of the

dialog to save the hot keys layout and
allow different user configurations. The
default hot keys are saved under the
TradeStation layout and can be reset by
clicking the Load button.

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To assign a Macro to a toolbar button, click the Toolbars… button in the Macros dialog.

In the Customize dialog, select Command

Line Macros under Categories. Select one
of the Macros under Commands and click
the Modify Button… button if you wish to
change the appearance of the toolbar button.

Once you have selected the appearance of

the toolbar button, you may click and drag
the button directly into a toolbar. Every time
the toolbar button is pressed, the Macro is
run.

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Window Linking
Window linking allows you to connect the symbol and/or interval settings in multiple windows. To turn on
window linking, click on the “S” (symbol) button or the “I” (interval) button on the title bar of a window. The
buttons turn a specific color when turned on, but you may click the drop-down on these buttons to select
different colors and create different link groups.

The four windows in the workspace pictured below are linked by a Green Local Symbol Link. Changing
the symbol in any of the windows forces all other windows to update to that symbol automatically.

Symbol Links

Symbol Link

Windows linked with symbol links share symbol information. When the symbol is modified in one of the
windows belonging to the group, the other windows in the group will update to use the same symbol.
These links can also be set globally to work across multiple workspaces and desktops. To set a global
link, select “Color” Global Symbol Link from the drop-down menu of the symbol linking buttons.

Interval Link

Windows linked with interval links share interval information. When the interval is modified in one of the
windows belonging to the group, the other windows in the group will update to use the same interval.
These links can also be set globally to work across multiple workspaces and desktops. To set a global
link, select “Color” Global Interval Link from the drop-down menu of the interval linking buttons.

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Listener Link

Listener Links allow a window to be linked so that any change is reflected in the Listener Linked window;
however, a change made in the Listener Link window is not sent to any other window. Listener Links may
be set for Symbol or Interval; the settings appear on the Symbol Link and Interval Link drop-down menus.
These links may be local (within the workspace only) or global (across workspaces and desktops).

Note: RadarScreen windows are always “sender only” regardless of the type of link you select. For
example, changing a symbol in a Chart Analysis window linked to a RadarScreen window will not change
a symbol in the RadarScreen window. Clicking on a symbol in the RadarScreen window will, of course,
change the symbol in the linked Chart Analysis window.

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TradeStation Desktop Preferences

Desktop preferences are global; they apply to all workspaces in the TradeStation desktop. These settings
allow you to customize the behavior of your TradeStation desktop and tailor your workspace options.

General
Use this tab to determine general preferences, such as resizing window options, confirmations when
deleting windows, the appearance of window linking buttons, etc. To enable a setting, click the checkbox
to add a checkmark. To disable the option, click the box again to clear the checkmark.

View
On this tab, you can set preferences related to title bars on windows and how they are displayed in the
TradeStation desktop.

Workspaces
Use this tab to set the attributes for your workspaces, such as opening all workspaces from previous
sessions when you start up TradeStation and controlling the list of workspaces that appear in the opened
and recent workspaces menus.

Desktop Bars
Here you can change preferences for the EasyLanguage Print Log, Order Entry and the Ticker Bar.

Command Line
On this tab, you can set preferences related to the Command Line, such as how many items to display in
the drop-down lists and where to display error messages.

Sessions
On this tab, you can set the default session that you want to use for each symbol category. You can
choose the regular session or create a custom session.

Desktops
Use this tab to set how desktops appear when starting TradeStation and how they close upon exiting.

Updates
On this tab, you can set the method by which TradeStation platform updates are downloaded to your
computer, and control the location settings for the Desktops and Workspaces backup.

Status Bar
On this tab, you can access the preference window to set alerts and general and notification settings, as
well as messaging settings for the Status Bar.

Dialogs
On this tab, you can set preferences to determine where pop-up windows will appear when using a multi-
monitor display configuration.

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TradeStation Help
The TradeStation Platform Help is accessible from the
Help menu. The Help topics in TradeStation are
displayed in a separate Help window so that you can
view them at the same time you are using TradeStation.
Most windows, dialogs, drawing and analysis tools, and
right-click shortcut menus contain a Help link or button
that automatically launches the Help window and takes
you directly to a related Help topic. In addition, you can
use the F1 key to open the Help window from anywhere
in TradeStation.

TradeStation Help provides you with multiple ways to locate information about how to use TradeStation.

Table of Contents: This tab groups Help topics by category. Click the + to the left of the books to expand
a category. Click the – to collapse a category. Click on a topic name to view the related topic.

Index: The Index tab includes an alphabetical list of terms that are linked to relevant Help topics. As you
begin typing characters in the text box at the top of the index pane, the list moves to the index terms that
start with those characters. Select a term from the list to view the related Help topic.

Search: The Search tab lets you locate Help topics that contain term(s) you type into the text box at the
top of the search pane. A search engine looks through every topic in the Help and returns a list of Help
topics that are ranked by the number of occurrences of the terms in each topic.

Favorites: Favorites lets you save Help topics or save strings that you wanted to access at a later time.

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IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

No offer or solicitation to buy or sell securities, securities derivative, futures products or off-exchange foreign currency (forex)
transactions of any kind, or any type of trading or investment advice, recommendation or strategy, is made, given or in any manner
endorsed by any TradeStation affiliate and the information made available on this Website is not an offer or solicitation of any kind in
any jurisdiction where any TradeStation affiliate is not authorized to do business, including but not limited to Japan.

Past performance, whether actual or indicated by historical tests of strategies, is no guarantee of future performance or success.
There is a possibility that you may sustain a loss equal to or greater than your entire investment regardless of which asset class you
trade (equities, options futures or forex); therefore, you should not invest or risk money that you cannot afford to lose. Options
trading is not suitable for all investors. Your account application to trade options will be considered and approved or disapproved
based on all relevant factors, including your trading experience. Please click here to view the document titled Characteristics and
Risks of Standardized Options. Before trading any asset class, customers must read the relevant risk disclosure statements on our
Other Information page. System access and trade placement and execution may be delayed or fail due to market volatility and
volume, quote delays, system and software errors, Internet traffic, outages and other factors.

TradeStation Group, Inc. Affiliates: All proprietary technology in TradeStation is owned by TradeStation Technologies, Inc. Equities,
equities options, and commodity futures products and services are offered by TradeStation Securities, Inc. (Member NYSE, FINRA,
NFA and SIPC). TradeStation Securities, Inc.’s SIPC coverage is available only for equities and equities options accounts. Forex
products and services are offered by TradeStation Forex, a division of IBFX, Inc. (Member NFA).

Copyright © 2001-2013 TradeStation Group, Inc.

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