Date/Times are a PAIN in BackTest Editor

• 01/23/2021 at 11:05 AM #158975
  PeterSt

  I’m actually creating this topic so I can refer to it from the Bugs list.

  Someone from PRT development should for once try to use the Start and End Dates in the form you see in the attachment. The list of what’s working in there would be very short (I know of nothing really). This can drive one CRAZY.

  Please solve this ASAP because it takes time-time-time and implies error as well.

  I put it on the bugs list (my first, yet to see whether that succeeded).

  In a next post I (and others) may elaborate what’s all wrong with it.

  Peter

   

  

  PeterSt

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  01/23/2021 at 12:37 PM #159000
  PeterSt

  A few examples from the top of my head :

  • You can’t go back dates, while the data clearly is there. You can type it though (“23” in this case – Attachment 1).
  • When you want to go up times (or days) you can’t see where you are because the mouse hand hides it (Attachment 2, but envision the way larger Hand).
  • Miraculously the system seems to know that Sunday 24th 23:00 is an important date and time for me (it is 23rd, 12:19 Sat now). See 1st attachment again. Meanwhile I thus can not go back in time with the mouse. Also not with the time alone.
  • *Because* all is made for operating with the mouse, there is virtually no support for entering by keyboard. Try it !! Mind you, combine with the other issues. Working by mouse is not possible, working by keyboard is a drag.
  • In the same realm as the previous bullet-point, it is way tough to enter a date which is allowed in combination with the time. Thus, if the chart doesn’t go beyond (backwards) e.g. Jan 3 11:00 and the current time shown is 10:00, then gong back beyond Jan 4 is not possible because the time would be outside of the chart. So, change the time first (the other drag(s)). Do notice that we BackTest over time periods which are explicitly not equal to the chart content (this is necessary for a. different start times (BackTest robustness) and b. The sometimes (very) slowness of the back test itself for unnecessary large amounts of backtest data. And so we are always struggling with those stupid two forms. Take out the intelligence of what ranges are allowed (e.g. allow from 01-01-2000 to 31-12-4000 if I like to enter that) and half of the problems (if not more) are out of the way. But allow entering normal text.
  • Take the 3rd Attachment as example; What I had in there, was the 24th of December. Easy enough, scroll back the month one day. Remember, it is the 23rd today and I have data in there back to the 21st. There is now no-way to go back to the 21st or anything else than the 24th. See where the mouse arrow is. It is impossible to click there (greyed out which is a kind of justified, but meanwhile …). But what I can click is the 22nd. Aha. And after *that* I can suddenly use the up/down arrows again. Did I already suggest to try this yourself ? or are you afraid of getting mad before you succeeded.

  Mind you, in V10.3 this also was not the nicest feature, but it was workable. Now it is not at all. And this is for how long ? a year ? … more.

   

  Edit, see next post for the attachments, because (@Nicolas) again two disappeared after posting. N.b.: I clicked on the first two while creating the post. After that I added the third. And that is the only one there now.

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  PeterSt

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  01/23/2021 at 12:42 PM #159002
  PeterSt

  Attachment 1, 2 and 3 to the first post.

  

  PeterSt

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