Series

Lines, bars and markers with one value per bar.

A series draws one point per bar: a line, a histogram, a band, a marker. Use a series when the indicator has a value for every bar. For anything else (boxes, labels, levels) use annotations.

Declaring a series

A series is declared in two parts: an attribute class with its defaults, and a property which holds it.

class AverageSeriesAttribute : ChartSeriesAttribute
{
    public AverageSeriesAttribute() : base("Average")
    {
        CurrentStyle = SeriesType.Line;
        AvailableStyle = (int)SeriesType.Line;
        LineWidth = 2;
        PrimaryColor = ColorRef.FromRgb(255, 165, 0);
    }
}

[AverageSeries]
public ChartSeriesDefinition Average { get; private set; }

The name passed to the base constructor identifies the series: it must be unique in the indicator, and it is what the workspace saves the settings under.

The property is filled when the indicator is created. Series are plotted in the order they are declared, so the last one is drawn over the others.

Defaults and user settings

What you set in the attribute are defaults. The user can change the style, the width and the colors of every series in the settings of the indicator, and those choices are saved.

Attribute value	Meaning
CurrentStyle	default style
AvailableStyle	styles the user can choose, combined with |. 0 means only CurrentStyle
LineWidth, LineStyle	default line
PrimaryColor … FourthColor	default colors
ShortName	label on the axis
Enabled	false: the series is not created
OverrideAutoColor	true: the indicator sets the color of every point itself

Common styles: Line, Bars, Area, Range (two values per point), Candlestick (four values), and the markers Square, Cicle, Diamond, Cross, TriangleUp, TriangleDown.

To read what the user chose, use GetSeries(definition):

if (GetSeries(Average).CurrentStyle == SeriesType.Line) { ... }

Adding points

Add one point for every bar, in OnOpen:

public override void OnOpen(bool isRt)
{
    VAn.AddPointToSeries(Average.BaseSeries, VAn.BarIndex, IsHidden: true);
}

The point of index i belongs to the bar of index i. Keep this true: add a point for every bar, hidden when it has no value yet.

Then set the value where you calculate it:

var point = Average.BaseSeries.Points[index];
point.Y[0] = value;
point.IsHidden = false;

Y has one value for most styles, two for Range (upper and lower), four for Candlestick (high, low, open, close).

Optional series

Set Enabled in OnSet to create a series only when a parameter asks for it:

Average.Enabled = ShowAverage;

A series which is not enabled has BaseSeries == null: check it before adding points.

Point options

Property	Meaning
Y	the values
IsHidden	the point is not drawn
BreakPoint	the line is interrupted at this point
LineColor, BackColor	color of this point, see Colors
Text, FontSize, ShowLabel	a label on the point
PointWidth	width of a bar, when it differs from the default