TradeStation Help
Line, bar, and tape graphs require that you select one or more columns to graph. By default, the selected column(s) are plotted on the y-axis (vertical axis). Since the selected columns will share the same y-axis, the numbers in the columns you select should be close in value. Also, you can choose part of a column; you do not need to graph the entire column. By default, your default sort column is plotted on the x-axis.
Stacked bar and area graphs should only be used when you select more than one column, and when the columns you select add up to a meaningful whole value. For example, you could select Long Trades: Total gross profit, and Short Trades: Total gross profit to graph. The resulting graphed value will be the total combined gross profit.
By default, the selected columns share the same vertical axis (y-axis) and are stacked on top of each other; therefore, the numbers in the columns you select to graph should be close in value. Also, you can choose part of a column; you don't have to graph the entire column. By default, the x-axis is the column by which the report is sorted.
You should use a pie graph when the information you are graphing is individual parts comprising a whole, and where the relative percentage of those parts is meaningful. For example, you could graph the fields All: Total Winning Trades and All: Total Losing Trades for one particular test.
With a pie graph, you'll most likely want to pick a few specific individual cells to graph, not entire columns; and, you cannot plot negative values. In addition, you can graph cells along a row (across columns), in which case you'll use the data orientation X-axis => Columns, or cells in an individual column (across rows), in which case you'll use the data orientation X-Axis => Rows.
You can change the orientation such that the column by which you sort the report is the y- axis and the columns you select are the x-axis. For instructions on specifying or changing data orientation, see Changing Optimization Graph Settings.
Line graph
Bar graph
Stacked Bar graph
Area graph
Pie graph
Tape graph