Editing a Trade List Text File

When you save changes from the Basket Order Window you are writing them to a Trade List text file that contains the pertinent information about each symbol and its order parameters. If you choose, you can directly edit a Trade List text file outside of the Basket Order Window with any text editor (i.e., Notepad); it must be saved in a text (*.txt) format.

Understanding the Trade List file structure

  • The order information should appear in the following sequence:
    [Symbol]delimiter[Exchange ID]delimiter[Quantity]delimiter[Order Type]delimiter[Limit Criteria (price or type)]
  • Each order detail (symbol, exchange/market id, quantity, order type, and any limit criteria) must be separated with a delimiter. You can use commas or tabs for delimiters.
  • Limit Criteria can either be the specific limit price or an auto limit type (Join, Improve, Split, Shave, etc.).
  • Each symbol and order information must be on a separate line; press ENTER at the end of each line before typing a new line.
  • The minimum average share size of a Trade List is 100 shares or 1 contract. In other words, all order quantities divided by the total number of orders must be greater than or equal to 100.

The example represents how a limit order for 500 shares of DELL at a limit price of 29 would appear in a Trade List:

DELL, 18, #500, Limit, 29

The example represents how a market order for 100 shares of SPY would appear in a Trade List:

SPY, 25, #100, Market

You can also refer to the sample trade list (Sample Trade List.txt) in the default Trade List folder: C:\Users\<username>\Documents\TradeStation 10.0\TradeLists for an example of the file format, where <username> is your Windows username.

  • One way to explore the trade list file structure is to enter values in the Basket Order window, save them to your own trade list file, and then open the text file to review the format for different symbols and order information.

Editing a Trade List text file

  1. Open the text editor that you prefer to use (i.e., Notepad).
  2. Type the symbol, exchange id, quantity, order type, and limit criteria (if applicable) for the first order that you want to include in the Trade List. Make sure to use a delimiter (space, comma, or tab) in between each order component.
  3. Press ENTER.
  4. Repeat the above steps for each order that you want to include in the Trade List.
  5. Save the Trade List in a text file (*.txt) format.
Related Topics

About the Basket Order Window