DAS Trader Pro - Using Multiple Layouts
Do you have multiple layouts you need for trading? Have different setups for equities trading and options trading? Or different configurations for when you are scalping and when you are position trading? DAS Trader Pro has two features that allow you to switch between these layouts with just a single click or keystroke.
The first way you can setup multiple desktop screens on DAS Trader Pro is by using our tabs feature, located at the bottom of your window.
As you can see, when you right click on the bottom bar, you have the option to add a new tab, remove a tab, or rename a tab you already have. I have different tabs for my equity trading (I left the name Default), my charts, options trading, and the admin features I need to use from time to time. The tabs pretty much work the same way as your web browser, so you can switch between them whenever you want. There’s an important detail about this tabbed trading though: it is streaming data for all tabs all the time! This feature is great when you need to switch between your layouts on the fly; however, this feature is not for you if you do not have a fast internet connection. Also, this setup keeps all of your tabs in one desktop file (the file ending .dsk that you use to save your layout).
If your internet connection isn’t very fast, you can use our hotkey feature to load a different desktop file. This hotkey will require you to have multiple desktop files. The advantage of this setup is that it does not stream in data for the multiple layouts you have, that way you will not be wasting bandwidth on symbols you are not currently watching. To use this feature, click Setup (or Settings) and then click Hot Key. In that window, click the “Add New Item” button. In that next window that appears, you can look under the Window Configuration command category for SwitchDesktop or you can type it yourself into the Script field. After SwitchDesktop, put one space and type in the name of your layout file (leaving out the .dsk portion). For example, one of my hotkey scripts is SwitchDesktop SeansLayout. Then assign a hotkey and click Commit at the bottom of the window. You’ll have to set up different hotkeys for each layout file you use. Once you have all of these keys setup, you’ll be able to switch layouts without having to do all of the clicking previous involved.
But here’s a third alternative: get a bunch of giant monitors and have it all in front of you at once!
