Hotkeys
AlgoDesk has a small set of keyboard shortcuts, and each one works only in a particular window. This page lists them all, grouped by where they work.
There are no shortcuts for the toolbar or its menus, and none that work everywhere in AlgoDesk. There are also no keys that place or cancel orders: in Chart Trader and the Book Trader you trade with the mouse.
Drawing tools on a chart
In a chart window with the Drawing Tools panel open, these keys pick a tool. Press the same keys again to put the tool down.
| Tool | Keys |
|---|---|
| Line | Ctrl+F1 |
| Vertical Line | Ctrl+F2 |
| Horizontal Line | Ctrl+F3 |
| Ray | Ctrl+F4 |
| Arrow | Ctrl+F5 |
| Text | Ctrl+F6 |
| Rectangle | Ctrl+F7 |
| Ruler | Ctrl+F8 |
| Risk Reward | Ctrl+F9 |
These are the keys AlgoDesk is installed with. While the panel is closed they do nothing. How each tool draws is in Drawing tools.
To change a key, choose Tools > Options and open Hot Keys. Click the box next to the tool; it says "Press a key combination...". Press the keys you want, then choose OK. The small delete button next to a box removes that shortcut, and the box then says "None". Reset to Default, at the top of the page, puts back all nine keys in the table above. See Options.
While a box on the Hot Keys page waits for keys, every key you press becomes its new shortcut, Enter, Esc and Tab included. Close the window with the OK or Cancel button.
Other keys on a chart
| Key | Where | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Esc | A drawing you have started but not finished | Cancels it. See Drawing tools. |
| Delete | A selected drawing | Deletes it. In a text box on the chart, such as the symbol box or a drawing's Name, Delete only edits the text. See Drawing tools. |
| Enter | Typing the text of a Text drawing | Puts the text on the chart. |
| Esc | Moving an order with Chart Trader | Cancels the move. Nothing is sent. See Chart Trader. |
| Enter | The quantity box of an order marker | Sends the new quantity. See Chart Trader. |
| Esc | The symbol box on the chart's toolbar | Puts the chart's own symbol back. See Opening a chart. |
| Left Ctrl held while you drag | The chart or the price axis | Moves the price scale up or down. See Opening a chart. |
Book Trader
| Key | Where | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Esc | Dragging an order tag | Cancels the move. Nothing is sent. |
| Esc | The list opened from a chip such as +2 | Closes the list. |
| Enter | The quantity box of an order tag | Sends the new quantity. A value that is not a number above 0 turns red and is not sent. |
| Esc | The quantity box of an order tag | Closes the box. Nothing is sent. |
See Book Trader.
Control Center
On the Strategies tab, select a strategy and press Delete to remove it, as Remove in its right-click menu does. If the strategy has a position or working orders at its account, the Stop live strategies question comes first. See Running a strategy live.
Instruments, lists and scripts
| Window | Key | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Instruments | Enter in the Find box on the right | Searches the connection, as Find does. |
| Instruments | Delete | Removes the instruments selected under AlgoDesk Symbols. |
| Instruments, opened from the … button | Esc | Closes the window without picking an instrument. |
| Instrument Lists | Delete | Takes the instruments selected in the upper grid out of the list. They stay in AlgoDesk. |
| A chart's Indicators or Strategies window | Letters, typed in the list of available scripts | Jumps to the first script whose name starts with them. |
See Finding and adding instruments and Instrument lists.
Dialogs
In most windows with OK and Cancel buttons, Enter chooses OK and Esc chooses Cancel. That holds for Trading options, Draw object, Input series, Export scripts, a chart's Indicators and Strategies windows, Optimizer period, Period constructor, Add Instrument List, Edit Instrument List, and the small windows that ask for a name, such as Test, Instrument List Name, Workspace and Preset rename.
These windows work differently:
| Window | Enter | Esc |
|---|---|---|
| Sign in | Sign in | Cancel. You stay signed out. |
| Data series | OK, unless it is greyed out, for example while no instrument is chosen | Closes the window and changes nothing. It has no Cancel button. |
| Instrument parameters | OK, unless it is greyed out | Closes the window and changes nothing. |
| Connections | OK, which saves every change made in the window | Cancel |
| Options | OK | Cancel |
| Stop live strategies | Don't stop | Don't stop |
| Instruments | OK. Opened from the … button, that picks the selected instrument. | Closes the window, only when opened from the … button. |
| Instrument Lists, Instrument, Order, Column settings | OK | Nothing |
| Workspaces, and messages with only an OK button | OK | OK |
| Save preset, Load preset, Export preset | Nothing | Cancel |
| The download window, "Downloading AlgoDesk" | Nothing | Cancel: the download stops. See Updates. |
| Optimizer parameters, Instrument maps | Nothing | Nothing |
In a question with two answers, such as Yes and No or Update and Skip, Esc gives the second answer.
In the Connections window, Enter in a text setting, such as Name or API Key, chooses OK: it saves every change and closes the window. Use Tab or the mouse to move to the next setting.