When reading any sort of technical documentation, it is a very good idea to understand how important words are being used. Regardless of whether the usage of certain words is entirely correct, knowing how they are used will benefit your understanding.
The following terms are used with specific meaning in this Help file and other documentation. If you encounter a term that is unfamiliar or whose usage is potentially unclear, check here for clarification. If you encounter a confusing term and do not find it here, please let us know at support@omniumsoftware.com so we can add it. If you think we have chosen poorly, let us know that also.
Title Bar - The top-most part of the Window, so named because it normally contains the window's title. For example, the title of this window is Chart Overlay Help. When ChartOverlay is started, the title bar will say Chart Overlay - Untitled. If you save your work or open a file, the word Untitled will be replaced by the file name. The Title Bar is also used to show additional information that depends on the type of object you have drawn and selected.
Window - For our purposes, a rectangular area on a computer screen within which an Application can display and accept information. Common types of windows are Document Windows, Dialog Windows (or Dialog Boxes) and Message Windows (or Boxes). A Window normally has a Title Bar at the top and a larger content area beneath, which is surrounded by a border. While it is true that more complex window styles are possible, they are not relevant to ChartOverlay.
Menu - A list of commands that appears when you click the mouse. In many programs (but not ChartOverlay), there is a Menu Bar just below the Title Bar. In ChartOverlay, you access the menu by right-clicking in the Drawing Area.
Toolbar - A horizontal set of buttons that appears just below the Title Bar. Each button represents a command. The buttons on the left are called Drawing Buttons and each of them selects one of the Drawing Tools. If you wish, you can hide the toolbar.
Tool Button - Any one of the buttons on the Toolbar. Clicking on a Tool Button causes some action to be taken (unless the button has been disabled because it is not currently relevant; for example, when nothing has been drawn, the Erase button is disabled). Some Tool Buttons remain depressed until you click them again or until you click another button.
Drawing Button - Any one of the seven left-most buttons on the Toolbar. Clicking any enabled button selects the corresponding Drawing Tool and deselects any other that may have been selected. At your option, clicking a Drawing Button will also open a Dialog Window that lets you choose options associated with its drawing tool. In some cases, a Drawing Button may support more than one Study and
Dialog Window (or Box) - Any ChartOverlay window other than the main Overlay window.
Drawing Area - The area inside the borders of the Overlay window and below the toolbar.
Item - Item is often used as a synonym for object. Sometimes it is used as a generic pronoun to refer to a component of an object (eg, an Andrews Warning Line or a Retracement level); this should be clear from context.
Object - An Object is anything you draw with one of the tools, such as a Fibonacci Retracement, an Andrews Pitchfork, or a bit of text.
Selected Item or Object - The object whose defining points are indicated by small circles. When an item is first drawn, it is selected automatically. You can also select an item by ctrl-clicking on it. Simply pointing at an object will select it temporarily. When you ctrl-click or point at a point that is common to two objects, the one drawn later is selected.
Study - any of the technical analysis tools provided by ChartOverlay or any of the results of applying those tools. All of the tools provided by ChartOverlay are Visual Tools (eg, Trendlines, Gann Fans, Fibonacci Retracements) as opposed to Numerical Tools (eg, Moving Averages, Bollinger Bands, Linear Regressions). Although, the tools we offer may do some calculations, they are primarily based on drawing; any calculations done are based on a small amount of numerical information that you provide or on points or lines you may specify, not on the data used to plot any specific chart.