GETTING STARTED WITH METASTOCK Part 7:

SETTING UP A LAYOUT IN METASTOCK

A layout is a way of displaying a selected number of charts, with indicators, in a single screen.
When the layout is saved the same combination of charts can be opened again just be selecting the desired layout. Some traders use layouts to group together stocks they are following. This might be as many as 16 stocks. Although each chart appears as a thumbnail, by clicking on the expand button the trader can view the selected chart at full size.
The layout advantage is that stocks can be selected from multiple directories, or folders, and displayed on the same page.

For this example we are going to use a 4 chart layout with stocks drawn from 4 different folders and 4 different markets, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and the US.

Step1
Use the File, the NEW, then OPEN command to open the first chart you want to display in the layout. (These steps are shown in full on this page)
We open 4 charts from 4 different folders.
Initially each charts will all fill the screen. This makes it easier to apply our chosen indicators.

Step 2
When you have constructed each of the charts the way you want them, then click the WINDOW menu and select TILE. Arrange and resize charts to suit your requirements. Remember, this is the way the layout will look every time you open it. Once the layout is opened you can resize any of the charts as required. Our objective here is to start with the charts for stocks that we are particularly interested in.



Step 3
When you are satisfied with this layout then it can be saved. The save procedure is not intuitive.
Go to FILE then NEW, then select LAYOUT. The dialog box shown below appears. It lists all of the open charts you have. Click ADD ALL to shift all the charts into the new layout record box. Alternatively you could choose to add just a selection. I find it more useful to set up the layout exactly as I want it, and then just ADD ALL. Click OK to finish. This returns you to the original screen.



Step 4
To give this layout a name so it can be easily opened we now use the FILE and SAVE AS menu. This brings up the dialog box shown below.
The file type, LAYOUT is automatically selected.
Type in the name you wish to give this layout, such as International.
Make sure it is saved in the CHARTS directory of Equis. If it is not stored here it is very, very difficult to find again.



TO OPEN A LAYOUT

Select FILE then OPEN from the menu. This automatically displays the Layout dialog box as shown above. Simply double click on the icon of the layout you want to use.