Output Format Specification

Several of the Script Sections in RealTest serve to define items which are both calculated and displayed.

These sections include: Charts, Graphs, Results, Trades and Scan.

In each of these sections, the format in which to display the value of the calculated formula can be optionally specified by including a special kind of comment within the formula definition.

A format specification comment must use the squiggly-brace comment style.

If no format specification is provided, the "general" format will be used (as in Excel).

As one quick example, the NetProfit formula in Results.rts is defined as {$0} S.Equity - S.StartEquity. The $0 tells RealTest to display this stat as a whole dollar value.

You can see other examples of these codes in the section links above.

Two forms are supported within the { } block: the short-glyph form (e.g. {$0}) documented in the first table below, and the newer named-attribute form (e.g. {format: dollar, places: 0}) documented in the second. The two forms cannot be mixed in the same comment block, but the same formula may contain multiple comment blocks.

Short-Glyph Form

Code	Used In	Shows This	Digits (if present) Specify
#	scans, trades, charts, graphs, results	general-purpose numeric value	number of decimal places
#x	scans, trades, charts, graphs, results	integer in hexadecimal format	n/a
##	scans, trades, charts, graphs, results	general-purpose number without commas	number of decimal places
$	scans, trades, charts, graphs, results	value as currency	number of decimal places
%	scans, trades, charts, graphs, results	value * 100 as a percent	number of decimal places
-	with any of the above codes	value as above, use red if negative	the ABS is the number of decimal places
//	scans, trades, charts, graphs, results	value as a date string	n/a
`	scans, trades, charts, graphs, results	value in 32nds, as futures prices are quoted (e.g. 110'16)	n/a
~	scans, trades, charts, graphs, results	value as True or False	n/a
^	charts	show this indicator in an upper indicator pane (^ = ^1 = pane closest to price; ^2 and ^3 select additional panes stacked above)	optional pane number 1, 2 or 3
^	graphs	include this graph in Test Summary Reports	n/a
\|	charts	show this indicator as a line in the volume pane (use line: Bars to draw actual bars)	n/a
\|	graphs	draw bars rather than a line	base value (x-axis) for bar chart
\|	results	show this item in the status bar	n/a
"name"	any	override the default item name	n/a

An output format specification comment can be inserted anywhere within the item's formula.

Any unrecognized character in the comment cancels its interpretation as an output format.

Named-Attribute Form

An output format comment may alternatively contain a comma-separated list of name: value attributes, e.g. {format: dollar, places: 0, color: orange}. The script editor pops a context-aware autocomplete list when the cursor is inside the { } block, showing only the attributes that apply in the current script section.

Attribute	Alias	Used In	Value
format	unit	scans, trades, charts, graphs, results	one of: number, plain, dollar, percent, fraction, date, bool, hex
places	decimals	scans, trades, charts, graphs, results	integer number of decimal places
negred	–	scans, trades, charts, graphs, results	1 or 0 – show negative values in red
name	label	scans, trades, charts, graphs, results	quoted display label that overrides the item name
color	–	charts (per indicator); strategy / template / benchmark / statsgroup / combined section headers	named color, #RRGGBB, RGB(r,g,b), #RRGGBBAA, or ARGB(a,r,g,b) – overrides the default palette color; the alpha forms make bar fills partially transparent (see below)
pane	–	charts	one of: price, ind1, ind2, ind3, volume – selects which chart pane to draw the indicator in
line	linetype	charts, graphs	one of: Line, Bars, Dashed, Dotted (graphs treat Dashed/Dotted as Line)
width	–	charts	integer 1 to 20 – pen width in pixels for this line, overriding the Line Width chart option (with line: Bars, sets each bar’s half-width)
base	–	charts, graphs (with line: Bars)	baseline (x-axis) value for histogram-style rendering
hat	–	charts, graphs	1 or 0 – equivalent to the legacy ^ glyph (route to indicator pane in charts; include in Test Summary Reports in graphs)
factor	–	trades	1 or 0 – marks the item as a Factor Scan factor and evaluates it as of the trade’s setup bar rather than its exit bar

The 1/0 attributes (negred, hat, factor) may also be given as a bare word meaning 1: {factor} is the same as {factor: 1}, and {factor, format: percent, places: 2} combines it with other attributes.

Color Values

The color: attribute accepts five value forms:

1.a named color: black, white, red, darkred, green, darkgreen, blue, darkblue, cyan, magenta, yellow, orange, purple, brown, gray, darkgray, lightgray

2.an HTML-style hex code: #RRGGBB (e.g. #FF8800)

3.an RGB triple: RGB(r, g, b) with each component 0–255

4.a hex code with an alpha (opacity) byte: #RRGGBBAA (e.g. #FF880080 for half-transparent orange)

5.an ARGB quad: ARGB(a, r, g, b) with the alpha (opacity) component first

The alpha component is an opacity from 1 (nearly invisible) to 255 (fully opaque); omitting it, or giving 0 or 255, draws the color fully opaque. Alpha affects only fills: chart indicators drawn with line: bars and the bars of bar-style graphs. Lines and text always draw opaque. Partially transparent fills let overlapping bars and the chart grid show through, which is especially useful for multi-strategy drawdown graphs. Bar graphs can also be given a default transparency without editing any color specs – see the Bar Graph Opacity setting in the graph options dialog.

On the Strategy, Template, Benchmark, StatsGroup, and Combined section header lines, a {color: ...} comment overrides the color used for that strategy in graphs, result columns, trade overlays on charts, and combined-strategy reports.