April 2003

NOTE:  This article is obsolete.  
Click this link to read about the new EChat program.

A growing community of traders are communicating with each other using two free pieces of software (EChat and Ventri1o).  This article will describe how to download, install and use the first program called EChat, which is a chat room created by Ensign Software.  EChat is a very nice chat program where traders exchange ideas and chart images.  (Note:  The Ensign Windows program has a built-in chat room identical to the EChat room featured in this article.  EChat is a stand alone chat program for traders who do not use Ensign Windows.)

Installation
Use your web browser to go to the Download page on the Ensign web site, or you can click on this link to Download eChat.   Save the program to a folder of your choice.  A folder named C:\Ensign is recommended as the place to save the EChat.exe program.

You can use Windows Explorer to create a shortcut to EChat and place the shortcut on your Windows desktop.

SetUp
Run the EChat.exe program that was saved on your computer hard disk.  The chat room form will be displayed.

What makes the EChat room unique is the ease with which traders can share images of the charts they are working with.  The upper portion of the chat room is a fully functional web browser.  The lower portion of the chat room is where messages are exchanged.   Ensign Windows has the ability to upload to any web site chart images by pressing CTRL-J.  The link to these uploads can be automatically posted in the transcript and automatically viewed by the patrons in the chat room.

Above is a random and typical example of what the traders are doing with the EChat program.   A patron has posted a chart to the http://www.dacharts.com/ web site on the Internet.   A link to this chart is automatically posted in the transcript.   The chart image is automatically shown in the web viewer.  You can read the discussion in progress in the transcript text.  If for some reason, the viewer and transcript panels are not showing, try pressing the CTRL-I keys once or twice to toggle these panels into view.

The first thing you should do is click the SetUp button found on the bottom right corner of the chat form.  This will show a property form where you can enter a nickname to be known by in the chat room.

The other properties can be set as shown above, and will be briefly explained here.

• Show Image Viewer option shows a panel above the transcript where images can be viewed.  It is a complete web browser.

• Show Members List option shows a member list on the right hand side of the transcript.

• Show Text Controls option shows the small buttons, check boxes, and tabs that surround the text entry box.

• Sorted List option alphabetizes the member list.

• Show Time Stamps option adds a time stamp to the beginning of every line in the transcript.

• Auto Logging option automatically saves the transcript as an ASCII text file in the ...\ChatLog\ folder.

• Show Arrivals option posts a message in the transcript when a member joins the chat room.

• Show Departures option posts a message in the transcript when a member leaves the chat room.

• Use My Font Size option forces all text in the transcript to use the font size selected by you.

• Use My Font Color option forces all text in the transcript to use the font color selected by you.

• Scroll Transcript option scrolls the transcript as new lines are added.

• Show Emotion Icons option automatically adds icons in the left margin of the transcript based on the context.

The chat room has four buttons numbered 1 through 4 that can be programmed to navigate the web viewer/browser to favorite URLs.  Use the edit boxes to customize the URL addresses for the four buttons.

The chat room can play sounds for 4 different activities.  Use the edit boxes to customize the wav files that are played.   Erase the path and filename if you do not want any sound played for an activity.

• Page   A member can be paged by clicking on the square box shown by their nickname on the member list.

• PM     A Private Message can be sent to any member by double clicking on their nickname on the member list.

• Links  A sound can be played every time a new link is posted in the chat room that shows an image in the viewer.

Click the OK button to close the property form.   Most of the properties can be accessed in the chat room by the right mouse click pop-up menu.  Many of these properties have hot-keys which are also shown on the pop-up menu.

Features
Above the text entry box on the left side is a drop down box used to select different chat rooms.   Some of the rooms may require a password to have access to the room.  Typically these locked rooms are being used by trading mentors with their private subscribers.  The B-Line chat room is a popular free room.

To the right of the room selection box are buttons to select the font.  Click the B button to change the font to Bold.  Click one of the three A buttons to select a font size.  The three choices are size 8, 10, and 12.   Click the A button to select a font color.

The Post My Links check box is only in the Ensign Windows implementation.  It is an option to automatically post into the transcript the link for a chart uploaded to the Internet via the CTRL-J keys.  Uploading a chart to a web site is a feature in Ensign Windows.

The Show Posted Links option will automatically show the chart images posted to three web sites:   file:///C:/EnsignSoftware/index.htm, http://www.dacharts.com/, and http://www.tradingtutor.com/.   Links to other web sites can be posted in the transcript, but they will not automatically show in the web viewer.  For any link in the transcript, you can click on the link to have the viewer go to the web address.

The Read option supports text-to-speech readers that automatically read text posted to the Windows clipboard.  When this box is checked, the transcript text is automatically copied to the clipboard for use by the reader.   A free reader can be downloaded from http://www.cfs-technologies.com/home/?id=1.4   Speakonia is the recommended text-to-speech reader because of its quality and because it is free.

The Listen option can be used to talk with members of the chat room.  Check the box to enable this voice feature.   You will need speakers on the computer to hear what is said by others, and you will need a microphone in order to talk to the room.   Hold down the Right CTRL key to activate the microphone while you are talking.   Use the Setup form to change which key is used to activate the microphone.  The patrons that are have the listen feature activated show on the member list with a blue highlight.

Your text is entered in the text entry box below the buttons.  When you press the Enter key of click the Submit button, your message is posted in the transcript and distributed to all members logged into this chat room.

Various icons may be displayed in the left side margin of the transcript .  The icon is automatically selected based on the context of the transcript.

The members list shows the nicknames for the patrons in the chat room.  Next to each nickname is a square box.  Click on the box to 'page' a member by sending a message to the member and playing a page sound on the member's computer.   This is a great way to let someone know you are trying to reach them and want their attention for a moment in the chat room.  

Click on the box by your own nickname to indicate that you are away from the computer.   The box will become checked on everyone's member list to indicate your 'away' status.  Even though a member may be showing 'away' status, they can still be paged.  The '64 users' indicates the number of patrons in the chat room.

Double click on a member nickname to send a private message (PM) to the person.   A separate small chat window will open on your computer and on the computer for the other person.  Use this small window to have a private chat with the other person.  The caption to the PM window shows the nickname of the person you are chatting with, and the time the PM window was created.

Some rooms are for private use and require a password to gain entry.   If you click on the tab for a room that is locked, you will see a prompt to enter the password.  If you know the password, type in the password and press the Enter key.  If you do not know the password, press the Enter key so the password entry box will go away.  The correct password must be entered to gain access to a locked room.

You do not have to be an Ensign subscriber to use the chat room.  Just download and install the free EChat program.  This is a stand alone chat room that any trader is welcome to use to meet other traders.  You are invited to install EChat and join other traders in the chat room.   Many who have published articles in past issues of the Trading Tips newsletter patronize the Emini chat room in EChat.  Please come join the growing audience of traders who keep in touch with each other in the EChat rooms.