How to improve scanning speed in ThinkorSwim

[Stoynks]

I am having trouble with the stock scanner. Every time I scan, it takes a while (usually a minute or 2) for my study/script to load. Is there a way to increase that speed?

AFTERMARKET HOURS: My scripts load instantly.

Here for example:
My "TEST" thinkscript and the VolumeAvg takes a while to load.

Specs:
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 1700 Eight-Core Processor
RAM: 16GB, 2666MHZ; Allocated in TOS 8gb-12gb
WIFI: 14 ms, Download Speed 115, Upload Speed 6.

 

[BenTen]

This problem has been reported many times, nothing to do with your internet speed. It may take a while for ThinkorSwim server to populate the data for you.

 

[MerryDay]

@Stoynks Task Manager (alt-ctrl-del) can verify that it is not your resources that are affecting run speeds.

As you can see, I hit a logjam sometimes on upload bandwidth and am prone to high-traffic slowdowns as I compete w/ the gamers in my neighborhood. I have no idea if it will help but FIOS is going to install 1gig of fiber. For Christmas, I got 64Gb of ram, to be installed. However, as @BenTen has said, if you search this forum, most have found that the issues are on TOS's end. TOS runs the scans on their servers. If the scan requires a large amount of their resources there will be a slow compilation. If it runs at high demand times, it will timeout w/ errors. Occasionally, I have even gotten results but they were squirrely.

The moral of the story is I don't use the most "perfect" strategy. I use the best strategy that is clean and efficient that loads the minimum amount of time periods needed w/ indicators that don't overtax resources. HTH

 

[Alex]

@Stoynks I have as well noticed that pre market scanner loads way faster than during open. The problem is likely on thinkorswim's side rather than ours.

 

[rad14733]

@Stoynks Scans are lower priority than delivery of near real-time trading data... That won't ever change... The way to increase scan speed is to ask for less results and start out with shorter watchlists than All Symbols or All Stocks... I only scan my own watchlists during trading hours and reserve full scans for times outside standard trading hours... Reducing the number of criteria and perhaps splitting them between multiple scans also helps... First, scan for a main criteria and then scan that subset with additional criteria... You'll NEVER get lightning fast scans during the standard trading day if the scans are large or complex...

 

[Stoynks]

Alright, thank all of you guys for the feedback and the advice. I'm glad it's TOS side, not mine, so I don't have to upgrade my specs anymore or my internet. I will shorter my scan list that way it's faster, hopefully.

 

[Jtopaz]

After scan through the replies. This is how TOS works, am I correct?
1. Alert, watchlist, scan, conditional orders - Script run in sever side. So client-side computation power, network speed have no effect on script running speed. The only way is to minimize the script size.
2. Chart & Chart alert - Script run in client side. So script running speed depend on client-side computation power & network speed.

One more question.
If I divide a complex script into several small script in watchlist. Does it help the watchlist performance?

 

[rad14733]

After scan through the replies. This is how TOS works, am I correct?
1. Alert, watchlist, scan, conditional orders - Script run in sever side. So client-side computation power, network speed have no effect on script running speed. The only way is to minimize the script size.
2. Chart & Chart alert - Script run in client side. So script running speed depend on client-side computation power & network speed.

One more question.
If I divide a complex script into several small script in watchlist. Does it help the watchlist performance?

To the best of my knowledge...

1.) Alerts, scans, and conditional orders are on the server... Watchlists are on you local machine... The server side functions have preset priorities that TOS/TDA controls so that near real-time trading data is processed before optional tasks like scans and custom watchlist columns...

2.) Charts and chart alerts are on the local machine... Studies and Strategies also run on the local machine...

Dividing up a script into multiple scripts may or may not improve performance due to their lower priority rating than mission critical processes as explained above... However, streamlining scripts as much as possible will help to a minor extent...

Hope this helps...