Follower groups in Replikanto: by connection or custom

This article explains follower groups in Replikanto: what the group header rows in the Follower Accounts list are, the two kinds of group (by broker connection, or custom groups you build yourself), how to turn on Group followers by connection, how to read a group header, how to expand and collapse groups, and what happens to your groups when you save the workspace or open it in an older version. Follower groups are available starting with Replikanto 1.7.1.0.

What follower groups are

With many follower accounts, a long flat list is hard to scan. Starting with Replikanto 1.7.1.0 you can list the followers under group headers, one row per group, each showing the group name and the number of accounts in it, for example Simulation (3). The header also summarizes the group (status, positions, PnL) and lets you act on all of its accounts with one click.

Groups organize the list and let you act on several accounts at once. They do not change how Replikanto copies trades: every follower is still copied with its own ratio, status and settings.
If you have not turned on grouping by connection and have not created a custom group, the Follower Accounts list looks exactly as it did before, a flat list.

Replikanto Follower Accounts grid grouped by connection: Live collapsed, Prop firms and Simulation expanded, with five numbered callouts

The Follower Accounts grid with grouping on. 1 = the + / - button (Live is collapsed; its red circle and Rearm button show a Disarmed account inside), 2 = group name and number of accounts, 3 = status circle of the Simulation header (the dashed ring means its accounts do not all have the same status: Sim104 is Off), 4 = the dash in the Ratio cell of Prop firms (APX-001 uses 1 and APX-002 uses 2), 5 = combined Side, Position, Avg. price and PnL of Prop firms (2 + 3 = 5 contracts, $105.00).

Two kinds of group

By connection. Replikanto lists the followers under one header for each broker connection (for example Simulation, Live, or a Rithmic connection). It is automatic and you turn it on with the Group followers by connection option described below. A connection header is shown only while at least one of its accounts is in the list.
Custom groups. You choose which accounts belong to a group and give it a name, for example Prop firms or Swing. A custom group does not depend on the connection. Its header is always listed, even if all of its accounts are disconnected (it then shows a count such as (0/3)). Creating and managing custom groups is covered in the article Create, edit and delete custom follower groups.

The two kinds work together, and the custom group wins. An account in a custom group is listed under that custom group, not under its connection. An account that is in no custom group goes under its connection header when Group followers by connection is on, and stays loose in the list otherwise. An account belongs to at most one custom group.

Order in the list: the groups first, sorted by name (upper and lower case are ignored), then the accounts that are in no group.

Turn on Group followers by connection

The option is off by default and is set separately for each Replikanto tab. You can change it in two places:

Right-click inside the Follower Accounts grid and check Group followers by connection, or
Open Properties... and, under General, check Group followers by connection.

Both do the same thing, and the option is saved with the workspace. Uncheck it to go back to a list without connection headers (your custom groups stay).

Right-click menu of the Follower Accounts grid with Group followers by connection checked

1 = Group followers by connection, checked. Right-click inside the Follower Accounts grid to find it, next to Expand all groups and Collapse all groups.

Replikanto Properties, General section, with Group followers by connection unchecked

1 = Properties > General > Group followers by connection. It is off by default; check it to group the followers by connection.

Read a group header

Each cell of a header summarizes the accounts of the group.

Column	What the header shows
On (status circle)	The most important status in the group, in this order: Disarmed (red), Out of Sync (yellow), On (green), Off (gray). A dashed ring around the circle means the accounts of the group do not all have the same status. Hover over it to see the counts, for example "Disarmed 1 · On 3 · Off 2". Clicking it turns accounts on or off (see the article Apply a setting to a whole follower group at once).
Account	The + or - button, the group name and the number of accounts in parentheses. A custom group with accounts that are not connected shows two numbers, for example Prop firms (2/3): 2 of its 3 accounts are present.
ATM Copy, Market Only, Cross Order	The state shared by the group. A half-filled box means the accounts differ. These cells look at every account of the group, including the ones that are Off. For Cross Order the instrument name is shown only when all accounts cross to the same instrument.
Ratio, Pct. Change, Pre Allocation	The value when all accounts of the group have the same one, or a dash (—) when they differ. Only the column of the active copy Method is shown. You can type a value here to set it on the whole group.
Side, Position, Orders, Avg. price, PnL	Combined figures of the accounts that are not Off. An account that is Off is left out of these totals, and so is an account that is not connected. Side shows ± when the group has both long and short accounts. PnL is the sum, or a dash when the accounts use different currencies. Avg. price is weighted by quantity and by the value of a point of each account's instrument (so an ES account and an MES account through Cross Order combine correctly); it shows a dash when the sides are opposite or a point value is unknown, and is blank when no account has a position. Example: 2 contracts at 5000 and 3 contracts at 5001 give 5000.60.
Flatten	The button that flattens the whole group (see the article Flatten or Rearm a whole follower group). A Rearm button also appears next to the group name while the group has Disarmed accounts.
Connection, Cash value, Factor, Net liquidation	Empty in the header.

Expand and collapse groups

Click the + or - button, or double-click the header, to open or close one group.
With a header selected, press the right arrow to expand it, the left arrow to collapse it, or Enter or Space to switch it.
Right-click the grid and choose Expand all groups or Collapse all groups. These two items appear only when the list has at least one header, and each one is disabled when it would change nothing.
When you collapse a group that contains the selected account, the selection moves to the group header.

A collapsed group still works: its header keeps showing its status and totals, and its buttons keep working.

Sorting

Click a column heading to sort as usual. Sorting by Account in descending order reverses the order of the groups. Sorting by any other column sorts the accounts inside each group, and the groups stay in name order.

What is saved

The workspace saves your custom groups and their accounts, which group headers are collapsed or expanded, and the Group followers by connection setting of each tab.
Export... and Import... of the follower list also carry each account's custom group. Grouping by connection is not in the file, because it is the option above.
If a saved group cannot be read when the workspace loads, the Log tab shows "Warning [1123] Could not restore one saved follower group; it was skipped." Your followers and your other groups load normally.

Older versions of Replikanto

A workspace saved with Replikanto 1.7.1.0 or later can be opened in an earlier version: the followers load and the groups are ignored. If you save the workspace in the earlier version, the groups and the collapsed or expanded state are dropped. The followers and their settings are kept, but the groups do not come back when you return to 1.7.1.0 or later. If you plan to go back to an older version, use Export... first (the file keeps each account's custom group) and Import... after updating again.

Common questions

My followers are now under headers. Did I lose accounts?

No. Grouping never hides an account. A collapsed group hides its rows until you expand it (click + or choose Expand all groups). To go back to a flat list, uncheck Group followers by connection and delete your custom groups, if you have any.

Can an account be in two groups?

No. An account can be in at most one custom group. It is shown under that group, and not under its connection.

Does a group change how the copy works?

No. Groups only organize the list and let you apply an action to several accounts at once. Each account keeps its own ratio, status and settings.

Why does a header show a dash instead of the ratio?

The accounts in that group have different values. A dash is shown whenever the values differ.

Why did my groups disappear after I opened the workspace in an older version?

Older versions do not know follower groups, and saving the workspace there removes them. See "Older versions of Replikanto" above.

Apply a setting to a whole follower group at once: the clicks and typed values on a group header.
Flatten or Rearm a whole follower group: the Flatten and Rearm buttons of a header.
Create, edit and delete custom follower groups: building your own groups.
Follower Accounts grid columns in Replikanto explained: the columns of the grid.