A workspace is a restorable unit of work; a layout is a description of geometry. Keeping the two concepts separate is what makes an ATAS desk reproducible, because geometry can be changed without invalidating the instruments and indicator instances inside it.
01 Workspace, layout and template
A workspace holds the chart objects: instruments, panels, indicator instances and their inputs. A layout holds the arrangement: how many panels, where the ladder sits, which display each window occupies. A template is a partial configuration — for example a panel preset with a bar rule and two indicator instances — that can be applied to a new panel without disturbing a whole workspace.
- WorkspaceInstruments, panels, instances and inputs.
- LayoutPanel geometry, docking and display assignment.
- TemplateReusable partial configuration applied to a panel.
- ProfileWhole-user container holding workspaces and preferences.
02 Panel geometry and docking
Geometry decisions are constrained by the data. A footprint chart needs vertical space for price rows; a depth ladder needs vertical space matched to the same row scale; an oscillator panel needs enough height to make its own axis readable. Panels that share a vertical row scale should be docked adjacent to each other, and their row multipliers should match.
| Region | Content | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Primary, left | Footprint chart plus profile | Widest region; dominant row scale |
| Primary, right | Depth ladder | Row multiplier matched to the footprint |
| Secondary, top | Higher-time-frame chart | Clock aggregation, independent scale |
| Secondary, bottom | Indicator sub-panels | Fixed heights, own axes |
Docking is a layout property, so the same workspace can be re-arranged on a single display without losing any configuration. What changes is only the pixel budget per panel.
03 Naming conventions that survive time
Names are configuration. A panel named ES 1500t + profile 70% documents itself; a panel named Chart 3 does not. The convention worth adopting is instrument, then bar rule, then the one distinguishing parameter, in that order.
- Instrument first, in the venue's own symbol form.
- Bar rule second, in the platform's shorthand.
- One distinguishing parameter last, and only one.
- Never date a workspace name; revisions belong in the layout, not the label.
04 Portability between machines
A workspace moves between machines as a configuration unit. Three things commonly fail to move cleanly: display assignment when monitor layouts differ, recorded data references when the tick store lives on a different disk, and instrument definitions when the venue symbol set differs. Each failure is visible immediately, and each has a straightforward remedy — reassign displays, repoint the data location, re-map the instrument.
Move the profile first, then the recorded data, then the instrument definitions. A workspace opened before its data location exists will report empty panels rather than an error, which is easy to misread as a rendering fault.
05 Templates as documentation
A well-kept template set is the cheapest documentation a desk can maintain. Because inputs are never inherited globally, a template fully determines the panel it creates; a reader who has the template has the configuration. The related hardware and data questions — how much tick history to hold, how many panels a machine can carry — are covered on the performance and hardware notes page.
Keyboard binding, which often drives how quickly a layout can be re-arranged, is described on the hotkeys and navigation page.