The Option Books Menu

The Option Books Menu governs your options books:

To display the Option Books menu, enter the .BOOK command, or select Option Books from the Option Chart menu. The Option Books menu contains the following selections:

Selection	Function
Option Books	Each defined option book appears at the top of the Option Books menu. If no books exist, the menu appears as shown in the figure above.
Aggregate	Creates an aggregate book based on all the strategies in all defined books.
New Book	Displays the New Book Prompt so that you can name and create a new book.
Option Chart	Displays a default Option Chart window.
Main Menu	Displays the Main Menu.
Done	Returns you to the active window.

Initially, the Option Books menu contains no book selections. However, as the table indicates, additional selections appear on the menu once you have defined books. As you create books, the Option Books menu creates additional selections, one for each book you have defined:

In this Option Books menu, there are seven books. The selections for each book are split into two columns. The first column contains the Book names. Here, the books are named Strategies, and Trader1 through Trader7. You can name a book using any name you want—you should avoid Aspen commands, reserved words, and instrument symbols. The second column contains a caret (^). You will see the caret character in most of the book menus. Clicking on the caret (here and elsewhere) creates a drag-and-drop window that enables you to place the book in option chart windows and quote windows. Use this example to familiarize yourself with the appearance of the book menu when one or more books have been defined.

The Option Books menu is the parent of all the menus that comprise the Book. It is the top of a multi-layered hierarchy that mirrors the detailed relationships between option strategies, underlying instruments, and option positions. A book consists of one or more option trading strategies. A strategy consists of one or more option positions. The Book manages these relationships as you define them and enables you to display composites of strategies, an individual strategy, or a single option within a strategy. Let’s begin now by looking at how you define a book.