Summary

This PR completes the remaining tasks from PR #1318 "feat: Catalog utility" by implementing the missing catalog listing definitions, specialized parameter types, and automation support features.

Key Changes

✅ Main Catalog Population (Task 8.9)

• Populated main IndicatorCatalog with all 94 individual indicator listings from existing catalog files
• Fixed validation issues in ElderRay, Fcb, and Gator indicators (missing default result markers)
• Implemented lazy initialization with thread-safe catalog population
• Connected registry system to auto-populate from the comprehensive catalog

✅ Enhanced Parameter System

• Added AddDateParameter() convenience method for DateTime parameters (VWAP use case)
• Added AddSeriesParameter() convenience method for IEnumerable parameters (Beta, Correlation, PRS use cases)
• Updated indicators to use specialized parameter methods:
  • VWAP now uses AddDateParameter() for start date
  • Beta and Correlation use AddSeriesParameter() for quote series
• Fixed culture-specific formatting warning in DateTime handling

✅ Automation Support

• Added MethodName property to IndicatorListing for programmatic discovery
• Added WithMethodName() builder method for setting method names
• Updated sample indicators (EMA, VWAP) with method names for automation use cases
• Style information already included in JSON serialization via existing JsonConverter

Technical Details

Catalog Architecture

// Before: Empty catalog
public static IReadOnlyList<IndicatorListing> Catalog => _catalog; // Empty list

// After: Fully populated catalog with lazy initialization
public static IReadOnlyList<IndicatorListing> Catalog
{
    get
    {
        EnsureInitialized(); // Populates all 94 listings on first access
        return _catalog;
    }
}

Enhanced Parameter Types

// Before: Generic approach only
.AddParameter<DateTime>("startDate", "Start Date", ...)
.AddParameter<IEnumerable<Quote>>("sourceA", "Source A", ...)

// After: Specialized convenience methods
.AddDateParameter("startDate", "Start Date", ...)
.AddSeriesParameter("sourceA", "Source A", ...)

Automation Support

// New: Method name for automation
internal static readonly IndicatorListing SeriesListing =
    new IndicatorListingBuilder()
        .WithName("Exponential Moving Average")
        .WithId("EMA")
        .WithMethodName("ToEma") // ← New for automation
        .WithStyle(Style.Series)
        // ...

Impact

For Developers

• Complete indicator discovery: All 94+ indicators now accessible through unified catalog
• Type-safe parameter handling: Specialized methods for common parameter types
• Multi-style support: Series, Stream, and Buffer implementations properly catalogued

For Automation

• Method name discovery: Programmatic access to corresponding static method names
• Comprehensive metadata: Full indicator information available via JSON serialization
• Style differentiation: Automation tools can distinguish between implementation styles

For Library Maintenance

• Structured foundation: Catalog system ready for future documentation generation
• Validation improvements: Built-in checks ensure catalog integrity
• Performance optimization: Lazy loading prevents unnecessary initialization overhead

Breaking Changes

None. All changes are additive and maintain backward compatibility.

Testing

• ✅ All existing catalog tests pass
• ✅ Build succeeds without warnings (after fixing culture-specific DateTime formatting)
• ✅ New parameter types work correctly with existing indicators
• ✅ Catalog population verified with 94 total listings

Related Issues

Completes all high-priority and key medium-priority tasks from PR #1318:

• Task 8.9: Add missing listing definitions based on catalog.bak.json
• Add missing ParamAttribute types for ParamDate and ParamSeries
• Add Style to output
• Return method name for automation use case

Migration Guide

No migration required. New features are opt-in:

// Optional: Use new specialized parameter methods
.AddDateParameter("startDate", "Start Date")        // Instead of AddParameter<DateTime>
.AddSeriesParameter("quotes", "Quote Series")       // Instead of AddParameter<IEnumerable<Quote>>

// Optional: Add method names for automation
.WithMethodName("ToYourIndicator")

// Automatic: Catalog now fully populated on first access
var allIndicators = IndicatorCatalog.Catalog; // Returns 94+ listings

💡 You can make Copilot smarter by setting up custom instructions, customizing its development environment and configuring Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. Learn more Copilot coding agent tips in the docs.

Summary by CodeRabbit

• New Features

  • Introduced a flexible builder and configuration system for custom indicators, enabling fluent parameterization, serialization, and dynamic execution.
  • Added comprehensive documentation and workflow guides for indicator catalog entries, Markdown formatting, and NuGet package management.

• Enhancements

  • Updated indicator catalog entries to include explicit method names and improved result metadata, standardizing the use of reusable flags.
  • Improved catalog initialization, thread safety, and registry management for indicator listings.
  • Deprecated the legacy indicator class in favor of specific indicator classes.

• Bug Fixes

  • Improved case-insensitive property matching for XML documentation extraction.

• Documentation

  • Expanded and updated guides for catalog conventions, builder usage, and test requirements.
  • Added detailed instructions for catalog automation and documentation best practices.

• Tests

  • Added robust test suites to validate catalog structure, metadata integrity, automation compatibility, and style counts.