Slopey Peaky Bob

[tgm0]

I just realised that I have failed to acknowledge a contribution by Brenden last week. He sent me this pm:

Hi Steve

Noticed this issue when I set DeletePendingTradesOnOppositeColour = true;

The EA was deleting the pending orders but the ReadIndicatorValues() function was adding them back in again in an endless loop.

I made the following changes in the ReadIndicatorValues() which I believe may help:

Line 2170
if ((BuyStopsCount > 0 || MarketBuysCount > 0) && (!DeletePendingTradesOnOppositeColour || HtfSsStatus[PairIndex] != red))

Line 2210
if ((SellStopsCount > 0 || MarketSellsCount > 0) && (!DeletePendingTradesOnOppositeColour || HtfSsStatus[PairIndex] != blue))

I have not tested extensively but it seemed to stop the looping

Cheers
Brenden

The latest version includes this fix. DIYers need to add it.

Thanks Brenden.

And here is the importance of always updating to the latest available version...

I had 5 demos still running on v1i and I got my but kikked from GP that in the end was forced to ban my IP from their demo servers.
Combined these demos were doing over 1 million order modifications a day.
At the beginning I thought setting MinMinutesBetweenTrades to 1 minute was going to be enough, but I was wrong; v1i got me banned twice, v1l would have not.

An honorable mention to GP and the way they have managed my requests.
They were simply AMAZING! :hi:
Despite being on demo they always gave me full attention and were always quick in answering my doubts and restoring my demo functionality.
Thank you Jeremy, thank you GP!!!

[SteveHopwood]

And here is the importance of always updating to the latest available version...

I had 5 demos still running on v1i and I got my but kikked from GP that in the end was forced to ban my IP from their demo servers.
Combined these demos were doing over 1 million order modifications a day.
At the beginning I thought setting MinMinutesBetweenTrades to 1 minute was going to be enough, but I was wrong; v1i got me banned twice, v1l would have not.

An honorable mention to GP and the way they have managed my requests.
They were simply AMAZING! :hi:
Despite being on demo they always gave me full attention and were always quick in answering my doubts and restoring my demo functionality.
Thank you Jeremy, thank you GP!!!

Yes, Jeremy and GP have often needed to deal with the results of my mistaken coding.

He shouted at me once following a similar incident. I write 'shouted' but actually he inquired quietly, "Couldn't sort this out could you, mate?"

Hard to imagine being 'shouted at' more gently. A bit like me dealing with a teen.

Global Prime are Utterly Fantastic.

[Jemook]

Hi all,

I hope all is well with everyone!

From the recommendation of Metaquotes, any account that appears in our hyperactive list should be deleted in order not to cause issues to the server. A hyperactive account is any account that sends more than 5,000 messages (ie open trade, close trade, modify SL, TP etc to our server in one day.

We've been blocking IPs instead in order not to piss anyone off by deleting their accounts. However these order modifications have really gotten out of control and SPB specifically is well.. really peaky. I currently see more than 30,000 trades on the server with 'SPB' as comment.

Going forward for the protection of the demo server any accounts sending more than 10,000 order modifications to our demo server will be automatically deleted.

It gets technical but it all comes down to managing the size of the order file on the server - if it gets too big the server can disconnect, cause miss trades and even corrupt itself all together which is obviously something we don't want to happen. The order file records every single modification made so you can imagine it can grow pretty quickly with errant EAs

I've been back and forth extensively with MQ on this and there's a few more limitations we are going to need to implement - ie no more than 250 trades open at any one time per account and perhaps limiting our demos to maximum of 30 days (unless you request a non expiring demo).

I'm still getting my head around it all but please check your EA's to ensure they are trading efficiently.

Opening the floor to comments..

Cheers
Jeremy

[rapple]

Hi Jem

I understand the issues you face with server overload, but I would not limit the Demos to 30 days. When I started trading I actively searched for providers which had 'non-expiry demos' and I believe it is a good selling point for GP...

As you maybe aware Rene and Thomas have setup a really nice database and the idea is to collect data over many months to see what strategies work. It would be a shame to lose data because we forgot to select the 'non-expiry' option.

Would it be more practical to delete demo accounts when there has been no trading activity after say 30 days?

Cheers Richard

[Jemook]

@rapple: I agree and would prefer to keep as is so we are still assessing all options. Accounts currently expire if no login or trades have been placed for 30 days however I believe the trades still remain in the .dat file which gets clogged up whereas if they are removed after 30 days the trades are removed as well.

Let me find out, either way I'll keep you guys posted.

[Barcode]

Hi Jeremy,

Would it be possible to receive an automatic email whenever an account is deleted or the ip address is blocked?

I had 1 of my SPB accounts stopped over the weekend and my ip address blocked. It was frustrating because I didn't notice the problem until I fired everything up to start the weeks trading. And tracking down the problem took more time.

But the support staff were quick and very helpful as usual. I must admit the support at GP for demo accounts is way way better than any other broker I've tried.

Cheers
Bob

[Jemook]

Hi Jeremy,

Would it be possible to receive an automatic email whenever an account is deleted or the ip address is blocked?

I had 1 of my SPB accounts stopped over the weekend and my ip address blocked. It was frustrating because I didn't notice the problem until I fired everything up to start the weeks trading. And tracking down the problem took more time.

But the support staff were quick and very helpful as usual. I must admit the support at GP for demo accounts is way way better than any other broker I've tried.

Cheers
Bob

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the nice feedback, glad you are enjoying the demo !

Unfortunately it's not possible to automate emails to notify clients.

Obviously on live accounts we would never block an IP or demo before contacting the client. In saying that pretty much every client on live is under the 10k a day messages limit. It's the demo where every day there can be 10+ accounts going hyper.

The onus really needs to to rest on the clients here to check their EA is performing correctly and efficiently and to check the journals and watch the order modifications to ensure they aren't hyperactive.

I've seen accounts send more than 1 million order modifications in a day!

We've been advised from MQ and our server hosts PrimeXM to take a more pro-active approach to deleting hyperactive accounts as soon as we see them to ensure the .dat file doesn't get out of hand and we would be out of line to not heed their advice as they know the platform best.

SPB is definitely a big offender here so hopefully there's a way to refine this strategy to keep the open orders under 250 and the modifications under 10,000 a day.

[SteveHopwood]

But the support staff were quick and very helpful as usual. I must admit the support at GP for demo accounts is way way better than any other broker I've tried.

Of course they were. GP are not my official broker because they are dimwits.

[SteveHopwood]

SPB is definitely a big offender here so hopefully there's a way to refine this strategy to keep the open orders under 250 and the modifications under 10,000 a day.

Anybody even having bad dreams about this number of trades/modifications on a live account is an idiot abusing the EA. I have no intention of trying to accommodate them in code. Nor can I even begin to imagine how it can happen. Delete these idiots' demo accounts ruthlessly.

SHF is not a place for cretins. I may have mentioned this before?

[tomele]

Hi @all.

The tests database view: We have stored the DAILY data of every single trade on our side. Delete whatever you want on the trade server, we will cope with it to enforce continuity for the tests database.

My personal view as a tester: I have SPB running OOTB over weeks, just without closing any trades. The maximum number of trades was around 180. The order changes per day always stayed in the two-digit range. I dont know what some people are doing, but there is no fault in the EA code if configured reasonably.

My two cents.

Cheers
Thomas