My shell EA code

[K-Lander]

Hi Steve,
Attached I am sending Bare Bones with a working ForceSleepUntilNextBar feature.

A friendly reminder to anyone using the shells: Remember to DELETE the failsafe on the code (you´ll find it within the LookForTradingOpportunities function). Nothing will ever trigger a trade unless you do it (I forgot about it and took me 2 hours to figure out why the bugger doesn´t fire).

Thanks for the help Steve, and for the coding lesson.

All the best, and stay safe in these strange times.

Ariel

The subconscious is an amazing thingy and mine was at work as I typed the above. It just told me that I had given you duff info about the call to the function as well. Think about this call:

Code: Select all

if (ForceSleepUntilNextBar && DidTradeCloseBeforeCurrentCandle()) return (true);
   else
   return (false);  

This will also return 'false' if you have ForceSleepUntilNextBar set to 'false' to disable this filter, so the bot will never Trade. My fault. Here is the corrected code:

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   if (ForceSleepUntilNextBar)
   {
      if (DidTradeCloseBeforeCurrentCandle() ) return (true);
      else
      return (false);
   }//if (ForceSleepUntilNextBar)

[simplex]

Hi all,
I'm just working my way through this formidable piece of software. Stumbled over the object handling functionality:

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if (ObjectFind(LineName) == -1) {
	ObjectCreate(LineName, OBJ_HLINE, 0, TimeCurrent(), 0);
	...
}

https://docs.mql4.com/objects/objectfind states:

If the object is not found, the function returns a negative number.

So that return value is not -1 necessarily.
Maybe it's worth considering to replace

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ObjectFind(LineName) == -1

by

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ObjectFind(LineName) < 0

just to be sure ... as sure as one can be using mql ...
There are several similar ObjectFind calls in the source code.

[SteveHopwood]

Hi all,
I'm just working my way through this formidable piece of software. Stumbled over the object handling functionality:

Code: Select all

if (ObjectFind(LineName) == -1) {
	ObjectCreate(LineName, OBJ_HLINE, 0, TimeCurrent(), 0);
	...
}

https://docs.mql4.com/objects/objectfind states:

If the object is not found, the function returns a negative number.

So that return value is not -1 necessarily.
Maybe it's worth considering to replace

Code: Select all

ObjectFind(LineName) == -1

by

Code: Select all

ObjectFind(LineName) < 0

just to be sure ... as sure as one can be using mql ...
There are several similar ObjectFind calls in the source code.

Thanks for this. Brilliant point.

I am not going to do anything with this immediately as I can make the changes as I use the code. Plus, anyone such as yourself, can read your post and make the changes themselves. Anyone who cannot, cannot use the shells.

Thanks again. Hugely appreciated.

[simplex]

Plus, anyone such as yourself, can read your post and make the changes themselves. Anyone who cannot, cannot use the shells.

Agree & thanks! Now for my next find, which dives a little bit deeper in the trading logic. See function LookForTradingOpportunities():

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	if (BuySignal) {
		SendLong = true;
	}
	if (SendLong) {       // User choice of trade direction
		if (!TradeLong) {
			return;
		}

This is how buy trades are started. For sell trades, it looks like this:

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	if (!SendLong) {
		if (SellSignal) {
			SendShort = true;
		}
		if (SendShort) {
			if (!TradeShort) {      // User choice of trade direction
				return;
			}

So sell signals are only being processed if there's no buy signal present. In my opinion, long and short trades are generally equitable. By this logic, long trades are prioritized over short trades.

This may work in a perfect world. But let's assume we as coders implement some sort of faulty logic when it comes to analyse the market for entry opportunities. Allright: this is highly unlikely, but let's just assume the impossible is happening: our trading logic issues a buy and a sell signal at the same time for a given pair.

In above logic, the long trade will be placed, while the short trade is silently ignored. Do I want that? Don't know about you, but I do not. What I find alarming most of all is the fact that ignoring the short trades obviously happens silently. Maybe there are security checks later on dealing with such a situation, which I possibly am not aware of yet. Anyway, I believe it's better to deal with this case before actually placing trades.

So this is my proposal to (hopefully) improve that bit of the shell code:

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	// Security check: is our trading system going haywire? (simplex mod)
	if (BuySignal && SellSignal) {
		/* 
			do whatever seems appropriate to ring the alarm bells ...
			... suspend trading?
			... close / delete all trades?
			... display visible and / or audible alarm?
			... send an email to Steve for immediate help? ;-)
			... 
		 */
		return;
	}
	
	if (BuySignal) {
		SendLong = true;
	}
	if (SendLong) {
...
	if (SellSignal) {
		SendShort = true;
	}
	if (SendShort) {
...

Now long and short trades are treated in the exact same manner, and on the same indentation level in our code. Furthermore we have the opportunity to implement some code to ring the alarm bells if the unthinkable is actually happening.

I'm just working on this mod, it's not yet ready, but I'd like to discuss my proposal here, before possibly running (coding) into a completely wrong direction. Maybe this idea is worth to find its way into the shell itself, not only in my upcoming EA's. In the end, it makes the shell a bit more foolproof (which suits me perfectly!), because it deals with a faulty signal logic in a more appropriate manner as compared to just ignoring it.

[simplex]

Still using the incredible Barebones 17-6-20.mq4 once in a while as a reference for certain tasks in MT5. So just today I stumbled over the following code, which I believe contains a bug. Please refer to function

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void TrailingStopLoss(int ticket)

line 3206:

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       if (OrderType()==OP_SELL)
       {
          if (sl > OrderOpenPrice() ) return;//Not at breakeven yet
          ...
          if (CloseEnough(sl, 0) ) sl = MathMin(OrderStopLoss(), OrderOpenPrice());
          if (CloseEnough(sl, 0) ) sl = OrderOpenPrice();
          if (Bid <= sl  - (TrailingStopPips / factor))//George
          {
             ...
          }

Since we're working on SELL orders here, shouldn't this be Ask instead of Bid?

Cheers, sx

[SteveHopwood]

Still using the incredible Barebones 17-6-20.mq4 once in a while as a reference for certain tasks in MT5. So just today I stumbled over the following code, which I believe contains a bug. Please refer to function

Code: Select all

void TrailingStopLoss(int ticket)

line 3206:

Code: Select all

       if (OrderType()==OP_SELL)
       {
          if (sl > OrderOpenPrice() ) return;//Not at breakeven yet
          ...
          if (CloseEnough(sl, 0) ) sl = MathMin(OrderStopLoss(), OrderOpenPrice());
          if (CloseEnough(sl, 0) ) sl = OrderOpenPrice();
          if (Bid <= sl  - (TrailingStopPips / factor))//George
          {
             ...
          }

Since we're working on SELL orders here, shouldn't this be Ask instead of Bid?

Cheers, sx

I have been coding this stuff for about 16 years now and still am not sure about the answer to your question - one I have asked myself umpteen times over the years.

Notice the comment following this line of code:
if (Bid <= sl - (TrailingStopPips / factor))//George

George was SHF member gaheitman. At the time, he knew more about coding than most of us here. He was most helpful and I adopted anything he suggested. Sadly, he has not visited here for more than 5 years, so I guess that age took its usual toll. It is coming to us all but I still think about him every time I use one of the shells.

These days, I code closing buys at the Bid and sells at the Ask with one difference. I use the minimal spreads of Afterprime to minimise any damage that my possible misconceptions might cause. Sorry not to be more definitive in my answer.

Of course, none of this really matters unless: an EA responds to lines drawn on a chart to crossing said tpsl lines to close a trade - those are a real headache; your broker is a criminal and the spreads are monumental - bugger all I can do about that.

I hope this helps whilst not being sure it will.

[markft]

If I understand correctly from the code section, this is where we are managing the trailing stop for a Sell order. Yes I think you are right and that should be the Ask, as we would be executing a market order to buy, to close the sell, at the Ask price. That being said, as Stave mentioned, this is usually not significant almost all of the time, unless somehow the spreads have widened a lot.