FrankCFrankC 2005.05.20 23:29 

Wonder any of you MT4 experts can help me with this. I've been looking at a very interesting code written for MT3 platform which I fetched from Moneytec forum, and is called AlwaysInPlay. The reason I found the code interesting is because it can open many trades for different currency pairs. But only one trade per currency pair. Here is the bulk of the code:

defines: maxTradesPerPair(1);
vars CurrentTrades(0);
....
....

// =======================================================
// OPEN ORDER CHECK -
// Each instance of a script is attached to one currency pair.
// When this check executes, it sets CurrentTrades to 1 so that
// only one trade for this symbol will be open, which is enforced
// by "if CurrentTrades = 0".
// =========================================================

CurrentTrades = 0;

for cnt = 1 to TotalTrades
{
if OrderValue(cnt,VAL_SYMBOL) = Symbol then
{
CurrentTrades = CurrentTrades + 1;
};
};


// =========================================================
// ORDER CLOSURE and TRAILING STOP UPDATE
// ==========================================================

for cnt = 1 to TotalTrades
{
if CurrentTrades <> 0 and
OrderValue(cnt,VAL_SYMBOL) = Symbol then
{
if OrderValue(cnt,VAL_TYPE) = OP_BUY then
{
....
.....
CloseOrder(OrderValue(cnt,VAL_TICKET), OrderValue(cnt,VAL_LOTS),Bid,3,Violet);
Exit;
};

if OrderValue(cnt,VAL_TYPE) = OP_SELL then
{
.....
......
CloseOrder(OrderValue(cnt,VAL_TICKET),OrderValue(cnt,VAL_LOTS),Ask,3,Violet);
Exit;
};

}; // end for cnt=1 to TotalTrades

// =======================================================
// TRADE ENTRY
// =======================================================

if FreeMargin < Margincutoff then Exit;

if CurrentTrades < maxTradesPerPair and
hour > OpenTime and hour < CloseTime then
{

//LONG TRADES ENTRY CRITERIA

if iSAR(0.05,0.5,0) < Ask and // If SAR less than Ask, and
tHour != TimeHour(time[0]) then // then request order.
{
tHour = TimeMinute(time[0]);

...
...
SetOrder(OP_BUY,
lotMM,
Bid,
Slippage,
sl,
tp,
LIME);
Exit;
};

//SHORT TRADES ENTRY CRITERIA

if iSAR(0.05,0.5,0) > Bid and // If SAR greater than Bid, and
tHour != TimeHour(time[0]) then // then request order.
{
tHour = TimeMinute(time[0]);
....
....

SetOrder(OP_SELL,
lotMM,
Ask,
Slippage,
sl,
tp,
RED);
Exit;
};
}; // end of if CurrentTrades < maxTradesPerPair


Question: Converting the above code to MT4 is not a big job, however I wonder do I need to convert the above codes line-by-line to achieve my task, or is there any easier way in MT4 to do the coding? Thanks in advance.

FrankCFrankC 2005.05.24 08:18 

Here is my MT4 conversion for multiple trades...strangely, I keep getting "Trade Context: Ping failed", "19073 cannot login!" in my journal. The connection seems to be ok, and no problem with the other MT3 platform. Anyway, I've decided to share this code to see if it makes any sense. The trading part is not my concern at the moment, only to see if it can place multiple trades:

//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
//| Multipe Trades with SAR |
//| Copyright © 2005, FrankC |
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
extern double TakeProfit = 50;
extern double Lots = 1;
extern double TrailingStop = 20;
extern double StopLoss = 40;
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
//| |
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
int start()
{
int cnt, ticket, total,ADX, CurrentTrades;
int maxTradesPerPair=1;
double O,C,H,L,O1,C1,H1,L1,O2,C2,H2,L2,sl,SAR;
datetime prevtime=0;

// initial data checks

if(Bars<100)
{
Print("bars less than 100");
return(0);
}
if(TakeProfit<10)
{
Print("TakeProfit less than 10");
return(0); // check TakeProfit
}

//Define the beginning of a new bar
if(prevtime == Time[0]) return(0);
prevtime = Time[0];


SAR = iSAR(NULL,0,0.05,0.5,1);
ADX = iADX(NULL,0,14,PRICE_CLOSE,MODE_MAIN,1);

O=iOpen(NULL,0,0);
C=iClose(NULL,0,0);
H=iHigh(NULL,0,0);
L=iLow(NULL,0,0);

O1=iOpen(NULL,0,1);
C1=iClose(NULL,0,1);
H1=iHigh(NULL,0,1);
L1=iLow(NULL,0,1);

O2=iOpen(NULL,0,2);
C2=iClose(NULL,0,2);
H2=iHigh(NULL,0,2);
L2=iLow(NULL,0,2);

//============ ORDER MANAGEMENT ================================

total=OrdersTotal();
CurrentTrades = 0;
for(cnt=1;cnt==total;cnt++)
{
if (OrderSymbol()==Symbol())
{
CurrentTrades = CurrentTrades + 1;
}
}


for(cnt=1;cnt==total;cnt++)
{
OrderSelect(cnt, SELECT_BY_POS, MODE_TRADES);
if(OrderType()<=OP_SELL && // check for opened position
CurrentTrades != 0 &&
OrderSymbol()==Symbol()) // check for symbol
{
if(OrderType()==OP_BUY) // long position is opened
{
// should it be closed?
if(C < (SAR-10*Point))
{
OrderClose(OrderTicket(),OrderLots(),Bid,3,Violet); // close position
return(0); // exit
}
// check for trailing stop
if(TrailingStop>0)
{
if(Bid-OrderOpenPrice()>Point*TrailingStop)
{
if(OrderStopLoss()<Bid-Point*TrailingStop)
{
OrderModify(OrderTicket(),OrderOpenPrice(),Bid-Point*TrailingStop,OrderTakeProfit(),0,Green);
return(0);
}
}
}
}
else // go to short position
{
// should it be closed?
if(C > (SAR+10*Point))
{
OrderClose(OrderTicket(),OrderLots(),Ask,3,Violet); // close position
return(0); // exit
}
// check for trailing stop
if(TrailingStop>0)
{
if((OrderOpenPrice()-Ask)>(Point*TrailingStop))
{
if((OrderStopLoss()>(Ask+Point*TrailingStop)) || (OrderStopLoss()==0))
{
OrderModify(OrderTicket(),OrderOpenPrice(),Ask+Point*TrailingStop,OrderTakeProfit(),0,Red);
return(0);
}
}
}
}
}
return(0);
}

//============ ORDER ENTRY =====================================

if(CurrentTrades < maxTradesPerPair)
{


if(AccountFreeMargin()<(1000*Lots))
{
Print("We have no money. Free Margin = ", AccountFreeMargin());
return(0);
}


// check for long position (BUY) possibility
if((MathAbs(L1-SAR)<10*Point) && (ADX > 15))
{
ticket=OrderSend(Symbol(),OP_BUY,Lots,Ask,3,StopLoss*Point,Ask+TakeProfit*Point,"SAR",19073,0,Green);
if(ticket>0)
{
if(OrderSelect(ticket,SELECT_BY_TICKET,MODE_TRADES)) Print("BUY order opened : ",OrderOpenPrice());
}
else Print("Error opening BUY order : ",GetLastError());
return(0);
} // end of if for BUY position


// check for short position (SELL) possibility
if((MathAbs(H1-SAR)<10*Point) && (ADX > 15))
{
ticket=OrderSend(Symbol(),OP_SELL,Lots,Bid,3,StopLoss*Point,Bid-TakeProfit*Point,"SAR",19073,0,Red);
if(ticket>0)
{
if(OrderSelect(ticket,SELECT_BY_TICKET,MODE_TRADES)) Print("SELL order opened : ",OrderOpenPrice());
}
else Print("Error opening SELL order : ",GetLastError());
return(0);
} // end of if for SHORT position


return(0);

} // end of if(CurrentTrades < maxTradesPerPair)

} // end of int start()

FrankCFrankC 2005.05.26 22:59 

Here is the code in MT4:


int CurrentTrades=0,total,cnt;

total=OrdersTotal();
for(cnt=1;cnt==total;cnt++)
{
OrderSelect(cnt, SELECT_BY_POS, MODE_TRADES);
if (OrderSymbol()==Symbol()) CurrentTrades++;
}

if(CurrentTrades==0)
{
// BUY/SELL order entry routine
...
...


But still getting multiple trades on the same currency pair...I am getting a feeling this is a bug in MT4.

MatiasMatias 2005.05.29 10:01 

FrankC,

Are you sure your for loop is well coded?

 ...
 [b]for(cnt=1;cnt==total;cnt++)[/b]
 ...
 

In that case the loop will only execute if OrdersTotal() == 1.
If you are trying to go through the entire orders pool, you should write something like this.

 ...
 [b]for(cnt=0;cnt<total;cnt++)[/b]
 ...
 

The Orders pool is zero based, so you should start from zero.

By the way, another way to acomplish your objective "to check 6 currency pairs, and initiate a trade if there is a buy/sell, but only on one pair at a time" is to increment a global variable each time you open a position (short/long) and avoiding entering if the global variable is >= 6.

Hope this help

Matias Romeo
Custom Metatrader Systems
matiasdotromeoatgmail.com