MQL4 and MQL5 Programming Articles

This article centers around strategies that actively use pending orders, a metalanguage that can be created to formally describe such strategies and the use of a multi-purpose Expert Advisor whose operation is based on those descriptions

This article dwells on implementation algorithm of simplest trading systems. The article will be useful for beginning traders and EA writers.

In this article, we will analyze the concept of correlation between variables, as well as methods for the calculation of correlation coefficients and their practical use in trading. Correlation is a statistical relationship between two or more random variables (or quantities which can be considered random with some acceptable degree of accuracy). Changes in one ore more variables lead to systematic changes of other related variables.

In this article, we consider yet another custom trading strategy optimization criterion based on the balance graph analysis. The linear regression is calculated using the function from the ALGLIB library.

This article will describe an implementation of a simple approach suitable for a multi-currency Expert Advisor. This means that you will be able to set up the Expert Advisor for testing/trading under identical conditions but with different parameters for each symbol. As an example, we will create a pattern for two symbols but in such a way so as to be able to add additional symbols, if necessary, by making small changes to the code.

In the upcoming series of articles, I will demonstrate the development of self-adapting algorithms considering most market factors, as well as show how to systematize these situations, describe them in logic and take them into account in your trading activity. I will start with a very simple algorithm that will gradually acquire theory and evolve into a very complex project.

This article is a continuation of the previous publication related to the creation of a graphical interface for optimization management. The article considers the logic of the add-on. A wrapper for the MetaTrader 5 terminal will be created: it will enable the running of the add-on as a managed process via C#. In addition, operation with configuration files and setup files is considered in this article. The application logic is divided into two parts: the first one describes the methods called after pressing a particular key, while the second part covers optimization launch and management.

An alternative use of the Sleep() function in the realization of pauses between EA's actions is proposed. The approach under consideration allows a smart use of machine time.

This article concludes the series devoted to trading currency pair baskets. Here we test the remaining pattern and discuss applying the entire method in real trading. Market entries and exits, searching for patterns and analyzing them, complex use of combined indicators are considered.

The article describes the application of text files for storing dynamic objects, arrays and other variables used as properties of Expert Advisors, indicators and scripts. The files serve as a convenient addition to the functionality of standard tools offered by MQL languages.

Automate the collection of interest rate data to improve the performance of an Expert Advisor.

The new version of the programming language for trading strategy development, MQL [MQL5], provides more powerful and effective features as compared with the previous version [MQL4]. The advantage essentially lies in the object-oriented programming features. This article looks into the possibility of using complex custom data types, such as nodes and lists. It also provides an example of using lists in practical programming in MQL5.

The new version of the MetaTrader 4 terminal features the updated structure of user data storage. In earlier versions all programs, templates, profiles etc. were stored directly in terminal installation folder. Now all necessary data required for a particular user are stored in a separate directory called data folder. Read the article to find answers to frequently asked questions.

The article describes the rules of the trading system by Bill Williams, the procedure of application for a developed MQL5 module to search and mark patterns of this system on the chart, automated trading with found patterns, and also presents the results of testing on various trading instruments.

In this article, we will learn how to create Expert Advisors (EAs) working both in MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. To do this, we are going to develop an EA constructing order grids. Griders are EAs that place several limit orders above the current price and the same number of limit orders below it simultaneously.

Today we are going to talk with Rogério Figurelli (figurelli), a regular participant from Brazil that has not missed any Automated Trading Championship since 2007. This year, he also began to sell his Championship's Expert Advisor in the Market along with his other products. Rogério believes that MetaTrader 5 platform certification on the largest Brazilian exchange BM&FBOVESPA will reveal new professional developers and traders, who do not yet know the full potential of robot investors.

Do you need more than awkward graphics of moving averages? Do you want to draw something more beautiful than a simple filled rectangle in your terminal? Attractive graphics can be drawn in the terminal. This can be implemented through the CСanvas class, which is used for creating custom graphics. With this class you can implement transparency, blend colors and produce the illusion of transparency by means of overlapping and blending colors.

The article describes the basic principles and methods that allow you to analyze any strategy using spreadsheets (Excel, Calc, Google). The obtained results are compared with MetaTrader 5 tester.

Have you ever wondered how quickly your order is delivered to the exchange, how fast it is executed, and how much time your terminal needs in order to receive the operation result? We have prepared a comparison of trading operation execution speed, because no one has ever measured these values using applications in MQL5 and QLUA.

Knowing the direction of the price movement is sufficient for getting positive results from trading operations. Some information on the possible direction of the price can be obtained from the Japanese candlesticks. This article deals with a few simple approaches to forecasting the direction of the Japanese candlesticks.

The original basic article has not lost its relevance and thus if you are interested in this topic, be sure to read the first article. However much time has passed since then, so the current Visual Studio 2017 features an updated interface. The MetaTrader 5 platform has also acquired new features. The article provides a description of dll project development stages, as well as DLL setup and interaction with MetaTrader 5 tools.

Functions and code snippets that simplify and clarify the handling of time, broker offset, and the changes to summer or winter time. Accurate timing may be a crucial element in trading. At the current hour, is the stock exchange in London or New York already open or not yet open, when does the trading time for Forex trading start and end? For a trader who trades manually and live, this is not a big problem.

In this article, we will consider such issues as including sound files in the file of the Expert Advisor, and thus adding sound notifications to trade events. The fact that the files will be included means that the sound files will be located inside the Expert Advisor. So when giving the compiled version of the Expert Advisor (*.ex5) to another user, you will not have to also provide the sound files and explain where they need to be saved.

Want to organize export of quotes from MetaTrader 5 to your own application? The MQL5-DLL junction allows to create such solutions! This article will show you one of the ways to export quotes from MetaTrader 5 to applications written in .NET. For me it was more interesting, rational and easy to implement export of quotes using this very platform. Unfortunately, version 5 still does not support .NET, so like in old days we will use win32 dll with .NET support as an interlayer.

In this article, we will consider popular candlestick patterns and will try to find out if they are still relevant and effective in today's markets. Candlestick analysis appeared more than 20 years ago and has since become quite popular. Many traders consider Japanese candlesticks the most convenient and easily understandable asset price visualization form.

For a long time multi-currency analysis and multi-currency trading has been of interest to people. The opportunity to implement a full fledged multi-currency regime became possible only with the public release of MetaTrader 5 and the MQL5 programming language. In this article we propose a way to analyze and process all incoming ticks for several symbols. As an illustration, let's consider a multi-currency RSI indicator of the USDx dollar index.

In this article, we develop a Nick Rypock Trailing Reverse (NRTR) trading system in MQL5 that uses channel indicators for reversal signals, enabling trend-following entries with hedging support for buys and sells. We incorporate risk management features like auto lot sizing based on equity or balance, fixed or dynamic stop-loss and take-profit levels using ATR multipliers, and position limits.

This class library can be added to an MetaTrader 5 Expert Advisor to enable it to be written with an order-centric approach broadly similar to MetaTrader 4, in comparison to the position-based approach of MetaTrader 5. It does this by keeping track of virtual orders at the MetaTrader 5 client terminal, while maintaining a protective broker stop for each position for disaster protection.

MetaEditor 5 has the debugging feature. But when you write your MQL5 programs, you often want to display not the individual values, but all messages that appear during testing and online work. When the log file contents have large size, it is obvious to automate quick and easy retrieval of required message. In this article we will consider ways of finding errors in MQL5 programs and methods of logging. Also we will simplify logging into files and will get to know a simple program LogMon for comfortable viewing of logs.

In this article, we will start the development of the new library section - trading classes. Besides, we will consider the development of a unified base trading object for MetaTrader 5 and MetaTrader 4 platforms. When sending a request to the server, such a trading object implies that verified and correct trading request parameters are passed to it.

MQL5 gave a mass of innovations, including work with events of various types (timer events, trade events, custom events, etc.). Ability to handle events allows you to create completely new type of programs for automatic and semi-automatic trading. In this article we will consider trade events and write some code for the OnTrade() function, that will process the Trade event.