MQL4 and MQL5 Programming Articles

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Study the MQL5 language for programming trading strategies in numerous published articles mostly written by you - the community members. The articles are grouped into categories to help you quicker find answers to any questions related to programming: Integration, Tester, Trading Strategies, etc.

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Graphical Interfaces X: Sorting, rebuilding the table and controls in the cells (build 11)
Graphical Interfaces X: Sorting, rebuilding the table and controls in the cells (build 11)

Graphical Interfaces X: Sorting, rebuilding the table and controls in the cells (build 11)

We continue to add new features to the rendered table: data sorting, managing the number of columns and rows, setting the table cell types to place controls into them.
Graphical Interfaces IX: The Color Picker Control (Chapter 1)
Graphical Interfaces IX: The Color Picker Control (Chapter 1)

Graphical Interfaces IX: The Color Picker Control (Chapter 1)

With this article we begin chapter nine of series of articles dedicated to creating graphical interfaces in MetaTrader trading terminals. It consists of two chapters where new elements of controls and interface, such as color picker, color button, progress bar and line chart are presented.
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Automating Trading Strategies in MQL5 (Part 10): Developing the Trend Flat Momentum Strategy

Automating Trading Strategies in MQL5 (Part 10): Developing the Trend Flat Momentum Strategy

In this article, we develop an Expert Advisor in MQL5 for the Trend Flat Momentum Strategy. We combine a two moving averages crossover with RSI and CCI momentum filters to generate trade signals. We also cover backtesting and potential enhancements for real-world performance.
Graphics in DoEasy library (Part 83): Class of the abstract standard graphical object
Graphics in DoEasy library (Part 83): Class of the abstract standard graphical object

Graphics in DoEasy library (Part 83): Class of the abstract standard graphical object

In this article, I will create the class of the abstract graphical object. This object is to serve as a basis for creating the class of standard graphical objects. Graphical objects feature multiple properties. Therefore, I will need to do a lot of preparatory work before actually creating the abstract graphical object class. This work includes setting the properties in the library enumerations.
Decreasing Memory Consumption by Auxiliary Indicators
Decreasing Memory Consumption by Auxiliary Indicators

Decreasing Memory Consumption by Auxiliary Indicators

If an indicator uses values of many other indicators for its calculations, it consumes a lot of memory. The article describes several methods of decreasing the memory consumption when using auxiliary indicators. Saved memory allows increasing the number of simultaneously used currency pairs, indicators and strategies in the client terminal. It increases the reliability of trade portfolio. Such a simple care about technical resources of your computer can turn into money resources at your deposit.
Contest of Expert Advisors inside an Expert Advisor
Contest of Expert Advisors inside an Expert Advisor

Contest of Expert Advisors inside an Expert Advisor

Using virtual trading, you can create an adaptive Expert Advisor, which will turn on and off trades at the real market. Combine several strategies in a single Expert Advisor! Your multisystem Expert Advisor will automatically choose a trade strategy, which is the best to trade with at the real market, on the basis of profitability of virtual trades. This kind of approach allows decreasing drawdown and increasing profitability of your work at the market. Experiment and share your results with others! I think many people will be interested to know about your portfolio of strategies.
MQL5 Cookbook: Analyzing Position Properties in the MetaTrader 5 Strategy Tester
MQL5 Cookbook: Analyzing Position Properties in the MetaTrader 5 Strategy Tester

MQL5 Cookbook: Analyzing Position Properties in the MetaTrader 5 Strategy Tester

We will present a modified version of the Expert Advisor from the previous article "MQL5 Cookbook: Position Properties on the Custom Info Panel". Some of the issues we will address include getting data from bars, checking for new bar events on the current symbol, including a trade class of the Standard Library to a file, creating a function to search for trading signals and a function for executing trading operations, as well as determining trade events in the OnTrade() function.
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Implementing an ARIMA training algorithm in MQL5

Implementing an ARIMA training algorithm in MQL5

In this article we will implement an algorithm that applies the Box and Jenkins Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average model by using Powells method of function minimization. Box and Jenkins stated that most time series could be modeled by one or both of two frameworks.
Graphical Interfaces XI: Integrating the Standard Graphics Library (build 16)
Graphical Interfaces XI: Integrating the Standard Graphics Library (build 16)

Graphical Interfaces XI: Integrating the Standard Graphics Library (build 16)

A new version of the graphics library for creating scientific charts (the CGraphic class) has been presented recently. This update of the developed library for creating graphical interfaces will introduce a version with a new control for creating charts. Now it is even easier to visualize data of different types.
Graphics in DoEasy library (Part 86): Graphical object collection - managing property modification
Graphics in DoEasy library (Part 86): Graphical object collection - managing property modification

Graphics in DoEasy library (Part 86): Graphical object collection - managing property modification

In this article, I will consider tracking property value modification, as well as removing and renaming graphical objects in the library.
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Build Self Optimizing Expert Advisors in MQL5 (Part 4): Dynamic Position Sizing

Build Self Optimizing Expert Advisors in MQL5 (Part 4): Dynamic Position Sizing

Successfully employing algorithmic trading requires continuous, interdisciplinary learning. However, the infinite range of possibilities can consume years of effort without yielding tangible results. To address this, we propose a framework that gradually introduces complexity, allowing traders to refine their strategies iteratively rather than committing indefinite time to uncertain outcomes.
A scientific approach to the development of trading algorithms
A scientific approach to the development of trading algorithms

A scientific approach to the development of trading algorithms

The article considers the methodology for developing trading algorithms, in which a consistent scientific approach is used to analyze possible price patterns and to build trading algorithms based on these patterns. Development ideals are demonstrated using examples.
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Automating Trading Strategies in MQL5 (Part 16): Midnight Range Breakout with Break of Structure (BoS) Price Action

Automating Trading Strategies in MQL5 (Part 16): Midnight Range Breakout with Break of Structure (BoS) Price Action

In this article, we automate the Midnight Range Breakout with Break of Structure strategy in MQL5, detailing code for breakout detection and trade execution. We define precise risk parameters for entries, stops, and profits. Backtesting and optimization are included for practical trading.
Graphical Interfaces V: The List View Element (Chapter 2)
Graphical Interfaces V: The List View Element (Chapter 2)

Graphical Interfaces V: The List View Element (Chapter 2)

In the previous chapter, we wrote classes for creating vertical and horizontal scrollbars. In this chapter, we will implement them. We will write a class for creating the list view element, a compound part of which will be a vertical scrollbar.
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Automating Trading Strategies in MQL5 (Part 1): The Profitunity System (Trading Chaos by Bill Williams)

Automating Trading Strategies in MQL5 (Part 1): The Profitunity System (Trading Chaos by Bill Williams)

In this article, we examine the Profitunity System by Bill Williams, breaking down its core components and unique approach to trading within market chaos. We guide readers through implementing the system in MQL5, focusing on automating key indicators and entry/exit signals. Finally, we test and optimize the strategy, providing insights into its performance across various market scenarios.
Designing and implementing new GUI widgets based on CChartObject class
Designing and implementing new GUI widgets based on CChartObject class

Designing and implementing new GUI widgets based on CChartObject class

After I wrote a previous article on semi-automatic Expert Advisor with GUI interface it turned out that it would be desirable to enhance interface with some new functionalities for more complex indicators and Expert Advisors. After getting acquainted with MQL5 standard library classes I implemented new widgets. This article describes a process of designing and implementing new MQL5 GUI widgets that can be used in indicators and Expert Advisors. The widgets presented in the article are CChartObjectSpinner, CChartObjectProgressBar and CChartObjectEditTable.
Movement continuation model - searching on the chart and execution statistics
Movement continuation model - searching on the chart and execution statistics

Movement continuation model - searching on the chart and execution statistics

This article provides programmatic definition of one of the movement continuation models. The main idea is defining two waves — the main and the correction one. For extreme points, I apply fractals as well as "potential" fractals - extreme points that have not yet formed as fractals.
Prices in DoEasy library (Part 64): Depth of Market, classes of DOM snapshot and snapshot series objects
Prices in DoEasy library (Part 64): Depth of Market, classes of DOM snapshot and snapshot series objects

Prices in DoEasy library (Part 64): Depth of Market, classes of DOM snapshot and snapshot series objects

In this article, I will create two classes (the class of DOM snapshot object and the class of DOM snapshot series object) and test creation of the DOM data series.
HTML Walkthrough Using MQL4
HTML Walkthrough Using MQL4

HTML Walkthrough Using MQL4

HTML is nowadays one of the wide-spread types of documents. MetaTrader 4 Client Terminal allows you to save statements, test and optimization reports as .htm files. It is sometimes necessary to get information from such files in an MQL4 program. The article describes one of variations of how to get the tag structure and contents from HTML.
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Neural networks made easy (Part 26): Reinforcement Learning

Neural networks made easy (Part 26): Reinforcement Learning

We continue to study machine learning methods. With this article, we begin another big topic, Reinforcement Learning. This approach allows the models to set up certain strategies for solving the problems. We can expect that this property of reinforcement learning will open up new horizons for building trading strategies.
The Principles of Economic Calculation of Indicators
The Principles of Economic Calculation of Indicators

The Principles of Economic Calculation of Indicators

Calls to user and technical indicators takes up very little space in the program code of automated trading systems. Often it’s simply a few code lines. But it often happens that it is these few lines of code which use up the largest portion of time, which needs to be spent on testing the Expert Advisor. Therefore, everything that is related to data calculations within an indicator, needs to be considered much more thoroughly than would seem at first glance. This article will talk precisely about this.
Graphical Interfaces XI: Text edit boxes and Combo boxes in table cells (build 15)
Graphical Interfaces XI: Text edit boxes and Combo boxes in table cells (build 15)

Graphical Interfaces XI: Text edit boxes and Combo boxes in table cells (build 15)

In this update of the library, the Table control (the CTable class) will be supplemented with new options. The lineup of controls in the table cells is expanded, this time adding text edit boxes and combo boxes. As an addition, this update also introduces the ability to resize the window of an MQL application during its runtime.
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Combinatorics and probability for trading (Part V): Curve analysis

Combinatorics and probability for trading (Part V): Curve analysis

In this article, I decided to conduct a study related to the possibility of reducing multiple states to double-state systems. The main purpose of the article is to analyze and to come to useful conclusions that may help in the further development of scalable trading algorithms based on the probability theory. Of course, this topic involves mathematics. However, given the experience of previous articles, I see that generalized information is more useful than details.
Deep Neural Networks (Part III). Sample selection and dimensionality reduction
Deep Neural Networks (Part III). Sample selection and dimensionality reduction

Deep Neural Networks (Part III). Sample selection and dimensionality reduction

This article is a continuation of the series of articles about deep neural networks. Here we will consider selecting samples (removing noise), reducing the dimensionality of input data and dividing the data set into the train/val/test sets during data preparation for training the neural network.
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Installing MetaTrader 5 and Other MetaQuotes Apps on HarmonyOS NEXT

Installing MetaTrader 5 and Other MetaQuotes Apps on HarmonyOS NEXT

Easily install MetaTrader 5 and other MetaQuotes apps on HarmonyOS NEXT devices using DroiTong. A detailed step-by-step guide for your phone or laptop.
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Neural networks made easy (Part 29): Advantage Actor-Critic algorithm

Neural networks made easy (Part 29): Advantage Actor-Critic algorithm

In the previous articles of this series, we have seen two reinforced learning algorithms. Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages. As often happens in such cases, next comes the idea to combine both methods into an algorithm, using the best of the two. This would compensate for the shortcomings of each of them. One of such methods will be discussed in this article.
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Automating Trading Strategies in MQL5 (Part 44): Change of Character (CHoCH) Detection with Swing High/Low Breaks

Automating Trading Strategies in MQL5 (Part 44): Change of Character (CHoCH) Detection with Swing High/Low Breaks

In this article, we develop a Change of Character (CHoCH) detection system in MQL5 that identifies swing highs and lows over a user-defined bar length, labels them as HH/LH for highs or LL/HL for lows to determine trend direction, and triggers trades on breaks of these swing points, indicating a potential reversal, and trades the breaks when the structure changes.
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The Liquidity Grab Trading Strategy

The Liquidity Grab Trading Strategy

The liquidity grab trading strategy is a key component of Smart Money Concepts (SMC), which seeks to identify and exploit the actions of institutional players in the market. It involves targeting areas of high liquidity, such as support or resistance zones, where large orders can trigger price movements before the market resumes its trend. This article explains the concept of liquidity grab in detail and outlines the development process of the liquidity grab trading strategy Expert Advisor in MQL5.
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Matrix and Vector operations in MQL5

Matrix and Vector operations in MQL5

Matrices and vectors have been introduced in MQL5 for efficient operations with mathematical solutions. The new types offer built-in methods for creating concise and understandable code that is close to mathematical notation. Arrays provide extensive capabilities, but there are many cases in which matrices are much more efficient.
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Automating Trading Strategies in MQL5 (Part 3): The Zone Recovery RSI System for Dynamic Trade Management

Automating Trading Strategies in MQL5 (Part 3): The Zone Recovery RSI System for Dynamic Trade Management

In this article, we create a Zone Recovery RSI EA System in MQL5, using RSI signals to trigger trades and a recovery strategy to manage losses. We implement a "ZoneRecovery" class to automate trade entries, recovery logic, and position management. The article concludes with backtesting insights to optimize performance and enhance the EA’s effectiveness.
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Brute force approach to pattern search (Part III): New horizons

Brute force approach to pattern search (Part III): New horizons

This article provides a continuation to the brute force topic, and it introduces new opportunities for market analysis into the program algorithm, thereby accelerating the speed of analysis and improving the quality of results. New additions enable the highest-quality view of global patterns within this approach.
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DoEasy. Controls (Part 1): First steps

DoEasy. Controls (Part 1): First steps

This article starts an extensive topic of creating controls in Windows Forms style using MQL5. My first object of interest is creating the panel class. It is already becoming difficult to manage things without controls. Therefore, I will create all possible controls in Windows Forms style.
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Automating Trading Strategies in MQL5 (Part 13): Building a Head and Shoulders Trading Algorithm

Automating Trading Strategies in MQL5 (Part 13): Building a Head and Shoulders Trading Algorithm

In this article, we automate the Head and Shoulders pattern in MQL5. We analyze its architecture, implement an EA to detect and trade it, and backtest the results. The process reveals a practical trading algorithm with room for refinement.
How Reliable is Night Trading?
How Reliable is Night Trading?

How Reliable is Night Trading?

The article covers the peculiarities of night flat trading on cross currency pairs. It explains where you can expect profits and why great losses are not unlikely. The article also features an example of the Expert Advisor developed for night trading and talks about the practical application of this strategy.
Equivolume Charting Revisited
Equivolume Charting Revisited

Equivolume Charting Revisited

The article dwells on the method of constructing charts, at which each bar consists of the equal number of ticks.
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Price Action Analysis Toolkit Development (Part 27): Liquidity Sweep With MA Filter Tool

Price Action Analysis Toolkit Development (Part 27): Liquidity Sweep With MA Filter Tool

Understanding the subtle dynamics behind price movements can give you a critical edge. One such phenomenon is the liquidity sweep, a deliberate strategy that large traders, especially institutions, use to push prices through key support or resistance levels. These levels often coincide with clusters of retail stop-loss orders, creating pockets of liquidity that big players can exploit to enter or exit sizeable positions with minimal slippage.
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Everything you need to learn about the MQL5 program structure

Everything you need to learn about the MQL5 program structure

Any Program in any programming language has a specific structure. In this article, you will learn essential parts of the MQL5 program structure by understanding the programming basics of every part of the MQL5 program structure that can be very helpful when creating our MQL5 trading system or trading tool that can be executable in the MetaTrader 5.
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Neural networks made easy (Part 5): Multithreaded calculations in OpenCL

Neural networks made easy (Part 5): Multithreaded calculations in OpenCL

We have earlier discussed some types of neural network implementations. In the considered networks, the same operations are repeated for each neuron. A logical further step is to utilize multithreaded computing capabilities provided by modern technology in an effort to speed up the neural network learning process. One of the possible implementations is described in this article.
Advantages of MQL5 Signals
Advantages of MQL5 Signals

Advantages of MQL5 Signals

Trading Signals service recently introduced in MetaTrader 5 allows traders to copy trading operations of any signals provider. Users can select any signal, subscribe to it and all deals will be copied at their accounts. Signals providers can set their subscription prices and receive a fixed monthly fee from their subscribers.
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Market Profile indicator

Market Profile indicator

In this article, we will consider Market Profile indicator. We will find out what lies behind this name, try to understand its operation principles and have a look at its terminal version (MarketProfile).