MQL5 Programming Articles

The development of trading strategies primarily focuses on searching for patterns for entering and exiting the market, as well as maintaining positions. If we are able to formalize some patterns into rules for automated trading, then the trader faces the question of calculating the volume of positions, the size of the margins, as well as maintaining a safe level of mortgage funds for assuring open positions in an automated mode. In this article we will use the MQL5 language to construct simple examples of conducting these calculations.

In this article, we continue to consider writing the code to trading systems described in a book by Linda B. Raschke and Laurence A. Connors “Street Smarts: High Probability Short-Term Trading Strategies”. This time we study Momentum Pinball system: there is described creation of two indicators, trade robot and signal block on it.

Global variables of the terminal provide an indispensable tool for developing sophisticated and reliable Expert Advisors. If you master the global variables, you will no more be able to imagine developing EAs on MQL5 without them.

This paper proposes a new conception to describe the window interface of MQL programs, using the structures of MQL. Special classes transform the viewable MQL markup into the GUI elements and allow manage them, set up their properties, and process the events in a unified manner. It also provides some examples of using the markup for the dialogs and elements of a standard library.

If you have newly switched to MQL5, then this article will be useful. First, the access to the indicator data and series is done in the usual MQL4 style. Second, this entire simplicity is implemented in MQL5. All functions are as clear as possible and perfectly suited for step-by-step debugging.

This article is a follow-up to the previous one called "Reversal patterns: Testing the Double top/bottom pattern". Now we will have a look at another well-known reversal pattern called Head and Shoulders, compare the trading efficiency of the two patterns and make an attempt to combine them into a single trading system.

In this article, we develop and tests several strategies based on the Donchian channel using various indicator filters. We also perform a comparative analysis of their operation.

In this article, we will create the basic functionality of a scalping Market Depth tool. Also, we will develop a tick chart based on the CGraphic library and integrate it with the order book. Using the described Market Depth, it will be possible to create a powerful assistant tool for short-term trading.

The article provides the analysis of the following patterns: Flag, Pennant, Wedge, Rectangle, Contracting Triangle, Expanding Triangle. In addition to analyzing their similarities and differences, we will create indicators for detecting these patterns on the chart, as well as a tester indicator for the fast evaluation of their effectiveness.

We all know the saying "Better to see once than hear a hundred times". You can read various books about Paris or Venice, but based on the mental images you wouldn't have the same feelings as on the evening walk in these fabulous cities. The advantage of visualization can easily be projected on any aspect of our lives, including work in the market, for example, the analysis of price on charts using indicators, and of course, the visualization of strategy testing. This article contains descriptions of all the visualization features of the MetaTrader 5 Strategy Tester.

This article is intended primarily for the programmers who have already learned the language but have not fully mastered the program development yet. It reveals some debugging techniques and presents a combined experience of the author and many other programmers.

This article is about traditional and unusual algorithms of averaging packed in simplest and single-type classes. They are intended for universal usage in almost all developments of indicators. I hope that the suggested classes will be a good alternative to 'bulky' calls of custom and technical indicators.

The article covers everything you can do with strings in MQL5. It should be of interest primarily to novice MQL5 programmers, while experienced developers will have a good opportunity to summarize and systematize their knowledge.

The article considers the possibility to apply Bayesian optimization to hyperparameters of deep neural networks, obtained by various training variants. The classification quality of a DNN with the optimal hyperparameters in different training variants is compared. Depth of effectiveness of the DNN optimal hyperparameters has been checked in forward tests. The possible directions for improving the classification quality have been determined.

Is it possible to trade on a real MetaTrader 5 account today? How to organize such trading? The article contains the theory of these questions and the working codes used for copying trades from the MetaTrader 5 terminal to MetaTrader 4. The article will be useful both for the developers of Expert Advisors and for practicing traders.

There are 21 time frames available in MetaTrader 5 for analysis. You can take advantage of special chart objects that you can place on the existing chart and set the symbol, time frame and some other properties right there. This article will provide detailed information on such chart graphical objects: we will create an indicator with controls (buttons) that will allow us to set multiple chart objects in a subwindow at the same time. Furthermore, chart objects will accurately fit in the subwindow and will be automatically adjusted when the main chart or terminal window is resized.

When developing indicators, Expert Advisors and scripts, developers often need to create various pieces of code, which are not directly related to the trading strategy. In this article, we consider a way to create Expert Advisors using earlier created blocks, such as trailing, filtering and scheduling code, among others. We will see the benefits of this programming approach.

The article thoroughly explains the idea behind the Hurst exponent, as well as the meaning of its values and the calculation algorithm. A number of financial market segments are analyzed and the method of working with MetaTrader 5 products implementing the fractal analysis is described.

In this article I will discuss the development of Expert Advisor, based on the book "New Trading Dimensions: How to Profit from Chaos in Stocks, Bonds, and Commodities" by Bill Williams. The strategy itself is well known and its use is still controversial among traders. The article considers trading signals of the system, the specifics of its implementation, and the results of testing on historical data.

The article describes how to add the ability to work with Microsoft SQL Server database server to MQL5-based Expert Advisors. Import of functions from a DLL is used. The DLL is created using the Microsoft .NET platform and the C# language. The methods used in the article are also suitable for experts written in MQL4, with minor adjustments.

In this article, we will learn a new tool from our series: we will learn how to design a trading system based on one of the most popular technical indicators Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD).

In this article, we will study the reverse martingale technique and will try to understand whether it is worth using, as well as whether it can help improve your trading strategy. We will create an Expert Advisor to operate on historic data and to check what indicators are best suitable for the reversing technique. We will also check whether it can be used without any indicator as an independent trading system. In addition, we will check if reversing can turn a loss-making trading system into a profitable one.

This is the first article in a series related to reversal patterns in the framework of algorithmic trading. We will begin with the most interesting pattern family, which originate from the Double Top and Double Bottom patterns.

This article covers general principles of development of graphical controls. We are going to prepare tools for a quick and convenient work with graphical objects, analyze an example of creation of a simple control for entering text or numeric data as well as the ways of using it.

The article aims to describe the main features of Forex trading as simply and quickly as possible, as well as share some basic ideas with beginners. It also attempts to answer the most tantalizing questions in the trading community along with showcasing the development of a simple indicator.

In early 2011 we released the first version of the MQL5 Wizard. This new application provides a simple and convenient tool to automatically generate trading robots. Any MetaTrader 5 user can create a custom Expert Advisor without even knowing how to program in MQL5.

The article familiarizes the reader with exponential smoothing models used for short-term forecasting of time series. In addition, it touches upon the issues related to optimization and estimation of the forecast results and provides a few examples of scripts and indicators. This article will be useful as a first acquaintance with principles of forecasting on the basis of exponential smoothing models.

When making trading decisions, we often have to analyze charts on several timeframes. At the same time, these charts often contain graphical objects. Applying the same objects to all charts is inconvenient. In this article, I propose to automate cloning of objects to be displayed on charts.

Ever wanted to access tweets and/or post your trade signals on Twitter ? Search no more, these on-going article series will show you how to do it without using any DLL. Enjoy the journey of implementing Twitter API using MQL. In this first part, we will follow the glory path of authentication and authorization in accessing Twitter API.

The complex codes consist of a set of simple codes. If you are familiar with them, it doesn't look so complicated. In this article, we will consider how to create an indicator with multiple indicator buffers. As an example, the Aroon indicator is analyzed in details, and two different versions of the code are presented.

Most of traders agree that the current market state analysis starts with the evaluation of higher chart timeframes. The analysis is performed downwards to lower timeframes until the one, at which deals are performed. This analysis method seems to be a mandatory part of professional approach for successful trading. In this article, we will discuss multi-timeframe indicators and their creation ways, as well as we will provide MQL5 code examples. In addition to the general evaluation of advantages and disadvantages, we will propose a new indicator approach using the MTF mode.

The article describes the Fibo levels-based trading system developed by Joe DiNapoli. The idea behind the system and the main concepts are explained, as well as a simple indicator is provided as an example for more clarity.

The number of trading robots used on the currency markets has significantly increased recently. They employ various concepts and strategies, however, none of them has yet succeeded to create a win-win sample of artificial intelligence. Therefore, many traders remain committed to manual trading. But even for such specialists, robotic assistants or, so called, trading panels, are created. This article is yet another example of creating a trading panel from scratch.

The article explores the advantages and disadvantages of trading in flat periods. The ten strategies created and tested within this article are based on the tracking of price movements inside a channel. Each strategy is provided with a filtering mechanism, which is aimed at avoiding false market entry signals.

The article covers the problem of development of active control panels in MQL5. Interface elements are managed by the event handling mechanism. Besides, the option of a flexible setup of control elements properties is available. The active control panel allows working with positions, as well setting, modifying and deleting market and pending orders.

This article discusses creation of Expert Advisors using the UML graphical language, which is used for visual modeling of object-oriented software systems. The main advantage of this approach is the visualization of the modeling process. The article contains an example that shows modeling of the structure and properties of an Expert Advisor using the Software Ideas Modeler.

In this article the author talks about evolutionary calculations with the use of a personally developed genetic algorithm. He demonstrates the functioning of the algorithm, using examples, and provides practical recommendations for its usage.