MQL5 ReferenceCustom SymbolsCustomTicksAdd

CustomTicksAdd

Adds data from an array of the MqlTick type to the price history of a custom symbol. The custom symbol must be selected in the Market Watch window.

int  CustomTicksAdd(
   const string     symbol,             // Symbol name
   const MqlTick&   ticks[],            // The array with tick data that should be applied to the custom symbol
   uint             count=WHOLE_ARRAY   // number of the ticks[] array elements to be used
   );

Parameters

symbol

[in] The name of the custom symbol.

ticks[]

[in] An array of tick data of the MqlTick type arranged in order of time from earlier data to more recent ones, i.e. ticks[k].time_msc <= ticks[n].time_msc, if k<n.

count=WHOLE_ARRAY

[in] Number of the ticks[] array elements to be used for adding. WHOLE_ARRAY means that all ticks[] array elements should be used.

Return Value

The number of added ticks or -1 in case of an error.

Further Note

The CustomTicksAdd function only works for custom symbols opened in the Market Watch window. If the symbol is not selected in Market Watch, then you should add ticks using CustomTicksReplace.

The CustomTicksAdd function allows transmitting ticks as if they are delivered from the broker's server. Data are sent to the Market Watch window instead of being written directly to the tick database. The terminal then saves ticks from the Market Watch to a database. If the amount of data transmitted during one function call is large, the behavior of the function changes in order to reduce resource usage. If more than 256 ticks are passed, data is divided into two parts. The first, i.e. the larger part is written directly to the tick database (as it is done in CustomTicksReplace). The second part containing 128 ticks is passed to the Market Watch window, from which the terminal saves the ticks to a database.

The MqlTick structure has two fields with the time value: time (the tick time in seconds) and time_msc (the tick time in milliseconds), which are counted from January 1, 1970. These fields in the added ticks are processed in the following order:

If ticks[k].time_msc!=0, we use it to fill the ticks[k].time field, i.e. ticks[k].time=ticks[k].time_msc/1000 (integer division) is set for the tick
If ticks[k].time_msc==0 and ticks[k].time!=0, time in milliseconds is obtained by multiplying by 1000, i.e. ticks[k].time_msc=ticks[k].time*1000
If ticks[k].time_msc==0 and ticks[k].time==0, the current trade server time up to a millisecond as of the moment of CustomTicksAdd call is written to these fields.

If the value of ticks[k].bid, ticks[k].ask, ticks[k].last or ticks[k].volume is greater than zero, a combination of appropriate flags is written to the ticks[k].flags field:

TICK_FLAG_BID – the tick has changed the bid price
TICK_FLAG_ASK – the tick has changed the ask price
TICK_FLAG_LAST – the tick has changed the last deal price
TICK_FLAG_VOLUME – the tick has changed the volume

If the value of a field is less than or equal to zero, the corresponding flag is not written to the ticks[k].flags field.

Flags TICK_FLAG_BUY and TICK_FLAG_SELL are not added to the history of a custom symbol.