Advisor keeps placing trades on every candle

[tnil25]

Hi everyone, I'm new to the MT platform and so far I really like it. I've been developing my first advisor but I'm running into an issue.

I pieced this script together from resources I found around the internet. I have basic coding skills but I'm certainly not a pro, so please excuse me if I'm making a glaring mistake.

Essentially the issue is that the advisor keeps making trades on every single candle if the condition is met. I only want it to execute a buy once when the opening price crosses above the "confimation" SMA line, and sell when the asking price crosses below the "validation" SMA line.

I figured the best way to go about it would be to check the previous bar to make sure its not placing a new order higher than the previous one, but I'm not sure how to go about it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

void OnTick()
  {
  
   double bid = SymbolInfoDouble(_Symbol, SYMBOL_BID);
   double ask = SymbolInfoDouble(_Symbol, SYMBOL_ASK);
   
   static datetime timestamp;
   datetime time = iTime(_Symbol,PERIOD_CURRENT,0);
   if(timestamp != time){
      timestamp = time;

      static int handleConfMa = iMA(_Symbol,PERIOD_CURRENT,9,0,MODE_SMA,PRICE_CLOSE);
      double confMaArray[];
      CopyBuffer(handleConfMa,0,1,2,confMaArray);
      ArraySetAsSeries(confMaArray,true);
   
      static int handleValMa = iMA(_Symbol,PERIOD_CURRENT,2,0,MODE_SMA,PRICE_OPEN);
      double valMaArray[];
      CopyBuffer(handleValMa,0,1,2,valMaArray);
      ArraySetAsSeries(valMaArray,true);

      if(bid > confMaArray[0])
         {
            Print("Confirmation");
            double sl = ask - 100 * SymbolInfoDouble(_Symbol,SYMBOL_POINT);
            double tp = ask + 100 * SymbolInfoDouble(_Symbol,SYMBOL_POINT);
            trade.Buy(0.01,_Symbol,ask,sl,tp,"Buy");
         }
      
      if(ask < valMaArray[0])
         {
            Print("Validation");
            double sl = bid + 100 * SymbolInfoDouble(_Symbol,SYMBOL_POINT);
            double tp = bid - 100 * SymbolInfoDouble(_Symbol,SYMBOL_POINT);
            trade.Sell(0.01,_Symbol,bid,sl,tp,"Sell");
         }
      }
  }

[Vladimir Karputov]

The main mistake: you create an indicator handle at every tick.

REMEMBER: IN MQL5, the indicator handle MUST BE CREATED ONCE! And this is done in OnInit !!!

[tnil25]

Vladimir Karputov:

The main mistake: you create an indicator handle at every tick.

REMEMBER: IN MQL5, the indicator handle MUST BE CREATED ONCE! And this is done in OnInit !!!

Thanks for the response Vlad! Any recommendation for where to move the code? I tried moving the handles to OnInit but got an error stating the variable is undefined.

[Vladimir Karputov]

Example: a simple Expert Advisor at the intersection of two iMA (Moving Average, MA) indicators.

[tnil25]

Vladimir Karputov:

Example: a simple Expert Advisor at the intersection of two iMA (Moving Average, MA) indicators.

Thanks Vlad, your examples showed me another major problem with my code. I was under the impression buy and sell commands worked in tandem with eachother, clearly thats not the case and all the positions being triggered were staying open, I need to make sure they are closed before a new order is opened.