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Hi everybody,
This is my best attempt to make the installation and use of the Plot_News indicator as user-friendly as possible. For those who are unfamiliar with the indicator, it displays news events as small numbered circles on your MT4 charts (see first screenshot below). Hover the mouse cursor over each circle to see details of the news event (see final screenshot below). Hence it is possible to see both (1) what effect each event had on price, historically; and (2) also be warned of upcoming announcements. All data is obtained from the FF calendar.
The product consists of two components: (1) the FFccstart.BAT application, which downloads news events from the FF calendar, creates its own (viewable) Events History database, and also a text file ("News.CSV") of news events; (2) the Plot_News.MQ4 indicator, which you attach to your MT4 charts: it reads News.CSV and plots the little numbered circles. See the "Process Overview" diagram below for detailed information.
From now onward, the latest version (currently v 1.37, uploaded July 16, 2009) will always be attached to this post (#1). Everything that's needed to make it work will be downloadable from the one ZIP file. (The software has undergone many changes over the months and the next 20 or so posts in this thread can be safely ignored.) The version number is displayed in the blue header of the main program window. Every time the program is updated, I wil increment the version number, and also add a new post to this thread, to bump it up the forum.
[NOTE: a simpler, and more automated, news plotting indicator is available here. Please note that I did not develop, nor do I support, this indicator. It is a completely separate product that plots only a subset of the current week's news, sourced from Dailyfx.com's calendar. Anybody who is seeking a more user-friendly, but less feature-rich, alternative might like to check it out. For yet another possible alternative, you might also like to try Derk Wehler's FF calendar indicator here]
Installation
[N.B. Before attempting to install the software, please read the legal Disclaimer below].
To install Plot_News, here is what you need to do:
1. Create a new folder, then download and unzip the attached ZIP file into it.
-- Note: If your IE downloaded ZIP file is corrupted... Many users report problems using Internet Explorer to download a complete ZIP file. Please use an alternate browser such as Mozilla Firefox or Opera.
-- To load the complete FF calendar (archive: Jan 1, 2006 thru Jan 30, 2009), see the "Calendar Archive" section below.
2. If you wish, create a shortcut or icon to run the application FFcstart.BAT (i.e. find the file showing as Name = FFcstart; Size = 1 KB; Type = MS-DOS Batch File; in Windows Explorer; then right click and select "Create Shortcut", and finally drag the shortcut onto your Windows Desktop).
3. Double click to run the application FFcstart.BAT.
New in version 1.24: The 'Initial Setup' screen will appear.
Enter the date/time in each of New York; your MT4 broker; and your local time, as instructed. See the help info displayed on the screen.
Then select the folder where your MT4 is installed from the dropdown.
Click OK to return to the 'Build News.CSV' screen.
See here for further instructions.
4. Then press ENTER (or click OK) to build the News Events History. The default settings will cause the most recent 4 weeks of news events to be loaded (including the current week). Hence the data collection window (black background) will appear, and then disappear, 4 times.
These news events will be displayed in a rolling table. Press Alt-F4 or click the close ('x') icon at the top right of the window to exit the application.
5. The above process should have automatically copied the files Plot_News.MQ4,EX4 and Plot_External_Data.MQ4,EX4 from your download folder into the folder crogram files<your MT4 broker name>expertsindicators
If these files dont exist there, or if you're running MT4 from anywhere other than crogram files..... then you will need to copy these files yourself.
6. Re-start MT4 and attach the Plot_News indicator onto your chart(s). To do this, press Ctrl-N to get the Navigator panel, open the "Custom Indicators" tree, and drag the Plot_News indicator onto the chart.
Operational Instructions
Whenever you want to update your MT4 charts with the latest data from the FF calendar, run the FFcstart.BAT application, and press ENTER. If the 'Auto set' option is checked ON, then the application will automatically keep its News Event History up to date, every time you run this. Otherwise you will need to advance the 'Download data from FF calendar starting from what date' parameter by 7 days, once every weekend, to add in the news events for the upcoming week.
After running FFcstart.BAT, you can change the parameters to select exactly which news events you want plotted on your MT4 charts. You can also change the symbols and their colors. Simply make the required changes, and press ENTER.
Press F9 if you want to see all of the news events that have been downloaded from the FF calendar.
Refer to the attached user manuals for more information.
New Features
Version 1.20:
This update modifies FFcal.EXE to make it compatible with the latest format changes to the FF calendar.
Version 1.21:
The Export (Backup) and Import (Restore) facilities have been added. It is now possible to make multiple CSV file backups of the data in your News Events history. Press Alt-F9 and follow the instructions on the screen.
For more information, see here
Version 1.22:
1. FF calendar ID code can now be downloaded and used.
2. Fixed bug relating to download of the week beginning July 15,2007.
Full details here
Version 1.23:
1. Bug fix.
2. 'Initial Setup' facility for new users.
3. Auto date set option.
Full details here
Version 1.24:
1. Enhanced user-friendliness of setup options.
Full details here
Version 1.25:
1. Additional exporting features, including the ability to export files suitable for use with the Plot_External_Data.MQ4 indicator.
2. The Plot_External_Data.MQ4 indicator, which allows economic indicators (from FFcal.EXE's Events History database) and other non-technical, or non-forex, indicators to be plotted on MT4 charts.
Full details here and here
Version 1.26:
1. Minor bug fix.
2. Added "Omit events with no Actual value" parameter.
3. The "Show only events whose descriptions contain only" parameter has been extended.
4. A new "Preview" button, allowing export data to be previewed before it is output.
5. A new "Plot_News format" button, which automatically resets parameters to their original state.
6. A new ">>>" button that allows you to run exports for all (or selected groups of) profiles simultaneously.
Full details and instructions here
Fully annotated exmaple here
Version 1.27:
1. Minor bug fix.
2. New buttons in the "Color for Impact levels" area.
3. New sort option tabs on the "Export Preview" facility.
4. Major new feature: "Effect Analysis" reporting.
Full details and instructions here
Version 1.28:
1. Minor bug, and process streamlining, fixes.
Full details and instructions here
NEW: Alert_News.MQ4 indicator
This "sister" indicator to Plot_News will display/sound an Alert X minutes before each news event occurs (where you supply a value for X).
The latest version is included in the ZIP file attached to this post.
For operational instructions, see here
Version 1.29:
1. Minor bug, and process streamlining, fixes.
Full details and instructions here
Version 1.31: (NB: there is no version 1.30)
1. FFcal.EXE app starts maximized, and with a splash screen.
2. All windows are now resizable.
3. An automatic backup of Events History database (to file @[email protected]) occurs every time an output/export is performed.
4. Alt-F9 facility (Delete/Rebuild/Import/Export) now calls Events History database view automatically upon completion.
5. Separate symbols for positive and negative swap now supported.
6. Events History database files no longer overwrite your existing database, upon installing new version (removes need for Backup/Restore, for existing users).
7. Lowercase characters may no longer be typed into the export filename field.
Full details and instructions here
Version 1.31a:
There are no changes to either Plot_News.MQ4 or FFcal.EXE in this release.
However, the ZIP file now includes a folder "Third party products (not supported by Hanover)" which contains:
-- Pips4Life's version of Plot_News.MQ4 - see here for more information.
-- SpinDrift's version of Plot_News.MQ4 - see here for more information.
-- Monzulu's amended Wingdings font - see here for more information.
Version 1.31b:
Version 1.31b contains a new version of Plot_News.MQ4, that allows news to be printed as text instead of, or in addition to, the numbered symbols.
It also includes a RefreshEveryTick option, which, if set to TRUE, eliminates the need to regularly resfresh the indicator by editing it.
See here for more information.
Version 1.31c:
Version 1.31c makes further enhancements to Plot_News.MQ4:
-- facility to show current broker time, and also times in New York (USD), Toronto (CAD), London (GBP) , Geneva (EUR, CHF), Tokyo (JPY), Sydney (AUD) and Auckland (NZD).
-- Alerts facility: will now sound/dsiplay Alert before each news event (i.e. includes function in Alert_News.MQ4)
-- now refreshes indicator every minute (instead of every tick), reducing CPU overhead and possibility of inter-program conflict
-- Pips4Life's weekly reminder has been included
See here for more information.
Version 1.32:
1. HTML entities &...; are now converted to MT4-intelligible characters.
2. New checkbox allows local date/time to be output to export files (instead of MT4 broker date/time).
3. Included an updated version of the "Plot_News - getting started instructions" XLS in the attachments at the foot of this post.
4. The @[email protected] archive file included in the install ZIP now contains all news events from 1/1/2006 thru 1/30/2009.
Full details and instructions here
Version 1.32a:
1. Bug with times for 'Up Next' news events is now fixed.
2. 'White flag' events like Bank Holidays can now be imported as low impact news events.
Full details and instructions here
Version 1.33:
1. Can now press F10 key to process News.CSV data.
2. News Composite (NCI) export is now included. The NCI indicator can be found here.
Full details and instructions here
Version 1.34:
1. Fixes bug where object name/dsecription output to MT4 exceeds 62 bytes.
Full details and instructions here
Version 1.35:
1. Fixes bug that caused error "Open(calend~1.php) - File Not Found".
Full details and instructions here
Version 1.37:
1. Allows downloading, filtering, plotting, exporting etc of Chinese CNY news events.
Full details and instructions here
Calendar Archive
The @FFCALR.CSV@ file in the ZIP file below contains a complete archive of the FF calendar (9,314 news events) from 1/1/2006 thru 01/30/2009.
The CSV file can be loaded directly into Microsoft Excel, and/or be edited using a text editor.
The dates/times of news events are Alpari time (currently GMT+1). If you are planning on using these in Plot_News, you will need to modify these news event times to those of your MT4 broker, including all necessary adjustments for Daylight Saving time.
To import the CSV file, in full or in part, into Plot_News' Event History database, proceed as follows:
1. Run FFcstart.BAT, and press Esc, then Alt-F9.
2. Choose the "Delete and then Import (i.e. Restore)" option.
-- Enter the desired date range (format: MM/DD/YYYY). Make absolutely certain that you have this correct, as it will delete all news events in your existing Event History database, and replace them with those, that fall within the same date range, from the import file.
-- Set the "Name of Import / Export file" to FFCALR
-- Click OK. Verify that the events have been imported correctly into the Events History database.
Note that you can re-run this process (press Esc, then Alt-F9 again), and choose the Rebuild option, to adjust the news event times back or forward any number of hours, for all events within your specified date range.
UPDATE (July 4,2009): See here for a ZIP containing the full FF calendar of news events dated between Jan 1,2007 and July 3,2009, in CSV format, with all events time-stamped with New York date/time. News events for 2006 are no longer available from FF calendar. The CSV file contains all 9,711 entries in FF calendar up to July 3, 2009.
FAQ / "How to...." hints
You can study the month-to-month variations in any particular news event.
More information here
You can use FFcal.EXE to export the FF calendar to XML, CSV, and columnar formats.
More information here
You can press Alt-F9 to modify subsets of news events in FFcal.EXE's History database:
- Delete multiple news events from the database
- Rebuild multiple news events, changing their times (useful for converting to a different timezone, or adjusting for daylight saving)
- Export subsets of news events, or backup the entire database
- Import subsets of news events, or restore the entire database from a prior backup
More information here
You can plot economic indicators (from FFcal.EXE's Events History database) and other non-technical, or non-forex, indicators on your MT4 charts.
More information here and here
Fully annotated examples here and here
You can export data to an XLS, showing in tablular form, the effect that any prior news annnoucement(s) had on price, across time intervals of your choice.
More information here
You can also have your own custom designed (non-FF calendar sourced) events plot on your MT4 charts.
Instructions here.
Troubleshooting / Error Recovery Procedure
The following are known error messages. In each case, you will need to click the ABORT button, and then close and re-start FFcstart.BAT/FFcal.EXE.
-- "Access denied" : most likely caused by either (1) failure to specify a file name in the "Pathname of output (News.CSV) file....." parameter (see second screenshot below); or (2) this file is already open and in use by another application. Make sure that you have specified a valid filename at the end of the path (preferably news.csv), and/or close any other application that might be accessing this file.
This can also occur if the Plot_News parameter AutoRefresh = true while FFcal.EXE is running, because both applications are attempting to access the News.CSV file simultaneously. Either (i) set AutoRefresh to false, or (ii) run FFcal.EXE again, and hope that the process completes between ticks.
-- "Creates duplicate key" : the database has become damaged (it is trying to add a news event with the same date/time, currency pair, and description, a second time). Close the application and perform the 'last resort' solution below.
-- "File not found - calend~1.php" : this is a strange and infrequent error, reported by only a few users, and may relate to your version of Windows being unable to 'see' 8-character filenames (the old 'DOS' format). Try changing the date in the "Download data from FF calendar starting from what date" parameter (see second screenshot below). Failing that, close the application and perform the 'last resort' solution below. It is possible that there may be no solution short of your changing your version of Windows. Despite trying everything that I know, I have not been able to reproduce this error on either of my Win-98 and Win-XP platforms. NOTE: this error has (hopefully) been eliminated in v 1.35
-- "Path not found" : most likely caused by an incorrect path name in the "Pathname of output (News.CSV) file....." parameter (see second screenshot below). This path must already exist. Check your spelling, punctuation, number of spaces, etc all must be 100% correct (Windows is very fussy). However, capitals or lower case doesn't matter.
The 'Last Resort' Solution
The FFcstart.BAT/FFcal.EXE application has been running for several months now and is supposedly very stable.
However, if you are experiencing recurring errors, the best 'last resort' solution may be to clear out the Events History database, and start over. Here's how:
1. Run My Computer/Windows Explorer (or whatever file manager you use), and go to the folder where you originally unzipped Plot_News. There should be files there named:
CALENDAR.DAT
CALENDAR.K01
CALENDAR.K02
CALENDAR.K03
These are the files where the Events History are stored. Delete these four files. That should hopefully reset everything.
2. Run FFcstart.BAT. Press Esc, then Alt-F9. Select the "Delete and then Import (i.e. Restore)" option. Make sure that the "Name of Import/Export file" is set to BACKUP, then click OK to restore your entire News Event History database.
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Disclaimer
This software is offered, free of charge, on an "as is" basis, with no guarantee of correct operation, or support. My PC config allows testing on Win-98 and Win-XP Pro only. While I have firewalls and anti-virus operating on my PCs, by downloading and running the software, you agree to do so AT YOUR OWN RISK. I accept NO LIABILITY WHATSOEVER for any losses or damage.
This software is intended for use as a tool only. If/how you decide to use it to assist with your trading decisions, that is entirely your choice. I accept NO LIABILITY WHATSOEVER for any trading losses that you might incur.
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Please feel welcome to post queries and suggestions, and report errors, in this thread.
When I have time, I will update the operations manuals. In the meantime, you can download the most recent versions (the Word docs) that are attached below.
Good luck with your trading!
Best wishes,
David
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Other FREE indicators by Hanover:
News Composite Indicator (NCI)
Candle Identifier indicator
Recent Candles indicator
Recent Strength indicator
Recent Prices indicator