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Seeking Help on Loop

  • #1
  • First Post: Oct 3, 2020 9:58am Oct 3, 2020 9:58am
Hi, I'm learning simple coding now and hopefully you can guide me. I intend to create a non-global loop to detect the "shift" of open price of lower tf that equal to the open price of higher tf, in this case, tf=M5 and tf=30.

int cOpShf=0;
{
int OpBigTf=30, OpSmlTf=5;
for(int i=0; i<OpBigTf/OpSmlTf; i++)
{
double cOpBigTf=iOpen(NULL,OpBigTf,0);
double cOpSmlTf=iOpen(NULL,OpSmlTf,i);
if(cOpBigTf != cOpSmlTf) i++;
cOpShf=i;
}
}

I cannot get it right (I want to get the shift number of cOpShf), could you please help ? Thanks
  • #2
  • Oct 3, 2020 10:57am Oct 3, 2020 10:57am
You don't need a loop for this. And it's not guaranteed that the open price is unique. You just need some math with time. I think you will see the solution with these hints:

With iTime(...) or CopyTime(...) you get the open time (seconds) of the current bar of any timeframe.
With PeriodSeconds(...) you will get the amount of seconds of one bar of any timeframe.
With MathFloor(...) you will get the integer portion of a division.

Cheers
Peter
  • #3
  • Oct 3, 2020 11:35am Oct 3, 2020 11:35am
Quoting Retep
You don't need a loop for this. And it's not guaranteed that the open price is unique. You just need some math with time. I think you will see the solution with these hints: With iTime(...) or CopyTime(...) you get the open time (seconds) of the current bar of any timeframe. With PeriodSeconds(...) you will get the amount of seconds of one bar of any timeframe. With MathFloor(...) you will get the integer portion of a division. Cheers Peter
Thanks Peter. My intention is to get the "shift" of the smaller tf from start of higher tf so that I can use the "shift" for other calculation purposes such as Bollinger, MA, ATR, etc.

Would you be able to help ? Thanks. (sorry, I'm a beginner to learn coding, hope you can write down the codes so that I can test it)
  • #4
  • Oct 3, 2020 3:05pm Oct 3, 2020 3:05pm
Example:

Inserted Code
void OnStart()
{
   datetime StartM30 = iTime(NULL,PERIOD_M30,0);
   datetime StartM5 = iTime(NULL,PERIOD_M5,0);
 
   if(StartM30 > 0 && StartM5 > 0)
      Print("Shift is: " + (StartM5 - StartM30) / PeriodSeconds(PERIOD_M5));
}

Cheers
Peter
  • #5
  • Edited 5:25pm Oct 3, 2020 5:04pm | Edited 5:25pm
Quoting Retep
Example: void OnStart() { datetime StartM30 = iTime(NULL,PERIOD_M30,0); datetime StartM5 = iTime(NULL,PERIOD_M5,0); if(StartM30 > 0 && StartM5 > 0) Print("Shift is: " + (StartM5 - StartM30) / PeriodSeconds(PERIOD_M5)); } Cheers Peter
Hi Peter, thousands of thanks. I put your codes into a script, yes, the Expert tab shows the correct shift number, great ! What a much simplified and precise solution. However, when I put below modified codes into my EA's entry signal section :-

datetime StartM30=iTime(NULL,30,0);
datetime StartM5=iTime(NULL,5,0);
int OpShf=(StartM5-StartM30)/PeriodSeconds(5);
double HiXto20=High[iHighest(NULL,5,MODE_HIGH,20,OpShf)];
double HiX=iHigh(NULL,5,OpShf);
double ATRX=iATR(NULL,5,20,OpShf);

A warning "possible loss of date due to type conversion" appears, seems the OpShf=(StartM5-StartM30)/PeriodSeconds(5) is not an integer value, therefore it cannot be used for other i-indicators usages, I think the OpShf is a datetime value.

Would it be possible to convert the OpShf into integer value ?

Another issue, I have removed the "if(StartM30 > 0 && StartM5 > 0)" in my entry block and I don't know whether it is important / mandatory to put in for the purpose of getting the "shift". FYI, the "if" function will be used for entry sigmal block purposes.

Thanks
  • #6
  • Oct 3, 2020 6:01pm Oct 3, 2020 6:01pm
The compiler directive
Inserted Code
#property strict
makes the difference.
The result of the division is a double, it can safely be casted to int.
iTime(...) can return 0 if the history is not available, so the if is just checking for such errors.

Inserted Code
#property strict
 
void OnStart()
{
   datetime StartM30 = iTime(NULL,PERIOD_M30,0);
   datetime StartM5 = iTime(NULL,PERIOD_M5,0);
 
   if(StartM30 > 0 && StartM5 > 0)
   {
      int Shift = (int)(StartM5 - StartM30) / PeriodSeconds(PERIOD_M5);
      Print("Shift is: " + IntegerToString(Shift));
   }
}

Cheers
Peter
  • #7
  • Oct 4, 2020 3:01am Oct 4, 2020 3:01am
Quoting Retep
The compiler directive #property strict makes the difference. The result of the division is a double, it can safely be casted to int. iTime(...) can return 0 if the history is not available, so the if is just checking for such errors. #property strict void OnStart() { datetime StartM30 = iTime(NULL,PERIOD_M30,0); datetime StartM5 = iTime(NULL,PERIOD_M5,0); if(StartM30 > 0 && StartM5 > 0) { int Shift = (int)(StartM5 - StartM30) / PeriodSeconds(PERIOD_M5); Print("Shift is: " + IntegerToString(Shift)); } } Cheers Peter
Thanks Peter, only now I know a way to convert the datetime to int by using (int).

FYI, my EA already had the "#property strict". Noted on others. My "shift" case is solved. Thank you very much again, you're kind and patient.
  • #8
  • Oct 4, 2020 6:51am Oct 4, 2020 6:51am
You're welcome.

The datetime has 8 bytes and should be casted to long not int. In our case we cast the result of the division (which is a double) to int.

There is a even better solution I didn't know before with the explicit function iBarShift(...) to solve this problem. And it will also handle the problem of possible gaps.
Example:

Inserted Code
#property strict
 
void OnStart()
{
   datetime StartM30 = iTime(NULL,PERIOD_M30,0);
 
   if(StartM30 > 0)
   {
      int Shift = iBarShift(NULL,PERIOD_M5,StartM30,true);
      Print("Shift is: " + IntegerToString(Shift));
   }
}

Cheers
Peter
  • #9
  • Last Post: Oct 4, 2020 9:36am Oct 4, 2020 9:36am
Quoting Retep
You're welcome. The datetime has 8 bytes and should be casted to long not int. In our case we cast the result of the division (which is a double) to int. There is a even better solution I didn't know before with the explicit function iBarShift(...) to solve this problem. And it will also handle the problem of possible gaps. Example: #property strict void OnStart() { datetime StartM30 = iTime(NULL,PERIOD_M30,0); if(StartM30 > 0) { int Shift = iBarShift(NULL,PERIOD_M5,StartM30,true); Print("Shift is: " + IntegerToString(Shift)); } } Cheers Peter
Thanks Peter, yes, I agree that iBarShift is a better solution. In fact, when I studied the ways to get the "shift", iBarShift was one of my options to explore. I searched internet, I couldn't figure out the "bool exact=false, [in] Return mode when the bar is not found (false - iBarShift returns the nearest, true - iBarShift returns -1)", don't know how it works, LOL.

Thank you again.
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