FFcal.EXE is not as complex as what it first appears. There are a lot of options, but most of these simply allow you to specify which news events you want plotted, and how you want them to appear (which wingding symbols, colors etc).
Obviously it’s important to have the events plotted under the correct price bars. Check the location of the symbols on the chart against the FF calendar (http://www.forexfactory.com/calendar.php). If this is not happening, then there is a time differential between your version of MT4 and the FF calendar. On the FFcal.EXE entry screen, there’s a parameter “No of hours your MT4 is ahead of FF calendar”. You can type a value in here to adjust for the differential.
For example, supposing there’s an event that, according to the calendar, occurs at 10:00 am, but is being plotted on the chart at 8:00 am. This means that it needs to be brought forward on the chart by 2 hours, so you would need to enter ‘2’ into this field.
Another example: According to the calendar, an event occurs at 8:30am, but it’s being plotted at 1:30pm. So it needs to be plotted 5 hours earlier: hence you would enter ‘–5’ into this field. And so on.
This should be a once-only adjustment. Once you have this value set correctly, it should work forever. The only possible exception being a 1-hour adjustment whenever daylight saving begins or ends. (Note that all of your entered settings are saved when you exit, and are re-loaded when you next run this option).
The History that is supplied uses GMT as its base time. If your MT4 charts don’t use GMT, then you’ll need to delete and re-construct it (explained below).
The second point I’d like to make is about whether it’s necessary to check the very first parameter box “Update Events History database from FF calendar”. You only need to do this if data on the FF calendar has changed, and you want to bring your charts up to date with the changes. For example, when additional news events have been added to the calendar since your last update, or the “Actual” column has new entries as a result of the announcement having been made. Or you wish to re-populate the Events History database with the correct times (as discussed above).
Note that whenever you update the Events History, seven days (i.e. starting with the date you enter in the “FF calendar start date” parameter, and the 6 days following) worth of history is deleted, and re-constructed from the FF calendar.
You can always check to see what’s in the Events History database by using the “File/Modify Events History database” menu option. Page up and down (or use Home and End keys to take you to the top, or bottom, of the list) to view the Events History. You can make temporary adjustments by inserting, changing or deleting records, as described on-screen. However, keep in mind that any changes will be overwritten whenever the History gets re-constructed as described above.
If you want to clear out all, or part, of the Events History, use the “File/Delete Events History database” menu option. Then you can start afresh, and re-construct as described above, 7 days at a time.
About the WGET option
Gnu’s WGET utility allows an application to save data from a web page, in this case the FF calendar. Provided that you’re currently on-line (to the internet), you can use this facility. Check the “Automatic calendar load” box. FFcal.EXE will automatically call WGET to obtain the correct web page, and save it, ready for processing. If you leave this box unchecked, then you must get the necessary web page, and save it manually yourself (as “calendar.php.htm”).
News.CSV output settings
The settings in the lower area of the screen determine what events will be plotted on which charts, and how they will appear (which winding symbol, which color). All of this is explained in more detail in the supplied operations guide.
Applying changes to your chart
Once you've made changes by running the "Build News.CSV" menu option, all you need to do is re-attach the Plot_News indicator to your chart(s). Or if it's already attached, simply edit it. Either way it picks up the latest values from News.CSV, and re-plots itself.
Cheers
David
Obviously it’s important to have the events plotted under the correct price bars. Check the location of the symbols on the chart against the FF calendar (http://www.forexfactory.com/calendar.php). If this is not happening, then there is a time differential between your version of MT4 and the FF calendar. On the FFcal.EXE entry screen, there’s a parameter “No of hours your MT4 is ahead of FF calendar”. You can type a value in here to adjust for the differential.
For example, supposing there’s an event that, according to the calendar, occurs at 10:00 am, but is being plotted on the chart at 8:00 am. This means that it needs to be brought forward on the chart by 2 hours, so you would need to enter ‘2’ into this field.
Another example: According to the calendar, an event occurs at 8:30am, but it’s being plotted at 1:30pm. So it needs to be plotted 5 hours earlier: hence you would enter ‘–5’ into this field. And so on.
This should be a once-only adjustment. Once you have this value set correctly, it should work forever. The only possible exception being a 1-hour adjustment whenever daylight saving begins or ends. (Note that all of your entered settings are saved when you exit, and are re-loaded when you next run this option).
The History that is supplied uses GMT as its base time. If your MT4 charts don’t use GMT, then you’ll need to delete and re-construct it (explained below).
The second point I’d like to make is about whether it’s necessary to check the very first parameter box “Update Events History database from FF calendar”. You only need to do this if data on the FF calendar has changed, and you want to bring your charts up to date with the changes. For example, when additional news events have been added to the calendar since your last update, or the “Actual” column has new entries as a result of the announcement having been made. Or you wish to re-populate the Events History database with the correct times (as discussed above).
Note that whenever you update the Events History, seven days (i.e. starting with the date you enter in the “FF calendar start date” parameter, and the 6 days following) worth of history is deleted, and re-constructed from the FF calendar.
You can always check to see what’s in the Events History database by using the “File/Modify Events History database” menu option. Page up and down (or use Home and End keys to take you to the top, or bottom, of the list) to view the Events History. You can make temporary adjustments by inserting, changing or deleting records, as described on-screen. However, keep in mind that any changes will be overwritten whenever the History gets re-constructed as described above.
If you want to clear out all, or part, of the Events History, use the “File/Delete Events History database” menu option. Then you can start afresh, and re-construct as described above, 7 days at a time.
About the WGET option
Gnu’s WGET utility allows an application to save data from a web page, in this case the FF calendar. Provided that you’re currently on-line (to the internet), you can use this facility. Check the “Automatic calendar load” box. FFcal.EXE will automatically call WGET to obtain the correct web page, and save it, ready for processing. If you leave this box unchecked, then you must get the necessary web page, and save it manually yourself (as “calendar.php.htm”).
News.CSV output settings
The settings in the lower area of the screen determine what events will be plotted on which charts, and how they will appear (which winding symbol, which color). All of this is explained in more detail in the supplied operations guide.
Applying changes to your chart
Once you've made changes by running the "Build News.CSV" menu option, all you need to do is re-attach the Plot_News indicator to your chart(s). Or if it's already attached, simply edit it. Either way it picks up the latest values from News.CSV, and re-plots itself.
Cheers
David
