New very cool CandleTime and session time Clock indicators

hi Kent,
i'm very pleased with your p4l clock (2.3 version), and i'd want to hide some places i don't need (moscow, berlin), but even i change show=true to false, everything is still display: can't hide these places (looking to the code , i can't see "if condition" to hide or not, no care if set to true or false when these int are define)
i'm not a coder, but seems to miss some tests to apply.
Other problem: data is always on top right corner: can't move to an other place !!!
Hope you still glance at this thread.

I'm not sure what you're doing wrong because the program already does what you want.

You can turn off Moscow times by setting "ShowMoscow = false". There are similar variables for other timezones.

You can control which corner the labels display in using "labelCorner = #" where "#" is: 0=To-left, 1=TR, 2=BL, 3=BR

You can also shift the label positions with "topOffsetPixels = 10" by changing the number "10" to ??? Usually this value is never changed by much but I suppose you could.

You have two choices where to change these variables. You can change them when you add the indicator to the chart. The disadvantages of this method are that if you already know your preferences, it's a bother to have to make the changes by hand each time you add it. Another reason is that should you decide to re-compile the source .mq4 file, then all variable overrides are lost, and instead -- after the re-Compile -- you get whatever is hard-coded in the source .mq4 file.

The better way to make permanent changes is to actually change the values in the source .mq4 file, and then hit "Compile". Perhaps you are forgetting to hit "Compile"?? Or perhaps you set the variables on the chart but then you re-Compiled and went back to the hardcoded values. I don't know where your error is, but if you do make the changes as described here, it should work.

When you add the indicator, be sure to check the box "Allow DLL Imports" in the Common tab. (A constant Alert Error message will popup if you forget to do this).


Below is a picture of my current variable settings. I too do not bother to display Moscow or Berlin... or Seattle or Auckland... I prefer to display Seconds and 24hr format, and I've changed my colors a bit.

There is also a picture showing the display in the bottom-left corner. Works for me...


And by the way... "P4L Clock.mq4" (AFAIK) is calculating all the world times correctly. It can be run on any user's computer no matter what timezone they are in. It is handling independent ST/DST changeover dates for each of the different market timezones automatically. A few weeks ago, the U.S. went on DST. Last night, London switched to DST. Tokyo doesn't observe DST. Sydney is still on DST but will switch to ST next weekend. No matter... all of the times are displayed correctly. Works as advertised!

hi,
thanks for your answer, after compiling it all is fine, that's my fault sorry

I have been messing with the previous versions just recently why I had not found it eariler ask murphy! It seems there may be some programming that may be taken out, as the time is standard from your computer settings as long as you use one of the listed names it will report that time and automatically adjusted for any changes. I will have a little play during the week. just to make it simpler for no real reason.

Hi gazza101,

IMHO, even though the code in "P4L Clock.mq4" (post #1) is a bit complicated, it is now far superior to various earlier "Clock_v1_3.mq4", "Clock_v1_4.mq4" or any other "Clock.mq4" versions.

You're welcome to play around with the code for your own learning purposes. I learn a lot myself by just hacking around with other people's code, and that's exactly what I did when I was frustrated by the incorrect ST/DST calculations made by the previous versions. I wanted to "fix" the errors but then I recognized the fundamental flaws in the previous approach and so I tried something completely different -- and it's now working great, AFAIK. The recent ST/DST changeoevers on different dates for the U.S., London, Australia and New Zealand were all handled correctly by my indicator. It doesn't matter whether I'm in the U.S. (which I am) or whether I'm in Tokyo, or Athens, or ... anywhere!

What you will probably conclude is that with respect to "extra" lines of code is that the only stuff that is unnecessary has to do with the look-and-feel options. I could have hard-coded some particular look-and-feel. That might have been HH:MM but some people (including me, now) prefer to use HH:MM:SS. I could have used a 24-hour clock for clarity, but some people don't think that way and prefer AM/PM style. Few people are interested in "Moscow" or "Berlin" or "Auckland" times but someone asked for them so I put those in as well. Each can be controlled with simple true/false variables so each user can easily customize the look.

There is arguably "extra" code whether to use your broker's time as "Gold standard" or not, but I'm actually finding that really useful for one particular reason... trading the news. My broker's clock is sometimes off just a few seconds but I've seen them off by over a minute which matters a LOT if you're trading the news. How do I know their clock is wrong? The "P4L Clock.mq4" indicator makes it obvious! I set my local computer clock with high accuracy using my clock's Date&Time_Properties->Internet_Time_tab->"Update Now" button. And then with this "P4L Clock.mq4" program displaying seconds, I can glance at "Local" time and any other market time and manually calculate the difference. If my accurate local clock says "HH:41:09" but any market zone says "HH:40:35" then I know my broker's clock is wrong (late) by 34 seconds. Therefore, if a big news event is scheduled at 09:30:00, then I should expect my broker's M1 candles to go crazy at about "09:29:26" which obviously appears to be early, but in reality is exactly in line with a truly accurate world clock.

The code which correctly calculates what time it is in each of the different market zones (including ST/DST changeover) is complicated, yet still as simple as I think it can be. If Windows offered more powerful functions to retrieve the information about any OTHER timezone regardless of my local timezone, then the program could be a LOT simpler... but I could find no such function. I was forced myself to manually change my own local computer to each of the world timezones and then retrieve the ST/DST information one-by-one, and then hard-code that information into my indicator. Of course the lines could be rearranged, but that would not be of much benefit to make it "simpler".


Kent

I somehow saw an earlier version of this program, but then found the latest and am impressed. It is exactly what I was thinking it should be, I just have the way it was in my mind, you have solved my problems that we both had. Thanks

Post #1 has a newly updated "P4L CandleTime.mq4" (v1_2)

For Weekly and Monthly charts, the number of remaining hours might be excessive (well over 24 hours), so a new format is used: D_HH:MM:SS

The program was also updated to be compatible with timeshifted charts as created by the new "P4L PeriodCon.mq4" indicator. (See http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=206301 for "Improved multi-timeframe/offset/chart period converter, P4L PeriodCon.mq4"

I want to say thanks for this. I found it about two weeks ago and I think it's wonderful. I greatly appreciate your work.

On CandleTime: Would you consider making an indicator in the separate window, recording x number of ticks, displaying the candle for that tick, and using correct spacing for the seconds apart CandleTime displays their time within the current TF's bar on the main chart?

I've looked at several other tick charts put into separate window for MT4, only none of them do the correct spacing, rendering them more a toy. Relative speed from the level of tick would be a boon for scalpers, I think, since I've watched this for years and used it, even unrecorded and just recalled.

(Idea also asked for here , tho no one wanted to do it. The above puts the same words simply.)

Perhaps just modifying one of the tick indicators that already exist, for correct spacing with your CandleTime would work.

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(edit)

That was a bit forward. Actually, should do it myself if can; just worked through defining what I wanted to do above.

Am using your CandleTime indicator, and thanks from me, also, for your great job.

I love your P4L Clock indicator, but have a request.

I have many times read thru the compile and I am still not sure how to add a new time zone/city. It would be very helpful if you could release a new revision that includes one city in each time zone. Then it would be very easy for users to choose not to display that city/time zone, or to go into the code and change the name to some other city in that time zone.

I have added code that allows user to select any font style and size differently the clock and the labels. I have added code that assures the order of the list does NOT reverse when changing from corners 0/1 to corners 2/3. I have added code that lets user individually adjust the horizontal inset of the Clock and the Labels. And, along with being able to adjust the vertical inset of the display, I have added code that allows for adjusting the spacing between the lines. And I have added code that assures nice alignment of labels when the display is in corners 0/2. And lastly, I have added code that lets the P4L Clock be placed into a chart sub-window. I would be honored if you would include these enchancements in any new revision you release.

I look forward to a new P4L Clock that includes all time zones, because I would like to see Hong Kong/Beijing added to the list, and would like to be able to easily select in the future some city from any other time zone.

Thank you for your P4L Clock. It is a good piece of work.

I have attached the file that includes my added code.

Hi traderathome,

I'm glad you like the indicator. Adding a small number of zones that correspond to major world markets makes sense, but adding every world timezone is impractical because of the large number of them (95). There are not just 24 zones because the southern and northern hemispheres would have roughly the opposite ST/DST changeovers. That would be 48. However, each country has their own laws governing the dates of ST/DST changeovers (if at all, e.g. Japan and much of Asia has no DST). The result is there are 95 zones (according to the cyclic from my Windows XP built-in Clock application. See the list below).

Beijing/Hong Kong (GMT+8) is an obvious good choice because of local major markets. I notice that in the same "GMT+8" part of the world, there are separate zones for Irkutsk, "Kuala Lumpur/Singapore", Perth, and Taipei. At present, none of these observe ST/DST changeovers, so the good news is all of them would be the same as a Beijing zone.


What other world market timezones should be added besides "Beijing" ? (See the attached list).


Your other enhancements sound like reasonable changes, however, it appears you used a decompiler at some point (even though source has always been available), and your version uses computer generated variable names instead of the much easier-to-read original names and formatting. Am I right, or ?? What would be the purpose of using different names?
I would find it difficult to understand these machine names and then maintain the code for future changes if I adopted yours as my new official version.

I'll probably get around to adding Beijing and maybe a few others but as far as recreating your other changes in my original (easier to read) source, that will take some additional effort and I'm not sure when I'll get around to that. Good ideas though...

Kent

I notice that there is a miner flaw with your code as to how it places the labels in a subwindow instead of the main window.

When I open a new chart and add your version of the code, it opens up a separate indicator window (because you used "#property indicator_separate_window"). However, even though "Label_Window=1", the labels do NOT appear in that window -- nor in any window -- until I do something like change timeframes and back. I think the init() section is getting run before window 1 is created so the labels have no where to go until after init() is finished and start() begins. Perhaps the labels must be run by the 1st (and only 1st) iteration of the start() routine.

It is possible to do something like add RSI or Stoch or CCI (anything) which first opens up a Window 1 and THEN add your indicator... in which case the labels do appear from the start without changing timeframes.

In my opinion, a better way would be to use "#property indicator_chart_window" and make the default Label_Window=0. If the user does open another sub-window using RSI, etc., then the Label_Window property can be changed to "1" or whatever. Even with this though, I can foresee a _potential_ race-condition where if you create a template and load it, it might try to run the Clock code before the sub-windows open, so, it might be back to the same workaround of changing timeframes.

Do you prefer to add the clock to it's own subwindow, or are you adding it to a subwindow which has something else displayed in it?

Traderathome,

I will post a new version after I test it with a live market feed. I added several new timezones and incorporated several of the UI changes you suggested. Looks good.

Last chance to make any additional suggestions or clarifications (see my previous posts).

Hi all,

A new version of "P4L Clock.mq4" v2_4 was just uploaded to Post #1.

Changes:
New colors which are somewhat better for both White and Black background charts. Inside the code there are alternate suggestions for colors if you prefer.

There are now user controls over font name/size, vert. & horiz. offsets and spacing. I reworked the algorithm for auto-spacing of labels based on AM/PM vs. 24 hour, and display of seconds (or not) and ShowBarTime (or not).

ShowBarTime and ShowBroker were added to allow optional display of these.

Added new timezones for: China, Jakarta, India, Israel, Helsinki, Brazil, Mexico, Central and Mountain; renamed "Seattle" to "Pacific".

The label order is now consistent for any LabelCorner but can also be reversed using variable "ReverseLabelOrder".

Labels can display in either the main window or in a subwindow:
As provided (with no edits), the indicator can be added to a chart but have the labels drawn in an *already-existing chart sub-window*. Or, if you prefer, you can edit the source to comment OUT "#property indicator_chart_window", then UN-comment "#property indicator_separate_window" AND change "DrawInWindowNumber = 1" (instead of 0). These changes will make the labels display in a subwindow that the indicator itself will create when added to a chart (as opposed to you creating a subwindow yourself).

New variable "OverrideShowALL" will display every timezone. (22 lines total).

There are new defaults for which timezones and the display-style but the user can change the source as desired.

The AM/PM is off, so 24-hr format is on.

"Seconds" are displayed to better allow precise calibration of your local CPU Clock vs. the Broker time. This is very helpful for news events so you can anticipate whether M1 candles might go crazy a few seconds before or after your broker-time reaches the exact news-time. If your broker is slow by 20 seconds, expect the last candle BEFORE the news time to go crazy a bit early -- but you will know this if your local CPU clock has been precisely calibrated!

FYT, to calibrate your local CPU Clock, right-click over the clock, select "Adjust Date/Time", go to "Internet Time" tab, select "Update Now". In a few seconds it will synchronize your local CPU clock with a world atomic clock.

The labels should display immediately when you add the indicator to a chart. As before, you *must* select "Allow DLL Imports". If you tell it to display to a subwindow that you haven't opened yet, a popup Error will occur (once) but the labels will appear when you open up the subwindow (such as by adding an RSI indicator, or... anything that opens a subwindow).


The attached picture shows the default colors against both black and white backgrounds. The left shows all 22 timezones and "Bar Left" in their natural order, *regardless* of whichever corner you specify. (You can reverse this order if desired). This one has used LabelCorner=3 (Bottom-Right). The right chart shows the current default set of timezones and displays.

The following data regarding world timezone ST/DST changeover dates (upon which this indicator is based) is attached "for the record". An Excel file was created following the directions in the source to create a .csv file which was then imported and sorted (by 1st column) to get the following list. A screenshot is attached. (These are only a subset of the 95 total world timezones referenced by the Windows XP "Clock" application).

FYI, these values can change if any country legislatively changes the date(s) when (if at all) their country observes Daylight Savings Time. (e.g. Japan does not but is supposedly considering doing so). From the list, it would appear that Brazil has hardcoded specific dates (rather than a formula like "The last Sunday in March"). Therefore it may be necessary to annually update the ST/DST information for Brazil in the "P4L Clock.mq4" source code each and every year. Most other timezones in the code are formulas which do not often change from year-to-year.

I got an email that "Traderathome" made a recent post to this thread but the post is now missing.

The answer is that the 7AM choice was intentional because of an Aussie who said so in Post #8:

If you disagree, however, the code contains separate lines for the market hours of the Sydney market. Just edit the code and change the hours of these two lines:



If any other Aussies want to comment on market hours, please do so. In fact, if anyone wants to comment on market hours for Auckland, New Zealand, or any other timezone, please do so. The "standard" local hours are assumed to be 8AM to 5PM unless someone knowledgeable says otherwise.

Yes, last week I believe it was, I posted a question about the "early" start time shown for Sydney. Then shortly after posting I remembered that something had been said earlier in the thread about this. I found and re-read it and then went back and deleted my post. I apologize if this inconvenienced anyone. By the way, I read tonight on Stratman's thread (pipware.com) that Sydney opens at 7:30am their time! Someone there in Sydney made the post. Anyway, I am fine with the indy showing 7am, even if it might be different. And I think that needs confrimation before getting all upset.

I am trying to create a background box for this clock, one that can be colored and which will obscure underlying chart items.

To get started, I set clock up in chart window "0", corner "2" and created code to put a background box there. The box code works. I changed the code for the clock text so that it would be not background, but on top. Running the program puts only two items of the clock on the background box. I do not know why the rest of the selected clock items are not also there.

Can you look into this, and fix whatever in the clock code needs to be fixed so that it will display on top of the background box? Once this is done, I can adjust the code for the background box to make it more the right size for the clock. As it is, it is sized for another program that I transferred it from.

The code I am working with is attached as _v2.4c (White). Thank you.

Edit: As a short term solution for this specific indicator, I have coded a separate indicator that creates a background box for the P4L Clock, or any other text indicator you have on your chart. It only works for chart corners 0 and 2. It is somewhat adjustable in size; you will need to experiment with the inputs. I have attached a pic showing the clock in the lower left chart corner ("2"). As you can see, the Clock text lays on top of the colored background box. You need to change one line of code in the Clock to get this to work.

Go to the "ObjectMakeLabel" subroutine:

int ObjectMakeLabel( string n, int xoff, int yoff ) {
if (!WindowIsVisible(WindowNumber)) return(-1);
ObjectCreate( n, OBJ_LABEL, WindowNumber, 0, 0 );
ObjectSet( n, OBJPROP_CORNER, LabelCorner );
ObjectSet( n, OBJPROP_XDISTANCE, xoff );
ObjectSet( n, OBJPROP_YDISTANCE, yoff );
ObjectSet( n, OBJPROP_BACK, false );
if (ObjectFind(n) >= 0) FLAG_LABELEXISTS = true; // If NO label exists then start() may run init() again.
} // end of ObjectMakeLabel

.....notice the word "false" for the OBJPROP_BACK. Your code contains "true". Change it to "false".

With the change to Clock shown directly above, and by adding the Background Box indicator to your chart, you can keep chart lines/objects from interfering with your Clock display. The Background Box is already coded for the lower left chart position and sized for the number of text lines shown in the pic. With some experimentation, you may find this of some help.

Hi traderathome,

At first I did not think this would be possible, but your rather clever use of another label with the Webdings font, letter "g" (or "gg" in my case) and a large fontsize, and with Background=false for this and every label can indeed work to create a background rectangle.

The problem you encountered in your code with only some labels being on top was the fact that all the labels are processed alphabetically. In order for the background label(s) to be processed first, and therefore covered by subsequent labels, I prefixed them with "_".

I also figured out an automatic sizing to cover whichever of the market zones you display. There is some extra overlap but not much. I used "gg" and then created several rectangle labels, each offset vertically with a slight overlap. The net look is just one rectangle, but it's as many as 9 objects (most likely just 6 max).

I won't always have the time to code such new features but I posted a new version in post #1.

Hi all,

A new indicator "P4L Clock.mq4" v2_5 was uploaded to post #1

This new version has variable "Background_Under_Labels" (true) which creates a rectangle behind the clock labels, but ON TOP of price bars! (This feature was suggested by traderathome).

Note: Your chart F8 common tab must have the "Chart on foreground" box UN-checked for this to work properly.

The labels can be put in any corner, and now that the rectangle covers the price bars, the bottom-left (LabelCorner=2) might be the best choice (see picture below). I left the default as top-right (LabelCorner=1) but you can edit the source and change it, or change it when added to your chart. Fyi, my second choice would be top-right but with "DrawInWindowNumber=1" (into a PRE-existing sub-window below the price chart).


Enjoy!
Kent (pips4life)

P.S. If you like my work and feel like adding a "vouch" for me (and can do so), then please do. Thx.

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In the picture below, LabelCorner=2 (bottom-left) and OverrideShowALL=true (to show all the available market zones in this version). The usual defaults display far fewer zones, and typically in the top-right corner, but it is up to the user to choose.