Programmer wanted for reliable EA with proper error handling | Forex Factory

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Programmer wanted for reliable EA with proper error handling

  • #1
  • First Post: Edited Aug 15, 2009 1:59am Aug 14, 2009 8:06pm | Edited Aug 15, 2009 1:59am
I am looking for an EXPERIENCED professional programmer to redo (or finish) my EA. The current EA is working fine ……. until the connection to the server is lost or timed out, etc. etc. (One time I lost 50% of my capital overnight (luckily in demo) due to a bug creating an excessive number of 'open orders' 'owned' by the EA, both active and pending.)

So the main job is not to create the logic, although you may decide that you need to redo it for one reason or another, the main job is to create a RELIABLE code under real life execution, in other words, code with proper ERROR HANDLING for anything that can come up during unattended live trading.

The code is a Martingale type logic with a simple random entry (for the purpose of this test), so it is fairly straight forward therefore I don’t expect it to be a problem for you. The challenge starts when we get to the testing phase.

Here is my test plan:
First we test the core logic, just to make sure, the program doesn’t have basic logic errors.
Then we test the program for 120 unattended trades (about 2 weeks). The program has to handle the various trade disruptions successfully before I declare success. I.e., it can’t loose the place in the logic, it has to recover gracefully from timeout, weekend re-restart, etc. etc.

We will test it together, and each time there is an error (like in the examples below), I will give you a similar feedback:

2009.08.07 07:12:31 YYYYExit EURUSD,H1: Pending sell failed
2009.08.07 07:12:31 YYYYExit EURUSD,H1: last error: 128:trade timeout
2009.08.07 07:12:31 YYYYExit EURUSD,H1: failed trade: OP_SELLSTOP [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
2009.08.07 07:12:31 YYYYExit EURUSD,H1: failed to execute stop or limit order after 1 retries
2009.08.07 07:12:31 YYYYExit EURUSD,H1: non-retryable error: 128:trade timeout
2009.08.07 07:09:44 YYYYExit EURUSD,H1: retryable error (1/10): 6:no connection with trade server
2009.08.07 07:09:44 stdlib EURUSD,H1: loaded successfully
2009.08.07 07:07:36 YYYYExit EURUSD,H1: attempted OP_SELLSTOP 2.70000000 lots @1.42570000 sl:1.42670000 tp:1.42070000

Or like this:

2009.08.07 10:04:44 YYYYExit EURUSD,H1: Pending sell failed
2009.08.07 10:04:44 YYYYExit EURUSD,H1: last error: 130:invalid stops
2009.08.07 10:04:44 YYYYExit EURUSD,H1: failed trade: OP_SELLSTOP [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
2009.08.07 10:04:44 YYYYExit EURUSD,H1: failed to execute stop or limit order after 0 retries
2009.08.07 10:04:44 YYYYExit EURUSD,H1: non-retryable error: 130:invalid stops
2009.08.07 10:04:44 stdlib EURUSD,H1: loaded successfully
2009.08.07 10:03:38 XXXXEntry EURUSD,H1: open #14911354 buy 0.10 EURUSD at 1.4187

So once you understand the program, we need to go through the MQL4 trade execution errors and tell me my options then decide how to handle them before you code it.

I hope, you are already familiar how to manage existing orders by keeping track of the *ticket number* from the server, you are already familiar with LibOrderReliable_V1_1_4.mq4 and OrdersSuite.mq4 and similar attempts to handle errors in a systematic way.

As far as payment, I hope we can agree on something mutually acceptable.

One more thing: you will only program a nontradable code used for the SPECIFIC purpose of proving the error handling.

If you interested, please contact me.

Thanks, explorer
  • #2
  • Aug 15, 2009 12:47am Aug 15, 2009 12:47am
Quoting Explorer3333
I am looking for an EXPERIENCED professional programmer to redo (or finish) my EA. The current EA is working fine (my son, a computer science student did the logic) ……. until the connection to the server is lost or timed out, etc. etc. (One time I lost 50% of my capital overnight (luckily in demo) due to a bug creating an excessive number of 'open orders' 'owned' by the EA, both active and pending.)...
Although impossible to code for ANYTHING that comes up you can code for most situations.

Quote

The code is a Martingale type logic with a simple random entry (for the purpose of this test), so it is fairly straight forward therefore I don’t expect it to be a problem for you. The challenge starts when we get to the testing phase.

Here is my test plan:
First we test the core logic, just to make sure, the program doesn’t have basic logic errors.

Based on the errors listed below and the problems you listed above the core logic has several bugs and issues.

Quote
Then we test the program for 120 unattended trades (about 2 weeks). The program has to handle the various trade disruptions successfully before I declare success (and you get paid). I.e., it can’t loose the place in the logic, it has to recover gracefully from timeout, weekend re-restart, etc. etc.

and yet below you indicate that the programmer may only code the "non-tradable" code. If you want it to function properly you will need to give the programmer all aspects of the code and allow them to make adjustments as necessary. You can require them to comment their code so you can see what was done.

Quote
We will test it together, and each time there is an error (like in the examples below), I will give you a similar feedback:...

Judging by these errors you have numerous issues with the core program logic.
Quote
So once you understand the program, we need to go through the MQL4 trade execution errors and tell me my options then decide how to handle them before you code it.

Wow, just wow..... you obviously have very little understanding of what it takes to code in mq4. Looks like a good deal of time will need to be spent getting your approval before moving forward with the coding.

Quote
I hope, you are already familiar how to manage existing orders by keeping track of the *ticket number* from the server, you are already familiar with LibOrderReliable_V1_1_4.mq4 and OrdersSuite.mq4 and similar attempts to handle errors in a systematic way. IF NOT, PLEASE LET DON’T WASTE EACH OTHER TIME. (I need to learn from you, not teaching you.)

If you are using these two sets of code to do your error handling, that explains most of your problems.

Quote
One more thing, my son is a fledgling computer programmer already working for a major corporation for the summer. He asked me to obtain a code sample from you, because he wants to see if your coding style is up to his professional standard. (Sorry, but we are looking professionally trained programmer here.)

This was by far the funniest statement of your post. I have 23+ years of programming experience, your "fledgling" computer programming son hasn't earned the right to judge code.

Quote
As far as payment, once we agree, I will put the money in escrow, and if you pass the 120 trade test with the pre-agreed result, you will be paid. In exchange, you could only provide me the .ex4 version for the testing.

And 50 bucks later you get the source decompiled and the programmer is screwed.

Quote

One more thing: you will only program a nontradable code used for the SPECIFIC purpose of proving the error handling. It has nothing to do with the EA that I will trade live (unless you are hot to loose with Martingale). This is a programming job after all. ForexFactory has plenty of good EA if you need one.

Make up your mind, do you want the EA to work or do you just want to put all sorts of stupid rules on what can and cannot be done. You have already said that you want the EA to recover from disconnections and weekend starts. That is not handled with error handling, it is handled in the core logic.

Sounds more like you need to go back to your genius "fledgling" computer programmer and instruct him on what needs to be done to repair his buggy code. He should be able to fix it in a weekend or two. To me it looks like HE was the one not up to the challenge.



To anyone seriously considering taking this job.....add in a few thousand for the headache factor you will run into.
  • #3
  • Edited 2:02am Aug 15, 2009 1:49am | Edited 2:02am
Magnumfreak,

I am sorry if I offended you, I honestly tried to describe the situation, so I don't waste anyone's time.
People from all background come here, people with 23 years of experience and people with 23 days experience. All I tried to do is to find a programmer with extensive real life experience in error handling. If I could have solved it with my son, I wouldn't ask for paying help.
But since I have no interest to offend people, and I can see that from your viewpoint, it did not sound right, I will go back and remove offending parts from the original request the best I can.

Sincerely, explorer
  • #4
  • Edited 9:20am Aug 15, 2009 8:39am | Edited 9:20am
After more thought and a sleep, in retrospect, I put the request to the wrong place. People most likely don't come to this forum to find programming jobs, they are trying to find trading ideas. So with that thought I will go to Rent A Coder or some similar place.
So please consider this request to be closed.

Thanks, explorer

PS. to Magnumfreak.
There are positive and negative people on the world. You could have said, that coding style is subjective, so I should remove this from the ad. And that was a correct observation. But you choose to attack my son negatively and personally. Life is too short to pay attention for negatively thinking people. So even if you would wanted to take the job, I wouldn't deal with you or like minded people --- on principle.
Now as far as my son concerned, he did program a successful trading system that is making in live trading 50% a year, non-compounded. I assume, if you would have one of those system for 23 years, you would have long retired by now. Just to put things in perspective.
  • #5
  • Aug 15, 2009 1:03pm Aug 15, 2009 1:03pm
Magnumfreak,

Here is my son's specific response:

I think the problem is that we're not pointing out that I don't have the specific experience coding error handling for MQL specifically. It's not like I can't handle error situations, just that the error situations are numerous and variegated, and that MQL as a language doesn't provide the adequate tools for proper error handling (i.e. encapsulation).

Call me idealistic, but I try as much as possible to separate error-handling logic from business logic. However, unlike the majority of programming out there, if an EA gets into a bad state, you try as hard as you can to recover because your money is at stake, so error handling is inextricably bound to business logic.

In other words, I'm not familiar with the best practices for MQL's particular blend of rough-and-tumble error checking. Mix that with an often unreliable server, and you really do need years of experience and I don't have the time or the interest.

I'm not saying I'm the best programmer out there (or that I'm any good at MQL), but I think "fledgling programmer" is a bad term. I've worked with everything from scalable service-oriented systems to object-relational mappings to logic programming. Relative to that, MQL isn't exactly complex. It just has it's quirks, and like any other language, it takes experience to know how to handle them. I stress organization and readability over "does the damn thing work" because regardless of the language or system, I know that my customer will need extensibility, and I can't provide that if I have to manage spaghetti code. Perhaps "young and idealistic" suits me better.

On top of that, so far I've worked for free.


Jer
  • #6
  • Aug 15, 2009 4:34pm Aug 15, 2009 4:34pm
its obviouse the ea isnt coded correctly
i can code your ea, email me the ea or rules, its likely il just make you a knew 1
  • #7
  • Aug 15, 2009 8:42pm Aug 15, 2009 8:42pm
Thanks Trendchaser,

I am working on it.

explorer
  • #8
  • Aug 15, 2009 11:08pm Aug 15, 2009 11:08pm
Quoting trendchaser
its obviouse the ea isnt coded correctly
i can code your ea, email me the ea or rules, its likely il just make you a knew 1
Best Answer!! - Just tell me what you want the darn thing to do and it gets coded to where it runs 100% error free. Connection issues are best solved by picking the right VPS service. Everything else is pretty much out of your control but if your program runs without error and has a stable connection to the server that's about the best situation for trading.
  • #9
  • Aug 16, 2009 10:53am Aug 16, 2009 10:53am
Quoting trendchaser
its obviouse the ea isnt coded correctly
i can code your ea, email me the ea or rules, its likely il just make you a knew 1
I emailed the rules. Use my private email from here on.

Thanks, explorer
  • #10
  • Aug 16, 2009 10:58am Aug 16, 2009 10:58am
Quoting Fulltime247
Best Answer!! - Just tell me what you want the darn thing to do and it gets coded to where it runs 100% error free. Connection issues are best solved by picking the right VPS service. Everything else is pretty much out of your control but if your program runs without error and has a stable connection to the server that's about the best situation for trading.
Of course. I have run this on VPS. VPS reduces the frequency of the errors but doesn't eliminate it.

This thread is CLOSED now, Trendchaser is working on it and with his low key, street fighting approach, I have the confidence he will solve it.

Thanks all once more, explorer
  • #11
  • Last Post: Aug 17, 2009 2:24pm Aug 17, 2009 2:24pm
Quoting trendchaser
its obviouse the ea isnt coded correctly
i can code your ea, email me the ea or rules, its likely il just make you a knew 1
It's a good decision to make a new one, instead of getting a headache fooling around editing an erroneous EA trying to fix it.

Goodluck trendchaser
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