Creating Sound Alert with Timeout and Iterations | Forex Factory

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Creating Sound Alert with Timeout and Iterations

  • #1
  • First Post: Aug 18, 2009 3:31am Aug 18, 2009 3:31am
Hi,

This is a pretty basic question I believe. I am trying to create sound alert with a message box, similar to what I've done below. The only problem is I would like to set the Timeout, and have it sound off for a specified number of iterations.

PHP Code
if(abc==0){ PlaySound("alert.wav"); Alert("Max Trades Reached!!!"); abc=1; }
Can anyone help? Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
  • #2
  • Aug 18, 2009 4:03am Aug 18, 2009 4:03am
Inserted Code
extern double Alert_Playcount=5;

double playcounter=0; //Global Variable


//In your start() function somewhere... 

Alert("Max Trades Reached!!!");
while(playcounter<5){PlaySound("alert.wav"); Sleep(1000;) playcounter++:} //Play sound and Wait 1 second
playcounter=0; //Reset the Counter
  • #3
  • Aug 18, 2009 4:20am Aug 18, 2009 4:20am
Hey, that looks like it might work. Will give it a try!

Oh, does the Sleep() function suspend the execution of "all" EA operations while sleeping? I was looking at this in the MetaEditor help section and it sounded like that's what it was saying. If so, I'm wondering if there might be any timing issues or, how it would affect the timing overall? Any ideas?

Thanks for the help!
  • #4
  • Aug 18, 2009 4:48am Aug 18, 2009 4:48am
Yep - It freezes the EA. so its best to use right after opening or closing trades when you know freezing for 5 sec is no biggie. It possible to do without freezing but can be a little messy.
  • #5
  • Aug 18, 2009 5:07am Aug 18, 2009 5:07am
Nothing is ever that easy now is it? Damn! No, I need something to sound off every 7 seconds or so, for up to 1,000 times, in case I wander off or leave the house. I don't think it will work this way, because it will probably affect the opening and closing times on trades.

Is there some other function besides the Sleep() function you can use? Oh, I tried it the way you wrote it and, except for a couple of misplaced semicolons, it worked great!

Anyway, Thanks Again!
  • #6
  • Aug 18, 2009 5:16am Aug 18, 2009 5:16am
insert extra code as needed in if statement to control when the alert sounds. This has not been tested but should work fine.


Inserted Code
extern int maxiterations=500;
extern int Delay=7;
datetime  LastTimeSaved;
int AlertCount;

if(TimeCurrent() > LastTimeSaved+Delay && AlertCount <= maxiterations)
    {
     maxiterations++;
     LastTimeSaved=TimeCurrent();
     Playsound
     }
  • #7
  • Aug 18, 2009 5:31am Aug 18, 2009 5:31am
Hey, that looks pretty straight forward. Will give it a try!

Thanks!
  • #8
  • Aug 18, 2009 5:57am Aug 18, 2009 5:57am
Nope, I can't get it to work. Sorry. Here is the code in a dummy EA.

PHP Code
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
//|                                                   Alarm Wave.mq4 |
//|                      Copyright © 2009, MetaQuotes Software Corp. |
//|                                        http://www.metaquotes.net |
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
#property copyright "Copyright © 2009, MetaQuotes Software Corp."
#property link      "http://www.metaquotes.net"

extern int maxiterations=500;
extern int Delay=7;
datetime LastTimeSaved;
int AlertCount,abc=0;

//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
int start()
  {
//----
   if(abc==0)
     {
      if(TimeCurrent() > LastTimeSaved+Delay && AlertCount <= maxiterations)
        {
         maxiterations++;
         LastTimeSaved=TimeCurrent();
         PlaySound("alert.wav"); Alert("Max Trades Reached!!!");
        }
     }
//----
   return(0);
  }
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
Now the alarm does sound off, except it sounds off with every tick on the chart, and that's not what I what I wanted. That's enough to drive you batty, especially when it happens 2 or 3 times a second.
  • #9
  • Aug 18, 2009 6:23am Aug 18, 2009 6:23am
make sure your ticks are coming in faster than every 7 seconds. Set that value to something like 15 or something for testing.

There was one little bug I fixed but that should not have impacted how it worked;

Inserted Code
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
//|                                                   Alarm Wave.mq4 |
//|                      Copyright © 2009, MetaQuotes Software Corp. |
//|                                        http://www.metaquotes.net |
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
#property copyright "Copyright © 2009, MetaQuotes Software Corp."
#property link      "http://www.metaquotes.net"

extern int maxiterations=500;
extern int Delay=7;
datetime LastTimeSaved;
int AlertCount,abc=0;

//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
int start()
  {
//----
   if(abc==0)
     {
      if(TimeCurrent() > LastTimeSaved+Delay && AlertCount <= maxiterations)
        {
         AlertCount++;
         LastTimeSaved=TimeCurrent();
         PlaySound("alert.wav"); Alert("Max Trades Reached!!!");
         
        }
     }
//----
   return(0);
  }
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
  • #10
  • Aug 18, 2009 7:01am Aug 18, 2009 7:01am
No, it seems to be doing the same thing. Now the tick count is when the price goes up and down, and that can vary between 2-3 times a second or, once every 5 minutes, correct? Because this is what's triggering the alarm.
  • #11
  • Aug 18, 2009 7:36am Aug 18, 2009 7:36am
Quoting ecTrade
No, it seems to be doing the same thing. Now the tick count is when the price goes up and down, and that can vary between 2-3 times a second or, once every 5 minutes, correct? Because this is what's triggering the alarm.
I tested it on my computer and everything works as it is supposed to be working. Not sure what sort of problems you are having.
  • #12
  • Aug 18, 2009 10:10am Aug 18, 2009 10:10am
It seems to work, but it's not consistent. It seems to vary between 8 and 25 seconds, or longer. Sometimes it will go "bling bling" twice within the same second. So, when the "ticks" are not coming in fast enough is that something that can be set or, are you talking about the value of the delay?

Anyhoo, I think it probably works well enough that I can use it the way it is. Or, if I find something else later on I could change it then.

Great. Thanks for all your help.
  • #13
  • Aug 18, 2009 11:12am Aug 18, 2009 11:12am
Its either one or the other. Having both is gonna take some experimenting.

The sleep() method freezes the EA from operation until the loop is finished. meets your timing requirements but lose out on EA's efficiency.

The time check method is most robust with the only drawback being the need for ticks to come in in order for the cycle to get run. If no tick movement, no subsequent alert sounding. I think this is the most elegant way to go, code wise.

The more unconventional and untested (meaning it might work in theory but needs to try out to be sure) way of perhaps to get the best of both worlds is to have a helper indicator working at the background. When your EA (the one that is suppose to track signals) finds a signal and is about to sound an alert, let it sound just ONCE and then also draw an invisible object (ObjectCreate) of some sort on the chart. The other helper indicator's main task is to always look for the object by using ObjectFind("objName") or something like that. Once the object is found, it will implement the loop cycle like in method 1. Hopefully, this only freeze the helper indicator and not the EA. After the helper indicator finish sounding its alarm, it should delete the object before exiting the loop. And then the cycle repeats for the next signal.

Try it out and see if it works.

regards,
Zen
Programming for a better future.
  • #14
  • Last Post: Aug 18, 2009 11:38am Aug 18, 2009 11:38am
Quoting Zen_Leow
The time check method is most robust with the only drawback being the need for ticks to come in in order for the cycle to get run. If no tick movement, no subsequent alert sounding. I think this is the most elegant way to go, code wise.
Yeah, I've had it set up this way on my computer for the last hour so, and I definitely know an event has occurred. It's probably the best option to go with for now.

Quote
The more unconventional and untested (meaning it might work in theory but needs to try out to be sure) way of perhaps to get the best of both worlds is to have a helper indicator working at the background. When your EA (the one that is suppose to track signals) finds a signal and is about to sound an alert, let it sound just ONCE and then also draw an invisible object (ObjectCreate) of some sort on the chart. The other helper indicator's main task is to always look for the object by using ObjectFind("objName") or something like that. Once the...
Sounds interesting. Haven't tried my hand at programming indicators yet but, at some point maybe I'll give it a try.

Hey, Thanks!
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