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Keeping Track of Equity by Pair

  • #1
  • First Post: Edited 4:49am Jul 13, 2010 3:02am | Edited 4:49am
Is there an easy way to keep track of order profit/equity by pair? I would like to run multiple instances of an EA and keep track of profit for each individual pair (or other criteria). Normally I would use AccountEquity() for this, except it's only reliable when working with one instance, and puts everything out of sync when trying to open and close orders based upon equity.

It seems like there should be an easy way to do this. I just can't figure it out.

Any ideas?


Thanks.
  • #2
  • Jul 13, 2010 8:54am Jul 13, 2010 8:54am
Quoting ecTrade
Is there an easy way
Yes there is an easy way:

On the website in my signature you will find the include file offline_charts.mqh. Amongst other functions for managing offline charts this contains a function recordEquity() that lets you record the partial equity belonging to trades with a certain magic number into a candle chart which will be updated on every tick.

If you #include <offline_charts.mqh> in your EA and call recordEquity() with a name for the chart and the magic number of the EA on every tick in start() your EA will always write and update its profit curve into a separate offline chart.

For the name-parameter you should use something like "foo" + Symbol() where "foo" is the name of your EA, the name of the equity chart will then look like "fooEURUSD". Note that the total name must not be longer than 11 characters so you will only have 5 characters for this prefix but i think this should be sufficient.

If filtering by magic number does not work because the EA uses more than one MN then ask me here in this thread, there might still be a solution and if not then it can be implemented.
  • #3
  • Jul 13, 2010 11:33am Jul 13, 2010 11:33am
I might give it a shot. Do you have to change the name of the EA to less than five characters in order to use it though?

Basically all I need though is the code to incorporate into the EA, something along these lines:

PHP Code
   int t_cnt=0,OOT,FOOT;
   for(int cnt=0; cnt<=OrdersTotal(); cnt++)
   {
      OrderSelect(cnt,SELECT_BY_POS,MODE_TRADES);
      if(OrderSymbol()==Symbol() && OrderMagicNumber()==magic)
      {
         OOT=OrderOpenTime();
         if(OrderType()<2){ t_cnt+=1; if(t_cnt==1 || OOT<FOOT){ FOOT=OOT; } }
      }
   }
Basically what I have done here is establish the OpenOrderTime() based upon the first order that opens and remains open ... followed by a series of trades that use this time as a reference. This actually works, until all the orders have finally closed out and a new first order opens.

From there I am trying to screen the orders like this here:

PHP Code
   double o_profit=0; cnt=0;
   for(cnt=0; cnt<=OrdersTotal(); cnt++)
   {
      OrderSelect(cnt,SELECT_BY_POS,MODE_TRADES);
      if(OrderSymbol()==Symbol() && OrderMagicNumber()==magic)
      {
         if(OrderType()<2 && OrderCloseTime()>=FOOT){ o_profit+=OrderProfit(); }
      }
   }
Now this is the part that's not working and I don't understand why? It's supposed to total the profit beginning with the first order up until the most current order but, it's not happening.

I also tried it with "MODE_HISTORY" instead of "MODE_TRADES" and it doesn't appear to work either ... although it displayed profit (in comments field) for one or two of first initial orders before it stopped. I suspect it needs to be "MODE_HISTORY" in either case ...

Now the MT4 Reference does say you can select orders based upon the OrderCloseTime() and, this is what you need to do in order to analyze OrderProfit() for closed orders.

So, I don't understand what the problem is?

Thanks.
  • #4
  • Jul 13, 2010 12:16pm Jul 13, 2010 12:16pm
Quoting 7bit
If filtering by magic number does not work because the EA uses more than one MN then ask me here in this thread, there might still be a solution and if not then it can be implemented.
Hey, I'm not trying to downplay anything you've said here. I would just like to know if I could get it to work with what I've already done first?

Oh, in case you missed it:

Quoting ecTrade
I might give it a shot. Do you have to change the name of the EA to less than five characters in order to use it though?
Thanks.
  • #5
  • Jul 13, 2010 12:35pm Jul 13, 2010 12:35pm
You do not need to change the name of the EA. You simply have to make up a 5 letter short name for the function call to use it as a prefix for the equity chart name to be able to find it later in all the many offline charts.

If you look into the source code of the offline_charts.mqh there is a function that will calculate all (floating + realized) profit. You should study it to see how it is calculating (and caching the historic profit for faster execution). It should answer all your questions. I recommend using this implementation before you try to re-invent the same wheel.
  • #6
  • Jul 13, 2010 12:47pm Jul 13, 2010 12:47pm
Quoting ecTrade
It's supposed to total the profit beginning with the first order up until the most current order but, it's not happening.
This is too complicated. Simply loop through the order history to sum up all the realized profit belonging to this EA and then in a second loop go through all open trades and sum up the floating profit for this EA. Then simply add realized + floating. realized should be cached until the history changes so you don't have to do the big loop on every tick, only floating must be calculated on every tick.
  • #7
  • Jul 13, 2010 1:03pm Jul 13, 2010 1:03pm
Quoting 7bit
You do not need to change the name of the EA. You simply have to make up a 5 letter short name for the function call to use it as a prefix for the equity chart name to be able to find it later in all the many offline charts.
I'm not sure what you mean by offline charts? Basically I want each instance of the EA to calculate the profit based upon the criteria specific to that instance. Is that what you're saying?
  • #8
  • Jul 13, 2010 1:27pm Jul 13, 2010 1:27pm
Quoting ecTrade
I'm not sure what you mean by offline charts?
offline charts are the charts that are available if you go to the file menu and click on "open offline". You should at least have read the user manual of metatrader if you want to write software for it.
Quote
Basically I want each instance of the EA to calculate the profit based upon the criteria specific to that instance. Is that what you're saying?
And this is exactly what this library does. I read your question already, therefore I posted my answer.

Don't make it more complicated than it is. You wanted an easy solution, well I gave you an easy solution, now please don't complicate it. It is

~~~TWO~~~ lines of code

that you have to put into your EA and these 2 lines are not only doing what you requested, they are most likely doing more than you ever thought possible in your wildest dreams. And it is free.
  • #9
  • Jul 13, 2010 1:47pm Jul 13, 2010 1:47pm
Quoting 7bit
This is too complicated. Simply loop through the order history to sum up all the realized profit belonging to this EA and then in a second loop go through all open trades and sum up the floating profit for this EA. Then simply add realized + floating. realized should be cached until the history changes so you don't have to do the big loop on every tick, only floating must be calculated on every tick.
Actually I had done something similar to this in another EA and got it to work. I "banked" the profit each time an order closed (against total orders) and added that to the current total of all open orders, and it worked great for that particular EA. However, I couldn't get it to work on the EA I am working on currently.

Oh, I just tried this, because I forgot to add the current open order total ("OrderCloseTime()==0") but, it doesn't appear to work either.

PHP Code
   double o_profit=0; cnt=0;
   for(cnt=0; cnt<=OrdersTotal(); cnt++)
   {
      OrderSelect(cnt,SELECT_BY_POS,MODE_HISTORY);
      if(OrderSymbol()==Symbol() && OrderMagicNumber()==magic && OrderType()<2)
      {
         if(OrderCloseTime()==0 || OrderCloseTime()>FOOT){ o_profit+=OrderProfit(); }
      }
   }
Oh well, the code appears to be simple and straightforward enough anyway.
  • #10
  • Jul 13, 2010 2:03pm Jul 13, 2010 2:03pm
Quoting ecTrade
Actually I had done something similar to this in another EA and got it to work. I "banked" the profit each time an order closed (against total orders) and added that to the current total of all open orders, and it worked great for that particular EA. However, I couldn't get it to work on the EA I am working on currently.
It is EA independent. And you also don't need OrderCloseTime(). You simply add up every OrderProfit() you can find in the complete history and in all open trades and you know what the EA has done so far. Do this on every tick and plot these values into a chart while the Ea is running and you see how the EA is performing over time.

If you need it per week or month then simply subtract the amount of profit that it has previously made up to this point in time and the difference will be the profit or loss of the current week/month/day/whatever,

Too complicated? then use my library. It is only 2 lines to change in your EA and all source code is available and documented in great detail for you to study how it is done.
  • #11
  • Edited 2:23pm Jul 13, 2010 2:08pm | Edited 2:23pm
Quoting 7bit
You should at least have read the user manual of metatrader if you want to write software for it.
It's not always easy to follow, especially when you are first starting out. It's much easier (at least for me) to begin working with the code, and try to establish some working examples. Then it's one step at a time from there.

Quote
Don't make it more complicated than it is. You wanted an easy solution, well I gave you an easy solution, now please don't complicate it. It is
Except of course this is typically how I've always learned. Although I have to admit, your head gets a bit sore after bumping it against the wall so many times.

Quote
~~~TWO~~~ lines of code

that you have to put into your EA and these 2 lines are not only doing what you requested, they are most likely doing more than you ever thought possible in your wildest dreams. And it is free.
Notwithstanding that if I'm not too far from coming up with something that works myself, I would just assume go with that first. That way if it works, it works because I actually have some idea about what I'm doing ... and that's kind of nice.

Of course you can only take this so far, and there may come a time when you have to ask for someone else's help which, is what I'm doing now.

Thanks.
  • #12
  • Jul 13, 2010 2:09pm Jul 13, 2010 2:09pm
Hi ECTrade,

See my correction
Inserted Code
[color=#000000][color=#0000bb]   double o_profit[/color][color=#007700]=[/color][color=#0000bb]0[/color][color=#007700]; [/color][color=#0000bb]cnt[/color][color=#007700]=[/color][color=#0000bb]0[/color][color=#007700];
   for([/color][color=#0000bb]cnt[/color][color=#007700]=[/color][color=#0000bb]0[/color][color=#007700]; [/color][color=#0000bb]cnt[/color][color=#007700]<=[/color][b][color=#0000bb]OrdersHistoryTotal[/color][/b][color=#007700](); [/color][color=#0000bb]cnt[/color][color=#007700]++)
   {
      [/color][color=#0000bb]OrderSelect[/color][color=#007700]([/color][color=#0000bb]cnt[/color][color=#007700],[/color][color=#0000bb]SELECT_BY_POS[/color][color=#007700],[/color][color=#0000bb]MODE_HISTORY[/color][color=#007700]);[/color][/color]
  • #13
  • Jul 13, 2010 2:15pm Jul 13, 2010 2:15pm
Inserted Code
[color=SeaGreen]/**
* loop through all trades (historic and currently open) and
* sum up all profits (including swap and commission).
*/[/color]
double getAllProfitFiltered(int magic=-1, string comment=""){
   int cnt, total;
   double floating = 0;
   double realized = 0;
   static int last_closed_ticket = 0;
   string cache_name; 
   
   [color=SeaGreen]// we need a unique name under which to cache the realized P&L later[/color]
   if (IsTesting()){
      cache_name = "profit_cache@@" + magic + "@" + comment;
   }else{
      cache_name = "profit_cache@" + magic + "@" + comment;
   }
   
   [color=SeaGreen]// sum up the floating[/color]
   total=OrdersTotal();
   for(cnt=0; cnt<total; cnt++){
      OrderSelect(cnt, SELECT_BY_POS, MODE_TRADES);
      if ((magic == -1 || OrderMagicNumber() == magic) 
       && (comment == "" || StringFind(OrderComment(), comment, 0) != -1)
      ){
         floating += OrderProfit() + OrderSwap() + OrderCommission();
      }
   }
   
   [color=SeaGreen]// Now calculate the total realized profit.
   // We first check if the order history has changed since 
   // the last tick by looking at the newest ticket number.
   // If there was no change then we can assume that no trade
   // has been closed and we can simply use the cached value
   // of the previously calculated realized profit.[/color]
   total=OrdersHistoryTotal();
   OrderSelect(total-1, SELECT_BY_POS, MODE_HISTORY);
   if (last_closed_ticket != OrderTicket()){
   
      [color=SeaGreen]// history is different from last time, so we must do 
      // the expensive loop and sum up all realized profit[/color]
      last_closed_ticket = OrderTicket();
      realized = 0;
      for(cnt=0; cnt<total; cnt++){
         OrderSelect(cnt, SELECT_BY_POS, MODE_HISTORY);
         if ((magic == -1 || OrderMagicNumber() == magic) 
          && (comment == "" ||  StringFind(OrderComment(), comment, 0) != -1)
         ){
            realized += OrderProfit() + OrderSwap() + OrderCommission();
         }
      }
      [color=SeaGreen]// remember it for the next call.
      // We need to store it separately for every possible filter.
      // We dont have hash tables in mql4, so we must abuse 
      // the global variables function to store name-value pairs.[/color]
      GlobalVariableSet(cache_name, realized);      
   }else{
   
      [color=SeaGreen]// history not changed. retrieve the cached value.[/color]
      realized = GlobalVariableGet(cache_name);
   }
   
   return (floating + realized);
}
  • #14
  • Jul 13, 2010 2:22pm Jul 13, 2010 2:22pm
Quoting sangmane
Hi ECTrade,

See my correction
Inserted Code
   double o_profit=0; cnt=0;
   for(cnt=0; cnt[color=Red]<=[/color]OrdersHistoryTotal(); cnt++)
   {
      OrderSelect(cnt,SELECT_BY_POS,MODE_HISTORY);
Wrong!

right:
Inserted Code
[color=#000000][color=#0000bb]   double o_profit[/color][color=#007700]=[/color][color=#0000bb]0[/color][color=#007700]; [/color][color=#0000bb]cnt[/color][color=#007700]=[/color][color=#0000bb]0[/color][color=#007700];
   for([/color][color=#0000bb]cnt[/color][color=#007700]=[/color][color=#0000bb]0[/color][color=#007700]; [/color][color=#0000bb]cnt[/color][color=Lime][b]<[/b][/color][b][color=#0000bb]OrdersHistoryTotal[/color][/b][color=#007700](); [/color][color=#0000bb]cnt[/color][color=#007700]++)
   {
      [/color][color=#0000bb]OrderSelect[/color][color=#007700]([/color][color=#0000bb]cnt[/color][color=#007700],[/color][color=#0000bb]SELECT_BY_POS[/color][color=#007700],[/color][color=#0000bb]MODE_HISTORY[/color][color=#007700]);[/color][/color]
  • #15
  • Jul 13, 2010 2:25pm Jul 13, 2010 2:25pm
Oops, please note my correction here:

Quoting ecTrade
Quoting 7bit
You should at least have read the user manual of metatrader if you want to write software for it.
It's not always easy to follow, especially when you are first starting out. It's much easier (at least for me) to begin working with the code, and try to establish some working examples. Then it's one step at a time from there.
  • #16
  • Jul 13, 2010 2:30pm Jul 13, 2010 2:30pm
I have also written an article at mql4 com about this:

http://codebase.mql4.com/6217

Please don't download the .mqh from there, its outdated and probably buggy, always use the latest version from my own website.
  • #17
  • Jul 13, 2010 3:04pm Jul 13, 2010 3:04pm
Quoting 7bit
Wrong!

right:
[code][color=#000000][color=#0000bb]...
I didn't notice that "<=" comparison used by ECTrade, my concentration was on the incorrect use of OrdersTotal() for order's history query. Your reply to my post showing that you are arrogant, like what you've shown in almost all of your post in this forum.

Beside learning computer programming, I hope you do not forget to learn how to respect others.
  • #18
  • Jul 13, 2010 3:22pm Jul 13, 2010 3:22pm
Alight guys!

So, was my use of the "=" sign wrong in either case? If so, I think I better correct it, because it seems like I've always done it this way. Most of the time I don't notice any errors, however, there are times when the count gets screwed up, and this might be why?

Hey, I got it to count the profit for the closed orders using the OrdersHistoryTotal() by the way, although I couldn't get it to count the open orders. I think it's just a matter of creating a second loop as 7bit suggested and adding the two afterwards. We'll see.

Thanks.
  • #19
  • Jul 13, 2010 3:38pm Jul 13, 2010 3:38pm
Quoting ecTrade
I think it's just a matter of creating a second loop as 7bit suggested and adding the two afterwards. We'll see.
There is no way around using two loops. You can never select open and closed orders at the same time, they are in two different lists.

Although you can directly select by ticket instead of position, ignoring in which of the two lists it is, which is useful in *some* cases, you would still need a way to get a list of all existing ticket numbers if you want all orders and you are back at square one where you still have to go separately through both lists.
  • #20
  • Jul 13, 2010 3:47pm Jul 13, 2010 3:47pm
Quoting ecTrade
So, was my use of the "=" sign wrong in either case?
You would in the last iteration have selected a position that is beyond the last order. This *might* lead to surprising results in some cases when you then try to use the Order*() functions on the not existing and not selected order.

Example: Say you have an order list of 5 orders, OrdersTotal() will return 5. They are numbered (the position numbers) 0, 1, 2, 3, 4. You need to loop from 0 to 4 and not from 0 to 5 as you did.
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