Add alert function to fractal please

Hello Friends..,

Can someone add an alert function, which indicates the timeframe and the pair in which it appears. thanks in advance.

alert function? i am not sure that i understand what it is that you are asking for, but if you can help me to understand what it is that you want, i will be happy to assist.

anyways, i have loaded up your very basic indicator onto a eurusd chart.

what, specifically, is it that you want?

i actually enjoy doing little coding stuff like this, so bring it on.

btw, do me a favor and just go ahead and dream up what a perfect world scenario might look like regarding this issue...

tell me exactly what it is that you are trying to do and then perhaps allow me a bit of elbow room in order that i might be able to make suggestions as to how we can accomplish that which it is that you want to do.

ie, are you looking for a simple notation on-screen that shows something like this:

CURRENCY PAIR: EURUSD
TIME FRAME: DAILY

your request is probably so simple that i am just not understanding your request due to the simplicity of it all.

rock on,

zero/.

http://i40.tinypic.com/migdc0.gif

Hi Zerospot...,

Thanks for coming forth to help me out.., What i wanted is.., in the indi i've attached it shows fractals but without any alert when the fractal is printed for any timeframe

So.., if for e.g., i'm using a 15 min tf and a fractal forms on the chart.., i would like to get an alert, which says "EUR/USD 15 min fractal turned up/down" depending on the place the fractal has formed.., that is all

ok, fine, assuming that i am understanding your request now, you are wanting to be ALERTED when a NEW FRACTAL ARROW forms on the chart?

ok, again fine, but maybe what if we do something whereby you get an audio alert that suits your taste, perhaps something like this:

pseudo code:

if (new_fractal_is_formed) PlaySound("siren.wav");

is that what you are trying to do? that way, you could just turn up your speakers and you will most definitely be alerted..

it is easy to search google for free audio wav files, perhaps you might like to hear a stick of dynamite exploding or maybe you might like to hear some birds chirping?

and then it would be really easy to just look at the screen to see which type of fractal has just formed and then you could act accordingly...

you do realize where i am going with this, dont you?

we are about two shakes from fully automating your indicator and the trading of it, ok, this is not a terribly difficult process...

anyways, let's give you your alert for now.

just confirm for me that this is what you want, if not just let me know how to proceed.


zero/.

Hi Zero...,

That is what i would like and you got it exactly.., an alert when a new fractal is formed. Thanks a lot!

a rough draft...


load it up on any currency.

when you hear an alert,
open your global variables windows by pressing F3 and then delete the ALERTFLAG entry to turn off the current alert alarm sound file from playing.....

notice the other variables that are present in the global variables window:

you may ignore the entries that begin with previous_

upon hearing an alert, and you open the globalvariables window and see the alertflag variable is present, you should now delete the alertflag variable, and now the two variables that are of interest to you are:

optype:
if optype contains a "1", then you should sell.
if optype contains a "0", then you should buy.

entryprice:
the price at which your newest buy or sell arrow is at.

IN SHORT, UPON HEARING AN ALERT, YOU SHOULD BUY OR SELL, ACCORDING TO THE VALUE CONTAINED IN OPTYPE, AND YOU SHOULD BUY OR SELL AT ENTRYPRICE.

in the source code, at the top, enter the desired timeframe, then recompile by pressing F5 in the metaeditor.

once we get this alert issue refined and it is working properly, and we feel confident that you can successfully define a set of rules according to which you can trade, then we do the following:

write a custom EA that will call this indicator by using the iCustom function and when the iCustom function finishes executing this indicator, your EA can as easily read the variables directly from the globalvariables window, ......

keep in mind that the focus here is that we should always remain focused on our automating this thing, this is why it is important that we store these variables as global variables, if you would also like them displayed in one of those awkward alert popup windows, of course we can do that also..

also, notice that this is a quick and dirty version, my cleaning it up will make it much nicer, i just wanna kinda get a feel for whether or not this is where you are wanting to go.

one final note, i write horrible documentation, so plz work with me, note that this file is hard coded to run on a one minute chart, you may change this in the source code yourself, then recompile by pressing F5, note that by selecting any other timeframe than the timeframe that is hardcoded into the source will clear out all global variables and the indicator will fail to execute on any other timeframe, when you return to the hard coded timeframe the global variables will be re-populated.

if we can get this ironed out, the complete automation of your trading system is pretty much as simple as laying out the flowchart of the steps that you carry out upon your receiving an audio alert.

your new EA will simply run fractals.mq4 via iCustom and then will execute and close trades according to the values that are contained in the global variables OPTYPE and ENTRYPRICE.

1) refine the flow chart.
2) automate it.

happy coding,

zero/.

plz note that i decided that it is easier to debug this thing on a one minute chart, things move faster that way, and things are quicker and easier to debug and sort out...

the time frame can easily be changed to PERIOD_H4 OR PERIOD_D1 or whatever upon our fully debugging this thing.

oh yes, one final note, i am testing this on oanda's metatrader terminal on eurusd, not that that makes a difference, i am just mentioning it.

also, note that your original code used a fractal_lookback variable, note that this fractal function lags by a few bars, ie, it will not calculate anything for the first couple of bars, at least that is what it looks like this far..


z/.

it is my thinking that upon receiving an audio alert, or in other words when the global variable alertflag is set, we might proceed with a limit buy or limit sell trade with a stop loss and then also a very sizable takeprofit but always remaining ready to reverse upon receiving an opposite signal.

something like that, anyways..

you tell me.

z/.

Hi Zerospot...,

Thanks for the work.., i will test it. As far as EA.., i'm not a fan of EAs.., i would like to decide my trades.., I will let you know if it this indicator works like we've decided earlier

hey,

i srsly doubt that it is even remotely what you asked for, i am so tired after bulldogging on this fx project, it has been going on straight thru for exactly eight years now, i am too pooped to pop.

anyways, even if it isnt what you wanted, it will at least give you something to think about for a spell..

happy happy,

zero/.

thats fine. but, keep in mind that EA's arent just for placing trades...

there are a bunch of other things that they can automate..

if you have multiple trades on a single currency pair, it can calculate your average or breakeven position and then automatically place and adjust your takeprofit and stoploss settings. ie, you can roll your own trailing stop functionality that suits your tastes.

you can calculate risk, perhaps, and generate html or text reports, but of course that can also be done via an indicator. the only difference between indicators and EA's in metatrader is that:

1) indicators CAN produce lines and arrows and such on the charts but CAN NOT place or close trades.

2) EA's CAN NOT produce lines and arrows and such on the charts but CAN place or close trades.

i dont know why they didnt allow one type of program to do both things, but i am sure that there is a reason, metatrader is very well written, i love it.

by writing a custom DLL that can be used in metatrader, you can have information about your trades/trading account automatically transmitted to a website so that either you and/or others can monitor said information.

i really love my automatic shutdown function. it doesnt matter how many trades that i have on the table, all that i have to do is to press F3 and ADD a specific variable and all of my trades close.

happy trading,

zero/.

Hey Zerospot..,

Yeah.., EAs can perform various functions that indicators cannot do, but i found most EAs that u said to place orders, stop loss fail in live atmosphere (back when i tried them, don't know about now), but anyways thanks a lot for your enthusiasm and ur indicator fractals is working fine with the only drawback being i have to kill the alert by pressing f3.