Please explain the limits of an EA's computing abilities | Forex Factory

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Please explain the limits of an EA's computing abilities

  • #1
  • First Post: Jul 1, 2012 8:29am Jul 1, 2012 8:29am
Hey all...especially coders.

I have a question about the constraints of what an EA can and can't do.

To what extent can an EA use past trading data (not market data) as a parameter for ongoing EA operation.

Scenario:

You've been trading a series (whatever your strategy may be) on the Kiwi. Positions have been opened and closed, stops set and moved. Can an EA keep track of and use that data to place and/or manage ongoing trades?

Is this type of function getting too much into the realm of "computing" for an EA to handle?

Thanks for your attention.
  • #2
  • Jul 1, 2012 10:48am Jul 1, 2012 10:48am
Obviously it depends on what algorithm you're applying to the data and how frequently you do the computation. If your computation pegs the CPU for 10 seconds until it completes then you can't reasonably run it every tick. If you only need to do this once an hour then it's OK.

If you're doing high-powered mathematical calculations like FFTs, FIR filters etc then you might want to offload the algorithm to a DLL written in C++ or some other high level language. The MT4 compiler doesn't give you the kind of optimization control that a normal compiled language has.

It's within the realm of reason but it depends.
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
  • #3
  • Jul 1, 2012 10:54am Jul 1, 2012 10:54am
spyder

theres not really a limit to it, you need to set your MT to show all the trade history in your terminal window. if you dont your code will only see that history that the terminal window shows. Any information that is not in that window your'll need to keep that information your self in local files.

keit





Quoting spyderman
Hey all...especially coders.

I have a question about the constraints of what an EA can and can't do.

To what extent can an EA use past trading data (not market data) as a parameter for ongoing EA operation.

Scenario:

You've been trading a series (whatever your strategy may be) on the Kiwi. Positions have been opened and closed, stops set and moved. Can an EA keep track of and use that data to place and/or manage ongoing trades?

Is this type of function getting too much into the realm of "computing" for an EA to handle?

Thanks...
Trader Keit ... Methods Of A Dirt Road Mad Man....
  • #4
  • Jul 1, 2012 10:59am Jul 1, 2012 10:59am
Quoting stevegee58
Obviously it depends on what algorithm you're applying to the data and how frequently you do the computation. If your computation pegs the CPU for 10 seconds until it completes then you can't reasonably run it every tick. If you only need to do this once an hour then it's OK.

If you're doing high-powered mathematical calculations like FFTs, FIR filters etc then you might want to offload the algorithm to a DLL written in C++ or some other high level language. The MT4 compiler doesn't give you the kind of optimization control that a normal compiled...
Whoaaa Steve...

Thanks for the reply, but you'll have to tone down that programmer speak...I'm just a country boy.

Seriously though, let's just say I have a couple of positions that an EA entered based on an MA cross. They're in a nice profit and then the EA closes those positions based on some criteria I have set.

Now the dang market heads back in my original direction and triggers wants to trigger trades based on my original MA cross setup. Can the EA keep track of those original positions that are now closed and use that data in selecting lot sizes, s/l's, etc.
  • #5
  • Jul 1, 2012 11:00am Jul 1, 2012 11:00am
Quoting CockeyedCowboy
spyder

theres not really a limit to it, you need to set your MT to show all the trade history in your terminal window. if you dont your code will only see that history that the terminal window shows. Any information that is not in that window your'll need to keep that information your self in local files.

keit
Cowboy,

So an EA can read any data in the account history and use it accordingly?

Interesting.
  • #6
  • Jul 2, 2012 5:42pm Jul 2, 2012 5:42pm
Don't mean to hijack your thread spyderman, but since I can't post new threads and this one was relevant to what I wanted to propose ...hope I don't get banned for this

first of all, I have been a lurker here on FF for about a year now or so. and I've learned a lot of useful things here, recently( 3 months now) I've been testing a strategy that has been very successful for me and I would like to share it here, hoping one of our talented programmers here can make an EA based on it.

the strategy:
its a very simple one, I only use 2 indicators: the HA candles and an indicator called Mindhero ( both are attached), basically what it does is paint a red arrow on the chart indicating "sell" and a blue one indicating "buy". doesn't get any simpler than that.

as for the EA here are the rules:
-entry :
enter long when mindhero indicates blue arrow. it must be immediately after it appears, this is very important. not on the second candle.
enter short when red arrow appears, again right after it appears.
-risk management:
I risk 2% of my account per trade. this option should be adjustable of course.
-exit:
*stop less: 150 pips. should be adjustable. however the order should be closed when the opposite arrow appears. for example if we shorted on EUR/USD and a blue arrow appears we immediately close that order and open an order in the opposite direction, i.e long.
*take profit: I set it to 200 pips but sometimes I take profit manually at 80-100 pips. you can do this however you like.
also, if the market moves your way by 30 points, move stop loss to entry+3pips or entry-3pips depending on the order , buy/sell.

well I think I covered everything, as for the time frame I usually trade the 1h or 4h charts, but lower TMs should be fine too.
there is just one more thing, I found that trading in the direction of the trend improves the results. I judge the trend by looking at daily charts but if there is some way you can include a " trend detector" function in this EA so it can only trade in the direction of the trend that would make it more accurate.

I guess that's it I hope I didn't forget anything.
Attached File(s)
File Type: mq4 mindhero.mq4   5 KB | 319 downloads
File Type: ex4 Synergy_APB.ex4   4 KB | 287 downloads
  • #7
  • Jul 4, 2012 11:38am Jul 4, 2012 11:38am
you can read any account history so long as you tell MT in the account history how far back you want to view that history, it can be from one day to the complete history from the oringal depost. Your account history is not stored on your computor but at the server end an when you log on it will load only the history you have set in the jorunal.

You can also make your own records and / or add any thing that MT does not have (like trade performance record) by saveing the history to your computer.

Keit




Quoting spyderman
Cowboy,

So an EA can read any data in the account history and use it accordingly?

Interesting.
Trader Keit ... Methods Of A Dirt Road Mad Man....
  • #8
  • Jul 5, 2012 2:00pm Jul 5, 2012 2:00pm
Quoting spyderman
Is this type of function getting too much into the realm of "computing" for an EA to handle?

Thanks for your attention.

I'm not an MQL developer. I do build EAs using a Visual EA Builder. With the above caveat, I just ran into serious problem with MT4 and EAs in general.

One of my EA designs is actually an integration of seven (7) different fully independent EAs. So, essentially, the primary EA contains seven (7) sub-EAs.

Well, to make a very long story short, the last sub-EA design ran over 3,300 pages in long in Microsoft Word. Essentially, I had to use several instances of Word itself, for all the code.

The reason for so many pages, is because the three (3) MT4 "Loop" functions, don't have the ability to handle the kind of iteration patterns that my design requires. The algorithm requires iterations within iterations.

Some of the iterations are geometric and run at a different rate of speed than its container iteration. The iterations area also what I call, Forward Progressive. MT4, is good at handling Fix Range Iterations, but not Forward Progressive Iterations with multiple internal (underlying) iterations running at different speeds of geometric growth. All iterations had to be linked to the MQL function: Time(). Using an M5 time frame, the base iteration count was 287 bars. That may sound easy, but when you layer in all the sub-iterations for each Time() function, it translates into literally thousands of iterations required.

The whole thing was very difficult to design. It is the most complex iteration methodology that I have designed to date.

Well, it turns out that the EA design is apparently too large in terms of character count to be Saved and/or Compiled. The EA was broken down into eight (8) blocks of conditional code, each one running close to 7 million characters in size, for a total of nearly 56 million characters (over 3,300 pages in Word). This was just one (1) sub-EA in a larger EA design.

So, does MT4 have its limitations? Yes, it does.

My guess would be that C++, would have the Looping and Iteration facility to handle more complex iteration patterns and algorithms that start at a specific time and expand as time expands. The other layer that adds more complexity, is the speed at which an internal iteration moves relative to the container iteration that wraps it.

I was able to design it, but it won't compile.

If I am not mistaken, this EA is several times larger than ZUP. I can switch time frames to H1 (for example) and drastically reduce the code necessary to iterate. However, that changes the EA entirely - as it needs to run at the M5 level.

Anyway - off to another design with far less iteration requirements. Hope this helps.
The Event Horizon
  • #9
  • Jul 5, 2012 2:03pm Jul 5, 2012 2:03pm
Quoting spyderman
Cowboy,

So an EA can read any data in the account history and use it accordingly?

Interesting.

http://i48.tinypic.com/11tqzyb.jpg

Visit: http://docs.mql4.com/
The Event Horizon
  • #10
  • Jul 5, 2012 3:11pm Jul 5, 2012 3:11pm
Quoting iDouble
I'm not an MQL developer. I do build EAs using a Visual EA Builder. With the above caveat, I just ran into serious problem with MT4 and EAs in general.

Just a side note, I've noticed that EA builders generally add unnecessary steps, likely making the code much longer than it needs to be.

I noticed this because I used to use EA builders, but also learned to code. The more I got accustomed to writing my own code, the more inefficient I saw the mql outputted by most EA builders.

They can't account for everything, and it turns into a muddled mess.
No way I'll wreck this... It's a beer truck!
  • #11
  • Jul 5, 2012 10:22pm Jul 5, 2012 10:22pm
Quoting spyderman
Hey all...especially coders.

I have a question about the constraints of what an EA can and can't do.

To what extent can an EA use past trading data (not market data) as a parameter for ongoing EA operation.

Scenario:

You've been trading a series (whatever your strategy may be) on the Kiwi. Positions have been opened and closed, stops set and moved. Can an EA keep track of and use that data to place and/or manage ongoing trades?

Is this type of function getting too much into the realm of "computing" for an EA to handle?

Thanks...
Yes, everything that you've described can be done fairly easily.
  • #12
  • Last Post: Jul 9, 2012 8:26am Jul 9, 2012 8:26am
I hope you had a bowl below you when you wrote that, because its your typical pile of shit. O, I hope you didnot forget to wipe yourself after ward.

I dont think that the code didnot compile because of any limitation on MT part, its your coding or should I say lack of knowledge there of, that didnot compile. In the south theres a saying, It goes like this. 'YOUR AS DUM AS A STUMP'


Keit





Quoting iDouble
I'm not an MQL developer. I do build EAs using a Visual EA Builder. With the above caveat, I just ran into serious problem with MT4 and EAs in general.

One of my EA designs is actually an integration of seven (7) different fully independent EAs. So, essentially, the primary EA contains seven (7) sub-EAs.

Well, to make a very long story short, the last sub-EA design ran over 3,300 pages in long in Microsoft Word. Essentially, I had to use several instances of Word itself, for all the code.

The reason for so many pages, is because the three...
Trader Keit ... Methods Of A Dirt Road Mad Man....
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