General purpose close/delete orders EA

OVERVIEW

'Close Orders (hanover).ex4' is a general purpose EA (download it into your ..../MQL4/Experts folder) that will close open orders, and/or delete pending orders, that match your specified criteria.

I haven't provided source code, because the EA was written back in 2013 using MQL4 build 509, and the .mq4 will likely compile with a zillion errors if compiled using the latest MQL4 release. Also: sorry, but I don't plan on writing a MT5 version.

However, I've compiled the code as a script 'Close Orders (hanover; script).ex4' (download it into your ..../MQL4/Scripts folder) which allows it to be run as a one-off process, as opposed to the EA, which remains on your chart and is the code is executed every time a new price tick arrives.

It is strongly recommended that you run the EA in demo, until you are 100% sure that you understand how the parameter settings work, and that the EA behaves as you would expect it to.


TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Please note that all code in this thread is supplied FREE of charge. Therefore the following conditions apply:

1. You agree that, if you download and use the code, it is ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. I offer NO guarantee as to the accuracy or completeness of the code, or that is free from error. I accept NO LIABILITY for any financial losses or computer related damage, caused by either the correct or incorrect use of the code.

2. Feel welcome to share the EA freely. However, you may NOT sell, or otherwise distribute, any part of the code commercially, without my prior written consent.

3. The code may not run correctly on Windows 7, Windows 8 or Vista, probably for the reasons given here.

4. I'm sorry, but due to my current work commitments, I am no longer modifying code to suit people’s personal requirements, nor posting replies to every individual question in this thread. (If you can’t get the code to do what you want, you’ll need to find another EA).

5. Source code (.mq4 file) is NOT available.


INSTALLATION

Copy the .ex4 file to your …/(MT4)/experts folder, and then restart MT4.

WARNING: attaching this EA to more than one price chart may cause unpredictable results.


PARAMETER SETTINGS

All settings (except Windows font name) are case insensitive, you may use capitals and lowercase interchangeably.

string SelectIfOrderType = "BS";

1. B = select buy orders only
2. S = select sell orders only
3. BS = select both buy and sell order types
4. (blank) = select no orders (useful for temporarily suspending the EA)

string SelectIfSymbolID = "ALL";

1. ALL = select orders for all available symbols
2. (blank) = select only orders for the symbol on whose chart the EA is attached
3. comma separated list = select only orders for symbols in list (e.g. GU, EU, UJ). Allowed abbreviations: A=AUD, C=CAD, E=EUR, F=CHF, G=GBP, J=JPY, N=NZD, U=USD

string SymbolSuffix = "";
Suffix will be added to all symbols in above list (e.g. m selects GBPUSDm etc)

string SelectIfOrderNumber = "";

1. (blank) = all orders (that meet all other criteria) will be selected
2. comma separated list = only orders whose last digits in their ticket numbers match the digits entered here will be selected (e.g. 032,1237 means that only orders with ticket numbers ending in 032 or 1237 will be selected)

string SelectIfMagicNumber = "";

1. (blank) = all orders (that meet all other criteria) will be selected
2. comma separated list = only orders whose last digits in their magic numbers match the digits entered here will be selected (e.g. 032,1237 means that only orders with magic numbers ending in 032 or 1237 will be selected)

string SelectIfCommentContains = "";

1. (blank) = all orders (that meet all other criteria) will be selected
2. comma separated list = only orders whose comment contains the specified text will be selected (e.g. aaa,bb means that only orders with ‘aaa’ or ‘bb’ embedded somewhere in their comment will be selected)

string SelectIfProfitGEthan = "$0";
Only orders with a profit that equals or exceeds this value will be selected. You may enter a negative number; or a very large negative value, to select all orders (that meet all other criteria), and thus effectively disregard this setting. For example, $–999999 will select all orders whose loss doesn’t currently exceed $999,999
Typing a dollar sign ($) anywhere in the field means that the value represents dollars (or whatever currency your account is denominated in). Dollar profit includes commissions and swaps. If there is no dollar sign, the value is assumed to represent a number of pips

bool CloseOpenOrders = false;

1. true = all open orders that meet ALL of the above criteria (in the SelectIf… settings) will be fully or partially closed (see FractionToClose). Only one attempt will be made to close these orders, and any errors will be posted to the experts log and debug file (see LogErrorsToDebugFile). This is to stop repeated partial closing of orders on each new price tick, and it may mean that some selected orders are closed, but not others (if the Close instruction fails due to an error being returned by the br0ker).
2. false = selected orders will be displayed (see WindowCornerHposVposVspacing), but will not be closed.

string CloseIfTotalGEthan = "$0";
Orders will be closed only if the total profit of all selected orders equals or exceeds this value. You may enter a negative number; or a very large negative value, to ensure that all selected orders (that meet all other criteria) are closed
Typing a dollar sign ($) anywhere in the field means that the value represents dollars (or whatever currency your account is denominated in). Dollar profit includes commissions and swaps. If there is no dollar sign, the value is assumed to represent a number of pips

string FractionToClose = "1/1";
1/1 means that selected orders will be fully closed.

Any other value means that selected orders will be partially closed (ADVANCED USERS ONLY!):

1. fraction (forward slash included in field), e.g. 1/2, 1/3, 3/5, 20/100 — each selected order will be partially closed according to the fraction you specify, rounded down to your br0ker’s smallest allowable lot size. For example, if the open order has a size of 0.32 lots, and you specify 20/100 (close 20%), then 0.32 x 20/100 = 0.064, i.e. 0.06 lots will be closed. Note that, in reality, MT4 closes the position and creates a new order for the remaining position (0.26 lots in this example)
2. any numeric value without a slash — each selected order will be partially closed by the number of (full) lots that you specify. Selected orders with smaller volume than this value will be fully closed. For example, if the open order has a size of 0.32 lots, and you specify 0.2, then 0.2 lots will be closed. Note that, in reality, MT4 closes the position and creates a new order for the remaining position (0.12 lots in this example)

string CloseArrowColor = "Red";

1. valid MT4 color token (e.g. Red, LimeGreen, Goldenrod, MediumSeaGreen) — arrow will be plotted on chart in this color
2. (blank) — no arrow will be plotted

bool DeletePendingOrders = false;

1. true = any pending orders matching all of the SelectIf… criteria will be deleted. This operates additionally and independently of the CloseOpenOrders option
2. false = no pending orders will be deleted

string WindowCornerHposVposVspacing = "0,TR,20,20,20";
Unless blank, it must be 5 entries separated by commas, which control where the P/L statistics of selected orders will be displayed:
#1 = chart window: 0=main chart, 1,2,3, etc = lower sub-windows
#2 = corner of the chart: TR=top right; BL=bottom left , etc
#3 = starting horizontal co-ordinate (pixels)
#4 = starting vertical co-ordinate (pixels)
#5 = vertical spacing (pixels) between the four items
To suppress the statistics from being displayed, blank out the whole parameter

string FontIdSizeColor = "Arial,12,White";
Must be 3 entries separated by commas:
#1 = Font ID (must be the name of an installed Windows font (case sensitive))
#2 = Font Size
#3 = Font Color (e.g. Red, LimeGreen, Goldenrod, MediumSeaGreen)

string OrdersFormat = "'Orders = '6";
string LotsFormat = "'Lots = '6.2";
string ProfitDollarsFormat = "'Profit $ = 'R,-6.2";
string ProfitPipsFormat = "'Profit pips = 'R,-6.1";
These are the format masks for the four P/L statistics that are displayed. For more info, see the NumberToStr section in this post.
To suppress an item from being displayed, blank out its format

bool LogErrorsToDebugFile = true;

1. true = the EA will output any errors to the file …/MQL4/Files/debug.txt (recommended), in addition to the experts log
2. false = errors will be output to the experts log only

ERRORS & TROUBLESHOOTING

If you want me to attempt to troubleshoot a scenario for you, then at the very least, I will need the following info:

1. Whether it is the EA or the script that is causing the issue.
2. A detailed description of the issue and the exact circumstances that cause it to occur.
3. The content of the DEBUG.TXT file (you will need to have had LogErrorsToDebugFile set to true, at the time the EA attempted to close the open orders).
4. The name of your br0ker, MT4 build number, and Windows version. (Otherwise I can attempt to troubleshoot using my own broker's MT4).

All guns now firing correctly it would seem!
A big big thank you again for the time and effort.

And BTW, I see this P/L based tool not as constituting Trade Management but more of an accessory in certain circumstances such as shutting down at the end of the week, just before news events etc.

Much appreciated.

Uploaded new version (with much improved diagnostics handling) to post #1.

[EDIT] Forex Factory not allowing me to upload the new version. Very strange.
Will try again later.

[EDIT] Mozilla Firefox wouldn't allow the upload, but it worked OK using Google Chrome. Strange.

Updated.
Thank you.

Thanks a lot. IT is wonderful.
However, when I use it to close individual open negative position, it does not work "string SelectIfProfitGEthan = "$-10";
But for positive open position, it works perfectly.
Can you please help?

Did you read the 'Errors & Troubleshooting' section in post #1?

Hello Hanover,

A very happy New Year to you and thanks again for this and other assistance from you.

I encountered an issue with this EA that makes me suspect there might be a bug in it somewhere.

It failed to close any of the 2 trades in profit on an Alpari UK platform even though I had settings requiring it to:
SelectIfProfitGEthan £0
CloseOpenOrders true
CloseIfTotalGEthan £-99999

I attach herewith both the logs and debug files.

I might add that I have used it successfully before in a micro demo account. The failure today was in a classic account. I hope when you are a little less busy, you might be able to take a look at it again.

A million thanks!

Thanks for attaching the debug file. I wish everybody would do this. As a result, I've found what I believe could be the problem in less than 5 minutes. Here is an excerpt from the debug file, showing the parameters that you had entered:


There is a strange character (ú) in the SelectIfProfitGEthan and CloseIfTotalGEthan fields. This is probably a pound symbol (£). The EA needs to see a dollar symbol ($). Using a dollar symbol means that the EA will treat the field's value as an amount of money, rather than a number of pips. If your account is denominated in pounds, then the value is assumed to be pounds (even though it's a dollar symbol). If your account is denominated in euros, then the value is assume to be euros. If your account is denominated in Singapore dollars, then the value is assumed to be Singapore dollars. And so on.

Try using a dollar symbol, and see if it fixes the problem.

Happy New Year to you also.
David

I just noticed this:
This suggests that the EA did attempt to close at least one of the two open NZDUSD orders, but failed on account of the br0ker's disallowing the operation due to an interim change of price. I will check the EA code to see how/why this is even possible.

[EDIT]
I've fixed a possible bug, regarding the number of digits in the price at which the EA attempts to close the order, and have uploaded the amended version to post #1. Please try this, and also note my prior comments about using the dollar symbol.

You inspire me David.

I am touched by how much you’ve put into this EA and now again, how prompt and positive your response.

Thank you so very much. I will run the update and let you know how it goes.

Best regards.

There's a problem with the update, David. It looks like it's not compiling. It won't open.

I've uploaded it again, in case the file got damaged on the previous upload. I'm still getting the problem that I reported in post #3, forcing me to upload using Google Chrome. Please try again.

I'm running Windows XP Pro 2002 SP3 and Pepperstone MT4 build 509.

This compiled and closed profiting trades as it should. Thank you very much.

BTW, wouldn't your upload issue be with Windows XP? I understand problems with it can only compound going forwards because Microsoft is no longer supporting it.

Have a great week-end.

Hello Hanover,

Now this is not at all about some bug! If anything, the ea has been working like a beautiful dream!!! I just wanted to ask if you wouldn't mind adding some comments on the screen to show what the selected options and settings are, particularly the top 10 (+ DeletePendingOrders). I hope this won't be too much trouble. Thank you.

Regards.

Why not simply press F7 to see the parameters?

Anyway, there's no point in updating the EA further, as it will probably no longer work after the next build of MT4 is released (on Feb 3, if I understand correctly). More info in these threads (here and here). I am quitting forex and Forex Factory. Please don't blame me, it's MetaQuotes' decision to upgrade MT4 in such a way as to force coders to learn a new programming language, and then rewrite their existing EAs and indicators. In my case, it's not worth the time or effort, so I'm moving on.

I can understand this very well, and thanks for the links. Are you REALLY going to quit forex for good? Now that will be a big loss indeed for those like me who have crossed your path. But like I said, it is very understandable seeing as MQL's attitude does not augur well at all for the long term use of their products.

Anyway, thanks for all your help, and here's wishing you well for the future, wherever that lies.