Attachments: Local Time Clock Script

Local Time Clock Script

#1
First Post: Feb 5, 2015 8:50am Feb 5, 2015 8:50am

aminhakim
| Joined May 2006 | Status: Always learning | 119 Posts

Hi Guys

Trying to code a local time clock script but I'm not much of a programmer. Got a partial code in this regard. Anyone care to share such script if available or code it. It should be an easy task for a programmer. If possible to have the main clock and a reversed clock counting backwards in seconds. It's just going to be used to count the end of each candle, however I don't want an indicator because the indicator will just wait for chart ticks.

Something like that probably

Inserted Code

  double ld_0;
   double l_price_8;
   ObjectDelete(ScriptName);
   ObjectCreate(ScriptName, OBJ_LABEL, 0, 0, 0);
   ObjectSetText(ScriptName, "", 20, "Arial Black", CLR_NONE);
   ObjectSet(ScriptName, OBJPROP_COLOR, Yellow);
   ObjectSet(ScriptName, OBJPROP_CORNER, 1);
   while (ObjectFind(ScriptName) == 0) {
      ObjectSetText(ScriptName, TimeToStr(TimeLocal(), TIME_SECONDS), 20, "Arial Black", CLR_NONE);

Attached Image (click to enlarge)

Click to Enlarge

Name: clock.JPG
Size: 17 KB

#2
Edited 1:38pm Feb 5, 2015 11:26am | Edited 1:38pm

honestknave
Joined Nov 2014 | Status: Trader | 1,300 Posts

Hello aminhakim,

A few things to think about:

Scripts are executed only once, so you'll want to use an indicator or an EA to run this.
You can use OnTimer() to avoid the issue of waiting for an incoming tick
If you use TimeLocal() or TimeGMT() you must make sure that your computer's clock is exactly synchronized with the broker. For example, my broker is about 4 seconds faster than my PC. You will also need to code an offset for the timezone difference. If you want to get adventurous, you can build in an offset for the difference between your computer and the broker then run it off your computer (TimeLocal or TimeGMT).
If you use TimeCurrent(), it will only be updated when a tick comes in... but it only needs a tick for any instrument listed in Market Watch. So hopefully this should happen at least once per second for most of the time, but you will miss seconds occasionally. You can minimize this by viewing as many instruments as possible in the Market Watch.
You will get a negative number (which isn't a valid time) if there is a delay between the theoretical start of a new bar and the first tick coming in. For example, the 12:00:00 bar gets the first tick at 12:00:37. You may be happy to ignore this, or you might want to cater for it in your code.

In summary:
Using TimeCurrent() - pros: it is the broker's time; cons: only gets updated when a tick comes into Market Watch
Using TimeLocal()/TimeGMT() - pros: it is constantly updated, irrespective of ticks; cons: your local clock is not necessarily synced with the broker's. You also need to cater for time zone differences.

This is one way to do it using TimeCurrent(). Simple code, so certainly not the best. But it should give you some ideas to work from:

Inserted Code

#property strict
#property indicator_chart_window
const string Tag="Clock";
int OnInit()
  {
   EventSetTimer(1);
   return(INIT_SUCCEEDED);
  }
void OnDeinit(const int reason)
  {
   EventKillTimer();
   ObjectDelete(0,Tag);
  }
int OnCalculate(const int rates_total,
                const int prev_calculated,
                const datetime &time[],
                const double &open[],
                const double &high[],
                const double &low[],
                const double &close[],
                const long &tick_volume[],
                const long &volume[],
                const int &spread[])
  {
   return(rates_total);
  }
void OnTimer()
  {
   DrawLabel(Time[0]+PeriodSeconds()-1-TimeCurrent());
  }
void DrawLabel(datetime when)
  {
   if(ObjectFind(0,Tag)<0)
     {
      ObjectCreate(0,Tag,OBJ_LABEL,0,0,0);
      ObjectSetInteger(0,Tag,OBJPROP_COLOR,clrYellow);
      ObjectSetInteger(0,Tag,OBJPROP_CORNER,3);
      ObjectSetInteger(0,Tag,OBJPROP_XDISTANCE,100);
      ObjectSetInteger(0,Tag,OBJPROP_YDISTANCE,50);
      ObjectSetInteger(0,Tag,OBJPROP_HIDDEN,true);
      ObjectSetInteger(0,Tag,OBJPROP_SELECTABLE,false);
     }
   ObjectSetString(0,Tag,OBJPROP_TEXT,TimeToStr(when,TIME_SECONDS));
  }

#3
Feb 5, 2015 1:29pm Feb 5, 2015 1:29pm

aminhakim
| Joined May 2006 | Status: Always learning | 119 Posts

Thanks. That was a big help. Having a small glitch though. I wanna set the font, however OBJPROP_FONT seems to be removed from mql. Not compiling:

Inserted Code

#property strict
#property indicator_chart_window
const string Tag="Clock";
int OnInit()
  {
   EventSetTimer(1);
   return(INIT_SUCCEEDED);
  }
void OnDeinit(const int reason)
  {
   EventKillTimer();
   ObjectDelete(0,Tag);
  }
int OnCalculate(const int rates_total,
                const int prev_calculated,
                const datetime &time[],
                const double &open[],
                const double &high[],
                const double &low[],
                const double &close[],
                const long &tick_volume[],
                const long &volume[],
                const int &spread[])
  {
   return(rates_total);
  }
void OnTimer()
  {
   DrawLabel(Time[0]+PeriodSeconds()-1-TimeLocal());
  }
void DrawLabel(datetime when)
  {
   if(ObjectFind(0,Tag)<0)
     {
      ObjectCreate(0,Tag,OBJ_LABEL,0,0,0);
      ObjectSetInteger(0,Tag, OBJPROP_FONT, "Arial Black");
      ObjectSetInteger(0,Tag, OBJPROP_FONTSIZE, 20);
      ObjectSetInteger(0,Tag,OBJPROP_COLOR,clrYellow);
      ObjectSetInteger(0,Tag,OBJPROP_CORNER,1);
      ObjectSetInteger(0,Tag,OBJPROP_XDISTANCE,100);
      ObjectSetInteger(0,Tag,OBJPROP_YDISTANCE,50);
      ObjectSetInteger(0,Tag,OBJPROP_HIDDEN,true);
      ObjectSetInteger(0,Tag,OBJPROP_SELECTABLE,true);
     }
   ObjectSetString(0,Tag,OBJPROP_TEXT,TimeToStr(when,TIME_SECONDS));

#4
Feb 5, 2015 1:36pm Feb 5, 2015 1:36pm

honestknave
Joined Nov 2014 | Status: Trader | 1,300 Posts

Quoting aminhakim

Disliked

Thanks. That was a big help. Having a small glitch though. I wanna set the font, however OBJPROP_FONT seems to be removed from mql. Not compiling:

Ignored

You'll need to use ObjectSetString()

Inserted Code

ObjectSetString(0,Tag,OBJPROP_FONT,"Arial Black");

#5
Feb 5, 2015 2:03pm Feb 5, 2015 2:03pm

aminhakim
| Joined May 2006 | Status: Always learning | 119 Posts

Thanks, that was a great help

#6
Feb 5, 2015 2:08pm Feb 5, 2015 2:08pm

honestknave
Joined Nov 2014 | Status: Trader | 1,300 Posts

Quoting aminhakim

Disliked

Thanks, that was a great help

Ignored

No problem - glad to help.

#7
Feb 5, 2015 3:04pm Feb 5, 2015 3:04pm

cja
Joined Feb 2007 | Status: Trader | 2,146 Posts

Hi,
I know this does not help you with the code however this is something I coded when the new MT4 first came out as I experimented with the new code possibilities. I am not sure if it works in all Broker/Country situations as I did not check that out thoroughly at the time as I admit my main concern was making sure the refresh side of the code worked anyway thought it might give you some idea on the possibilities with the new MT4. As you can see the Broker and local time are slightly out by a second or so on my computer.

Attached File(s)

Time Display nmc.ex4 47 KB | 861 downloads

Attached Image (click to enlarge)

Click to Enlarge

Name: timer.png
Size: 27 KB

Trade what you see not what you hope

#8
Feb 5, 2015 3:08pm Feb 5, 2015 3:08pm

aminhakim
| Joined May 2006 | Status: Always learning | 119 Posts

That's always nice and useful. Appreciated.

#9
Feb 5, 2015 3:08pm Feb 5, 2015 3:08pm

honestknave
Joined Nov 2014 | Status: Trader | 1,300 Posts

That's a good example of the difference between local and server time... 2 seconds

#10
Feb 5, 2015 4:01pm Feb 5, 2015 4:01pm

honestknave
Joined Nov 2014 | Status: Trader | 1,300 Posts

Thinking about this some more... you'll be better off using EventSetMillisecondTimer().

The reason being: if you use a 1 second timer and a tick doesn't come in, it has to wait another whole second before it can catch up. So the tick comes in at 1.1 seconds... the update won't happen until 2 seconds. If you use a millisecond timer, it can potentially catch up quicker.

#11
Feb 5, 2015 4:12pm Feb 5, 2015 4:12pm

aminhakim
| Joined May 2006 | Status: Always learning | 119 Posts

I noticed that, clock disappearing on candle close, but what are the odds of no ticks for a whole minute. However, it would be nice to learn that.

#12
Feb 5, 2015 4:20pm Feb 5, 2015 4:20pm

honestknave
Joined Nov 2014 | Status: Trader | 1,300 Posts

Quoting aminhakim

Disliked

I noticed that, clock disappearing on candle close, but what are the odds of no ticks for a whole minute. However, it would be nice to learn that.

Ignored

The clock will be disappearing when it gets a negative number:

You will get a negative number (which isn't a valid time) if there is a delay between the theoretical start of a new bar and the first tick coming in. For example, the 12:00:00 bar gets the first tick at 12:00:37. You may be happy to ignore this, or you might want to cater for it in your code.

#13
Last Post: Feb 5, 2015 4:38pm Feb 5, 2015 4:38pm

aminhakim
| Joined May 2006 | Status: Always learning | 119 Posts

I wouldn't bother as much. It may happen once per day where there's no tick. I really appreciate your help.

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