How to Start with Metatrader 5 - page 77

[Sergey Golubev]

Forum on trading, automated trading systems and testing trading strategies

All (not yet) about Strategy Tester, Optimization and Cloud

Alain Verleyen, 2013.08.20 19:47

A must ! Before using it or asking any question : please read the Online Help  (Also accessible by F1 on your MT5 platform)

Strategy Tester

For Traders

• General overview of the possibilities.
  

• Overview of results : Visualize a Strategy in the MetaTrader 5 Tester

• If you are thinking to buy a product on the Market : How to Test a Tading Robot before buying.

• If you don't see all strategy tester fields, they are probably hidden.

• How to use settings resulting from EA Optimization in your EA (without manually changing it). 

---

For Programmers

• Detailed description of it works : Testing trading strategies (documentation).

• As noted by erdah, SendNotification, SendMail, SendFTP don't work in Strategy Tester (of course).
• IndicatorParameters() doesn't work in StrategyTester.
  
• OnChartEvent() in Strategy Tester.
• New CopyTicks() function doesn't work on Strategy Tester.
  

• General description of how to use it : The Fundamentals of Testing in MetaTrader 5

• How ticks are generated : The Algorithm of Ticks’ Generation

• Discussion about Strategy Tester mode (1 minute OHLC vs every tick)

• How to test a strategy for all timeframe and compare results ?

• Using the TesterWithdrawal() Function for Modeling the Withdrawals of Profit

• How to use file with Strategy tester.

Optimization

• Description of the algorithm used for fast optimization : Genetic Algorithm - It's easy.

• Creating Custom Criteria of Optimization of Expert Advisors

• Running optimization from command line : https://www.mql5.com/en/forum/13468

• Don't expect too much from optimization and try to prevent curve over fit.
  

Cloud

Announce of the launch : MQL5 Cloud Network launched.

As Users

• How it works, an overview : Speed Up Calculations with the MQL5 Cloud Network

• Optimization by example : MQL5 Cloud Network : Are you Still Calculating ?

Some useful topic about usage of the Cloud :

• Error message : endless loop detected in OnInit function

As Providers (agents)

• Frequently Asked Question about the Cloud Newtwork (FAQ).

• When you start to provide agents on the Cloud, you have to be patient and use the search engine.

• An example of what you can expect as agents provider or 1 year of Cloud's agents providing
  

Work in progress, stay tuned !

[Sergey Golubev]

LifeHack for trader: four backtests are better than one

Table of Contents

• Introduction

1. General Principles

2. Inputs

• 2.1. Binding the installation folder and the data directory in the AppData folder

3. Matching the installation folder and the AppData folder of the Slave terminals

• 3.1. Secret №1
• 3.2. FindFirstFileW, FindNextFileW
• 3.3. An example of using FindFirstFileW, FindNextFileW
• 3.4. Inside the terminal directories
• 3.5. CopyFileW
• 3.6. Working with the "origin.txt" file
• 3.7. Finishing Stroke

4. Selecting an EA for testing

• 4.1. GetOpenFileName
• 4.2. Selecting an EA with the "Open file" system dialog
• 4.3. Configuration INI file
• 4.4. Secret №2
• 4.5. Setting the terminal size (width, height). Inserting lines into the middle of the file

5. Launching tests on the Slave terminals

• 5.1. Copying the EA to folders of the Slave terminals
• 5.2. ShellExecuteW
• 5.3. Launching the terminals

6. Possible errors

Conclusion

[Sergey Golubev]

It may be interesting to read this thread: [SOLVED] Installing MT5 on Ubuntu

[Sergey Golubev]

Forum on trading, automated trading systems and testing trading strategies

How do I change my mq5 file to ex5 file?

Sergey Golubev, 2016.08.29 07:58

Some usefull info for newbies:

MetaEditor Help

The window of the MetaEditor options can be opened using the " Options" command in the "Tools", in the "Standard" toolbar or using the "Ctrl+O" key combination. All the options are grouped in tabs according to their purpose:

• General — general settings of the source code editing: tab size, autocomplete, names substitution, etc.;
• Colors — settings of colors of MQL4/MQL5 syntax highlighting;
• Font — font settings of the text typed in MetaEditor;
• Debugging — settings of program debugging;
• MQL5.community — settings of connection to MQL5.community for accessing unique services including MQL5 Storage.

-----------

MetaTrader 5 - More Than You Can Imagine!

1. Charts
• Customization and 21 Timeframes
• Advantages of One-Minute Bars
• Indicators
• Analytical Tools
• Precise Time Scale
• Economic Calendar
• More Market Data
• Publishing Charts Online
2. Navigator
• Find a Server by the Broker's Name
• Grouping of Programs
• Further Development of Programs
• Downloads from the Code Base
• Rapid Tests
  
3. Trading
• Position Netting
• Six Types of Pending Orders
• One-Click Trading
• Trading from Chart
• Modification of Trade Levels on the Chart
• Asynchrony and Multithreading
• Execution of Operations on the Stock Exchange
• Trading from the Depth of Market
• Additional Execution Terms
• Mobile Trading Push Notifications
4. Toolbox
• Exposure
• Calendar
• Market
• Code Base
5. Testing and Optimization
• Advanced Testing Report
• Increased Accuracy of Every-Tick Testing
• More Testing Modes
• Custom Optimization Criterion
• Optimization Cache and XML Report
• Automatic Download of History and Synchronization of Timeframes
• Forward Testing
• Stress Testing
• Multi-Threaded Optimization
• Testing Clouds of Remote Agents
• MQL5 Cloud Network
• Ease of Agents Management
• Mathematical Calculations
• 2D and 3D Visualization of Optimization Results
• Visual Testing
• Any Custom Results During Optimization
• Acceleration Using OpenCL
6. Integration with MQL5.community
• Market
• MQL5 Cloud Network
• MQL5 Storage
• Code Base
• Signals
• Articles
• MQL5 Charts
7. >MetaEditor
• New File System
• MQL5 Wizard
• Personal Code Repository MQL5 Storage
• Fast Compilation of C++ DLL
• Intelligent Code Control
• Code Styler
• Code Highlighting
• Unicode Support
• Inserting Resources
• Global Search and Integration with MQL5.community
• Debugging
• Projects
• Code Profiling
8. The MQL5 Programming Language
• Greater Operation Speed
• Code Protection
• Similarity to С++
• Classes and Structures
• Events
• Management of Charts, Objects and Resources Directly from MQL5
• New Indicator Drawing Styles
• Ease of Work with Indicators
• A Huge Standard Library and a Lot of Examples
• OpenCL Support
  
9. Services for Traders and Developers
• Jobs
• Market
• MQL5 Storage
• MQL5 Cloud Network
• Signals
• Virtual hosting

[Sergey Golubev]

Forum on trading, automated trading systems and testing trading strategies

MetaTrader 5 expansion is gaining momentum

MetaQuotes Software Corp., 2016.08.30 08:55

The number of brokers offering MetaTrader 5 to their clients is growing on weekly basis. Two months ago, we reported that adding the hedging function to the platform has boosted its popularity significantly. A number of major brokers, including Alpari and RoboForex, have switched to MetaTrader 5. They were recently followed by ForexTime (FXTM), Swissquote, FIBO, FBS and PROFIT Group. Many other financial institutions are actively testing the platform and preparing to join them.

Among the reasons for switching to MetaTrader 5, brokers emphasize the platform's advanced technology and versatility. FIBO Group representatives point out that "MetaTrader 5 platform is the most modern multi-market trading platform, providing all the necessary features, which makes online trading on the financial markets easy".

Jameel Ahmad, ForexTime

"In line with FXTM’s commitment to provide traders the most innovative solutions in the industry, we are immensely proud to be one of the first brokers to offer the latest and most highly-anticipated version of the MetaTrader 5 trading platform" — says ForexTime Vice President of Corporate Development Jameel Ahmad. "With the option of hedging, clients can take their trading to a whole new level. The latest version of the platform will empower traders to take more advantage of the changing market conditions and provide further precision over their trades – enabling them to implement, and maximize, on bidirectional trading strategies".

Ryan Nettles, Swissquote

"As one of the earliest MetaTrader 5 adopters, MetaTrader 5 offers Swissquote greater business scalability compared to MetaTrader 4" — adds Head of Forex Trading and Market Strategy at Swissquote Ryan Nettles. "Our clients are now able to use this new hedging feature in MetaTrader 5 as well as benefit from the platform’s additional features including market depth and more advanced algo development functionalities".

The trend for active switching to MetaTrader 5 will prevail in the near future. The platform is gradually becoming an industry standard for leading brokers and traders while its functionality is constantly expanding. Within the last two months, MetaTrader 5 has seen the official release of its web version, two integration gateways to CQG and Interactive Brokers platforms, as well as updates of mobile applications for iOS and Android, while the platform's depth of market function has been upgraded with the Time & Sales feature for exchange markets analysis. Besides, responding to the growing number of novice MetaTrader 5 traders, MetaQuotes Software has released a number of tutorial videos as a guide through the features of the 5th generation platform.

[Sergey Golubev]

Forum on trading, automated trading systems and testing trading strategies

How to Start with Metatrader 5

Sergey Golubev, 2016.05.08 20:17

Welcome,

• Usually people who can't code don't receive free help on this forum, though it could happen if you are lucky, be patient.
  
• If you show your attempts and describe well your problem, you will most probably receive an answer from the community.
• If you don't want to learn to code, nothing bad, you can either look at the Codebase if something free already exists, or in the Market for paid products (sometimes free also).
• Finally, you also have the option to hire a programmer in the Freelance section.
  

Good luck.

[Sergey Golubev]

Forum on trading, automated trading systems and testing trading strategies

New provider of institutional liquidity for MetaTrader 5 — FXCM Pro

MetaQuotes Software Corp., 2016.09.01 09:37

The MetaTrader 5 trading platform has been integrated with one of the major Forex and CFD liquidity providers — FXCM Pro. Now, brokers, institutional investors and professional traders can fully benefit from fast and reliable trade execution on Forex and CFD markets.

This native connectivity gateway developed by MetaQuotes Software Corp. provides reliable data exchange between MetaTrader 5 and the liquidity provider's software. The gateway enables brokers to connect to FXCM Pro in order to receive market data and execute trade operations on the provider's side. The benefits of the direct connectivity to global liquidity providers are obvious: brokers can hedge Forex orders through access to the interbank markets while providing better pricing to their traders.

Brandon Mulvihill, MD and Global Head of FXCM Pro stated, “FXCM Pro is excited to be among the first liquidity providers to complete a custom integration to MetaTrader 5. Once again, MetaQuotes is at the forefront of delivering tools based on client demand, which center around speed and transparency of execution. Our joint integration removes the need for an external gateway, thus cutting latency times and allowing customers access to an FX/CFD liquidity pool that generates on average over $14 billion of volumes and over 550,000 trades, daily.”

Brandon Mulvihill, FXCM Pro

"We are committed to providing our clients with connectivity to the best global liquidity providers in the forex and stock markets," said Renat Fatkhullin, CEO of MetaQuotes Software Corp. "We continue to expand the possibilities of the mutli-asset MetaTrader 5 platform for institutional investors, and we will release more gateways soon."

[Sergey Golubev]

Forum on trading, automated trading systems and testing trading strategies

How to Start with MT5, a summary !

Alain Verleyen, 2013.03.15 16:12

How to start with MT5 platform : summary.

As our topic about "How to start with Metatrader 5" is going to be huge, here you find a summary, with main links.

---

• A very good article to learn how to use this site.
  

• For a general overview of changements and improvements in MT5 plateform, read MetaTrader 5 - More Than You Can Imagine!

• Probably the biggest revolution is in management of trades : Orders, Positions and Deals in MetaTrader 5

• Vidéo : You can now change your stoploss/takeprofit by mouse directly on the chart.

• What is "trading on closed bar" ?

• About Signals : a mini-faq by newdigital, and some interesting information from his experience.
  

• Your first Expert Advisor ? Do you know you can create automated trading without programming ?

• Metaquotes has too his own Cloud network to help optimize your trading strategy. You have also plenty possibilities to backtesting a strategy.

• Vidéo : How to change period (timeframe) of current chart ? MT5 have many more available timeframes. (another method to do it).

• You want to try manual trading, but you don't even an idea how ? A very good system to begin. 

• If you are using Linux, it'is possible to use MT5, but with some limitations.

• Who Is Who in MQL5.community?

---

For developpers.

• If you want to begin to programming with MT5, here is good step-by-step guide.

• If you come from MQL4, this article is a must.
  

• A very good and easy to understand article about use of arrays.

• Big news with MT5 is possibility to use OOP (Object Oriented Programming), specially we have now a Standard Library : great feature !
  

Work in progress, stay tuned :-)

[Sergey Golubev]

Forum on trading, automated trading systems and testing trading strategies

List of changes in MetaTrader 5 Client Terminal builds

MetaQuotes Software Corp., 2016.09.08 16:42

MetaTrader 5 Platform Beta Build 1415: Updated Exposure tab

The beta version of the updated MetaTrader 5 platform is to be released on Friday, September 9, 2016. We will update our public MetaQuotes-Demo server located at access.metatrader5.com:443. We invite all traders to join the testing of the new platform, evaluate all its features and help developers fix the errors.

To update MetaTrader 5 platform to build 1415, connect to access.metatrader5.com server:443.

The final build of the new MetaTrader 5 platform will be released after the public beta test.

The new version features the following changes:

1. Terminal: Implemented the new algorithm of forming the Exposure tab for an exchange market. Now, the platform adapts the display of assets depending on the risk management system applied to a trading account: Retail Forex, CFD, Futures or Exchange model.
   
   The Assets section is helpful for those trading Forex or futures at an exchange showing their current status on the market. Same currencies can be found in a variety of different symbols: as one of the currencies in a pair, as a base currency, etc. For example, you may have oppositely directed positions on GBPUSD, USDJPY and GBPJY. In this situation, it is very difficult to understand how much currency you have and how much you need. Having more than three positions further complicates the task. In this case, the total account status can be easily seen in the Assets tab.
   Let's use the same three positions as an example:
   
   Buy GBPJPY 1 lot at 134.027 — received 100 000 GBP, given 134 027 000 JPY
   Sell USDJPY 1 lot at 102.320 — given 100 000 USD, received 102 320 000 JPY
   Sell GBPUSD 1 lot at 1.30923 — given 100 000 GBP, received 103 920 USD
   
   We have bought and sold 100 000 GPB simultaneously. We have 0 GBP, and the Assets tab does not display this currency. As of USD, we gave a currency in one case and received it in another. The Assets tab calculates the final outcome and adds it to the current balance since the deposit currency is USD as well. JPY participated in two deals meaning that the tab displays its total value.
   

   
   
   

   
   Those using the exchange model can use the section to understand how their money is used. Unlike the previous model, the funds are withdrawn/added right when deals are performed. For example, if you buy EURRUB, you receive EUR at once while the appropriate sum in RUB is withdrawn from the balance. During trading, the account balance may even become negative: when you use borrowed money while purchased assets are used as the collateral. In this case, the Assets tab allows you to easily understand the trading account status.
   
   Additionally, you can see the liquidation value here — amount of funds on the account and the price (result) of closing all current positions at the market price.

   
   
   
   

   
   
2. Terminal: Fixed deal type display in the history of trading operations.
3. Terminal: Fixed repeated risk notification window display when re-connecting to a trading account.
4. Terminal: Optimized and fixed working with the trading symbol selection dialog in case of a large number of symbols (several thousands and more).
   
5. MQL5: Optimized and accelerated compilation of MQL5 applications.
6. MQL5: Added support for 'final' and 'override' modifiers for classes, structures and functions.
   
   'final' modifier for classes and structures
   The presence of the 'final' modifier when declaring a structure or a class prohibits the further inheritance from it. If there is no need to make any further changes in the class (structure) or such changes are unacceptable for security reasons, declare that class (structure) with the 'final' modifier. In this case, all class methods are also implicitly considered 'final'.
   

   class CFoo final
     {
     //--- class body
     };
    
   class CBar : public CFoo
     {
     //--- class body
     };

   When attempting to inherit from a class with the 'final' modifier as shown above, the compiler displays an error:
   cannot inherit from 'CFoo' as it has been declared as 'final'
   see declaration of 'CFoo'
   
   
   'override' modifier for functions
   The 'override' modifier means that a declared function should always override the parent class method. Using the modifiers allows you to avoid errors when overriding, such as accidental change of a method signature. For example, the 'func' method accepting the 'int' type variable is defined in the base class:
   

   class CFoo
     {
      void virtual func(int x) const { }
     };

   The method is overridden in the inherited class:
   

   class CBar : public CFoo
     {
      void func(short x) { }
     };

   But the argument type is mistakenly changed from 'int' to 'short'. In fact, the method overload instead of overriding is performed in that case. While acting according to the overloaded function definition algorithm, the compiler may in some cases select a method defined in the base class instead of an overridden one.
   
   In order to avoid such errors, the 'override' modifier should be explicitly added to the overridden method.
   

   class CBar : public CFoo
     {
      void func(short x) override { }
     };

   If the method signature is changed during the overriding process, the compiler cannot find the method with the same signature in the parent class issuing the compilation error:
   'CBar::func' method is declared with 'override' specifier but does not override any base class method
   
   
   'final' modifier for functions
   The 'final' modifier acts in the opposite way — it disables method overriding in derived classes. If the method implementation is self-sufficient and fully completed, declare it with the 'final' modifier to ensure it is not changed later.
   

   class CFoo
     {
      void virtual func(int x) final { }
     };
    
   class CBar : public CFoo
     {
      void func(int) { }
     };
    

   When attempting to override a method with the 'final' modifier as shown above, the compiler displays an error:
   'CFoo::func' method declared as 'final' cannot be overridden by 'CBar::func'
   see declaration of 'CFoo::func'
   
7. MQL5: Fixed compiling template functions with default parameters.
8. Market: Fixed a few errors in sorting Market products.
   
9. Tester: Fixed updating the current market prices for open orders and positions in the visual testing mode.
   
10. Tester: Removed slippage during Buy Limit and Sell Limit order execution when testing using exchange symbols.
    
11. Tester: Fixed occasional generation of incorrect prices in "Open prices" testing mode.
    
12. MetaEditor: Fixed displaying the data profiling in source code files.
    
13. Updated documentation.
    

The update will be available through the LiveUpdate system.

[Sergey Golubev]

Forum on trading, automated trading systems and testing trading strategies

The leading MTF for FX LMAX Exchange becomes liquidity provider for MetaTrader 5

Bulat Latypov, 2016.09.12 12:12

MetaQuotes Software Corp. is happy to announce the integration gateway to LMAX Exchange, the multilateral trading facility (MTF) for trading FX, precious metals and indices. The MetaTrader 5 Gateway to LMAX Exchange will enable brokers, funds and professional traders to access streaming limit order liquidity, transparent price discovery and exchange quality execution. The 'no last look' feature applied by LMAX Exchange means that orders are neither rejected nor re-quoted before execution.

With increasing demand among brokers and institutional traders for neutral, conflict free and transparent execution, the new gateway to LMAX Exchange ensures that MetaTrader 5 delivers its clients ‘best of breed’ market infrastructure, liquidity, execution and real time streaming market data. Currently, LMAX Exchange offers more than 70 currency pairs and the most popular indices and commodities CFDs.

Scott Moffat, LMAX Exchange

Scott Moffat, COO of LMAX Exchange, commented: ‘I am very proud of the ongoing working relationship with MetaQuotes and the value it brings to our retail broker clients by delivering leading edge technology and global market access. The MetaTrader 5 gateway to LMAX Exchange is a testament of our joint innovation and commitment to delivering best execution’.