RunwiseFX EA

Rule Writing Guide

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................ 1
1.1 Document Conventions ............................................................................ 1
2 CONFIGURATION FILE .................................................................................... 2
2.1 Configuration File Format......................................................................... 2
3 CAPTURING INDICATORS & CHART OBJECTS ............................................ 4
3.1 Capturing Indicators with Weighting Box Set ......................................... 4
3.2 Capturing Indicators with Weighting Box Blank ..................................... 5
3.3 Direct Capturing of Chart Objects............................................................ 6
4 GUI CONTROLS................................................................................................ 9
4.1.1 Label .................................................................................................... 9
4.1.2 Tick Box ............................................................................................... 9
4.1.3 Text Box............................................................................................... 9
4.1.4 List Box .............................................................................................. 10
4.1.5 Button ................................................................................................ 10
5 SPECIFYING RULES ...................................................................................... 11
5.1 Operands ................................................................................................. 14
5.1.1 Account/System (a.*) ......................................................................... 14
5.1.2 Indicator Values (i.*) ........................................................................... 16
5.1.3 Functions (f.*)..................................................................................... 16
5.1.4 Trade (t.*) ........................................................................................... 20
5.2 Commands .............................................................................................. 21
5.3 Expressions {….} .................................................................................... 26
6 CONTACTS ..................................................................................................... 27
1 INTRODUCTION
This document covers how write/amend trading rules for our EA that goes beyond
what is supplied by default and in our library: https://www.runwisefx.com/library/
Our ‘factory’ supplied built-in rules will trade when configured indicators are in
agreement and exit if go opposite. So, only if you need to go beyond this and cant’
find what you need in our library then you will need this document.

Please note, the general user guide is available at:

http://www.runwisefx.com/runwiseFX_CSA_User_Guide.pdf
In this document we will assume you have read that.

1.1 Document Conventions

The following icons are used to throughout the document:

Take note – try to remember

Very import to take note of and remember - could cause undesirable

results if ignored

Top tip – shortcut or other useful information that can make the system
easier to use

Advanced feature/subject – can skip over when you are first learning
how to use the system

Technical ‘behind the scenes’ detail that you don’t strictly need to know
but maybe interested in

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2 CONFIGURATION FILE
The configuration file is an ordinary, human readable and editable text file (txt) that
contains the indicators to capture, gui controls and associated trade rules for the EA
to follow. When you use our EA’s CONFIG button pop-ups the changes made get
saved to this file.

We recommend using our CONFIG button pop-ups as much as

possible to edit the configuration file, e.g. adding indicators via
CONFIG | Indicator Values to Capture. However, when it comes to
amending/adding trades rules or GUI panel controls then that will
currently involve editing the configuration file. Note, we do have plans
to expand our Windows application to allow the configuration file to
edited via that.

The default name for the configuration the file is

runwiseFX_CSA_Supplied_Rules.txt but different file names can be used by
setting EA input Main_configFileName input. The file is located in the MQL4\files
folder of your MetaTrader data folder (or MQL5\files on MetaTrader 5).

The file can be edited in a text editor, such as Notepad. The EA will auto re-read the
file if it detects a change in the file date/time. Note, if any errors are detected by the
EA then it will alerted with the line number in the file of where the problem is. If you
wish to try the configuration in MetaTrader’s Strategy Tester then recommend using
the ‘Copy Config to Strategy Tester’ button in the CONFIG button pop-up.

2.1 Configuration File Format

The configuration file is divided into sections, where a section begins with […..]
followed by lines that relate to that section. For example, the section to configure the
capture of a simple moving average would appear as follows:

[indi.sma]
indicatorName=F:MovingAverage
inputProperties=200,0,sma,close
colorIndex=
captureMode=0
shift=1
period=0
priority=2
nullValue=AUTO
minBars=
holdBars=
min=
max=
midPoint=
weighting=1
digits=AUTO

You will find the following sections in the configuration file:

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[config] Configuration items that broadly match the EAs
inputs and are used to set thins like SL, TP, risk etc.
Note, best to configure via CONFIG button on EA
panel.

[indi.<refID>] Indicator to be captured, where each indicator has a

separate section. Can be configured via CONFIG |
Indicator Values to Capture.

[gui.<type>.<refID>] GUI control shown at the bottom of the EA panel.

Again, each control has is a separate section.

[rule.<type>.<refID>] Trading rule. Again, each rule has its own section.

More details on these sections and how to configure them in is the rest of the
document.

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3 CAPTURING INDICATORS & CHART
OBJECTS
The first aspect of automating a strategy is to capture the required indicator values.
These can be from custom indicators installed on your MetaTrader, or built in
MetaTrader functions for standard indicators, such as moving averages, stochastic,
CCI, RSI, etc. It is also possible to capture values from objects that indicators place
on the chart, i.e. as listed in Charts | Objects pop-up on MetaTrader.

Normally, the indicators don’t need to be loaded on to the chart in order for the
values to be captured. The exception is where capturing objects that indicators place
on the chart. In this case, those indicators that create the objects will need to be
present on the chart.

There are two ways of capturing indicators:

1) With Weighting box set which will cause the EA to derive the buy/sell indication
from the indicator and keep a running total of whether buy or sell is being signalled
for all the indicators configured with weighting set. Our trading rule supplied by
default can then trade based on this total outcome.

2) Where Weighting box is blank and the system just captures and records the raw
indicator value which will need to referenced later in a trading rule. This gives you the
maximum flexibility without the EA tyring to work out buy / sell itself. You can add a
trading rule based on the indicators to do exactly what you want.

Lets look at these two ways in more detail an explain the differences.

3.1 Capturing Indicators with Weighting Box Set

This is the default way of capturing indicators. Here the Weighting box is set 1 and
the system will capture the indicator value and keep a running total. This running total
is then referenced in the trading rules supplied by default which will trade buy if all
indicators are signalling buy and visa versa for sell.

For example here is how a moving average cross would be captured:

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That’s all you would need and our supplied entry rule would trade this based on the
corss of the moving average, plus any other indicators configured.

3.2 Capturing Indicators with Weighting Box Blank

Here is how a moving average cross would be configured if not relying on the system
to derive the buy/sell indication. This approach gives maximum flexibility and we’ll
give an example of what we are taking about when we say that.

Firstly, would need to capture the fast moving average with a period of 8. Notice, the
Capture Mode box is Default Value which just captures the raw value from the
indicator, i.e. price from the moving average. Also, notice the Weighting box is blank.

Next we need to capture the slower moving average of period 24:

We would now need a trading rule to trade what has been captured. We explain this
more later in the document, but would look like this in the configuration file:

[rule.entry.movingAverageEntry]
,i.maFast,/>,i.maSlow,TRADE_OPEN

The i.* allow the capture indicator values to be referenced. The > means greater
than. Rules are evaluated for both buy and sell and the / before > means the > will be
auto inverted to a < when evaluating for a sell. Finally, the TRADE_OPEN is the
command which will signal trade open, subject to the Auto Mode configured in
CONFIG | General Settings, which will either alert, set up pending order or open
trade at market price, etc., on this trade signal.

Note, trade exit on opposite would need to configured separately. For example:

[rule.exit.movingAverageExit]
,i.maFast,/<,i.maSlow,TRADE_CLOSE

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Of course, the burning question is why go to all of this trouble, as we showed
something much simpler in 3.1. The answer is flexibility. Imagine you wanted not only
the fast moving average to have crossed the slow one, but also by 5 pips. This could
be achieved by adjusting the entry rule as follows:

[rule.entry.movingAverageEntry]
,f.pipDiffAuto({i.maFast};{i.maSlow}),>=,5,TRADE_OPEN

Here we are calling a function, which we explain later, that returns the number of pips
between two supplied prices. Those prices are coming from the captured indicators.
Note, we need { } around the indicator references in order to include them in function
parameters. We call the { } an expression and will explain later. Finally, the ‘Auto’ in
the function name means it will auto invert when being evaluated for a sell and do
slow – fast, so the >= 5 is still valid.

Finally, for completeness, there is a high chance you wouldn’t want the 5 hard coded
in the configuration file, but would want it on the panel, so could easily adjust. Here is
how you would configure that. Again, this explained more in the later sections:

[gui.textBox.minPips]
caption=Min Pips:
defualtValue=5

[rule.entry.movingAverageEntry]
,f.pipDiffAuto({i.maFast};{i.maSlow}),>=,g.minPips,TRADE_OPEN

Here we have added a text box GUI control to the bottom of the EA’s panel, with a
default value of 5. We have then adjusted the entry rule to reference the value from
this text box rather than hard coding the 5.

3.3 Direct Capturing of Chart Objects

Some indicators actually place objects on the chart rather than using color indexes.
Note, only the indicatorNameOnMetaTrader, inputProperties and digits
are used for the capture. These objects can captured as follows:

[indi.example]
indicatorNameOnMetaTrader= OBJ:<objectName>
colorIndex=-1
period=0
shift=0
inputProperties=<objectProperty>
interpretationMethod=A
interpretationParameters=
digits=AUTO
nullValue=AUTO

<objectName> is the object name as appears in Charts | Objects pop-up on

MetaTrader.

<objectProperty> is property of the object to capture and can be one of the following:

a = arrow code

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an = arrow code that is nearest to supplied shift value. Will search back through
chart. Note, <objectName> only needs to contain part of the expected object name.

ad = arrow distance. Will search back through chart and return number of bars to
supplied arrow object name. Can set shift to offset where to start search back from.
Note, <objectName> only needs to contain part of the expected object name. Note,
the distance is always measured from shift 0, i.e. 1 will be returned if arrow on closed
candle even if supplied shift offset 1. So, shift 1 would just mean live candle is
ignored when searching back, but doesn’t offset returned value.

rd = rectangle distance. Will search back through chart and return number of bars to
supplied rectangle object name. Can set shift to offset where to start search back
from. Note, <objectName> only needs to contain part of the expected object name.
Note, the distance is always measured from shift 0, i.e. 1 will be returned if arrow on
closed candle even if supplied shift offset 1. So, shift 1 would just mean live candle is
ignored when searching back, but doesn’t offset returned value. Can also set
inputProprties to color and 2 meaning search for most recent price 2 (as rectangle is
made up of two prices defining left and right edge), e.g. rd,clrGreen,2
This will return distance of rectangle that is colored green that is the most recent
based on price 2 (most often right edge).

p = price 1

t = time 1 as number of seconds since 1st Jan 1970 (EPOC)

bgc = background color, in the format of R,G,B where each color is 0-255, e.g.
0,255,0

bgc2 = as background color but will attempt to convert to color constant, such
clrOrange. For full list see:
https://www.mql5.com/en/docs/constants/objectconstants/webcolors

c = color, in the format of R,G,B where each color is 0-255, e.g. 0,255,0

c2 = as color but will attempt to convert to color constant

s = style

d = text/description

dn = as d but will only return number in object text/description, i.e. removes non-
numeric characters

dt = as d but will apply a text trim which removes spaces before and after text

dtf = as dt but not necessary to supply exact <objectName> can be just part of it

t2 = time 2

t3 = time 3

p2 = price 2

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p3 = price 3

Note, period is of no use as only objects that are shown on the current chart, i.e.
current period, can be captured.

Sometimes object names that indicators place on charts can include the current chart
symbol in that name. You can cater for this by using the expression {t.symbol} in the
object name. The following example will successfully capture the text of an object
that is named ‘dfsrEURUSD57’, where EURUSD is the current chart symbol:

[indi.dfsr]
indicatorNameOnMetaTrader=OBJ:dfsr{t.symbol}57
colorIndex=-1
period=0
shift=0
inputProperties=dt
interpretationMethod=A
interpretationParameters=
digits=0
nullValue=AUTO

interpretationParameters can be used to only return latter characters of

text obtained from object. Use code ‘o’ to do offset, e.g. to ignore first
character then set =o1
Note, the o is the letter o not number zero

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4 GUI CONTROLS
The configuration can contain additional GUI items that appear in Rule Controls
shown at the bottom of the EA’s panel, i.e. labels, tick boxes, text boxes, list boxes
and buttons. The rules can than refer to these GUI items and us the value they are
set to, e.g. g.TDIExit would return 1 if TDIexit tick box is ticked, else 0 if not. The
labels can be used by the rules to show information on the panel. Further, rules can
triggered on the click of the GUI item, e.g. button press, these are called GUI rules
and provide a script like behaviour, e.g. close all trades.

The different types of GUI items are configured as follows:

4.1.1 Label
[gui.label.<labelName>]
defaultValue=<value to appear on the label>
color=<color of label>

The <labelName> is name that can used in the rules to refer to the GUI item and
should be unique and meaningful, e.g. totalProfit. The defaultValue is what the label
text should be initially, but can be changed by the rules. color is the initial color of the
label, bus also can be changed by the rules. If left blank then the default will be color
used.

4.1.2 Tick Box

[gui.tickBox.<tickBoxName>]
caption=<text to appear next to the tick box>
defaultValue=<1 for the box to ticked by default, else 0 >

The <tickBoxName> is name that can used in the rules to refer to the GUI item and
should be unique and meaningful, e.g. trendExitOn. Example:

[gui.tickBox.trendExitOn]
caption=Trend Exit
defaultValue=0

Creates a tick box with the caption ‘Trend Exit’, which is not ticked by default. The
tick box can be referred to in the rules by g.trendExitOn and will have the value 1 if
ticked else 0 if not ticked.

4.1.3 Text Box

[gui.textBox.<textBoxName>]
caption=<text to appear next to the text box>
defaultValue=<default text to place in the text box>

The <textBoxName> is name that can used in the rules to refer to the GUI item and
should be unique and meaningful, e.g. pipTarget. Example:

[gui.textBox.pipTarget]
caption=Pips Target
defaultValue=40

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Creates a text box with the caption ‘Pips Target’ with the default value of 50. The text
box can be referred to in the rules by g.pipTarget and will have the value of the text
contained in the box.

4.1.4 List Box

[gui.listBox.<listBoxName>]
caption=<text to appear next to the text box>
defaultValue=<default text to place in the text box>
selList=<comma separated list of items in list>

The <listBoxName> is name that can used in the rules to refer to the GUI item and
should be unique and meaningful, e.g. pipTarget. Example:

[gui.listBox.timeframe]
caption=Timeframe:
defaultValue=M1
selList=M1,M5,M15

4.1.5 Button
[gui.button.<buttonName>]
defaultValue=<text to appear on the button>
direction=buy|sell

The <buttonName> is name that can used in the rules to refer to button and should
be unique and meaningful, e.g. closeInProfitTrades. Example:

[gui.button.closeInProfitTrades]
defaultValue=Close In Profit Trades

Creates button with the text ‘Close In Profit Trades’.

Note, to add a rule that is executed when the button is pressed, the button name
should be used in the rule header, for example:

[rule.gui.closeInProfitTrades]
,t.profit,>,0,FORCE_CLOSE

The direction is optional and if set will only execute the configure rule for that
direction. This allows you to have a but for doing something related to a sell and
another button for buy.

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5 SPECIFYING RULES
Rule are specified by the [rule.*] section header followed by a series of lines (called
logic lines). Each of the lines has several comma separated fields. The format is:

[rule.<ruleType>.ruleName]
<flags>,<operand1>,<operator>,<operand2>,<commands>,<failComment>
<flags>,<operand1>,<operator>,<operand2>,<commands>,<failComment>
<flags>,<operand1>,<operator>,<operand2>,<commands>,<failComment>
...

For example, an entry rule for the popular TDI indicator (Traders Dynamic Index)
might be:

[rule.entry.TDIentry]
N,i.tdiGreen,/>,50,AND,”green not crossed 50”
N,i.tdiRed,/>,i.tdiYellow,TRADE_OPEN,”red not crossed yellow”

This will open a trade on the open of a new bar (signified by the flag N) when the TDI
green line has crossed 50 and the TDI red line has crossed the TDI yellow line. Note,
the ‘/’ next to the greater than sign ‘>’, is used to indicate that the ‘>’ should be flipped
to a ‘<’ when evaluating the rule for a sell. The optional fail comment is used to report
status back to the user (you) in the status text, i.e. whether it is the green or red line
that is being waited for.

Full list of possible <ruleType> are as follows:

entry Entry rules. Note, will be evaluated even when trade is open in case
what to scale-in (add to position). You can use t.tradeOpen operand to
know if trade is already open or not. The entry rules are evaluated on
every tick from the market, i.e. will not be evaluated if market is closed.

exit Exit rules. Only evaluated when trade is open in that direction and a
tick has come in from the market.

gui Evaluated when GUI item in Rule Controls is pressed/clicked, including

list box selection. Or edit completed in a text box.

initGui Evaluated when GUI is create or re-created, e.g. after configuration

change, just prior to actually creation of GUI objects that make up the
panel. Can be used to (say) create horizontal lines, or other objects, on
the chart that other can rules use that will appear behind the panel.

keypress Evaluated on keyboard key press. Can be used to take action when a
certain key is pressed. Use t.keyPressCode operand in order to know
which key has been pressed. Note, you’ll need the $ flag when
evaluating lines containing text, see later.

postInitGui Evaluated after GUI has been created/re-created. Can be used to

initialise items after such an event. Note, any objects created here
could appear on top of the EA’s panel.

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timer Evaluated on regular basis on timer ticks, even when the market is
closed. The frequency in milliseconds will be determined by EA inputs
Main_timerFrequencyMS*Main_timerRuleExecCount

event Event as triggered by SEND_EVENT command. Can be used to

trigger rule execution in other instances of the EA, i.e. other charts. An
example of this is rule s-aam in the library, which allows the EA’s auto
entry mode to be changed on multiple charts at the same time, e.g. to
change auto mode to just alert.

Here is an example exit rule, again using the TDI indicator:

[rule.exit.TDIexit]
,i.tdiGreen,/<,50,TRADE_CLOSE,”green okay”

This will close the trade when the TDI green crosses back over 50. This the rule
doesn’t just operate on the open of new bar, but is evaluated on every tick. The
optional fail comment will write on the status “green okay” if rule is active but green
not yet crossed 50.

GUI rules and entry rules are evaluated in both directions (sell and
buy). Hence, any TRADE_OPEN commands will open a trade in the
direction that is being evaluated and for which the rules match.

The <flags> can be empty or one of N,B,S,$,%. N means evaluate line on a newly
opened bar (candle). B means evaluate line when evaluating for buy, otherwise
ignore the line. S means evaluate the line when evaluating for a sell, otherwise
ignore the line. $ means evaluate as a string (text). % means evaluate as an integer
(whole number), i.e. any floating point numbers will be rounded up.

The <operator> can be one of =,<>,<,>,>=,<=,contains,notcontain. The contains

operator will look of operand 1 inside of another operand 2 and match if is there. The
notcontain will match if the operand cannot be found inside operand 2. As
mentioned in the examples, a ‘/’ can precede the operator that will invert the operator
when evaluating for a sell. This can avoid the need for separate lines with B and S
flags.

A variety of operands can be used. Please contact us with your requirements.

A variety of commands are available, see 5.1. <command> can also be AND which
means the following line(s) must match also, or OR which means either this line or
the next one or one after if OR is still specified. Multiple commands can be specified
separated by ‘|’ (vertical bar). If a command is preceded by a ‘!’ then the command is
only executed if the expression does not match.

The <failComment> is optional and is displayed in the status lines on the control
panel if rule fails to match on the line. It can be used to know why the rule is not
performing the action associated with it. Note, if the comment contains a comma then

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don’t forget to include double quotes around the text, or you may just wish to enclose
double quotes around the fail comment for clarity.

Rules can have multiple lines that end in a command(s). However, the
END_EVAL command can be used to stop the evaluation of the
particular rule, regardless of what follows.

If any fields on rule logic line contain a ‘,’ (comma) then place double
quotes around the field so that the parser doesn’t get confused, as
commas are also used to delimitate fields.

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5.1 Operands
Operands are things such as indicator values (i.*), GUI control values on the panel
(g.*) and items relating to the account/system (a.*) or a particular trade (t.*). There is
also a variety of use functions, e.g. add pips to price, maths - these are denoted by
(f.*). Finally and more advanced, there are variables local to rule (l.*) and (v.*) that
are remembered.

When specifying operands in a logic line they can just be a value too.

The various types of operands are described in this section, including example
usage.

5.1.1 Account/System (a.*)

These relate to the account or to the system/broker in general, e.g. current account
equity, or current day of week, etc. Possible values are:

a.acctLev Account leverage

a.acctNum Account number

a.balance Current account’s balance

a.currency Text label to describe the currency that the account is in. Can
used visually or in alerts to display amounts nicely.

a.equity Current account’s equity. Example, close all trades on

account if equity of account reaches 2500:
,a.equity,>=,2500,CLOSE_MULTI

a.filtersNum Number of filters that are configured, i.e. number of rules of

entry type that have FILTER_ENTRY command in them.

a.gmtDay Day of month in GMT timezone, possible values are 1-31

a.gmtDOW Day of week in GMT timezone, where 0 = Sunday, 1 =

Monday etc. Example, only open trade if not a Monday:
,a.gmtDOW,<>,1,TRADE_OPEN

a.gmtMin Minutes of GMT time

a.gmtHr Hours of GMT time

a.gmtOffset Returns the current difference between GMT time and the
local computer time in seconds, taking into account switch to
winter or summer time. Depends on the time settings of your
computer.

a.gmtSec Seconds of GMT time

a.gmtYear Year of GMT time

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a.guiOn Will return 1 if running in Strategy Test is visual mode

a.inHours Will return 1 if current in configured trading hourse, else 0

a.isBuilder Will return 1 if running our stats

a.isNotTesting Will return 1 if not running in Strategy Tester, else 0

a.isTesting Will return 1 if running in Strategy Tester, else 0

a.leverage Account leverage. DEPRECIATED – please use a.acctLev

instead

a.localDay Day of month in local (computer) timezone, possible values

are 1-31

a.localDOW Day of week in local timezone, where 0 = Sunday, 1 =

Monday etc.

a.localMin Minutes of local time

a.localHr Hours of local time

a.localSec Seconds of local time

a.localYear Year of local time

a.londonhr House in London/UK timezone

a. mt4 Returns 1 if running a MetaTrader 4 system, or will return 0 if

using MetaTrader 5.

a.numTickets Current number of tickets opened on account

a.serverDay Day of month in server (computer) timezone, possible values

are 1-31

a.serverDOW Day of week in server timezone, where 0 = Sunday, 1 =

Monday etc.

a.serverMin Minutes of server time

a.serverHr Hours of server time

a.serverSec Seconds of server time

a.serverYear Year of server time

a.tb Numbers of bars under test for our stats. Will vary depending
on what ‘how far back’ is set in CONFIG | Stats /
Optimization. Useful for indicator inputs to tell indicator how
many bars (candles) to calculate over.

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a.timestamp Timestamp from server, as seconds from 1st Jan 1970 EPOC

5.1.2 GUI Control Values (g.*)

Allows you to access the current values for GUI Controls shown towards to the
bottom of the panel, i.e. from [gui.*.*] sections. For tick boxes, 1 is returned if ticked
or 0 if not ticked. Note, if a GUI Control is not visible, i.e. set as hidden, then will
return default value, unless value has been set via GUI_SET_* command, in which
case would return that.

5.1.3 Indicator Values (i.*)

This will access captured indicator values. Should be in format of i.<indicatorRef>

Example, open trade if TDI green value crosses 50, where TDI is green is being
captured and stored in ref TDIgrn:
,i.TDIgrn,/>,50,TRADE_OPEN
Note, the / will invert if evaluating for a sell, i.e. > automatically becomes a <

Note, if the Weighting box is not blank then the system to derive the buy/sell
indication from the indicator and return 100 for buy and -100 for sell. If you wish to
access the raw indicator value with Weighting box set then use a ~ before the
reference ID, e.g. i.~ma

5.1.4 Functions (f.*)

Functions are special in that they take parameters, which are specified in brackets
after the function name and if more than one parameter then separated by a semi
colon ;. Note, some parameters are optional and can be omitted to use default value,
as described below.

Some functions contain the word ‘auto’ in their name. That means they will be auto
inverted when being evaluated for a sell. A good example of this is
f.pipsDiffAuto(<price1>;<price2>), which will return pips difference of price1-price2
when evaluating for a buy and give price2-price1 for sell. You should find that this will
make writing rules easier without having a specify separate lines for buy and for sell.

Many functions have a ‘period’ parameter which refers to chart period. Can be 0 for
current or something like M15. Another common parameter is ‘shift’, which refers to
candle shift where 0 is live candle and 1 is candle just closed and 2 is candle before
that and so on.

A few other common parameters:

objName parameter can just be object name but if starts with * then will add
rwfx_<appID>_uo_ which allows object to identified as from RunwiseFX and auto
deleted if EA removed from chart.

objProperty parameter COLOR, PRICE, TIME1, PRICE1, TIME2, PRICE2, TEXT,

LEVELVALUE, ANGLE, ARROWCODE, BGCOLOR. More guidance in this link:
https://docs.mql4.com/constants/objectconstants/enum_object_property

Provided functions are as follows:

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f.anyGUIopen( Used in multi-trade mode and return 1 if any trade index is
name;value) open and has GUI item of specified name with a value
equal to the specified value.

f.arPips(val) Will normally just return supplied val. However, if %

supplied with val then will return pips that represents that
percentage of the currently daily range for the symbol the
EA is trading on. For example, f.arPips(15) will just return
15. However f.arPips(15%) will return 15% of the daily
range, which if say is a 120 pips will return 18.

f.char(ANSIcode) Return character that represents supplied ANSI code. For

example, f.char(65) will return A. For codes see:
http://www.alanwood.net/demos/ansi.html

f.candleAvg( Will examine chart and return the average number of pips
numCandles; between high and low of specified number candles, given
period; by numCandles. Optionally, candle period and shift can be
shift) supplied for the operation. Note, if shift is not specified
then will use 1.

f.iBodyAuto(period;shift) Returns body high price if evaluating as buy and body lo

price if evaluating as sell

f.iBodyHigh(period;shift) Returns high price of candle body (not wick)

f.iBodyLow(period;shift) Returns low price of candle body (not wick)

f.bodySize(period;shift) Returns size of candle body (excluding wicks) in pips

f.candleAvg(period;shift; Returns candle size/range, i.e. high – low, in pips. Can

count) supply count which if greater than 1 will return average
size for required number of bars/candles. If count is not
supplied then will use 1, which will just be size of candle
given by period and shift.

f.isPriceInRect(price; Search chart for rectangle objects that are shown at

shift; nameContains; supplied candle shift that contain supplied price. Can
color) optionally check object name and color. Useful to see if
price in a rectangle that depicts support/resistance.
price – price to check
shift – shift rectange needs to stretch into, where shift 0 is
live (most recent) candle
nameContains – if supplied then rectangle object name
must include this
color – if supplied then rectangle must be this color (can
use color constants or 0x for hex or simply integer).
Returns 1 if rectangle found that contains price, else 0.

f.iClose(period;shift) Returns candle close price

f.iHigh(period;shift) Returns candle high price

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f.iLow(period;shift) Returns candle low price

f.iOpen(period;shift) Returns candle open price

f.iTime(period;shift) Returns candle time in seconds since EPOC

f.iVol(period;shift) Returns candle volume

f.iLowset(period;shift; Returns shift of highest candle high price. Will check back
count) number of candles given by count. If count is omitted then
will return highest price in the chart.

f.iHighest(period;shift; Returns shift of lowest candle low price. Will check back
count) number of candles given by count. If count is omitted then
will return highest price in the chart.

f.iHighestClose( Returns highest candle close price. Will check back

period;shift;count) number of candles given by count. If count is omitted then
will return highest price in the chart.

f.iLowestClose( Returns lowest candle close price. Will check back number
period;shift; of candles given by count. If count is omitted then will
count) return highest price in the chart.

f.iHighestPrice( Returns highest candle high price. Will check back number
period;shift;count) of candles given by count. If count is omitted then will
return highest price in the chart.

f.iLowestPrice( Returns lowest candle low price. Will check back number
period;shift;count) of candles given by count. If count is omitted then will
return highest price in the chart.

f.pipDiffAuto(price1; Returns number of pips of price1-price2, if evaluating for

price2) buy and price2-price1 if evaluating for sell

f.mathAdd(val1;var2) Returns val1 + val2

f.mathAddInt(val1;var2) As f.mathAdd but assumes integers supplied

f.mathDiv(val1;var2) Returns val1 / val2

f.mathMulti(val1;var2) Returns val1 * val2

f.mathSub(val1;var2) Returns val1 – val2

f.mathSubInt(val1;var2) As f.mathSub but assumes integers supplied

f.objCol(objName) Will return color of specified object. Will return using

https://docs.mql4.com/convert/colortostring with show
color name set, i.e. will try to return clrRed etc., if not
returns R,G,B form.

f.objLatest(objType; Returns latest, i.e. most recent, object details. Useful for

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propertyToRet; indicators that draw many objects on the chart but
propertyModifier; interested in the most recent. Minimum number of
nameContains; parameters that need to be supplied is 2, i.e. objType and
minTime; maxTime; propertToRet. objType is one of VLINE, HLINE, TREND,
descriptionContains) TEXT, LABEL, FIBO, RECTANGE, RECTANGE_LABEL,
TRIANGLE, ARROW, ARROW_UP, ARROW_DOWN,
ARROW_THUMB_UP, ARROW_THUMB_DOWN,
ARROW_BUY, ARROW_SELL, ARROW_LEFT_PRICE,
ARROW_RIGHT_PRICE. propertyToRet is object property
to return, i.e. one of COLOR, PRICE, TIME1, PRICE1,
TIME2, PRICE2, TEXT, LEVELVALUE, ANGLE,
ARROWCODE, BGCOLOR. propertyModifier is used for
things like Fibo object, where it’s the level to return.
nameContains is part of what the object name needs to
contain. minTime is earliest timestamp to consider when
searching. maxTime is latest timestamp to consider.
descriptionContains can be set to something that needs to
be present in the object’s description.

f.objText(objName;flag) Returns object text (description) for specified object. If flag

is set to FIND then can specify just part object name and
will search chart for a match.

f.objValue(objName; Returns numerical object value for supplied property.

objProperty;digits) Optional digits parameter is number of digits to format
floating point value with.

f.periodIdxToMins( Converts supplied period index (see f.periodIdx) to number

periodIdx) of minutes

f.periodIdx(period) Converts supplied period literal into an index, numbered 0

upwards. Note, if period not supplied then returns index of
current chart period.

f.periodOffset(period; Will offset supplied period by supplied offset. For example,

offset) if M15;2 supplied then will return H1. Note, offset is based
on standard timeframes, e.g. will miss out MT5
M6,M12,M20, etc.

f.priceAddPipsAuto( Returns supplied price adjust by supplied pips, which will

price;pips) be added if evaluating as a buy and subtracted if sell

f.priceAddPips ( Returns supplied price with supplied pips added

price;pips)

f.priceSubPipsAuto( Returns supplied price adjust by supplied pips, which will

price;pips) be subtracted if evaluating as a buy and added if sell

f.priceSubPips ( Returns supplied price with supplied pips subtracted

price;pips)

f.timeToNews(impacts) Number of seconds before next news items relevant to the

chart symbol. If impacts not supplied the will use EA input

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 News_impactsForRules to consider which impacts to
consider, else can be one or more of H M L.

f. timeSinceNews( As f.timeToNews except returns number seconds since

impacts) such news.

f.tpExit(level) Returns if take profit exit is enabled for supplied take profit
level, numbered 1 upwards. Will be 1 if enabled, else 0 if
not.

f.tpExitPrct(level) Returns take profit exit percentage for supplied level

f.tpPrice(level) Returns the price that the supplied take profit level is set
to. Can return 0 if not set.

f.tpTaken(level) Returns 1 if take profit level has been taken, i.e. already
reached. 0 if not.

f.wickTop(period;shift) Returns size of upper/top wick in pips

f.wickBottom(period; Returns size of lower/bottom wick in pips

shift)

5.1.5 Local Variable Value (l.*)

Returns value of local variables that have been set via the SET_LOCAL command.
Local variables are in scope during the sell and the buy evaluation of a rule.

5.1.6 Trade (t.*)

These relate to the trade, either open trade or trade potentially to be opened.
Includes items related to market, e.g. ask and bid pricess Possible values are:

t.alertPrice Price at which trade was signalled. Will be -1 if reset

happened but not yet had signal. Will be 0 if reset not
happened or trade voided.

t.ask Current ask price

t.bid Current bid price

t.buySell Returns ‘buy’ of buy trade or being evaluated for buy and
otherwise, ‘sell’

t.durationBars How long trade has been opened for. If 0 the still in candle
where trade was opened.

t.durationSecs How long trade has been opened in seconds

t.eventStr String sent by SEND_EVENT command

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t.peakPips Peak pips profit trade has reached whilst been open

t.peakProfit Peak profit amount trade has reached whilst been open

t.peakRR Peak risk reward reached whilst trade has been open

t.profit Trade profit amount, if trade open

t.profitPips Trade profit in pips, if trade open

t.spread Current spread in pips

t.tradeOpen Returns 1 if trade open, else 0 if not open

5.2 Variable Value (v.*)

Returns value of MetaTrader’s global variable variables. Or if name starts with ‘#’
then variable stored in the EA’s memory – offering faster access as numeric number
follows that # for easy access. Can use SET_VAR() command set variables. These
variables are remember whilst EA is running and MetaTrader’s global variables can
even read after MetaTrader is restarted.

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5.3 Commands
The following commands can be used in rules and appear as the 4th field on the logic
line of a rule. Remember multiple commands can be separated by ‘|’ and if a
command is preceded by ‘!’ then it is only executed if the expression before it does
not match, rather than match.

Parameters can use single quotes for strings. Parameters can also reference
operands by enclosing them inside curly brackets {}. E.g.:
ALERT(‘TDI yellow is now {i.tdiYellow}’)
This would raise an alert and text would include the value of tdiYellow indicator.

COMMAND & DESCRIPTION

PARAMETERS

ALERT(<msg>) Will issue an alert with the text supplied in <msg>. Note, the alert will
be push notified / emailed if the EA has been configured to do this via
it’s inputs. You must have logic in the rule to prevent repeated alerts
that are not desired.

ALERT_LOCAL(<msg) Similar to alert. However, we only be shown in the alert pop-up and not
push notified or emailed, even if the EA has been configured to that.

AND Not strictly a command but is used to join logic lines together. AND
means the line and lines above must match the following lines (see OR
as well).

CLEAR_BREAKEVEN Will clear the breakeven tick box on the EA control panel for the
direction being evaluated (see SET_BREAKEVEN).

END_EVAL( Will stop the rule from being evaluated any further. An optional
<failComment>) <failComment> will be shown on the status on the EA control panel,
which is intended to indicate why the rule is not being evaluated any
further.

FORCE_CLOSE( Will close any open trade with the specified percentage of the trade to
<prct>) close. If <prct> is not specified then the entire trade will closed,
including any scale-in tickets. The command will execute as long as
the EA is not set to manual mode for the direction (see
TRADE_CLOSE that only has an effect if the EA is in alert/trade mode
for the direction).

GUI_SET_LABEL( Will set GUI control panel text label item with supplied text and optional
<name>;<text>; color and font size.
<color>;<size>)

GUI_SET_TEXTBOX( Will set contents of GUI text box

<name>;<value>)

MESSAGE_CONFIRM( Will pop-up a message dialog box showing the supplied <msg>. If the
<msg>) Cancel button is pressed then the rule will not be evaluated any
further. Useful for confirming actions, e.g. button press, with the user.

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 Must only be used in GUI rules, as these are only
executed on user click, i.e. when user is present. If
the dialog box is not answered then the EA will be
unable to process any further, including hidden stop loss,
etc.

OR Not strictly a command but is used to join logic lines together. OR

means the current line or other lines above or below that also have
OR, must match (see AND as well).

PLAY_SOUND( Will play wav file located in Sounds folder of Data Folder. If no
<wavFileName>) parameter is specified then any playing sound will be stopped.

PRINT(<msg>) Will print, i.e. write, supplied message to log.

SCALE_IN(<prct>) Will perform scale-in by either supplied <prct>, i.e. percentage of

original trade – what has already been scaled in. Or, if <prct> is not
specified then will scale-in based on corresponding setting on EA
control panel.

SCREENSHOT Will take screenshot of current chart that the EA is running on and
place in the File folder of the Data Folder. Screen shot files are name
rwfx_ss_* and can be controlled by Gen_screenShot* input
properties.

SEND_EVENT Will send text string to other instances of the EA, includig itself. This
can be picked up in a trade rule of type event and acted upon. The
string sent can be accessd by t.eventStr operand. See rule s-asbe in
the library as an example.

SEND_MAIL( Will email (if MetaTrader has been configured to do this) with the
<subject>;<msg>) supplied subject and message.

SET_HIDDEN_SL(<price>; Will set hidden stop loss price and optionally stop loss mode. Note,
<mode>) hidden SL price only updated if mode is RULE or if a mode is specified,
e.g. MAN

SET_HIDDEN_SL_MODE( Sets hidden stop loss mode

<mode>)

SET_HIDDEN_TP(<level>; Will set hidden take profit (switch from auto to manual) of supplied level
<price>) (number 1 upwards) and supplied price.

OBJ_CREATE( Will create chart object of specified name and type. If <name> starts
<name>;<type>) with ‘*’ then the runwiseFX application ID will be inserted that allows
the object to automatically deleted if the EA is removed from the chart.
Note, initially objects are created with a location so they cannot be
seen. TIP: Rule of type initGui can be used to create objects before the
EA control panel is created, so they appear behind the control panel.
<type> = object type OBJ_* with the OBJ_ omitted, e.g. HLINE will
create a horizontal line object. A full list of object types can be found at:
http://docs.mql4.com/constants/objectconstants/enum_object

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OBJ_SET(<name>; Will set object property to have supplied numerical value. The
<propertyIDValue>; <propertyIDValue> is the second column of the table show here:
<value>) http://docs.mql4.com/constants/objectconstants/enum_object_property.
Note, other OBJ_SET_* commands are available that make it easier to
set certain properties and are also required for text based properties.

OBJ_SET_COLOR( Will set object color and optionally style. <color> can be RGB comma
<name>;<color>; separated or one of web –color constants, e.g. clrMagenta, see:
<style>) http://docs.mql4.com/constants/objectconstants/webcolors.

Don’t forget if using commas in commands then will need

to enclose the entire command field, of the logic line, in
double quotes, as commas are also used to delimit each
of the fields in the logic line.

For <style> see http://book.mql4.com/appendix/styles for available

styles, e.g. 0 = solid, 1 = dashed, etc.

OBJ_SET_FONT( Will set object font size and font name. If either parameter is blank (or
<name>;<fontSize>; in the case <fontName> not supplied) then no change will be made to
<fontName>) that property.

OBJ_SET_POSITION( Will set position of the object on the chart with supplied X and Y co-
<name>;<x>;<y>; ordinates and corner settings. Corner can be one of LU (left upper), LL
<corner>) (left lower), RL (right lower), RU (right upper). Note, if any parameter is
blank then it will not be set, also <corner> may be omitted.

OBJ_ SET_PT( Will set object price and time. This can be used for objects that are
<name>; placed on the chart at a particular time and price. Note, <price2> and
<price1>;<time1>; <time2> are optional. <time1> can also be omitted just to set price, e.g.
<price2>;<time2>;…) for horizontal line. If <price1> is blank but <time1> is set then just
TIME1 will be set, e.g. for vertical lines.

OBJ_SET_TEXT( Will set the text property of the object with the supplied text and
<name>;<text>; optional color (see OBJ_SET_COLOR for more details about setting
<color>) object colors)

RESET_ALERT Will reset alert price so that alert/trade is possible when indicators line-
up. Otherwise, will need to get signal in opposite direction for reset.

PEND_CANCEL([“BOTH”]) Will clear pending order if set. If optional BOTH is supplied as a

parameter then will clear both buy and sell pending orders in a single
command.

SET_VAR(<name>; Will set a global variable of supplied name and value. Note, value has
<value>;<symbol>; to be a number. Optionally <symbol> can also be specified to set of a
<temp>) specific symbol, which if ‘*’ will cause the variable for all symbols to be
set. If <symbol> = ‘..’ then will replace with current symbol and period,
concatenated together. If the optional <temp> is set as TEMP then the
global variable will be marked as temporary, i.e. not preserved
between closedown/restart of MetaTrader.
Note, if name begins with # then variable stored within EA rather than
using MetaTrader’s global variables. Note, currently if # used then

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 rest of name needs to be a number 0-9.

SEND_NOTIF(<msg>) Will send push notification email (if MetaTrader has been configured to
do this) with the supplied message.

SET_BREAKEVEN Will set the breakeven tick box on the EA control panel for the direction
being evaluated. This command should only be issued when a trade is
open and in profit – if not in profit then would immediately exit the trade
(see CLEAR_BREAKEVEN).

SET_PEND(<price>; Set pending line for the direction being evaluated, including setting
<action>) type and mode. <action> as shown in Pend: pop-up, e.g. TT. Note, the
limit/stop type will be set depending on where the line is placed in
relation to the price. However, if the trade is open then the type will be
set to scale-in, provided the price is appropriate for a scale-ion, e.g. if
buy then price needs to be above current price. The <action> can be
omitted to leave as is.

SET_PEND_PRICE( Set the pending line price for the direction being evaluated. However,
<price>) the price will not be updated if it causes the pending line to jump over
current price, e.g. from Limit to Stop type, i.e. is only intended to
update the price not the type (Limit/Stop).

TRADE_CLOSE( Will close any open trade (or alert if alert mode is set) with the
<prct>) specified percentage of the trade to close, if the mode is set to trade. If
<prct> is not specified then the entire trade will closed, including any
scale-in tickets. See FORCE_CLOSE that will work regardless of mode
setting unless the mode is manual.

TRADE_OPEN( Will open a trade in the direction that is being evaluated using the
<riskAdjustPrct>; settings on the EA control panel, provided mode is set to trade. Will
<alertText>) alert if mode is set to alert. If a trade is already open then no action will
be taken. Note, if you want to open additional tickets then use the
SCALE_IN command. The optional <riskAdjust> can be used to adjust
the risk that has been specified on the EA control panel, e.g. if risk is
3% of account but this parameter is 10, i.e. 10%, then the risk used will
be 3.3%. Negative values can be used to reduce risk. This parameter
allows (for example) rules to adjust risk based the probability of the
trade being successful. The optional <alertText> will replace the
standard text used when the EA is in alert mode rather than trade
mode.

VOID_ALERT Sets the alert price 0, which means won’t open a trade even if
TRADE_OPEN command is run (will just show as ‘stale’). Will have to
wait to next time alert is reset. Generally, this is when the market is in
the opposite direction.

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5.4 Expressions {….}
It’s possible to use any operands or functions inside parameters or such things as
alert text. You just need to enclose in curly brackets. For example:

f.priceAddPips({t.bid};{g.pips}) - will return the current bid price with

value from GUI control to supply pips to add

Be careful if using nested parameters, where need to use single quotes so that will
be parsed correctly. For example,

OBJ_SET_PT(*confirmPrice;'{f.priceAddPipsAuto({g.breakPrice};7
)}') - will set confirmPrice chart object with value from GUI control breakPrice
offset by 7 pips

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6 CONTACTS
Runwise Limited
The Tramshed
Walcot Street
Bath
BA1 5BD
United Kingdom

Email: [email protected]
Web: www.runwisefx.com

END OF DOCUMENT

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