Here's a breakdown of what this MetaTrader (MQL) script does, explained in plain language for someone who doesn't code:
This script is designed to display a modified version of a common trading indicator called the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) on your chart. The regular MACD helps traders identify potential buy and sell signals based on the relationship between two moving averages of an asset's price.
Here's how this specific script works, step by step:
-
It sets things up: The script starts by defining some basic information about itself, like its name, author, and where to find more information. It also sets up the visual elements of the indicator, like the colors and thickness of the lines that will be drawn on the chart.
-
It allows for customization: The script has a few adjustable settings that you, the user, can change. These settings control how the MACD is calculated:
- TimeFrame: This determines which timeframe's data the MACD will be calculated from (e.g., 1-minute, 5-minute, hourly, daily). This is the most important part since it allows traders to watch a bigger picture in a lower timeframe, as an example, it is posible to watch the daily macd inside a 5 minute chart.
- FastEMA: The period for the faster-moving average in the MACD calculation.
- SlowEMA: The period for the slower-moving average in the MACD calculation.
- SignalSMA: The period for the signal line, which is a smoothed version of the MACD line.
- applied_price: Determines which price (e.g., close, open, high, low) is used for the MACD calculation.
-
It prepares the data: The script sets aside some memory (called "buffers") to store the calculated values that will be plotted on the chart.
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It names the indicator: The script creates a short, descriptive name that will appear in the trading platform's Data Window and on the chart itself, reflecting the settings you've chosen.
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The main calculations: This is where the script does the heavy lifting:
- It first gets the price data for the specified
TimeFrame. - Then, for each bar on the current chart, it finds the corresponding data point in the specified
TimeFrame. - It calculates the MACD value and its signal line using the chosen
FastEMA,SlowEMA,SignalSMA, andapplied_pricesettings, using the iMACD function which is an internal function of metatrader plataform. - It calculates the difference between the MACD line and the signal line, which is the basis for the histogram.
- Finally, it determines the color of the histogram bars based on whether the MACD line is above or below the signal line. If MACD is above the signal line, one buffer receives the value and another receives 0, and vice versa when MACD is below the signal line, this allows to use two different colors when plotting the histogram.
- It first gets the price data for the specified
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It draws the indicator: The script plots the calculated MACD line, the signal line, and the color-coded histogram on a separate window of your chart. The histogram's color visually represents whether the MACD is trending upwards or downwards.
In summary, this script takes the standard MACD indicator and makes it more flexible by allowing you to view the MACD calculated from a different timeframe than the one currently displayed on your chart. It also adds a color-coded histogram to make it easier to visually interpret the MACD's signals.
///+------------------------------------------------------------------+
//| MTF_MACD_inColor.mq4 |
//| Copyright © 2006, Keris2112 |
//| 1June06 Stache added traditional view and 2-color Histogram |
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
#property copyright "Copyright © 2006, Keris2112"
#property link "http://www.forex-tsd.com"
#property indicator_separate_window
#property indicator_buffers 4
#property indicator_color1 Chartreuse
#property indicator_width1 1
#property indicator_color2 Red
#property indicator_width2 1
#property indicator_color3 Lime
#property indicator_width3 3
#property indicator_color4 Red
#property indicator_width4 3
//---- input parameters
/*************************************************************************
PERIOD_M1 1
PERIOD_M5 5
PERIOD_M15 15
PERIOD_M30 30
PERIOD_H1 60
PERIOD_H4 240
PERIOD_D1 1440
PERIOD_W1 10080
PERIOD_MN1 43200
You must use the numeric value of the timeframe that you want to use
when you set the TimeFrame' value with the indicator inputs.
---------------------------------------
PRICE_CLOSE 0 Close price.
PRICE_OPEN 1 Open price.
PRICE_HIGH 2 High price.
PRICE_LOW 3 Low price.
PRICE_MEDIAN 4 Median price, (high+low)/2.
PRICE_TYPICAL 5 Typical price, (high+low+close)/3.
PRICE_WEIGHTED 6 Weighted close price, (high+low+close+close)/4.
You must use the numeric value of the Applied Price that you want to use
when you set the 'applied_price' value with the indicator inputs.
**************************************************************************/
extern int TimeFrame=0;
extern int FastEMA=7;
extern int SlowEMA=19;
extern int SignalSMA=7;
extern int applied_price=0;
double ExtMapBuffer1[];
double ExtMapBuffer2[];
double ExtMapBuffer3[];
double ExtMapBuffer4[];
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
//| Custom indicator initialization function |
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
int init()
{
//---- indicator line
SetIndexStyle(0,DRAW_LINE);
SetIndexStyle(1,DRAW_LINE);
SetIndexStyle(2,DRAW_HISTOGRAM);
SetIndexStyle(3,DRAW_HISTOGRAM);
SetIndexDrawBegin(1,SignalSMA);
IndicatorDigits(MarketInfo(Symbol(),MODE_DIGITS)+1);
SetIndexBuffer(0,ExtMapBuffer1);
SetIndexBuffer(1,ExtMapBuffer2);
SetIndexBuffer(2,ExtMapBuffer3);
SetIndexBuffer(3,ExtMapBuffer4);
//---- name for DataWindow and indicator subwindow label
switch(TimeFrame)
{
case 1 : string TimeFrameStr="Period_M1"; break;
case 5 : TimeFrameStr="Period_M5"; break;
case 15 : TimeFrameStr="Period_M15"; break;
case 30 : TimeFrameStr="Period_M30"; break;
case 60 : TimeFrameStr="Period_H1"; break;
case 240 : TimeFrameStr="Period_H4"; break;
case 1440 : TimeFrameStr="Period_D1"; break;
case 10080 : TimeFrameStr="Period_W1"; break;
case 43200 : TimeFrameStr="Period_MN1"; break;
default : TimeFrameStr="ChartTimeframe";
}
IndicatorShortName("MTF_MACD_inColor("+FastEMA+","+SlowEMA+","+SignalSMA+") ("+TimeFrameStr+")");
}
//----
return(0);
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
//| MTF MACD |
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
int start()
{
datetime TimeArray[];
int i,limit,y=0,counted_bars=IndicatorCounted();
// Plot defined time frame on to current time frame
ArrayCopySeries(TimeArray,MODE_TIME,Symbol(),TimeFrame);
limit=Bars-counted_bars;
for(i=0,y=0;i<limit;i++)
{
if (Time[i]<TimeArray[y]) y++;
/***********************************************************
Add your main indicator loop below. You can reference an existing
indicator with its iName or iCustom.
Rule 1: Add extern inputs above for all neccesary values
Rule 2: Use 'TimeFrame' for the indicator time frame
Rule 3: Use 'y' for your indicator's shift value
**********************************************************/
ExtMapBuffer1[i]=iMACD(NULL,TimeFrame,FastEMA,SlowEMA,SignalSMA,applied_price,0,y);
ExtMapBuffer2[i]=iMACD(NULL,TimeFrame,FastEMA,SlowEMA,SignalSMA,applied_price,1,y);
ExtMapBuffer3[i]=ExtMapBuffer1[i]-ExtMapBuffer2[i];
ExtMapBuffer4[i]=ExtMapBuffer1[i]-ExtMapBuffer2[i];
if (ExtMapBuffer1[i] <= ExtMapBuffer2[i])
ExtMapBuffer3[i]=0;
else ExtMapBuffer4[i]=0;
}
//
return(0);
}
//+------------------
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