MT4 Time based entry signal in MetaTrader4

Question

Does anyone have any example code for how to generate a time of day based entry signal in Metatrader 4? e.g. at a particular hour and minute of each day

Answer 1

I've been working on just such a function. It has to be customized a lot—I'm working on making a more general version that;s going to be so big and tedious it'll need its own include file. But it'll be worth it to be able to stick it on different charts without changing the code. It will basically be one big case statement with what I have here customized already to each individual timeframe.

What have you been working on? Thanks for your interest in time and forex!

bool existordertime( datetime time, int otype = -37 ) {
    // +---------------------------------------------------------------+
    // | this function is intended for use inside of if() and other conditionals
    // | usually called with TimeCurrent() example:
    // | 
    // | if ( !existordertime( TimeCurrent() ) )
    // | 
    // | it accepts a datetime. A datetime is:
    // | a number of seconds elapsed from 00:00 January 1, 1970
    // | they can be treated as integers as such or accessed with other functions
    // | so that if statements can be commented in and out easily based on what 
    // | timeframe we plan on looking at.
    // | there is an optional parameter for an order type if you need it.
    // | 
    // | KEEP IN MIND if you want to use this to trade something like a 5min 15min
    // | or 4hr your gonna need a lot of if statements like:
    // | 
    // | if (  MathMod( Minute() + 5, 5 ) == 0 )
    // | 
    // +------------------------------------------------------------------+
    for (int cnt = 0; cnt < OrdersTotal(); cnt++) {

        OrderSelect(cnt, SELECT_BY_POS, MODE_TRADES);

        if (OrderType() == otype || -37 == otype)

        // COMMENT OUT THE if()S YOU DON'T NEED HERE: 
        //                       also add new lines as needed
        // if (  MathMod( TimeMinute( time ) +  5,  5 ) == 0 )   //  5min chart
        // if (  MathMod( TimeMinute( time ) + 15, 15 ) == 0 )   // 15min chart
        // if (  MathMod( TimeMinute( time ) + 30, 30 ) == 0 )   // 30min chart
        // if (  MathMod( TimeHour(   time ) +  4,  4 ) == 0 )   // 4hour chart

        int dbOrderOpenTime = OrderOpenTime();                   // re-use SAVEs dbPOOL-access time ...

        if (                      TimeSeconds( time ) == TimeSeconds( dbOrderOpenTime ) )
            if (                  TimeMinute(  time ) == TimeMinute(  dbOrderOpenTime ) )
                if (              TimeHour(    time ) == TimeHour(    dbOrderOpenTime ) )
                    if (          TimeDay(     time ) == TimeDay(     dbOrderOpenTime ) )
                        if (      TimeMonth(   time ) == TimeMonth(   dbOrderOpenTime ) )
                            if (  TimeYear(    time ) == TimeYear(    dbOrderOpenTime ) )
                                return (TRUE);
    }

    for (cnt = 0; cnt < OrdersHistoryTotal(); cnt++) {

        OrderSelect(cnt, SELECT_BY_POS, MODE_HISTORY);

        if (OrderType() == otype || -37 == otype)
        // COMMENT OUT THE if()S YOU DON'T NEED HERE: 
        //                       also add new lines as needed
        // if (  MathMod( TimeMinute( time ) +  5,  5 ) == 0 )   //  5min chart
        // if (  MathMod( TimeMinute( time ) + 15, 15 ) == 0 )   // 15min chart
        // if (  MathMod( TimeMinute( time ) + 30, 30 ) == 0 )   // 30min chart
        // if (  MathMod( TimeHour(   time ) +  4,  4 ) == 0 )   // 4hour chart

        int dbOrderOpenTime = OrderOpenTime();                   // re-use SAVEs dbPOOL-access time ...

        if (                      TimeSeconds( time ) == TimeSeconds( dbOrderOpenTime ) )
            if (                  TimeMinute(  time ) == TimeMinute(  dbOrderOpenTime ) )
                if (              TimeHour(    time ) == TimeHour(    dbOrderOpenTime ) )
                    if (          TimeDay(     time ) == TimeDay(     dbOrderOpenTime ) )
                        if (      TimeMonth(   time ) == TimeMonth(   dbOrderOpenTime ) )
                            if (  TimeYear(    time ) == TimeYear(    dbOrderOpenTime ) )
                                return (TRUE);
    }

    return (FALSE);
}

Answer 2

TimeLocal() gives you the number of seconds since midnight Jan 1st 1970 of your local computer (Terminal Client).

TimeCurrent() gives you the number of seconds since midnight Jan 1st 1970 of your Broker's computer (Server).

You can convert either of these into a string like so:

string ct = TimeToStr(TimeLocal(),TIME_DATE|TIME_SECONDS);
Print("Client Time: ", ct);

string st = TimeToStr(TimeCurrent(),TIME_DATE|TIME_SECONDS);
Print("Server Time: ", st);

You can also get individual elements of the date number like so:

Print("Year:",TimeYear(TimeCurrent())," Month:",TimeMonth(TimeCurrent()));

The MQL4 online programmers guide can be found here.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Mark