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1. 76 Manipulating Dates and Times 20 Drawing Trendlines on Price Charts 89 Using Variables sss 25 Understanding Quote Fields 109 Using Inputs eee 30 Multimedia and EasyLanguage 110 EasyLanguage Control Structures 33 6 How EasyLanguage is Evaluated CHAPTER 2 How EasyLanguage is Evaluated Regardless of what type of trading or technical analysis tool you re writing an indicator trading signal search strategy etc the first step is understanding how EasyLanguage evaluates data EasyLanguage and Price Charts A price chart typically consists of a number of bars built from price data associated with a specified trading instrument Each bar summarizes the prices for a trading interval most commonly a time period such as five minutes or one day and includes values such as the open high low and closing prices for that period Other bar data such as the date and time of the bar s close the volume and the open interest is also available for each bar One of the main uses of EasyLanguage is to evaluate price data from one bar and compare it to data from other bars therefore it is important to understand how an EasyLanguage trading signal analysis technique i e indicator study search strategy or model or function evaluates the price data on a price chart and performs its analysis Let s look at a simple one li
2. HMHM commentary C Compression see Compression under Data Q essaie tad RR Ede rri ed 11 284 Conditional Expressions eee 12 17 C and C see DLL Functions GOTMEBa CE deese aeeie sere EEEIEE EE EENE NAE EA aaen Calculation Time decreasing sss 58 ContractMonth oun Mb 284 COME LACES ssssseeeeeneeeen eene CallCount Contracts Shares number to use to open a position 132 CallOTMCount ceeccccceccececseseecccecccseceessescsetsecesccettseceseee Contracted eneun meo reacted 286 CallSeriesCount Contributor CallStrikeCount Control CallTMCount A E OA EXPIOSSION sisena te ee eR Re I Dec ge e RR 36 Cahicel vs estetico cte iecore etin Ds S rUCTUTES 33 Canceling Orders url R 38 Category iov dein eI SAEI E E I ey qe Leroy YET Cosine 286 Ce ea Ye ero ne Fenn eiit COSE e vP 286 CHAR wc COR ANG EMG 2 uc REA e edo AEE AAE E een 287 CheckAlert seses Counters using 25 37 55 GheEGk Commentary xen eret Re Ed CreateLeg 220 287 Cloarbebug i deer reet cte e t E E 285 CLOSS eeeeeeereeeeeee eene nennen 287 Close eeeee 11 285 CPOS SES iuusnaentie edere ni nie pod iter d Parisi 287 Close at End of Day 145 Cros SES OVOY eicere ea ge i QUSE 15 Close Orders 119 Crosses Under 4 terree hr n 15 Col n definiti n 1 34 tenen er eere da 11 Cumulative Calculations see Accumulative Calculation
3. sess 29 TAG Ol nce S atte da eon Ur TE OT E 280 Alert ouceenwes 40 280 BlertEnabled ee neenestteees 42 280 Alerts Alert Statement 25 5 eda 40 compiler directives sese 43 historical data and sse 40 trendlines obtaining alert status oo isses 93 setting alert status sss 103 losa DEEP 39 Aliases see Data Aliases TES RD PAE elas EUREN 280 An Skip word eee ee tacere teen ep deve CI Peg UR 280 BIND ous emere Ern 15 280 Arctangehb uccefacinterefeeelinuathete rief 281 Arguments see Parameters Array Ducesenene jestebe cai p e terc 281 Arrays Array Declaration Statement esses 46 Array Element Assignment Statement 47 dimensions DLLs referencing esee 49 CLT OFS TUNING p oc e etr GE Uere E eee 49 functions referencing previous values of arrays in 63 loops populating arrays using loops see 48 sorting arrays using loops parameters declaring arrays as sss 62 populating sereen ene ree 48 series arrays working with sees 49 SOFtIDgz cente ee D SP ves p ep en 63 understanding repeteret epe ee te eee nete e 45 values assigning to elements seen 47 referencing sepang teni pee ient t het 48 ARRAYSIZE 281 ARBAYSTARTADDR esxsexxeexDosexxuxexvospuskeseksbese ha eia 281 ASA EAE RE 229 281 ASK Valte aate e eR de e e RS 229 BSSOL
4. In a Pricing Model used to set the value of Theta Usage2 Theta 0 sets the value of Theta to zero Reserved Words Quick Reference 327 This Used to reference the current Bar Usage Buy This Bar on Close Thursday Specifies day of the week Thursday numeric value 4 Ticks Reserved for backward compatibility Replaced with Points TickType The kind of tick that triggered an option core event Asset Option Future or Model Time Closing time of the current bar in 24 hour HHMM format Usage Valuel Time returns 2130 if the bar time is 9 30pm TL_Delete Deletes the specified trendline from the chart Syntax TL_Delete 7L_Ref TL_Ref a numeric expression representing the trendline identification number Returns 0 if operation is successful or error code if not Usage TL Delete 2 deletes trendline number 2 Usage Valuel TL Delete 3 freturns status code after deleting trendline 3 TL GetAlert Gets the alert status of the specified trendline object TL Ref a numeric expression representing the trendline identification number Returns 0 no alert 1 Breakout Intrabar 2 Breakout on Close Usage Value2 TL GetAlert 4 returns alert status for trendline number 4 TL GetBeginDate The date of the starting point for the specified trendline see TL Delete for syntax Usage Valuel TL GetBeginDate 2 returns the start date of trendline 2 TL_GetBeginTime The time of the starting point for the s
5. Do not allow C Allow for different entry signals only C Allow for same and different entry signals r Entry Settings Maximum open entries per position so Maximum contracts shares per position e5000 Backtesting Settings ri Tick C Minute ft Max number of bars strategy will reference 50 Generate orders for next bar Use as strategy default Cancel Help Figure 3 8 Format Strategy Properties tab When you set this option to test to the tick level assuming that the data is available the Trading Strategy Testing Engine behaves the same way for backtesting as it would for automation real time trading EasyLanguage for TradeStation The Trading Strategy Testing Engine 127 However many times it is not be feasible to have all the tick data necessary for extensive back testing In these cases TradeStation evaluates as much tick data as is available and uses bar assumptions for the rest of the data Also due to performance considerations memory and speed it may not be convenient or necessary to backtest on every tick but to backtest using a fine resolution instead For example if a test is performed across 5 000 daily bars the Trading Strategy can look at 10 minute bars to find the fill prices instead of every tick since 5 000 days of tick data is an enormous amount of data to load and use on a price chart In this case TradeStation will apply the bar assumptions to each 10 mi
6. Reserved Words Quick Reference 309 Plot1 Displays an expression numeric or text in a price chart or grid Syntax Plott Value sName fgColor bgColor Width Value a numeric or text string expression or value to display on a chart or grid sName text string containing the name of the plot optional fgColor color number or Default of the plotted object or text optional bgColor color number or Default of the cell background in a grid optional ignored for charts Width the thickness of a line to be plotted on a chart optional ignored for grids Usage Plotl Value or Plot1 Value My Plot Name Red Default 0 Plot2 Displays an expression in a price chart or grid See Plot1 for syntax and usage Plot3 Displays an expression in a price chart or grid See Plot1 for syntax and usage Plot4 Displays an expression in a price chart or grid See Plot1 for syntax and usage PlotPaintBar For use with PaintBar studies enables you to paint the entire bar or part of the bar with a single instruction Syntax PlotPaintBar High Low Open Close PlotName fgColor bgColor Wiath High the upper price limit to paint Low the lower price limit to paint Open optional paints the opening tick mark Close optional paints the closing tick mark PlotName optional name used when referencing the plot fgColor optional color number or Default of the paint color bgColor optional color number
7. Usage Value2 PriceScale returns 100 for the S amp P 500 Futures representing 1 100 Print Sends information to the Debug window in the EasyLanguage PowerEditor or if spec ified to an alternate output location a file or the default printer Syntax Print Item1 ltemN Item1 a string or numeric expression ItemN additional strings or expressions separated by commas Usage Print Date Time Close prints the 3 values to the Debug window Usage Print Printer D T C prints the same 3 values to the default printer Usage Print c myfile txt D T C prints the 3 values to the specified file Printer Sends information to the default printer from a Print statement Usage Print Printer Today is Date ends output to the default printer Product Number representing the Omega Research charting application currently being used Product Name Product Number TradeStation 0 SuperCharts 1 Usage If Product 0 Then Plotl Valuel TS Indicator Profit Reserved for future use ProfitTargetStop Retained for backward compatibility with previous versions of the product Replaced by the reserved word SetProfitTarget Reserved Words Quick Reference 313 Protective Reserved for future use Put Used to determine if an option or leg analyzed is a put Usage If OptionType of Option Put Then Any Operation PutCount Returns the number of puts in the option chain Usage Valuel PutCount of
8. Variables ID 1 TxtColor 0 If Low Low 1 AND Close High 1 Then Begin ID Text New Date Time Low Key TxtColor Text GetColor ID If TxtColor GetBackgroundColor Then Valuel Text SetColor ID TxtColor 1 End Text SetLocation All text objects are anchored at a specific bar and price value on the price chart This reserved word modifies the point at which the specified text object is anchored Syntax Valuel Text SetLocation Text ID BarDate BarTime Price Parameters Text ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the text object to modify BarDate and BarTime are numeric expressions representing the new EasyLanguage date and time respectively at which to anchor the text object and Price is the new price value at which to anchor the text object Notes Valuel is any numeric variable or array You must assign the text object reserved word to a numeric variable or array so that you can determine whether or not the reserved word performed its operation successfully It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any text objects by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error We recommend that you change the location of the text object rather than delete the text object and draw a new one Relocating an existing object is faster and ge
9. next bar at price Limit The execution method this bar on close is provided for backtesting purposes only it en ables you to backtest market at close orders which you cannot automate using TradeStation Given that all orders are read and executed at the end of each bar TradeStation evaluates and issues the this bar on close order once the bar has closed e g once the daily trading session has ended TradeStation fills the order using the close of the current bar but you have to place an order at market to be executed on the next bar This invariably introduces slippage An order to Sell next bar at price Limit instructs TradeStation to sell at the first opportunity at the specified price or higher A Sell next bar at price Stop order instructs TradeStation to sell at the first opportunity at the specified price or lower Stop and limit orders are filled as market if touched MIT orders A MIT order becomes a market order when the price of the traded symbol meets the specified order price It is possible for stop and limit orders not to be filled 1 e price never met in this case the orders are canceled at the close of the bar As a general guideline traders use market and at the close orders when the exact entry price is not critical to the trading strategy and a large downward move is expected They use Sell limit orders when attempting to enter short positions at higher prices when working with resistance levels or when attempt
10. Changes the color of the specified text object Syntax Text SetColor TX ref Color TX Ref a numeric expression representing the object identification number Color the color name or numeric value Usage Text SetColor 3 red sets text object 3 to color red Text SetLocation Moves specified text object to a new date time and price location Syntax Text SetLocation TX ref cDate Time Price Text TX Ref a numeric expression representing the object identification number cDate date in YYYMMDD format Time time in HHMM 24 hour format Price value or numeric expression of the price Text text variable or text expression within quotes Returns 0 if successful or error code if operation not successful Usage Valuel Text SetLocation 2 990114 1500 24 5 moves text obj 2 Text_SetString Changes the text of a specified text object Syntax Text_SetString TX_ref Text TX_Ref a numeric expression representing the object identification number Text text variable or text expression within quotes Returns 0 if successful or error code if operation not successful Usage Value2 Text SetString 1 New String changes text for obj 1 326 APPENDIX C Text SetStyle Changes the horizontal and vertical position style for the specified text object Syntax Text SetStyle 7X ref Horiz Vert TX Ref a numeric expression representing the object identification number Horiz 0 for left 1 for right 2 for center Vert 0 for top
11. FileAppend Output txt This is text NumoStr Valuel 2 EasyLanguage Syntax Errors 271 407 Cannot implicitly convert TrueF alse to Numerical Whenever the PowerEditor expects a numerical value and instead finds a true false ex pression it will highlight the expression and will display this message For example the following statement will produce this error because the Condition value is a true false variable and cannot be assigned to the numeric variable Value Valuel Conditionl 408 Cannot implicitly convert Numerical to TrueF alse Whenever the PowerEditor expects a true false expression and instead finds a numerical expression it will highlight the numerical expression and will display this message For example the following statement produces an error because the reserved word Open is a numeric value and not a true false expression Conditionl Open Instead assign the numeric value Open to the numeric variable Value Valuel Open Or change the statement such that it is a comparison For example Conditionl Open gt Close Notice that while both Open and Close are numerical values the result of the comparison is a true false value which is properly assigned to a true false variable 409 String expression expected here This error is displayed whenever the PowerEditor is expecting a string expression and in stead it finds a numeric or true false expression For example this error wil
12. IF THEN Else G nesting X43 ribera Eee sili ad vic cot acho nba Gs RAGE EBSZNY uisi e dnvalie als 294 Ignoring Statements Using Compiler Directives G_Rate_Nt_In_NY G Rate P Net Inc Gamma uestes deese etie seus aE EENE eei aao c Ganima Value uiusneneniu eI eivai Generate Orders for Next Bar Calculation GetBackgrourndaCOJIQE iter the e epar GOLBOtBOULNG wutasmenonasescten n a o bene ek cus GetCDRomDrive GetExchangeName GetPlotBGColor GetPlotColor GetPlotWidth GetPredictionValue GOtRowlncremeht sesse GetStrategyNam GetSymbolName i GOetsystemlNalM6 iet r isis yu eo Anin irek ENa GetTODBOUFLd siie eaa PEE aeei ER ekta SINEES Global Variables Bid Ask Model innon a a 234 Pricing Model eerte S 233 understanding E Volatility Model oo see 234 Gr Rate P BPS oues enu eov ee eee reno 296 Green es GEOSSLOSS detenti tope tinet bates o ints edere ere 296 GLOSSPLOtJILb jiecuninierec t o tee pr ne ida 296 Hard Brackets definition Help System and Jump Words HELP KEY WinHelp API Call and Jump Words 67 nE o EE E E cipes eerta cervus dedu 11 296 ALENS an ek erai rto E orbe rer A RE commentary z incr rudesSigial erroei a nee ree E 298 ITncr deSysten weeded emt resa dert 298 Indicators availability specifying 154 191 204 214 jump words indicators as 67 OptionStation adding c
13. Parameters DataNum is a numeric expression representing the data stream that is being evaluated and can be between 1 and 50 inclusive Notes This reserved word will return one of four possible values m 2 theclosing tick of a bar m 1 a tick within a bar m the opening tick of a bar m i anerror occurred while executing the reserved word EasyLanguage for TradeStation Writing ActivityBar Studies 177 Example The following statements reset the numeric variable Value to 0 when the bar to which the ActivityBar study is applied is closed If BarStatus 1 2 Then Valuel 0 Else Valuel Valuel 1 LeftSide This reserved word is used with the other ActivityBar reserved words to specify the side of the ActivityBar you want to reference It specifies that you are referencing the left side of the bar Syntax LeftSide Parameters None Example The following statement obtains the number of cells on the left side of a bar for the row corresponding to the closing price Valuel AB GetNumCells Close of Datal LeftSide RightSide This reserved word is used with the other ActivityBar reserved words to specify the side of the ActivityBar you want to reference It specifies that you are referencing the right side of the bar Syntax RightSide Parameters None Example The following statement obtains the number of cells on the right side of a bar for the row corresponding to the open price Val
14. Usage Valuel Neg 17 freturns a value of 17 Value2 Neg 9 freturns a value of 9 Net_Profit_Margin Calculates and returns the Net Profit Margin Income after Taxes Total Revenue NetProfit Cumulative dollar total of all closed out trades both winning and losing Usage Valuel NetProfit returns 1000 for three closed trades of 500 1200 and 300 NewLine Adds carriage return linefeed in FileAppend and commentary file output strings Usage FileAppend c my txt Text Linel NewLine Line2 Next Used in conjunction with Bar to reference the next bar in a trading strategy Usage Buy Next Bar at Market NoPlot Removes a plot from the current bar in a chart or cell in a grid Usage If Close Close 1 Then Plot1 High CloseUp plots CloseUp on the bar Else NoPlot 1 removes a previous plot from the bar Not Reserved for future use NthMaxList Returns the Nth highest value of the listed inputs Syntax NthMaxList N Num1 NumN N an integer representing the rank in the list 1st 2nd 3rd etc Num1 the first value or expression to compare NumN additional values to compare separated by commas Usage Valuel NthMaxList 2 45 72 86 125 47 returns a value of 86 NthMinList Returns the Nth lowest value of the listed inputs See syntax as NthMaxList Usage Valuel NthMaxList 2 45 72 86 125 47 returns a value of 47 306 APPENDIX C Numeric Defines an input that expe
15. 248 Either PUT CALL ASSETTYPE or FUTURETYPE expected here This error is displayed when creating a leg in a Position Search strategy through the Cre ateLeg keyword without specifying the appropriate leg type The proper syntax for this statement is CreateLeg 5 Call which creates a leg that consists of buying 5 calls 258 APPENDIX A 250 Cannot reference a previous value of a simple input Historical values of simple inputs in functions are not stored by EasyLanguage so refer ring to previous values of them is not allowed For example in the following Input MyVal NumericSimple MyFunction MyVal 5 the value MyVal 5 is not allowed in this function since it includes a reference to the value of the input of five bars ago but is declared as a NumericSimple input If the reference to a previous value is necessary change the input type to series 251 Variables and arrays not allowed here In previous product versions prior to 20001 this error is displayed when attempting to pass variables or arrays to series functions Value2 Average Close Valuel 253 Cannot reference a previous value of this input Historical values of simple inputs in functions are not stored by EasyLanguage so refer ring to previous values of them is not allowed For example in the following Input MyVal NumericSimple MyFunction MyVal 5 the value MyVal 5 is not allowed in this function since it includes a r
16. APPENDIX C Text GetFirst Returns the text object id number for the first object of a specified type Syntax Text_GetFirst Type Type identifies the origin of the requested first text object 1 text created by an analysis technique 2 text created by the text drawing object only and 3 text created by either the text drawing object or an analysis technique Returns status code indicating whether or not operation is successful Usage Value2 Text GetFirst 2 freturns the id of first text drawing object Text GetHStyle Gets the horizontal placement style of the specified text object see Text Delete for syntax Returns 0 for left 1 for right 2 for center or status code if operation not successful Usage Valuel Text GetHStyle 5 returns horiz style of text object 5 Text_GetNext Returns the text object id for the next object of a specified type after specified object Syntax Text_GetNext TX_Ref Type TX_Ref a numeric expression representing the object identification number Type identifies the origin of the next text object 1 text created by an analysis technique 2 text created by the text drawing object only and 3 text created by either the text drawing object or an analysis technique Returns status code indicating whether or not operation is successful Usage Value2 Text GetNext 2 1 returns the id of analysis text after id 2 Text_GetString Returns the text string of the specified text object see Text_Delet
17. Once it has determined the number of contracts shares the Trading Strategy Testing En gine will look at the setting under the Properties tab labeled Entry Settings Maximum Number of contracts shares per position shown in Figure 3 7 If necessary the number of contracts shares of any orders are adjusted so that the total number of contracts shares in an open position does not exceed the number specified in this option If there is no open position and a Trading Strategy places an order to buy 5 500 shares and the number entered under the Properties tab is 5 000 the Trading Strategy Testing Engine will reduce the number of shares to 5 000 Also assuming the same maximum limit if the Trading Strategy allows for pyramiding and there are 1 000 shares in the open position and the Trading Strategy places an order to buy 5 500 shares the Trading Strategy Testing Engine will modify the order to 4 000 shares In summary to determine how many contracts shares the order will include we need to find the lowest of the two numbers Maximum contracts shares per position minus the current shares contracts held as specified in the Properties tab m Number of contracts shares requested by the order The Maximum contracts shares per position option enables you to set a global limit to the number of contracts shares traded by a Trading Strategy This allows you to vary the limit depending on the symbol you are trading without having to modify th
18. Syntax AB SetActiveCell Price Side Price price value of the cell row Side LeftSide RightSide Usage AB_SetActiveCell Open RightSide AB_SetRowHeight Changes the current ActivityBar s row increment value Syntax AB SetRowHeight R owHeight RowHeight value representing the row spacing for cells Generally use AB_RowCalc as the parameter Usage AB_SetRowHeight AB_RowCalc 10 5 AB_SetZone Sets a zone range box for an ActivityBar side Syntax AB SetZone HighPrice LowPrice S ide HighP rice a numeric expression representing the high price of the zone range box LowPrice a numeric expression representing the low price of the zone range box Side LeftSide RightSide Usage AB SetZone Average High 5 Average Low 5 RightSide AB StdDev Returns the standard deviation of the ActivityBar cells for the specified side Syntax AB StdDev Multiplier Side Multiplier represents the number of standard deviations to calculate Side LeftSide RightSide Both Usage Value2 AB StdDev 2 LeftSide Above Used only with Crosses to detect a value crossing above or over another value Usage If Plot11 Crosses Above Plot2 Then Any Operation 280 APPENDIX C AbsValue Absolute value of num Syntax AbsValue Num Num a numeric value or expression Usage Valuel AbsValue 1 45 returns a value of 1 45 ActivityData References any bar data element Open upticks etc of the ActivityBar Usage Val
19. This error will be displayed when an long exit signal is tied mistakenly to a short entry signal Long exit signals can be tied only to a long entry through the use of the instruction from Entry entry name For example the following statements will generate this error If Conditionl Then Sell MyEntry This Bar at Close ExitLong from Entry MyEntry Next Bar at Low Stop In this case the error can be corrected by using the appropriate exit instruction ExitShort If Conditionl Then Sell MyEntry This Bar at Close ExitShort from Entry MyEntry Next Bar at Low Stop 244 At cannot be used after the word TOTAL EasyLanguage does not allow the reserved word Total to be tied to reference information from the bar of entry by using the AT instruction For example the following statement will generate this error ExitLong 20 Shares Total From Entry MyEntry At Low Stop 247 References to previous values are not allowed in simple functions Prior values of simple functions simple variables or simple expressions cannot be refer enced from within simple functions If this is necessary for the calculation of a function then the function must be set as series not simple This incorrect example MyFunction MyFunction 1 Close creates an error if MyFunction is a simple function with a reference to previous values of itself Setting the function Properties to Series will correct this error
20. also any series functions within the statements are calculated See the section Using Commentary Compiler Directives for information on additional reserved words you can use to have the statements both ignored completely CommentaryEnabled This reserved word returns a value of True only when the Expert Commentary window is open and Commentary has been requested This allows you to optimize your trading signals analysis techniques and functions for speed as it allows EasyLanguage to perform commentary related calculations only when the Expert Commentary window is open Syntax CommentaryEnabled The difference between CommentaryEnabled and AtCommentaryBar is that CommentaryEnabled returns a value of True for ALL bars when the Expert Commentary window is open while the AtCommentaryBar returns a value of True only for the bar clicked with the Expert Commentary pointer For example the following statements calculate a cumulative advance decline line to be displayed in the Expert Commentary window If CommentaryEnabled Then Begin If Close Close 1 Then Valuel Valuel Volume Else Valuel Valuel Volume Commentary The value of the A D line is Valuel End Note Although the statements that follow this reserved word are sometimes ignored the trading signal analysis technique or function still takes into account the statements when it determines the number of bars necessary for the indicator or st
21. rays Series Functions A series function can refer to previous values of itself or previous values of any variables or arrays declared in the function when performing its calculations Series functions are ex ecuted on a bar by bar basis even if the function is not explicitly called on each bar When variables or arrays are used as parameters the series functions are calculated each and ev ery time they are called Otherwise the function is calculated once per bar at the end of the procedure To illustrate why series functions are executed on each bar let s look at the BarNumber function which is included in the EasyLanguage PowerEditor This function counts the number of bars that have passed since the trading signal or analysis technique started its calculations This function is written using only one statement as follows BarNumber BarNumber 1 1 To obtain the current bar s value this function will read the value of itself from one bar ago and add one to that value This way the function will keep a running total of the number of bars Assume we use this function in an indicator as follows If Close gt Open Then Plot1 BarNumber The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Understanding User Functions 57 Following is a table that illustrates the first eight bars of a chart BarNumber function BarNumber Figure 2 9 Series function example BarNumber As seen in Figure 2 9 the function is called during b
22. For example let s assume that the trading strategy we apply to a daily chart places an order to buy 100 shares at 50 limit on Monday This order remains active through Tuesday and is canceled at the end of the trading session on Tuesday unless the trading strategy places another order to buy 100 shares at 50 limit during the Tuesday bar If any element of the order changes such as the number of shares the price etc the order is canceled and a new active order is placed When you work with intra day charts you can write day only orders orders that are canceled at the end of the day by having the trading strategy place the exact same order repeatedly throughout the day once it finds its entry point Stop and limit orders are canceled at the close of the bar when m The order was not placed on this bar by the trading strategy m The order was placed but either the number of shares or the target price changed from last bar m A different trading signal generated the order in the current bar m A different trading signal with a higher lower target price was placed at a price closer to the market then the order is placed in stand by mode Backtesting During backtesting TradeStation reviews all the historical data and derives the historical results for the Trading Strategy applied to the price chart 126 The Trading Strategy Testing Engine CHAPTER 3 Strategy Testing Data Resolution The finer the data resolution that the strat
23. Functions also see Reserved Words arrays as parameters in sess 62 assigning values to 54 342 The Omega Research EasyLanguage Reference Guide counters series functions as sese HighGr oroin iA edite oreet eias 297 data aliases using functions with Ha StIundHx3sts 5 eroe ote tees 297 Define feature Historical Testing see Backtesting under Trading Strategy DLL Functions see DLL Functions Testing Engine EasyLanguage Dictionary using eese 51 Find feature eorr ERO eror ROT S 50 l Function Value Assignment Statement 54 JD ateecessdetbtecteetesdertenis stat e pedet d te ah ed 297 parameters see Parameters DAV GERE BYP BL GE aojceventen e rere en 297 referencing previous value of sese 51 To OToSedEqudty iterari 297 Series Secs acess Heath sacs sattaviecdeata tat cle eed epe dne eee yes neveu aeg 56 I CurrentContracoLsS uidere e ee erkennen eie 297 simple ee eteopenme dieere e utur 55 I sMarketPositiOoB 2i eietee HO 297 understandiflig eere iiaee iaeiei 50 I OpenEquJiUty 2t esent teo genera rs deg eun cn povera ad 297 NVTIUITIB 2505 eterne IEEE PEE PPP CH ES Ht T 54 LES deo Pe ade en enu Ne Sede tA eA Ie D EAT ELITSE 297 FUCUS eese te ie eei eene e 196 294 IF THEN Statement PUES mm dogeesneenectieeeteei Tor ee re Ye eov eed it 197 Block IF THEN 255 eereoeeha cerent eer 34 EUbGUreTyDpe iere eet PD EE REESE tinte 294 IF THEN
24. Low RightSide 208 CONTRACTS SHARES expected here When writing an EasyLanguage statement to place an order it is possible to specify how many contracts or shares the signal should use to open or exit the position This error will be generated by the PowerEditor whenever it finds a numeric expression after the trading verb that is not followed by the words Stop Limit or Higher or or Lower For example Buy 100 generates an error because it is not clear if 100 is a part of the instructions to specify the number of shares or the execution instruction the price at which the order should be placed A correct statement might read Buy 100 Shares 209 Signal name expected within quotes When specifying the name of an order it must be enclosed within parentheses and double quotes This error is displayed if the name is missing or not correctly provided For exam ple the following statement will cause this error ExitLong From Entry Next Bar at Market 211 Signal cannot call itself A signal cannot reference itself when using the IncludeSignal reserved word 252 APPENDIX A 213 Error found in signal This error is displayed whenever verifying a signal that contains the IncludeSignal re served word which references a signal that is not verified The only solution is to open the unverified signal verify it and then return to the original signal 214 Colon expected here EasyLanguage expects a co
25. LowerBand Plotl UpperBand UB Plotz LowerBand LB Figure 2 10 Indicator using a function with inputs passed by reference The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Understanding User Functions 61 The MyBands function is shown next This function defines the upper band as the highest high of the last 10 bars and the lower band as the lowest low of the last 10 bars Inputs UpperBand NumericRef LowerBand NumericRef UpperBand Highest High 10 LowerBand Lowest Low 10 MyBands 1 Notice that the function assigns a value of 1 to MyBands This is a required statement and in the indicator the value 1 is assigned to the variable Value Remember that every func tion must contain an assignment statement and will return the value assigned However the purpose of the function in the example is to calculate and assign the values to the UpperBand and LowerBand variables and these values are used by the indicator Given that the values of variables and arrays are stored on a bar by bar basis reference pa rameters allow the reference of previous values using bar offsets The first line in the above function is an Input Declaration statement which specifies the parameters that must be supplied by the user when using the function The next section cov ers how to declare the parameters when writing a function Defining Parameters As discussed in the previous section parameters can be of type numeric true false
26. See notes for Future num Example The following expression refers to the last closing price of the underlying asset Close of future The following calculates the 10 bar average of the volume of the underlying asset Average Volume of future 10 Future num This reserved word is used as a qualifier or data alias to reference information for a specific future contract not just the future contract being analyzed Syntax Value of future num Parameters Num is a numeric expression representing the future contract to which the expression is referring Value is any value you can obtain for the future contract for example a piece of information e g closing price volume expiration date Of is a skip word that makes the expression easier to read Notes When you apply an indicator to the Assets or Options section of the Position Analysis window the indicator references the future contract in the row to which it is applied However you can reference information for any of the available future contracts using the reserved word Of Future num For example assume you have three future contracts listed in the Assets section of your Position Analysis window If you use the qualifier Of Future in your indicator the calculations will reference only the future contract in the row to which the indicator is applied However when you use Of Future num the indicator can reference any future contract being analyzed Likew
27. StringArrayRef farray that accepts strings by reference StringRef Defines a function input that accepts a string expression by reference Usage Input SomeText StringRef faccepts a text string by reference StringSeries Defines a function input that accepts string expressions that include history Usage Input SomeText StringSeries faccepts text strings with history StringSimple Defines a function input that accepts simple string expressions without history Usage Input SomeText StringSimple faccepts text strings without history StrLen The number of characters that make up a text string Syntax StrLen String String a text string expression a variable or text contained within quote marks Usage Valuel StrLen Net Profit returns a count of 10 characters StrToNum Returns the numerical value of a text string zero if the string not numeric Syntax StrToNum String String a text string expression a variable or text contained within quote marks Usage Value2 StrToNum 1170 50 freturns the numeric value 1117 5 SumList Returns the sum of all listed inputs Syntax SumList Num1 NumN Num1 the first value or expression NumN additional values to add separated by commas Usage Valuel SumList 45 72 86 125 47 freturns a value of 375 Sunday Specifies day of the week Sunday numeric value 0 Reserved Words Quick Reference 323 SymbolName Returns a string expres
28. Syntax Valuel Text GetValue Text ID Parameters Text ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the text object whose price value you want to obtain Notes Valuel is any numeric variable or array and holds the price value at which the specified object is anchored Example For example the following statement can be used to print to the Debug window the value at which text object 10 is drawn Print Text GetValue 10 Text GetVStyle A text object is always anchored at a specific price value on a price chart and there are three possible ways to align the text object vertically the top being at the specified price the bottom being at the specified price or centered This reserved word returns a numeric value representing the vertical alignment of the specified text object 86 Drawing Text on Price Charts CHAPTER 2 It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any text objects by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error Syntax Valuel Text GetVStyle Text ID Parameters Text ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the text object whose vertical alignment you want to obtain Notes Valuel can be any numeric variable or array and holds the price value at which the specified object is anchored This reserved word returns
29. Usage If Plotl1 Crosses Above Plot2 Or Plot2 gt 5 Then Begin any operations done if either condition is true End 308 APPENDIX C Over Used only with Crosses to detect a value crossing over or above another value Usage If Plotl Crosses Over Plot2 Then Any Operation Pager_DefaultName Returns the string containing of the default Message Recipient as specified in the Messaging tab under the File Desktop Options menu Usage Name Pager_DefaultName Pager_Send Name Buy 200 AMD at Market Pager_Send Sends a text message to a specified pager recipient if pager module enabled Syntax Pager Send sTo sMessage sTo text string containing the name of the message recipient sMessage text string containing the message contents Usage Pager_Send Joe Trader Buy 200 AMD at Market PercentProfit Percentage of all closed out winning trades Usage Valuel PercentProfit returns 80 if 8 of 10 trades were winners Place Retained for backward compatibility Skip word PlayMovieChain Queues and plays the movie chain with the specified reference number Usage Conditionl PlayMovieChain 1 plays the movie chain with ref number 1 PlaySound Plays the specified sound file wav file Usage Conditionl PlaySound c sounds thatsabuy wav Plot References the value of a specified plot Syntax Plot n n plot number ranging from 1 4 Usage If Plot Valuel lt Close Then Buy Next Bar on Open
30. Usage Valuel AB GetCellTime Low LeftSide 4 AB_GetCellValue Returns the extra value stored in the specified cell Syntax AB GetCellValue Price Side Column Same parameters as AB GetCellChar above Usage Value2 AB GetCellValue High RightSide 1 AB GetNumCells Returns how many cells exist at a specified price on the right or left side Syntax AB GetNumCells Price Side Price price value of the row Side LeftSide RightSide Usage Valuel AB_GetNumCells Close LeftSide AB_GetZoneHigh Returns the value of the top high of the ActivityBar zone Syntax AB_GetZoneHigh S ide Side LeftSide RightSide Usage Valuel AB GetZoneHigh LeftSide AB_GetZoneLow Returns the value of the bottom low of the ActivityBar zone Syntax AB GetZoneLow Side Side LeftSide RightSide Usage Value2 AB GetZoneLow RightSide 278 APPENDIX C AB High Returns the high of the current ActivityBar Usage Valuel AB High AB LetterIntervals Returns an letter number to use in an ActivityBar cell based on a user defined interval Syntax AB Letterlntervals BStatus Minutelnterval ABInterval BStatus normally BarS tatus 1 to determine if the ActivityBar is complete Minutelntervat number of minutes that make up each cell letter interval ABintervat the bar interval on which the ActivityBar is based e g 5 min 60 min Usage Valuel AB_LetterIntervals BarStatus 1 10 BarInterval AB_Low Returns the low of
31. W Writing Indicators for SINUS SuperCharts SE sss 185 180 Writing RadarScreen Indicators CHAPTER 4 Writing RadarScreen Indicators When working with price charts an indicator is a mathematical formula that returns a numeric value These values are then displayed in a price chart either overlaid on the price data or in a subgraph below it However when working with RadarScreen an indicator can return a numeric or text string value This enables you to scan your symbols as well as rank them For instance you can display thousands of symbols scan the data for certain criteria and enable alerts so you are notified when your symbdols meet any of the criteria in your specific indicator s You can also rank the symbols In other words you can sort the symbols by certain indicators so that instantly the symbols you want to trade are listed at the top of the window or grouping Let s take a look at a RadarScreen window Each column is an indicator and the value shown in each cell represents the value of the indicator calculated for the symbol in that particular row Also the values displayed are the values of the indicators for the latest data point available most recent bar Figure 4 1 shows a RadarScreen window containing several indicators Pee bt E apt Miri Goth Mag Be D soa Oe Tuo M AH TE F DUME ela a Taki Te tea Figure 4 1 Various indicators in a RadarS creen window You can set alert
32. ables to zero 0 when we declare them we also reset the variables to zero on each new bar This is so that once the total volume is reached and the procedure moves to the next bar the values are reset and the loop starts over again The statements inside the While loop are repeated until the control expression SumVolume lt 1000000 returns a value of False In this particular example the While loop adds the volume of the historical bars one at a time starting with the current bar Counter 0 and moving backward Counter 1 Counter 2 and so on until the summation is greater than 1 000 000 shares Infinite Loops When using a While loop there is a possibility that the control expression may never eval uate to False resulting in an infinite loop i e one that never exits To avoid this when a loop iterates for more than 5 seconds your Omega Research product generates a runtime error and the trading strategy or analysis technique is turned off Using the above example if the summation of the volume does not reach 1 000 000 the loop would continue indefinitely until it runs out of data Therefore it is always advisable to provide a fail safe way for the loop to exit Using the above example again we can modify the control expression so it evaluates to False after looking at 20 bars thus forcing the loop out either when the volume reaches the target number or when 20 bars have been evaluated Variables SumVolume 0 Co
33. future or position leg as MM ExpirationRule Returns a string containing the description of the expiration rule used for the symbol ExpirationStyle Specifies the style of a option s expiration rule 0 American 1 European ExpirationYear Returns the expiration delivery year of an option future or position leg as YYYY Expired Returns zero 0 when the option is expired and 1 when the option is not expired ExpValue Returns the exponential value of the specified number Usage Value2 ExpValue 4 5 freturns a value of 90 0171 False Represents the logical value False when evaluating an expression or setting an input Usage Input MyValue False initializes MyValue to False File Sends information to a specified file from a print statement Syntax File strFilename strFileName name of file to receive print output Usage Print File c data mydata txt Date Time Close FileAppend Appends a text string to the end of a specified file Syntax FileAppend sirFilename strText strFileName name of file to which text will be appended strText text string containing information that will be added to the specified text file Usage FileAppend d myfile txt Add this text to the file FileDelete Deletes the specified file Syntax FileDelete strFilename strFileName path name of file Usage FileDelete e path anyfile txt FirstNoticeDate Returns the first notice date of a futures contract
34. however they do not take into account all the bars on the price EasyLanguage for TradeStation Writing ProbabilityMap Studies 161 chart as do other analysis techniques They take into account only however many bars are specified by the MaxBars Back setting For instance if 50 bars are specified in the MaxBarsBack setting and we place our Proba bilityMap pointer on the 53rd bar of the price chart the ProbabilityMap study begins cal culating on the 50th bar of the chart and so on until the 53rd bar until it displays the drawing area However if we place our pointer on the 100th bar of the price chart the Prob abilityMap study will begin calculating on the 51st bar of the chart and so on until the most recent bar at which point it will display the drawing area the drawing area is actually cre ated for each of the 50 bars however it is displayed for one bar at a time that is why it is visible only on the selected bar This is illustrated in Figure 3 23 oF TradeStation Chart CSCO Cisco Systems Inc LAST Daily CSCO LAST Daily 10 07 1888 C 71 438 484 0 67 H 73 188 L 71 438 Study only evaluated for MaxBarsBack bars iy M l l JL Ini j l IH gh M I M Figure 3 23 ProbabilityMap studies calculate only on the last MaxBarsBack of the chart As with any trading strategy or analysis technique you must specify the number of bars to use in the Maximum Number of Bars study will reference box MaxBa
35. in YY YMMDD format 294 APPENDIX C FirstOption Returns true false indicating if an option is the first option initiating an option core cal culation event FLOAT Reserved for use with custom DLLs designed for EasyLanguage and ELKIT32 DLL Floor Returns the highest integer less than the specified number Usage Floor 6 5 returns a value of 6 For Executes a block of instructions a specified number of times within a loop Usage For N 1 To 10 Begin Total Total Price N End fadds Price N to Total 10 times FracPortion Returns the fractional portion of a number while retaining the sign Usage FracPortion 1 72 freturns a value of 0 72 FreeCshFlwPerShare Calculates and returns the Free Cash Flow Per Share value Friday Specifies day of the week Friday numeric value 5 From Used with Entry to specify the name of a Long or Short entry in an Exit statement Usage ExitLong From Entry MyTrade Next Bar at 75 Stop Future Used to reference the current futures contract in a Position Analysis window Usage If High of Future gt 1000 Then Alert High above 1000 FutureType Evaluates a position leg to determine if it is a future Usage If LegType of Leg 1 FutureType Then Any Operation G Rate EPS NY The number of years over which the Earnings Per Share Growth Rate is calculated G Rate Nt In NY The number of years over which the Net Income Growth Rate is calculated Re
36. requires an array on which to calculate an average and displays this error because MyVar is not an array Instead you can write Array MyArray 20 0 Valuel Average_a MyArray 10 340 This word is only allowed when defining array type inputs This error is displayed when creating a function input using any input type such as NumericArray NumericArrayref without fully qualifying the input with braces For example this creates an error Input MyInput StringArrayRef because it does not include the array length parameter in brackets after the array name The correct syntax would be Input MyInput n StringArrayRef EasyLanguage Syntax Errors 269 341 An array input word NUMERICARRAY STRINGARRAY TRUEFALSEARRAY NUMERICARRAYREF STRINGARRAYREF TRUEFALSEARRAYREF was expected here When declaring inputs that are meant to receive an array one of the above words are ex pected as the input type For example this error will be displayed when declaring an input for a function using the following statement Input MyArray M N Numeric since the reserved word Numeric is not valid for declaring arrays However the following will verify successfully Input MyArray M N NumericArray 342 This word can only be used in a PaintBar study This error occurs when you use the reserved word PlotPaintBar when writing anything other than a PaintBar study 396 This statement cannot specify an odd number of pl
37. senting the result of the operation they performed If the reserved word was able to carry out its task successfully it will return a value of 0 however if an error occurred the re served word will return a numeric value representing the specific error The following table lists the possible return values of the text object reserved words Value Explanation 2 The identification number used was invalid i e there is no object on the chart with this ID number 3 The data number Data2 Data3 etc passed to the function was invalid There is no symbol or data stream on the chart with this data number 78 Drawing Text on Price Charts CHAPTER 2 Value Explanation 4 The value passed to a SET function was invalid for example an invalid color or line thickness was used 5 The beginning and ending points were the same only when working with trendlines Can occur when you relocate a trendline or change the begin end points 6 The function was unable to load the default values for the tool 7 Unable to add the object Possibly due to an out of memory condition Your system resources have been taxed and it cannot process the request 8 Invalid pointer Your system resources have been taxed and it cannot process the request 9 Previous failure Once an object returns an error code no additional objects can be created by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error 10 Too man
38. specify whether it is numeric true false or string that it is an array and whether or not it is of subtype reference Syntax Input MyArray M Input Type MyArray is the name of your array M is the expression representing the size and dimen sions of the array and Input Type is one of the array parameter types m NumericArray m NumericArrayRef m TrueFalseArray m TrueFalseArrayRef m StringArray m StringArrayRef Note The suffix Ref is used when you are passing the array by reference those without are expecting an array passed by value When the array used has more than one dimension use a corresponding list of letters sep arated by commas For example the following Input Declaration statement means the func tion is expecting a numeric array with three dimensions Input MyNumericArray X Y Z2 NumericArray When the array is sent from the trading signal or analysis technique to the function these letters in the above example the letters X Y Z will take the numeric values correspond ing to the size of the array and you can use the words within the body of the function to work with the array For example if a function receives a one dimensional true false array the following statements can be used to traverse the array using a For loop Input MyArray M TrueFalseArray Value2 0 For Valuel 0 To M Begin Value2 Value2 MyArray Valuel End The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Und
39. you are prompted to specify the applications i e price chart Position Analysis window for which your indicator will be available By available we mean it will appear in the library of indicators to apply when you choose to insert an indicator into the application The choices available to you depend on which Omega Research product s you purchased For example if you purchased Omega Research ProSuite by default the indicator will be available in TradeStation charts RadarScreen and all sections of the Position Analysis window For information on specifying the applications for which your indicator is available search the Online User Manual Answer Wizard for the phrase Specifying Applications Writing Search Strategies The OptionStation Position Search Wizard allows you to search through all available options for those that meet your criteria and rank them in order of theoretical profitability based on your market assumptions One criteria you must specify before completing the Position Search Wizard is a Search Strategy The Position Search Wizard provides many built in Search Strategies Bear or Bull Credit Spreads Butterfly Calls Straddles Strangles etc but you can also create your own for use in the Position Search Wizard In order to create a Search Strategy you must first understand how the Position Search Engine works 216 X Writing Search Strategies CHAPTER 5 The Position Search Engine The OptionStation Pos
40. 13 15 Volume High Low 2 True false expressions can be either the value True or False or an expression that evaluates to True or False True false expressions invariably involve a comparison The following is a true false expression it evaluates to a value of True or False Close Open A text string expression is any characters within quotation marks The following is an ex ample of a text string expression This is some text Operators EasyLanguage provides a variety of operators that enable you to manipulate reserved words and values to create more complex numeric true false and or text string expressions The four different types of operators available in EasyLanguage are string mathematical rela tional and logical Each is described next String Operator There is only one operator available to manipulate text string expressions and its purpose is to concatenate two text string expressions The symbol used is the plus sign and it is used as follows This is expression 1 and this is expression 2 The result will be one text string expression with the value of This is expression 1 and this is expression 2 Mathematical Operators These operators are used to perform mathematical operations The five mathematical operators are Math Operator Meaning Addition Subtraction Multiplication Division Parentheses These operators are always ev
41. As explained ear lier in this book all the instructions in EasyLanguage are read from top to bottom and they are interpreted for every bar on the chart from left to right The variable takes the value in parentheses as its initial value Note For your convenience EasyLanguage provides a number of pre declared numeric and true false variables You can use these variables in your trading signals analysis techniques and functions without declaring them or setting their initial value The numeric variables available for you to use are ValueO through Value99 and their initial value is zero 0 You ll notice that in most of our examples we use Valuel The true false variables available for you to use are ConditionO through Condition99 and their initial value is False There are no pre declared text string variables The only advantage to using pre declared variables is that you don t need to declare them The disadvantages are that the name s will be less intuitive and you cannot set their initial values yourself Assigning Values to Variables Once you have declared your variable s or if you are using pre declared variable s you can assign values to them throughout the trading signal analysis technique or function Syntax Name Expression 28 Using Variables CHAPTER 2 Name is the name of the variable and Expression is either a numeric true false or text string expression The expression type must match the var
42. Asset PutITM Count Reserved for future use PutOTMCount Reserved for future use PutSeriesCount Returns the number of put series available in the option chain Usage Value2 PutSeriesCount of Asset PutStrikeCount The number of strike prices available for puts in the option chain Usage Valuel PutStrikeCount of Asset Q Ask A numeric value representing the last ask for a symbol Q AskExchange A text string representing the exchange the last bid was sent from Q AskSize A numeric value representing the number of units offered at the best ask price Q BaseCode A character code that represents the Price Scale multiplier as sent by some datafeeds Q BaseCodeBidAsk A character code that represents the Bid Ask Price Scale multiplier on some datafeeds Q Bid A numeric value representing the last bid price for a symbol Q BidExchange A text string representing the exchange the last bid was sent from Q BidSize A numeric value representing the number of units bid at the best bid price 314 APPENDIX C Q Close A numeric value for the price of the close of the last completed trading session Q DatafeedID A numeric value representing the datafeed ID Q Date The YYYMMDD date of the last time any price field for this symbol was updated Q ExchangeListed A string expression representing the exchange under which the symbol is listed Q ExpirationDate The expiration date Y Y YMMDD f
43. BarDate BarTime Price MyText The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Drawing Text on Price Charts 79 Parameters BarDate and BarTime are numeric expressions corresponding to the date and time respectively for the bar on which you want to anchor the text object Price is a numeric expression representing the price value at which to anchor the text object and MyText is the text string expression to add to the price chart All text objects are anchored at a specific bar and price value on the price chart You need to provide this information to the Text New reserved word in order for the trading signal analysis technique or function to add a text object to the chart Notes Valuel is any numeric variable or array and holds the ID number for the new text object Text objects are added to the chart using the default color and vertical and horizontal alignment of the charting application As you will see you can change any of these properties using the reserved words listed in this section Example For example the following statements add a text string Key to a price chart every time there is a key reversal pattern Variable ID 1 If Low lt Low 1 AND Close gt High 1 Then ID Text New Date Time Low Key Text Delete This reserved word removes from the chart the text object with the ID number that matches the one specified It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the re served wo
44. Bibh hi mibe wa CRIME Ec Ba Cg lx et L Figure 2 11 Chart with the Expert Commentary window Note In the case of grid applications like the OptionStation Position Analysis window the commentary will always be based on the most current bar since there is no way to select a historical bar in a grid application It is important to remember that when commentary is requested for a bar the trading strategy or analysis technique is recalculated for the entire chart or symbol on the grid similar to turning the status of the trading strategy or analysis technique off and then on This is needed because due to the optimization routines used by EasyLanguage certain calculations are only performed when commentary is obtained therefore when commentary is requested these calculations need to be performed from the beginning of the chart or entire data set The reserved words used to work with commentary are described next Commentary This reserved word sends the expression or list of expressions to the Expert Commentary window for whatever bar is selected on the price chart or the last bar in the case of a grid application You can use this reserved word multiple times but it does not add a carriage return after the expression or list of expressions 66 Output Methods CHAPTER 2 Syntax Commentary MyExpression MyExpression is the numeric text string or true false expression that is to be sent to
45. CommentaryCL Sends EasyLanguage expression s to Expert Commentary with a carriage return Usage CommentaryCL This is a single line of expert commentary CommentaryEnabled Returns 7rue on any bar when the Expert Commentary window is open Commission Returns the commission setting from the current strategy s Costs tab CommodityNumber Unique number representing a particular symbol in the Symbol Dictionary optional Usage If CommodityNumber 149 Then Any Operation Contract Specifies the number of units contracts shares to trade within a trading strategy Usage ExitLong 1 Contract Next Bar at Market ContractMonth Refers to the delivery expiration month of any option future or position leg Usage If ContractMonth of Option 6 Then Plotl June Expiration Expires Contracts Specifies the number of units contracts shares to trade within a trading strategy Same as Contract ContractYear Refers to the delivery expiration year of any option future or position leg Usage If ContractYear of Option 99 AND ContractMonth 8 Then Plotl August 1999 Expiration Expired Contributor With FutureSource returns the name of the institution that provided a quote for a spe cific FOREX symbol Cosine Returns the cosine value of num degrees Usage Valuel Cosine 72 returns 0 3090 when num is 72 degrees Cost Returns the value of the cost of establishing a leg or position Usage Plot1 C
46. Delta of the option When this reserved word is used in another analysis technique it is used to obtain the Delta of the option Syntax Delta num Parameters Num is a numeric expression representing the Delta of the option This parameter is needed only when setting the value in the Pricing Model not when obtaining it Example For example when writing a Pricing Model if the value of Delta is stored in the variable Valuel then the Delta for the option is set by using Delta Valuel EasyLanguage for OptionStation Writing OptionStation Models 229 When writing other analysis techniques these instructions obtain the Delta for the option Valuel Delta of option Notice the use of the qualifier Of Option For information on qualifiers see the section earlier in this chapter titled Reading OptionStation Data Gamma num This reserved word is used in the Pricing Model to set the Gamma of the option When this reserved word is used in another analysis technique it is used to obtain the Gamma of the option Syntax Gamma num Parameters Num is a numeric expression representing the Gamma of the option This parameter is need ed only when setting the value in the Pricing Model not when obtaining it Example For example if in a Pricing Model the value of Gamma is stored in the variable Valuel then the Gamma for the option is set by using Gamma Valuel When writing other analysis techniques the
47. Open High 1 Then Begin If Close Open Then Buy 100 shares This Bar on Close Else Sell 100 shares This Bar on Close End Notice that in order to nest an IF THEN statement we generally use the Begin End block as highlighted by the gray boxes above While Loop The While loop repeats the specified instructions as long as the control expression has a value of True When market conditions change and the control expression becomes False the loop is exited Note When working with RadarScreen or OptionStation where you are analyzing multiple symbols simultaneously keep in mind that using loops will add to the processing time and the resources required and the time and resources required is multiplied by each symbol being analyzed Syntax While Conditionl Begin EasyLanguage instruction s End Condition is any true false expression and is called the control expression EasyLan guage instruction s is any number of valid EasyLanguage statements For example the following While loop is used to count the number of bars generating a to tal volume of 1 000 000 shares The Basic EasyLanguage Elements EasyLanguage Control Structures 37 Variables SumVolume 0 Counter 0 SumVolume 0 Counter 0 While SumVolume 1000000 Begin SumVolume SumVolume Volume Counter Counter Counter 1 End First we declare two variables SumVolume and Counter Although we initialize the vari
48. Open Next Bar Range Limit If Average Close 4 of Data2 Average Close 7 of Data2 Then ExitShort Next Bar at Close Instead writing two different signals one containing the first IF THEN statement and an other containing the second IF THEN statement is necessary Later these signals can both be included as part of the same Trading Strategy through TradeStation Strategy Builder 266 Library name within double quotes expected here The PowerEditor displays this error when defining an external DLL function and the name of the DLL is missing or incorrect The first element of the list of parameters in the DefineDLLFunc statement should be the name of the DLL library within double quotes The following statement will generate this error DefineDLLFunc int MyFunc int The correct syntax for this statement is DefineDLLFunc MyDLL int MyFunc int 267 DLL function name within double quotes expected here When defining a function from a DLL the name of the DLL must be enclosed in double quotes For example the following is a proper example of such a function definition be cause it includes the function name user dll followed by DLL s return type and param eters DefineDLLFunc user dll int beep 274 Return type of this DLL function must be specified When declaring a DLL function the return type of the function must be the second param eter listed Following is a correct DLL function declaration
49. These parameters can then be used within the function as a true false expression m Text string Text string parameters allow the user of the function to pass any text string value e g ABC or text string expression as a parameter into the function These parameters can then be used within the function as a text string expression The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Understanding User Functions 59 Like the function itself a parameter can be of subtype simple series or it can be of another subtype type reference Each subtype is described next Simple Parameters Simple parameters are constant values that are set in the trading signal or analysis technique that calls the function Simple parameters require less memory and improve speed They retain their values within the function simple parameters cannot have values assigned to them within the body of the function When the user is expected to provide a number for instance 1 e 10 15 or 20 you should define the parameter as numeric simple For example the Average function provides a pa rameter called Length which enables you to specify the number of bars to use when calcu lating the average Since this number does not change from bar to bar it is a fixed number such as 9 18 or 50 there is no need to store previous values of it Therefore to improve speed and memory usage of the function Length is defined as a numeric simple parameter When the function calls for a sim
50. User Defined MaxBarsBack esee 20 deleting eure ee eit mite m M ete User Functions see Functions ending point USER32 DLL see DLL Functions obtaining date sess 96 obtaining price value esses 97 V obtaining fime serene nennen RG Sen re Rae Renan Rene D E 11 335 setting COE ca POE PT Te N eT DINU HT OVE 27 335 EITOT COMES ssssscssesessssresesesvnsssnsesenesenenansnsssersesiene JE o o MP eka omar 26 335 extending Variables left A iiie uide dudes ederet da arrays see Arrays Red STATUSE aenea eres E MUTO esate ASSISTHIIB 15 1d e ae RE sat AES EOIR 27 RIM eise A reir tegi atts benefit of iin ee sees ee SRI nee 25 first object obtaining d counters variables used as sss 37 38 next object obtaining eee 100 declaring unes Pp oa 94 generate orders for next bar calculations 58 eu ate REE RA see rao EU SUE EE 2 global see Global Variables ob Mine Ec Yee actum gp pnv Tae 94 loops and control variables esses 38 tti BOUT Pee inert ARE E EE EE 1 04 parameters using variables aS esses 59 t it ER MG M Lu EE nM ML UELE series variables e teres teet d ose ere itus 29 S r 101 simple variables 2229 ki Br dist cikctetict enses Heer e rt T ae update every tick calculations 6a 758 2c ing x emen nennen enne nnne enne nennen values eeistencime xou eee 98 prc A 101 Variable Assignmen
51. a position once it has returned 400 SetStopContract Instructs TradeStation to evaluate all stop values of a strategy on a per contract entry basis Use SetStopPosition to evaluate stop values on a per position basis Usage SetStopContract sets a stop for individual contract entry SetStopLoss 50 SetStopLoss Sets a stop loss order money management stop specifies the amount in dollars you are willing to lose on the position contract before it is liquidated Used by the trading signal Stop Loss Syntax SetStopLoss Amount Amount the dollar amount that must be incurred before position contract is liquidated Usage SetStopContract can also use SetStopC ontract SetStopLoss 2 fexits long position when down 2 per contract SetStopPosition 320 APPENDIX C Instructs TradeStation to evaluate all stop values of a strategy on a per position basis To evaluate all stop values on a per contract entry basis use SetStop Contract Usage SetStopPosition SetStopLoss 1200 places a stop loss order of 1200 for entire position SGA Exp By NetSales Annualized growth rate percentage of sales calculated from the total revenue divided by the number of outstanding shares Share Used to specify a contract share for a particular buy sell or exit order Usage Buy 1 Share Next Bar at Market Shares Used to specify the number of contracts shares for a particular buy sell or exit order Usage ExitLong 5 Sha
52. above A numeric expression can be used in a trading order to determine the number of shares or contracts and or to spec ify the price of the stop or limit order For example Buy Next Bar at Low Range is incorrect because it does not include a trading verb after the price Range To be correct you could add the word Stop or Limit as in Buy Next Bar at Low Range Stop 163 The word TO or DOWNTO was expected here This error is displayed whenever writing a For loop and the word to or downto is omitted The correct syntax for a For loop is For Valuel 1 To 10 Begin statements End 165 The word BAR or BARS expected here This error is displayed whenever referencing to a value of a previous bar where the word Bar is omitted For example the following statement will cause this error Valuel Close of 10 Ago The correct syntax is Valuel Close of 10 Bars Ago 166 The word AGO expected here This error is displayed when the PowerEditor finds a reference to any expression for a number of bars ago without using the phrase Bars Ago For example Valuel Close of 10 Bars produces this error because the word Ago is missing The correct syntax for this expression is Valuel Close of 10 Bars Ago 246 APPENDIX A 167 Jwas expected before end of file In order to add comments to your EasyLanguage it is necessary to enclose the commen tary text in the curly braces and An error messa
53. and 75 What you need to do is reset the plot color to a default color every bar so that itis only red when above 75 and green when below 25 The rest of the time itis the default color In this example we used the SetPlotBGColor reserved word to reset the plot to the default color EasyLanguage for OptionStation Writing Indicators for SuperCharts SE 209 You can also set the default color of the plot using the PlotNum reserved word If you set the default color in the PlotNum statement then you don t have to use the first SetPlotBGColor statement instead your instructions would be as follows Plotl RSI Close of asset 9 RSI Default Default If RSI Close of asset 9 75 Then SetPlotBGColor 1 Red If RSI Close of asset 9 25 Then SetPlotBGColor 1 Green Writing Indicators for SuperCharts SE This section discusses how to write indicators for use with SuperCharts SE and is intended only for those who have purchased OptionStation only in which case you have SuperCharts SE available for your charting and technical analysis needs Please review the section titled Writing OptionStation Indicators and then continue with this section If you purchased Omega Research ProSuite or TradeStation you will have TradeStation available for your charting and trading strategy testing needs and you should refer instead to the chapter of this book titled EasyLanguage for TradeStation for information on writing trad
54. asset Figure 5 9 shows a table with the combination of possible alternatives when working with the CreateLeg reserved word Call Wite n call conta a 75 NN Put Write n put contract s f Ru Buy n sharesicontract 3 of underlying AssetType Sell short n shares contrac s of underlying Figure 5 9 CreateLeg variations Example See the example for the reserved word PositionStatus EasyLanguage for OptionStation Writing OptionStation Models 223 PositionStatus Condition This reserved word determines whether or not the position is valid based on your own criteria and therefore accepted for evaluation in the Position Search results Syntax PositionStatus Condition Parameters Condition is any true false expression Notes When an expression that evaluates to True is passed to this reserved word the position is accepted and considered for the search results if it evaluates to False the position is discarded Example For example the following instructions are used to create a position that consists of buy ing only in the money calls CreateLeg 1 Call Conditionl Strike of leg 1 Close of asset PositionStatus Conditionl Writing OptionStation Models Writing OptionStation Models Pricing Volatility and Bid Ask in EasyLanguage is more of an exercise in translating the mathematical procedures of calculating these values into EasyLanguage than anything else In order t
55. asset during the holding period specified The OptionStation Search Engine then values each position s profit at the ending date and time of the holding period using the volatility and price assumptions specified EasyLanguage for OptionStation Writing Search Strategies 219 Your three target price assumption choices are shown in Figure 5 8 tewieviersy ari Lage Pirr Lagen cree Thai ri aie ris agi a peered adie hr Bee tery im Pos mummum d Beil Me paglarabe s EI ee incom he eed mao m min Rud mmm T Libi e rares pact d Pali Lipi cisci o1 dips acing dil LE ITYTTTET I IT UT 7 BID zz eee em D Sasedy mund je Ayi mda aru iar cam sae a mom idee died eet mer mean mie Figure 5 8 OptionStation Position Search Wizard target price assumptions Use the current price as the target price for each underlying asset The OptionStation Search Engine uses the current price of the underlying asset as the target price at the end of the holding period Use a price target for each asset X above below the current price The OptionStation Search Engine uses the specified percent above or below the current price of the underlying asset as the target price at the end of the holding period to value the profit or loss of each position Specify a target price style and a target price range for each underlying asset The following are available under this choice Exactly Price 1 The OptionStation Search Engine
56. be changed within the EasyLanguage procedure its value re mains constant throughout the procedure The advantage of using an input is that you can redefine the value of the input when you use the trading strategy or analysis technique For example the Moving Average 1 Line Indicator is written with an input called Length which is the number of bars to include in the average This input is assigned the default val ue of 9 but you can change it to any number when you apply the indicator to a chart or grid thereby having the trading signal analysis technique or function calculate the moving average using a different number of bars Inputs allow for maximum flexibility and user control of the trading strategy or analysis technique without having to go to the EasyLanguage PowerEditor or TradeStation StrategyBuilder to modify the instructions themselves Also you can use the same EasyLanguage procedure more than once in a chart window or grid application or in dif ferent chart windows or grid applications using different input values in each For example you can apply the Moving Average 1 Line Indicator to a Microsoft chart to calculate a 10 bar average and you can apply the same indicator to an IBM chart to calcu late an 18 bar average Inputs allow the same indicator to perform these different calcula tions you don t have to create a new indicator or even modify it in the EasyLanguage PowerEditor Another important advantage is that w
57. cept you need to understand to start working with text is that each instance of a text drawing object on a chart called a text object has a distinct identification ID number All EasyLanguage reserved words use the ID number to refer to a specific text object The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Drawing Text on Price Charts 77 To view the ID number for a text object double click the text object to display the Format Text dialog box the caption will contain the ID number as shown in Figure 2 14 Figure 2 14 Formatting a text object on a chart You can draw text objects using trading signals analysis techniques indicators and studies or functions or by using the drawing object tool When you use trading signals analysis techniques or functions to draw text objects they are added to a chart using the default size color and alignment of the charting application These attributes can be modified using the EasyLanguage text object reserved words In order to place text on the chart you need to define the specific point on the chart to draw the text You define the point by specifying a date and time x axis and a price y axis This is the basic information that you manipulate when working with text objects additional information that you manipulate with the reserved words is the color text string and alignment of the text All of the reserved words used to work with text objects return a numeric value repre
58. de Petite a Or Higher eene enr Or Lower Order of Precedence controlling sss 13 Orders acceptabletorders oae tei e e Reed 121 bouncing TICKS een tremere erected 128 built in stops see Stops canceling 2er e ee o e PEOR dete 125 exit price tying to bar of entry 140 143 Index 345 fill precedence ClOSe Ofders ede eet ete rer rete 119 imit orders 2 cise reete eene opto eroe 120 market orders sess 119 Stop Orders onno tre epi eter tei R ato 120 Bl prices ies ete ie 118 open entries per position limiting se 122 pyramiding effect on order placement 124 rules determining which to fill s 119 shares number to use to open position 121 Stand by orders sse 123 stops see Stops trading Verbs neinei t eoe eq 131 WEINS fs ciescndce coded eieo EE GE etit ftis 116 Origin Type of Text Object sese 83 Output Methods COTIImIentaby si sess eret ie ve eie e ries Debus Window erret three etn file ester eerte Message Log window pinter ainiin ON E E E teen sues ees geeescoueannaadnase tne vuecsedes P Pager DefaultName siirenniii sneed i 308 Pager Send eese i ae ies dania 308 PaintBar Studies adding esee EE EAE 156 bar range to paint specifying sess 156 color setting npa R E EEA E AR ICmoving 5 recep ere E E EREE teuestoniiys
59. display as a line chart as a histogram from the bottom of the chart or as a series of dots etc tt ZI 2 ng 4 jue a p hy A r Momentum Close 10 13 69 TT RSI Close 1 4 30 70 Green Magenta 57 88 30 00 70 00 M SuperCharts SE Chart MSFT Microsoft som LAST Du Iof xi MSFTLAST Daily 08 26 1989 0 355438 hal j Lae is i j H Lino ELT pn d UE pr 5 44 000 m 40 000 Figure 3 16 Different formatting styles of indicators You can even format the properties of an indicator to display as a bar chart For example in the case of an indicator with three plots such as the 3 Line Moving Average Indicator you can format the indicator and set one plot to bar high another to 150 Writing Indicators and Studies CHAPTER 3 bar low and another to right tick The 3 Line Moving Average indicator displayed as a bar chart is shown in Figure 3 17 E ip Em ED 4 T eel Corp Las Dily mica AST mite Oi ae k t S87 000 L 31 DO FTE o ll li i Ded Ang 2 breticioon 49 19 01 Pad JEHO ET19 li TIT bitte moe i ly aun sul Figure 3 17 Indicator formatted to display as a bar chart For more information on formatting indicators please refer to the Online User Manual Also make sure you understand the concept of scaling with respect to price charts and indicators Using different scaling can dramatically alter the display of your indicators For inf
60. displayed if there are extra right parentheses in the expression being evaluated For example Valuel Close Open 2 234 END found without matching BEGIN This error is displayed whenever a block statement does not contain a matching End for every Begin 237 Position Information function not allowed in a study Strategy position information words can only be used in signals and functions This error will be generated if any one of these words are found in anything other than a signal or function 238 Performance Information function not allowed in a study Strategy performance information words can only be used in signals and functions This error will be generated if any one of these words are found in anything other than a signal or function 239 Array name too long Array names can have up to 20 characters An error message will be displayed if the array name used in the declaration statement has more than 20 characters 240 This signal name does not exist This error is displayed whenever tying an exit to a non existent entry name For example the following signal produces this error Buy Break Next Bar at Highest High 10 Stop ExitLong From Entry BreakOut Next Bar at Low Stop because the exit incorrectly refers to an entry labeled BreakOut which does not exist in this signal Changing the entry name to Break will correct this error 256 APPENDIX A 241 Cannot exit from an ex
61. done through a five step iterative process described next EasyLanguage for OptionStation Writing OptionStation Models 225 The Five Step Iterative Process The OptionStation Price Modeling Engine calculates all prices through a five step process This process includes three different models Pricing Model Volatility Model and Bid Ask Model Figure 5 10 illustrates this five step process start of Process i x Step 5 Step 1 m Step 3 bg Pricing Modal Pricing Modal ae ee s MIN on made hal on Bed Theoreical Eid Ask ard MIY on Ask Value and Theoretical MI en Last ESKS Value Step 2 Step 4 Volatility Modal zlii aisi Medal Modal violatiliby Modal Bid and Ask Figure 5 10 OptionS tation Five Step Pricing Model Engine This process is repeated for every option available to OptionStation at a particular moment In other words OptionStation iterates through this process as many times as there are op tions in the symbol portfolio for the underlying asset being analyzed Step 1 Obtaining MIVs from the Pricing Model The objective of this step is to find the Market Implied Volatility MIV for the raw last Bid and Ask sent by the datafeed for an option This is an iterative process as shown in Figure 5 10 which intelligently picks different volatility values to run the Pricing Model in order to estimate what volatility is needed to derive a price equaling the last Bid and Ask values received from the GlobalSer
62. expression easier to read EasyLanguage for OptionStation Reading OptionStation Data 201 Notes When OptionStation obtains the options from the GlobalServer it numbers them arbitrarily from 1 through n Therefore to refer to a particular option you must first determine what number OptionStation has assigned to it The identifying characteristics of an option are the expiration date type of option and the strike price therefore you can use the reserved words ExpirationDate OptionType and Strike to identify the number assigned to an option For your convenience OptionStation provides two user functions designed to determine the number assigned to an option OS FindCall and OS FindPut Please refer to the Function Library in the Online User Manual for information on these user functions Example The following instructions return a summation of the open interest for all Put options For Valuel 1 To NumOptions of asset Begin If OptionType of option Valuel Put Then TotalPutI TotalPutI OpenInt of option Valuel End The IF THEN statement within the loop adds the open interest of all put options being an alyzed and stores the result in the variable TotalPutI The above example uses the reserved word NumOptions which is described next NumOptions This reserved word is not a data alias it returns the total number of options being analyzed Syntax NumOptions of asset Parameters None however you must us
63. f input by reference TrueFalseSeries Defines an input as a true false series expression Usage Input Flag TrueFalseSeries taccepts a t f input with history 334 APPENDIX C TrueFalseSimple Defines an input as a true false simple expression Usage Input Switch TrueFalseSimple accepts a t f input without history TtIDbt By NetAssts Returns the total debt long short term divided by total assets Tuesday Specifies day of the week Tuesday numeric value 2 Under Used only with Crosses to detect a value crossing under or below another value Usage If Valuel Crosses Under Value2 Then Any Operation UnionSess1EndTime Latest session 1 end time of all data in a multi data chart UnionSess1FirstBar Earliest session 1 first bar time of all data in a multi data chart UnionSess1StartTime Earliest session start time of all data in a multi data chart UnionSess2EndTime Latest session 2 end time of all data in a multi data chart UnionSess2FirstBar Earliest session 2 first bar time of all data in a multi data chart UnionSess2StartTime Earliest session 2 start time of all data in a multi data chart Units Retained for backward compatibility UNSIGNED Reserved for use with custom DLLs designed for EasyLanguage and ELKIT32 DLL Until Reserved for future use UpperStr Used to convert a string expression to uppercase letters Usage Valuel UpperStr My TextString returns MY TEXTSTRING UpTi
64. for US Treasury Bonds on CBOE Sessions Returns a numeric expression representing the number of sessions SetBreakEven Sets a breakeven stop specifies the profit required before placing the stop Used by the trading signal BreakEvenStop Floor Syntax SetBreakEven Price Price the floor or minimum equity needed for the stop to become active Usage SetStopPosition can also use SetStopC ontract SetBreakEven 250 places a breakeven stop after a 250 position profit SetDollarTrailing Sets a dollar risk trailing stop specifies the maximum tolerated loss amount in dol lars of the maximum open position profit Used by the trading signal Dllr Risk Trailing Syntax SetDollarTrailing A mount Amount the dollar amount you are willing to risk per position or per contract share Usage SetStopPosition can also use SetStopC ontract SetDollarTrailing 500 Sets dollar risk trailing stop at 500 for entire position SetExitOnClose Sets a stop to exit the position on the last bar of the day for intraday charts Used by the trading signal Close at end of day Usage SetExitOnClose exits positions at end of day SetPercentTrailing Sets a percent risk trailing stop specifies the profit that must be reached to activate stop and the maximum tolerated loss amount as a percentage of the maximum open position profit Used by the trading signal Pent Risk Trailing Syntax SetPercentTrailing Amount P ercent Amount the dollar a
65. for the next bar In other words the values of all variables are carried over from bar to bar thus allowing an easier manipulation of informa tion For instance you can use a variable to keep a counter of the number of bars that have passed since a certain market condition or the number of bars that you ve been in a certain market position For example the following instructions keep a counter of the number of bars since the last key reversal Variable Counter 1 If Counter 1 Then Counter Counter 1 If Low Low 1 AND Close gt High 1 Then Counter 0 26 Using Variables CHAPTER 2 The variable Counter starts with a value of 1 which is assigned in the Variable Declara tion statement and is incremented by one on every bar once its value changes from This indicator changes the Counter variable from 1 to 0 the first time a key reversal is found and subsequently resets it to 0 each time a new key reversal is found Note how the instructions Counter Counter I assigns to the variable Counter its current value and adds one This would not be possible unless variables carried forward their values from bar to bar Also using variables helps avoid typing errors and makes your procedure more legible For example consider the following statement If Close gt High 1 Average Range 10 0 5 Then Buy Next Bar at High 1 Average Range 10 0 5 Stop The expression highlighted in the g
66. has an extensive application program interface API that allows other applications to interface with it and write requests to it Printing information into the Message Log should be done whenever additional information that is not easily shown elsewhere is required from a trading signal analysis technique or function Examples of this type of information are specialized reports or plain English messages that cannot be shown properly in a chart or grid window You can also send information to the EasyLanguage Debug window which resides in the EasyLanguage PowerEditor and is for use when debugging your trading signals analysis techniques and functions Refer to the next section for information on sending text to the Debug window file or printer Note As of Service Pack 3 of Version 20001 the Message Log window is not installed automatically unless you are upgrading from a previous version If you are not upgrading and you want to use the window you must choose to install the window from the Custom installation menu This section assumes it is installed MessageLog This reserved word sends an expression or comma separated list of expressions to the Message Log window Syntax MessageLog Expression Expressionis any EasyLanguage expression or a comma separated list of expressions The expressions can be numeric true false or text string or any combination As mentioned above the resulting expressions are sent to t
67. importance However once the function is called the array MyArray is modified in this case a value has been added to the array and the existing elements bubble sorted Output Methods In addition to the conventional means of plotting information EasyLanguage provides many ways of displaying information about the data being analyzed Among the most use ful methods are Commentary the Message Log window the Debug window and writing to a file This section discusses these four alternative output methods Working with Commentary The objective of creating commentary for a trading signal analysis technique or function is to send additional information about the specific price bar selected by the user of the procedure to the Expert Commentary window The information sent can be The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Output Methods 65 anything you want for example market commentary or debugging messages can be included in the commentary text for the user to review An example of commentary is shown in Figure 2 11 SVO Cc iR eee wma bem aur Tara srawe Pu Heri marem mam Ir aen i thos noma nm F an Araieui Dn biagi baed gs Lonesrianud iniarprei nl ius ihe ruarbal i HA wh My LA EL qr PE E s Hy Hr at Hl ay Bag a Ti daj iiaj draidh Mops roa Fon TE previos Doa inci goi i tirar Ja Lay marem om cen pus ab es lbp Home mora wap Ii Hy il nd Th r comrertay m Ege polis am p EMrang ioci or Les erecta ia adf
68. in the Pricing Model not when obtaining it Example For example if in a Pricing Model the value of Theta is stored in the variable Value then the Theta of the option is set by using Theta Valuel When writing other analysis techniques these instructions obtain the Theta for the option Valuel Theta of option Notice the use of the qualifier Of Option For information on qualifiers see the section earlier in this chapter titled Reading OptionStation Data Vega num This reserved word is used in the Pricing Model to set the Vega of the option When this reserved word is used in another analysis technique it is used to obtain the Vega of the op tion Syntax Vega num Parameters Num is a numeric expression representing the Vega of the option This parameter is needed only when setting the value in the Pricing Model not when obtaining it Example For example if in a Pricing Model the value of Vega is stored in the variable Value then it can be set by using Vega Valuel EasyLanguage for OptionStation Writing OptionStation Models 231 When writing other analysis techniques these instructions obtain the Vega for the option Valuel Vega of option Notice the use of the qualifier Of Option For information on qualifiers see the section earlier in this chapter titled Reading OptionStation Data ModelVolatility num This reserved word is used in the Volatility Model to set the volati
69. inside the bar Syntax BarsStatus DataSeries DataSeries specifies which data series to use Returns 0 for opening tick 1 for inside tick 2 for closing tick 1 on an error Usage Value2 BarStatus 2 Based Skip word retained for backward compatibility Begin Used to begin a block of EasyLanguage instructions within a conditional statement Usage If Conditionl True Then Begin Your Code Linel Your Code Line2 etc End Below Used only with Crosses to detect a value crossing below or under another value Usage If Valuel Crosses Below Value2 Then Any Operation Beta Returns the Beta value of a stock compared to the S amp P 500 index Beta Down Returns the Beta value of a stock when S amp P 500 is down Beta Up Returns the Beta value of a stock when S amp P 500 is up Bid Returns the bid value of an option or position leg calculated by a Bid Ask Model Usage If Close of Option Bid of Option 125 Then Alert Very Low Bid BigPointV alue Dollar amount of 1 full point move Usage Valuel BigPointValue Close Black Specifies color Black numeric value 1 for plots and backgrounds BlockNumber Returns the unique Security Block number attached to this computer 284 APPENDIX C Blue Specifies the color Blue numeric value 2 for plots and backgrounds Usage Plotl Valuel Test Blue Book Val Per Share Returns calculated book value per share common shares o
70. listed inputs Syntax MinList Num1 NumN Num1 the first value or expression to compare NumN additional values to compare separated by commas Usage Valuel MinList 45 72 86 125 47 returns a value of 45 MinList2 Returns the second lowest value of the listed inputs See MinList for syntax Usage Value2 MinList2 18 67 98 24 65 19 returns a value of 19 MinMove Minimum tick movement of stock future symbol Usage Valuel MinMove PriceScale returns the smallest price increment MIVonAsk Returns the market implied volatility of an option or position leg based on the ask price defined by a Bid Ask Model Usage If ModelVolatility of Option MIVonAsk of Option 1 2 Then Alert High Modeled Volatility MIVonBid Returns the market implied volatility of an option or position leg based on the bid price defined by a Bid Ask Model Usage is similar to MIVonAsk MIVonClose Returns the market implied volatility of an option or position leg based on the closing price Usage is similar to MIVonAsk 304 APPENDIX C MIVonRawAsk Returns the market implied volatility of an option or position leg based on the last ask price received from your datafeed Usage is similar to MIVonAsk MIVonRawBid Returns the market implied volatility of an option or position leg based on the last bid price received from your datafeed Usage is similar to MIVonAsk Moc Reserved for future use Mod Divides two number
71. of the EasyLanguage drawing object errors when it fails For example if the start point of the trendline is set to exactly the same value as the ending point the reserved word will return the error 5 Also it is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any trendlines by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error Example The following statement sets the start point of trendline 5 to the high price 10 bars ago Valuel TL SetBegin 5 Date 10 Time 10 High 10 TL SetColor This reserved word changes the color of the specified trendline Syntax Valuel TL SetColor Tl ID Color Parameters TI ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the trendline whose color you want to change and Color is one of the EasyLanguage supported colors For a list of supported colors refer to Appendix B of this book The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Drawing Trendlines on Price Charts 105 Notes Valuelis any numeric variable or array You must assign the trendline reserved word to a numeric variable or array so that you can determine whether or not the reserved word performed its operation successfully It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any trendlines b
72. of the error and examples of the correct and incorrect syntax for the offending statement or instruction where applicable 61 Word not recognized by EasyLanguage This error is displayed whenever a word is not recognized by the PowerEditor For exam ple if itis not an EasyLanguage reserved word EasyLanguage function or a declared user defined variable array or input name 62 Invalid number The PowerEditor displays this message whenever it finds a typographical error in a num ber For example if a letter is inserted by mistake in a number the number will be high lighted and this error will be displayed An example of an invalid number is 00 b4 63 Number out of range The PowerEditor displays this error whenever it finds a number that is outside the support ed range a number which is too big The following statement will produce this error Valuel 99999999999999999999 65 Invalid variable name The PowerEditor displays this error whenever it finds an invalid name in an variable dec laration statement Variable names cannot start with a number nor any special character other than the underline _ For example this error will be generated when the following statement is verified Variable SMyVariable 0 66 Invalid input name The PowerEditor will display this error whenever it finds an invalid name in a input dec laration statement Input names cannot start with a number nor any special character oth
73. of the last line in effect the above example is one complete statement Combining Block IF THEN and IF THEN Else Statements When you use an IF THEN Else statement you can also use a Block IF THEN statement for either the IF THEN or the Else instructions or both The following three variations are valid forms of these IF THEN statements 1 Block IF THEN with Else If Conditionl Then Begin EasyLanguage instruction s End Else EasyLanguage instruction 2 Block IF THEN with Block Else If Conditionl Then Begin EasyLanguage instruction s End Else Begin EasyLanguage instruction s End 3 IF THEN with Block Else If Conditionl Then EasyLanguage instruction Else Begin EasyLanguage instruction s End 36 EasyLanguage Control Structures CHAPTER 2 Nesting an IF THEN Statement You can also nest IF THEN statements Nesting is a term used when one control structure is included within another therefore a nested IF THEN statement simply means that there are one or more IF THEN statements within another IF THEN statement For example a trading signal might state that it will either buy or sell when the market gaps up If the market closes greater than the open the signal places an order to buy 100 shares if the market closes lower than the open the signal sells short 100 shares This instruction is written best using nested IF THEN statements as follows If
74. of the last time any price field of this symbol was updated Q Ticks Tick count as sent by the datafeed Bridge Future Source and DBC subserver Q TickTrend The tick trend positive negative neutral provided by the datafeed Q Time The last time HHMM any price field of this symbol was updated Q TradeVolume A numeric value representing the trade volume of the last trade Q UpdateDate The date of the last trade update Q UpdateTime The time of the last trade update Q Year The year portion YYY of the last time any price field of the symbol was updated Quick Ratio Calculated as cash short term investment accounts receivable current liabilities 316 APPENDIX C Random Returns a pseudo random number between 0 and num Syntax Random num Num value that determines the range of possible numbers starting with 0 and ending with Num Usage Valuel Random 37 randomly returns any value between 0 and 37 RawAsk Returns the raw ask value received from the data provider Usage If RawAsk of Option Close of Option 125 Then Alert Very Low Ask RawBid Returns the raw bid value received from the data provider Usage If RawBid of Option Open of Option 5 Then Alert High Bid Red Specifies color Red numeric value 6 for plots and backgrounds Repeat Reserved for future use Ret On Avg Equity Calculated as income available to common stockholders average comm
75. on the chart and we don t want to reference a text object that doesn t exist Text GetColor This reserved word returns a numeric expression corresponding to the color assigned to a specified text object It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used it will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any text objects by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error Syntax Valuel Text GetColor Text ID Parameters Text ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the text object for which to obtain the color Notes Valuel is any numeric variable or array You must assign the text object reserved word to a numeric variable or array so that you can determine whether or not the reserved word performed its operation successfully For a list of the supported colors refer to Appendix B of this book Example For Sample the following statements write the text string Key wherever there is a key reversal pattern on the price chart and compares the color of the text object with the back ground of the price chart If the colors match the indicator draws the text string using a dif ferent color Variables ID 1 TxtColor 0 If Low Low 1 AND Close High 1 Then Begin ID Text New Date Time Low Key TxtColor Text GetColor ID The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Drawing Text on Price Charts 81 If TxtColor GetBackGro
76. or string and they can be of subtype simple series or reference When writing a function you must define what parameters the function will require from the user of the function To do so you use the Input Declaration statement You can declare multiple parameters of same or different types using one Input Declaration statement For example Input MyNumber NumericSimple The above Input Declaration statement declares a numeric simple parameter To define a numeric series parameter you use Input MyNumber NumericSeries To define a numeric reference parameter you use Input MyNumber NumericRef The prefix determines the type Numeric TrueFalse or String and the suffix determines the subtype Simple Series or Ref For example to define two true false parameters one series and one reference you would use the following Input Declaration statement Inputs MyValue TrueFalseSeries MyValuel TrueFalseRef Or to define a string simple parameter Input MyString StringSimple 62 Understanding User Functions CHAPTER 2 Note You can define the parameter as Numeric TrueFalse or String without specifying the subtype In this case EasyLanguage automatically detects whether the parameter is simple or series however if the parameter is subtype reference you must explicitly define it as such Working with Arrays Declaring a parameter as an array is a little different To declare an array you must
77. or Default of the background currently ignored with charts Width optional the thickness of the lines to be plotted Usaget PlotPaintBar High Low Open Close My Plot Name or Usage2 PlotPaintBar High Low PlotPB Abbreviated version of PlotPaintBar see above PM_GetCellValue Returns the intensity value of a cell at the specified column and price location Syntax PM_GetCellValue Co Num Price ColNum the ProbabilityMap column number where the cell is located Price the price location of the cell Usage Valuel PM GetCellValue 12 High 310 APPENDIX C PM GetNumColumns Returns the number of columns in a ProbabilityMap array Usage Valuel PM GetNumColumns PM GetRowHeight Returns the height or increment of the rows in a ProbabilityMap study PM High Returns the value of the upper range of a ProbabilityMap grid PM Low Returns the value of the lower range of a Probability Map grid PM SetCellValue Sets the location and intensity of ProbabilityMap cells Syntax PM_SetCellValue Co Num Price Value ColNum the ProbabilityMap column of the cell to be set Price the price location of the cell within the column Value a numeric expression representing the intensity of the cell Usage PM SetCellValue 5 80 10 sets intensity of cell to 10 PM_SetHigh Sets the upper range value of a ProbabilityMap Syntax PM_SetHigh Price Price a numeric expression or value for a price Usage PM_
78. passed by value or by reference When the parameter passes information by value as is the case with simple and series type parameters the function creates a copy of the information passed into it and whatever is done with the parameter in the function does not affect the value of the parameter within the trading signal or analysis technique that called the function However when information is passed by reference the function uses the original informa tion from the trading signal or analysis technique that called the function and any calcula tions the function performs on the parameter are reflected in the value of the parameter 60 Understanding User Functions CHAPTER 2 within the trading signal analysis technique that called the function as well as within the function This is best visualized using an example Suppose that you have added a picture to a word processor document If a picture is added by value a copy of the picture is created in the word processor document If the original picture is modified the picture in the word pro cessor document remains unchanged and vice versa However if the picture is inserted by reference the document uses the original picture and if the picture is modified in the word processor document the original picture is modified as well Also if the original picture is modified the picture in the word processor document reflects the change When a parameter passes information by value it
79. plotted and lt PlotName gt is the name of the plot ForeColor is an EasyLanguage color that will be used for the plot foreground and BackColor is an Easy Language color that will be used for the plot background The parameters Plot Name ForeColor and BackColor are optional For a list of the available colors refer to Appendix B of this book Notes The background color setting has no effect when the indicator is applied to a price chart Notes There is a category of reserved words called Quote Fields These words enable you to ac cess snapshot information from the datafeed and allows indicators applied to OptionSta tion to use less memory and be more efficient in other words to optimize its performance They are very useful for performing analysis on intraday minute and tick bars and referenc ing the current day s information e g daily high low open For information on Quote Fields refer to Chapter 2 The Basics EasyLanguage Elements Example Any one or more of the optional parameters can be omitted as long as there are no other parameters to the right For example the Width parameter can be excluded from a state ment as follows Plotl Strike of option Strike Black White But the plot name cannot be omitted while specifying the colors and or the width So the following example will generate a syntax error because the name of the Plot statement is expected Incorrect Plot1 Strike of option Bla
80. price This means that if a particular position is extremely profitable but the statistical probability of the underlying asset reaching that level is very low the position will be penalized by lowering the resulting P L in order to favor other results that have better statistical chances of occurring The probability of the underlying asset reaching the specified price is calculated in the same way as the Probability Calculator Indicator provided with OptionStation The following is the calculation performed when the target price is above the current price ExpDays SquareRoot NearDays 002739 StdD1 Log Pricel Close of asset Volatility ExpDays AnswerH 1 NormalSCDensity StdD1 And the following is the calculation performed when the target price is under the current price ExpDays SquareRoot NearDays 002739 StdD2 Log Price2 Close of asset Volatility ExpDays AnswerL NormalSCDensity StdD2 Where NearDays is the number of days left until the holding period is over and NormalS Density is the Normal Standard Cumulative Density calculation Pricel X volatilities This method of determining the price assumption is similar to the price range methodology only that the high and low values of the price range are determined by adding and subtracting X number of standard deviations based on the current volatility of the underlying asset from the target price specified The same eval
81. price modeling and position search calculations This chapter first reviews how OptionStation uses the Price Modeling Engine to process the data it receives from the GlobalServer derive the modeled values and prepare the data for analysis The chapter then describes the OptionStation specific reserved words providing contextual examples to create OptionStation indicators Search Strategies and models Included with the explanation of the reserved words are descriptions of the Position Search Engine and Price Modeling Engine so you ll understand the effect of your EasyLanguage instructions on the Engines calculations In This Chapter m OptionStation Data Analysis 194 m Writing Search Strategies 215 m Reading OptionStation Data 195 m Writing OptionStation Models 223 m Writing OptionStation Indicators 204 m OptionStation Global Variables 235 m Writing Indicators for SuperCharts SE 208 194 OptionStation Data Analysis CHAPTER 5 OptionStation Data Analysis When developing indicators Search Strategies and models in OptionStation it is neces sary to understand how OptionStation processes the data it receives from the GlobalServer how it performs its calculations and what data is available to you at what point during the calculations The OptionStation data analysis process occurs in three general steps as shown in Figure 5 1 Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Price
82. return a different value depending on whether the calculation of the Price Modeling Engine and indicators were initiated by a new price of the underlying asset an option or a modeled tick Syntax TickType Parameters None Notes This reserved word returns one of these four values 0 Asset stock or index 1 Future 2 Option 3 Model This reserved word enables you to optimize your EasyLanguage calculations for speed you can control when the analysis technique performs its calculations Example For example in order to perform certain calculations only when the underlying asset ticks stock index or future and to ignore the calculation when an option ticks you can write EasyLanguage for OptionStation OptionStation Global Variables 235 If TickType 0 OR TickType 1 Then Begin EasyLanguage instruction s here End OptionStation Global Variables Option analysis calculations are very computationally intense One of the main reasons op tion analysis is so demanding is that all three models Pricing Volatility and Bid Ask have to be called for each option available every time new data is received However some of the calculations are redundant and can be avoided For example some option analysis techniques use a general volatility value for all options instead of a different volatility value for each option In this case calling the Volatility Model for each option would be redundant and a waste of resources
83. return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any trendlines by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error Example The following statements draw a trendline at the low of a key reversal bar and extend it to the left and right Variable ID 1 If Low Low 1 AND Close High 1 Then Begin ID TL New Date 1 Time 1 Low Date Time Low Valuel TL SetExtRight ID True TL SetExtLeft ID True Valuel End TL SetSize This reserved word changes the thickness of the specified trendline Zero 0 is the thinnest and six 6 is the thickest setting Syntax Valuel TL SetSize Tl ID Num Parameters TI ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the trendline and Num is a numeric expression representing the thickness of the trendline O 6 Notes Valuelis any numeric variable or array You must assign the trendline reserved word to a numeric variable or array so that you can determine whether or not the reserved word performed its operation successfully It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any trendlines by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error Example The following statement sets the line style of trendline 10 to the thinnest line style setting Valuel TL SetS
84. rray held 10 bars ago Valuel MyArray 5 10 It is important to keep in mind the size of the array because the application to which you ve applied the trading signal or analysis technique will generate a runtime error and turn off the analysis technique if you reference or assign a value to an element that does not exist in the array For example the indicator below uses a loop to reference element 11 in an array that only has elements 0 through 8 the application to which you applied the indicator will generate a runtime error and turn off the indicator Array MyArray 8 0 For Valuel 1 To 11 Begin MyArray Valuel Valuel End Advanced Tip Working with Series Arrays As a memory optimization EasyLanguage automatically determines if a prior value of any element of an array is accessed at any point in the trading signal analysis technique or function and then if required stores the historical values for the array EasyLanguage stores only as much history as it needs to fulfill the MaxBarsBack setting For example Valuel MyArray 5 t0 1 05 Value2 MyOtherArray 6 Valuel Plotl Value2 The indicator stores all the prior values of My Array given that a historical value of the array is referenced in the first line The variable Value2 and MyOtherArray are both simple thus historical values for this variable and array are not stored In other words arrays can be either series or simple struc
85. separated by a comma For example in the following Inputs Price Close Length 10 the comma after the first input is missing The PowerEditor places the vertical cursor at the location where it was expecting a comma 250 APPENDIX A 195 Matching quote is missing All text string expressions need to be within double quotes This error will be displayed whenever there are not matching quotes around a text string expression For example the following statement will produce this error Variable Txt Txt This is an example because there is a missing quote to the right of the text expression The correct syntax for this expression is Variable Txt Txt This is an example 197 Signal not verified In order for a trading signal to verify any signals referenced by the trading signal through the use of the IncludeSignal reserved word must be verified as well This error is displayed if you attempt to verify a trading signal that references an unverified signal In order to solve this open the referenced signal and verify it or run Verify All from the PowerEditor menu 200 Error found in function This error is displayed whenever verifying an analysis technique that refers to an unveri fied function The only solution is to open the function verify the function and then return to the analysis technique 201 User function cannot refer to current cell of itself A simple function
86. statements is Value lt M when the word To is used and Valuel gt M when Downto is used Therefore if the For loop is incrementing the control variable and N is greater than M the instructions in the loop will not be evaluated Likewise if the loop is decreasing the control variable and N is lower than M the instructions are not evaluated For example the following loop iterates through the instructions a total of 5 times For Valuel 1 To 5 Begin EasyLanguage instruction s End Valuel will start at 1 for the first iteration then 2 3 4 and 5 and before the sixth iteration will exit from the loop since Value will then be greater than 5 For loops are usually used to look back a specific number of bars For example the follow ing loop is used to add the volume of the last 5 bars Variable SumVolume 0 For Valuel 0 To 4 Begin SumVolume SumVolume Volume Valuel1 End The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Writing Alerts 39 Notice that this loop also uses the control variable as the bar offset for the reserved word Volume as highlighted in gray Also since we want to consider the volume of the current bar Volume 0 we use the values 0 to 4 for our loop instead of 1 to 5 as we did in the previous example This is a common and effective practice You can terminate the loop early by modifying the value of the control variable Using the previous example if you want to stop the summation once it reach
87. tei 228 Volatility setting reet tnt 229 Volatility setting and obtaining values 229 VOLUMES 2rd rne edere ener eee eo gage ego x Ere ou 11 335 WwW Was SKIP WOLIN usenenee eese este NE 335 WAV Files playing eese 110 Wednesday eue y te ree Fh ed eae ERI E 335 Whale e ee tec dd cde costs cinta tian eee De Mo CM Res 336 While Loop infinite LOOPS 11e rere ertet rais 37 understanding 36 White cues 336 Widths EasyLanguage numeric values sss 273 plots setting 150 153 156 187 190 210 213 peii EE 336 Y YOO dde eee e e ES 336 YGllgQw ibendum deat sso e neo m sede se Tin ee es 336 Yesterday cree aee xta e pibe ere Ug DU o ach Poen 336 Z 352 The Omega Research EasyLanguage Reference Guide
88. ten re ES Dlr Risk Trailing sse 146 files outputting to sese A S erda Percent Risk Trailing eee 147 first object obtaining position basis z horizontal alignment obtaining 82 Profit Target location setting rennen Snpra M next object obtaining understanding origin type number representing eee 83 Storage limitations sse nennen 3 price charts drawing on 76 Strategy Testing and Development Club 3 price value obtaining tete 85 SEPIK o ore tiet een lv tdt 321 text string StrikeConfidence 321 obtaining eee eh d 84 StrikeCount neses 321 setting StrikelTMCount 321 time Obtaining eee ten tete Der te e ur dr ra 84 StrikeOTMCount 322 vertical alignment obtaining oo eee 85 St X ng sdai eds 4 322 Text String Operators een 13 Text String Expressions esee 12 StringArray nes 322 Text String Parameters sees 58 StringArrayRef 322 Text Delete StringRef eses 322 Text GetColor StringSeries 4322 Text GetDate StringSimple 322 Text_GetFirst STS TERCER 322 Text_GetHStyle Ste TON UMC eise ee iersec esce eH tonics tes Pee e e ede 322 Text GetNext Studies Text GetString ActivityBar studies see ActivityBar Studies Text GetTime PaintBar studies see PaintBar Studies Text GetValue ProbabilityMap studies see ProbabilityM
89. the ProbabilityMap the better resolution in other words the grid cells are smaller and the resulting graph appears smother and more detailed However it takes more time to draw as there are more cells to calculate and for which to draw ProbabilityMap values Example If you want to have 50 rows in the ProbabilityMap the following instructions specify the appropriate row height PM SetRowHeight PM High PM Low 50 PM SetCellValue Column Price Value This reserved word is used to set the value of an individual cell in the ProbabilityMap drawing area Syntax PM SetCellValue Column Price Value Parameters Column Price and Value are numeric expressions Column and Price are the column and the row of the drawing area respectively and Value is a numeric expression between 0 and 100 that colors that particular cell according to the color patterns shown in Figure 3 22 164 Writing ProbabilityMap Studies CHAPTER 3 Example The following statement sets the cell in the column corresponding to the close of the last bar on the chart the first bar in the ProbabilityMap drawing area to a value of 100 PM SetCellValue 1 Close 100 Get Reserved Words The get reserved words enable trading strategies analysis techniques and functions to read information from the ProbabilityMap study PM Low This reserved word returns a numeric value representing the lower boundary of the ProbabilityMap study drawing are
90. the amount you specify as the stop loss value before the trading strategy would issue an order liquidating the contract share or position SetStopContract This reserved word forces the stop that is used to be evaluated per contract share If neither SetStopContract or SetStopPosition is used the stop is evaluated on a position basis SetStopPosition This reserved word forces the stop that is used to be evaluated on a position basis If neither SetStopContract or SetStopPosition is used the stop is evaluated on a position basis Writing Indicators and Studies Indicators and studies display information on a price chart The most common definition of an indicator is a mathematical formula that returns a number for every bar on a chart with its resulting value displayed as a line histogram or series of points Studies are much like indicators except that they have specific formatting built in The studies available to you in TradeStation are ShowMe PaintBar ProbabilityMap and Activity Bar This section discusses how to write indicators and is followed by sections describing how to write studies ShowMe PaintBar ProbabilityMap and ActivityBar Writing Indicators When you apply an indicator to a price chart you can format the indicator to display their values in different ways for example as shown in Figure 3 16 you can format EasyLanguage for TradeStation Writing Indicators and Studies 149 the indicator to
91. the current ActivityBar Usage Valuel AB_Low AB_Median Returns the median price value of the cells for the current ActivityBar Syntax AB _Median Side Side LeftSide RightSide Usage Value2 AB Median RightSide AB_ModeCount Returns the cell count of the row with the most cells the Mode row Syntax AB ModeCount Side Side LeftSide RightSide Usage Valuel AB ModeCount LeftSide AB ModePrice Calculates and returns the price of the Mode row of an ActivityBar Syntax AB ModePrice Side Side LeftSide RightSide Usage Value2 AB ModePrice RightSide AB_RemoveCell Removes a cell from an ActivityBar row Syntax AB RemoveCell P rice Column S ide Price price value of the cell to remove Column number of the column containing the cell on the side specified Side LeftSide RightSide Usage Valuel AB _RemoveCell Close 3 RightSide Reserved Words Quick Reference 279 AB RowCalc Calculates and returns the row height to use for an ActivityBar Syntax AB RowCalc Proximity RangeLength Proximity the approximate number of rows desired typically between 5 and 25 RangeLength number of bars back used to determine the average price rage Usage Value2 AB RowCalc 10 5 AB_RowHeight Returns the row cell height for an ActivityBar Often used with AB_SetRowHeight Usage Valuel AB RowHeight AB SetActiveCell Changes the placement of the ActivityBar marker to the specified location on the bar
92. the last day an option future position leg or asset may be traded LeftSide Used with ActivityBars to refer to actions on the left side of a bar Usage Value2 GetCellChar Close Leftside 3 LeftStr Returns the leftmost starting portion of a text string Syntax LeftStr String Length String A text string to evaluate Must be enclosed in quotation marks Length The number of characters to return from the start of String Usage Valuel LeftStr Net Profit 3 freturns the word Net Leg References a data element Open Close OpenInt etc of an position leg Usage If Volume of Leg 1 gt HighVal Then any operation 300 APPENDIX C LegType Returns the type of position leg asset future call or put Usage If LegType of Leg 2 Call Then Plotl Call Leg Type LightGray Specifies color Light Gray numeric value 16 for plots and backgrounds Limit In an entry or exit order means or higher or or lower depending on the context Usage Buy Next Bar at 75 Limit enters a long position ata price of 75 or lower Sell Next Bar at 75 Limit enters a short position ata price of 75 or higher Log Returns the natural logarithm of a number Usage Valuel Log 172 returns a log value of 5 1475 LONG Reserved for use with custom DLLs designed for EasyLanguage and ELKIT32 DLL Low Returns the lowest price of the bar referenced Usage Value2 Low of 1 bar ago returns the Low of the pr
93. the next oldest second text object becomes the first drawn on the price chart and so on Text GetHStyle A text object is always anchored to a specific bar Because of this there are three possible ways to horizontally align a text object to the left of the bar where it is drawn to the right or centered This reserved word returns a numeric value indicating the horizontal alignment of the text object Syntax Valuel Text GetHStyle Text ID Parameters Text ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the text object whose horizontal alignment value you want to obtain Notes Valuel is any numeric variable or array that holds the horizontal alignment of the desired text object The reserved word can return one of these three values The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Drawing Text on Price Charts 83 Value Placement 0 Left 1 Right 2 Centered Example The following instructions obtain the horizontal alignment of text object 10 and align it to right of the bar If Text GetHStyle 10 1 Then Valuel Text SetHStyle 1 Text GetNext You can draw text objects using trading signals analysis techniques indicators and studies or functions or by using the drawing object tool EasyLanguage enables you to search for text objects based on how they were created The charting application stores the chronological order of all text objects added to a chart and this information is made available to EasyLang
94. therefore to remove the above plot you need to use one NoPlot statement as shown above If you use four price parameters with the PlotPaintBar reserved word then you use two NoPlot statements to remove the plot NoPlot 1 and NoPlot 2 Writing ProbabilityMap Studies Probability Map studies create a drawing area to the right of any bar clicked in the charting application They are most commonly used to show the most probable path or area where the symbol will move to in the future An example of this is show in Figure 3 20 SE hinted ees Cees 04 Gal eae Heine Figure 3 20 A ProbabilityMap study attempting to forecast future market activity You can also base ProbabilityMap studies on other analysis techniques thereby providing a forecast of values based on the analysis technique However this is not the only use for ProbabilityMap studies as the analysis technique provides a canvas on which you can draw any pattern or figure As mentioned above when creating a new ProbabilityMap study your first task is to define the drawing area This area is rectangular and divided into a grid with rows and columns As illustrated in Figure 3 21 the number of rows is defined by a top and bottom price and a row height and the number of columns defined as a number of bars You set these values using reserved words When the grid is initially created it contains zeros 0 in all cells Therefore after you de fine the drawing ar
95. this bar such as Buy This Bar at Market 263 Stop and limit orders can only be placed for the next bar This error is displayed when trying to write a stop or limit order for the current bar For example Buy This Bar at Low Range Limit is not correct because a Limit order cannot be placed on This Bar To be correct the Limit order must be on the Next Bar Buy Next Bar at Low Range Limit 264 On close order must be placed for this bar Given that all instructions are read at the close of each bar the only types of orders that can be placed on the current bar are at the close Whenever This Bar is included as part of an order it may only refer to the at Close price The correct syntax for This Bar orders is Buy This Bar at Close 260 APPENDIX A 265 Cannot mix next bar prices with data streams other than data1 EasyLanguage prohibits the reference of secondary data streams in the same signal where references to the Date Time or Open of the next price are also made If the references to a secondary data stream and the next bar prices are not directly related it is recommended that you write two signals one that uses next bar prices and a second that references other data streams For example the following statements included in one signal are not allowed because they reference two different data streams Data by default is the first and Data2 in the sec ond If Open Next Bar High Then Sell Next Bar at
96. to risk on a position based on the maximum open position profit The maximum profit is calculated from the point of entry using the highest high when long or the lowest low when short The dollar amount of profit per contract or per position you are willing to risk is then subtracted and the trailing stop is placed at that point For example assume that a dollar risk trailing stop is placed for 500 A protective stop would be placed for the maximum profit minus 500 If the amount you are willing to risk is greater than the maximum open position profit this trailing stop does not take effect Consequently the Dllr Risk Trailing trading signal only locks in profits it does not exit a position if you have a loss on the trade Therefore you should not use it to limit losses SetPercentTrailing This reserved word is used to specify the amount of the maximum open position profit you are willing to lose as a percent as well as the profit level that must be reached in order for the stop to take effect The position or contract share is closed out when the specified percentage of the maximum profit is lost Syntax SetPercentTrailing FloorAmnt Amount Parameters FloorAmnt is the amount of profit to be reached before the stop takes effect Amount is the percent of the profit you are willing to lose Notes Use with SetStopContract or SetStopPosition EasyLanguage for TradeStation Understanding Built in Stops 147 Trading Signa
97. uhgenddeteehte te ven er EU I Eds 196 281 Asset Data Aliases eee ttes rti dee dees 196 Asset referencing underlying sess 196 ASSeCUDTYDe Lie bee ep P Rt tram d ra 281 AsSsGtVOlatdldEy 22e eerte ndo E 281 At Skip WOR Nohneneermtepi erdt 281 BEES uepehrerseestesetespieiibiomem erred 281 AtCommentaryBar 68 282 Auto detect Loop understanding sess 19 Auto Detect MaxBarsBack 5 eee 19 Automating a Trading Strategy see Trading Strategy Testing Engine Availability of Data OptionStation 194 AvgBarsLosTrade AvgBarsWinTrade AvgEntryBR 5ClGe Mosneni n e a ee PY GT SES e EEEE E Ep er ER RU IN eer AVI Piles playing siiin iina eei B Backtesting Trading Strategies see Backtesting under Trading Strategy Testing Engine Bau cones ort ois basi feoentedertsi tec otveca TEE E ede e RR a De Ro 282 BarlntQebyval ivan erneuert 282 BIOS recede as ees XO NN EY egy qp io eta PERUENIRE ERR Bars Ago using i BarsSqcnceEntey nene ettet tasietes eie dites 282 BarsSinceeExTu ingndeuesteesnuip REDE Ree 282 BarStatus s Based Skip Word eene amete tai 283 BO GLI M AR 283 BELOW cunteenetene per terr ee oni REATOR 283 iiid cR 283 Beta l DOWN r eoaexee eee istae Aan NaN NENE KEETE vs 283 IA JUD he eoe ded EEN AEE TE te 283 Bid ees 230 283 Bid Val e 5 ueni emere Ein 230 Bid Ask Mod
98. uses the specified price with the volatility assumptions at the end of the holding period to value the profit or loss of each position Pricel to Price2 This setting accepts a target price range instead of a single value The OptionStation Search Engine divides the specified range by 100 and values each position on each one of the 100 prices For example if the search is to look for the bullish limited risk Search Strategy with the best profit and the position will be held 30 days assuming that current volatility will be maintained and the price range expected is between 1330 and 1340 the OptionStation Search Engine will value each bullish limited risk Search Strategy using an underlying asset price of 1330 then 1330 1 1330 2 1330 3 etc until it reaches 1340 It will call on the Price 220 Writing Search Strategies CHAPTER 5 Modeling Engine to valuate each position through 100 valid prices in the price range and will select those with the highest resulting P L If the volatility assumption is also a range the OptionStation Search Engine will run through 100 tests for each one of the volatility values So it will value each position a total 200 times Pricel to Price2 using probability This works the same as Price to Price2 except that when all the resulting 100 values of the test are done the resulting profit or loss of each test is multiplied by the probability of the underlying asset reaching that particular target
99. using AB GetRowHeight The loop continues as long as Valuel is less than the highest price on the bar at which a cell is drawn 176 Writing ActivityBar Studies CHAPTER 3 Other Reserved Words Related to ActivityBar Studies The following is a list of reserved words you can use when writing ActivityBar studies ActivityData This reserved word is a data alias used to reference the hidden data stream used by the Activity Bar study When you want to refer to the ActivityBar data stream and the reserved word that you are using is not an ActivityBar related reserved word thereby referencing the ActivityBar study data stream by default you must use this data alias Syntax of ActivityData Parameters None Notes The reserved word Of is used with ActivityData to make it easier to read Example The following statement calculates the average of the last 10 closing prices of the ActivityBar study data stream For instance assume the ActivityBar study uses a data compression of 30 minutes and is applied to a daily chart In this case the statement calculates the average of the last ten 30 minute bars Valuel Average Close 10 of ActivityData BarStatus DataNum It can be very useful to know when the ActivityBar study is being called for the last trade of a particular bar or when the ActivityBar study is being read for a trade inside the bar This reserved word obtains this information Syntax BarStatus DataNum
100. with Likewise to create an array that will contain text string expressions you can use the following statement Array MyTextArray 10 Assigning Values to Elements in an Array Once you have declared your arrays s you can assign values to the elements in the array at any point in your trading signal analysis technique or function Syntax MyArray M EasyLanguage expression 48 Understanding Arrays CHAPTER 2 MyArray is the name of the array and M is a numeric expression representing the element in the array to which you are assigning the value EasyLanguage expression is the value that you are assigning to the element For example the following statement assigns a value of 10 to element 5 of the one dimensional array called MyA rray MyArray 5 10 The following instructions store the closing prices and volume for each of the last 10 bars in a two dimensional array Array MyArray 9 1 0 For Valuel 0 To 9 Begin MyArray Valuel 0 Close Valuel MyArray Valuel 1 Volume Valuel End Loops are often used to populate arrays In the above instructions an array called MyArray is declared It is a two dimensional numeric array with a total of 20 elements all of which are initialized to a value of 0 The loop uses the pre declared variable Value as the control variable and the loop will iterate through the instructions 10 times 0 to 9 On the first iteration the close of the cu
101. with the Buy trading verb this bar on close next bar at market EasyLanguage for TradeStation Trading Verbs 133 next bar at price Stop next bar at price Limit The execution method this bar on close is provided for backtesting purposes only it en ables you to backtest market at close orders which you cannot automate using TradeStation Given that all orders are evaluated and executed at the end of each bar TradeStation reads and issues the this bar on close order once the bar has closed e g once the daily trading session has ended TradeStation fills the order using the close of the cur rent bar but you must place an order at market for execution on the next bar This invariably introduces slippage The execution method next bar at price limit instructs TradeStation to buy at the first op portunity at the specified price or lower The execution method next bar at price stop in structs TradeStation to buy at the first opportunity at the specified price or higher Stop and limit orders are filled as market if touched MIT orders A MIT order becomes a market order when the price of the symbol meets the specified order price It is possible for stop and limit orders not to be filled i e price never met in this case the orders are can celed at the close of the bar Typically traders use next bar at market and this bar on close execution methods when the exact entry price is not crucial to their trading strategy an
102. 0 which is a numeric value 230 Initial value expected here An initial value needs to be specified when declaring a variable or array This initial value needs to be enclosed by parentheses and is used to 1 determine the type of the variable or array numeric true false or text string and 2 assign the initial value of the variable or array on the first bar The correct syntax when declaring a variable is Variable MyVariable 10 where the initial value assigned to this variable is 0 which is a numeric value 231 Function has no inputs Parenthesis not needed This error is shown by the PowerEditor when parentheses are used for a function which has no inputs For example the EasyLanguage function Range has no inputs so the fol lowing statement Valuel Range 10 displays the error message and highlights the first parenthesis before the parameter 232 Matching left comment brace is missing The PowerEditor displays this error whenever it finds a right comment brace without a matching left comment brace In order to fix this find the beginning of the comment text and place a left comment brace before it If there is no comment in your analysis technique then remove the right comment brace EasyLanguage Syntax Errors 255 233 Extra right parenthesis When writing any type of expression or statement that requires parentheses itis necessary to have matching left and right parentheses This error is
103. 1 for bottom 2 for center Returns 0 if successful or error code if operation not successful Usage Valuel Text SetStyle 3 0 1 repositions obj 3 to the left bottom Than Skip word used to improve readability Ignored during execution Usage If High gt than the Highest Close 14 Then fany operation The Skip word used to improve readability Ignored during execution see Than Then Precedes the operation s to be executed when the matching Zf condition is true Usage If Conditionl Then Begin Operations done if condition is true End TheoreticalGrossIn The amount required or received to establish a position at its theoretical value Positive numbers represent the amount to receive and negative numbers the amount to be paid Usage Plotl1 TheoreticalGrossIn of Position TGI TheoreticalGrossOut The amount required or received to close out a position at its theoretical value Positive numbers represent the amount to receive and negative numbers the amount to be paid Usage Plotl1 TheoreticalGrossOut of Position TGO TheoreticalValue Returns the modeled value of an option or position leg Usage If TheoreticalValue of Option Close of Option Then Alert Overpriced Option Theta Returns the Theta value of an option leg or position Debit positions will return posi tive numbers and credit positions will return negative numbers Usage If Theta of Option gt HighVal Then Alert High Theta
104. 70 Writing ActivityBar Studies CHAPTER 3 Notes If the specified cell does not exist the ActivityBar study generates a run time error with the message ActivityBar tried to reference an empty row Example The following statement removes the last cell on the right side of the bar from the row cor responding to the close of the bar Valuel AB GetNumCells Close of Datal RightSide AB RemoveCell Close of Datal Valuel RightSide This example uses the reserved word AB GetNumCells to obtain the number of cells on the right side of the ActivityBar and then uses the value obtained as the Offset parameter for AB RemoveCell Get Reserved Words Using the reserved words described in this section you can reference information on existing ActivityBar study cells from any other analysis technique trading strategy or function AB GetCellChar Price Side Offset This reserved word returns the text string expression held by the specified cell Syntax AB GetCellChar Price Side Offset Parameters Price is a numeric expression representing the price of the cell referenced Side specifies the side of the bar on which the cell is located you must use one of two reserved words LeftSide or RightSide to specify the side and Offset is the column number of the cell ref erenced where column 1 is the closest to the bar Notes You can use this reserved word in an ActivityBar study as well as any other analysis techniq
105. 80 Writing Indicators for SuperCharts SE sess 185 Specifying Availability of Indicators essssseeeeeeeeeeeneee nennen enne 191 CHAPTER 5 EasyLanguage for OptionStation 193 OptionStation Data Analysis casni en atier eei orena i Eei EEA nennen trennen treten innen 194 Reading OptionStation Data essen eene eene nennen nennen terere ennenne en 195 Writing OptionStation Indicators eseeessseeeeeeeeeeenen enne eene eene renes 204 Writing Indicators for SuperCharts SE sess 208 Writing Search Strategies cce ettet eoe hea ee eed rds 214 Writing OptionStation Models sees nennen enne 221 OptionStation Global Variables ssesseseeseeeeeeeeenne nennen eene erret 233 CHAPTER 6 EasyLanguage and Other Languages 235 Definim a DLE E ncti n eene nier eren tenen ee epo 236 Using Functions trom DIES erroe nee REOR Rt onec 238 More About the EasyLanguage DLL Extension Kit eese 239 APPENDIX A EasyLanguage Syntax Errors 241 APPENDIX B EasyLanguage Colors Widths amp Codes 273 APPENDIX C Reserved Words Quick Reference 275 Io Dre Hn E TU S TE CHAPTER 1 Introduction This book is a comprehensive reference for EasyLanguage Omega Research s industry standard
106. Allow Multiple Orders in Same Direction by Different Entry Orders EasyLanguage for TradeStation The Trading Strategy Testing Engine 125 e All cases already described under General Scenarios e Ifa Trading Strategy is in a long or short position and a new order is generated by the same entry signal that opened the position then the order is placed on stand by Canceling Orders As a general rule all stop and limit orders are canceled at the close of the bar For example if a trading strategy is applied to a daily price chart and a buy limit order is placed on Monday then the order is active throughout the Tuesday bar This limit order is canceled at the close of the session on Tuesday if the target price of the limit order is not met by the market This applies to intra day charts as well Note that we use the word bar instead of day This implies that if you apply a trading strategy to a 30 minute bar and the trading strategy places a buy limit order at 10am the order is active from 10am to 10 30am or the duration of the bar and canceled if the order is not filled at the close of the bar There is one exception to this rule and that is when a trading strategy places the exact same order for two or more consecutive bars In this case TradeStation will not cancel an order to replace it with an exact duplicate Instead it leaves the order active until it is filled or the order is not placed or it is changed in some way
107. Also modeled Bid and Ask values can use skew information generated in the Volatility Model Instead of duplicating these complex calculations you can use placeholders in the models that maintain their value across all options and or across OptionStation EasyLanguage doc uments These placeholders are called OptionStation Global Variables There are three different types of OptionStation Global variables Pricing Model Global Variables Volatility Model Global Variables and Bid Ask Model Global Variables Each is discussed next 236 X OptionStation Global Variables CHAPTER 5 Pricing Model Global Variables The values of the Pricing Model Global Variables can only be set in Pricing Models but they can be read from Volatility and Bid Ask Models Search Strategies and indicators Syntax GPValueNum Parameters Num is a number 0 through 99 Notes Global variables are pre declared you do not have to declare them using a Declaration Statement Example For example a Pricing Model can be written such that it calculates the dividend adjustment to make to the asset price for dividends once for the first option only and then uses this val ue for all other options the instructions below are part of the BS Annual Dividend Pricing Model If FirstOption Then Begin DivOffset OS AnnualDividend AnnDiv TInDays IntRate GPValue2 DivOffset End Price Price GPValue2 EasyLanguage for OptionStation OptionStation Globa
108. Also the same plot i e Plot1 Plot2 can be used more than once in an indicator the only requirement is that you use the same plot name in both instances of the Plot statement If no name is assigned then the default plot name is used 1 e Plot1 Plot2 For example if you want to plot the net change using red when it is negative and green when it is positive you can use the same plot number in this case Plot1 twice as long a the name of the plot is the same Valuel Close Close 1 If Valuel gt 0 Then Plotl Valuel NetChg Green Else Plotl Valuel NetChg Red In this example the plot name NetChg must be the same in both instances of the Plot statement As discussed the power of RadarScreen lies in its ability to plot not only numeric values but also text string values For example the following indicator displays a T in the cell when the symbol experiences a key reversal and an F when it does not If Low Low 1 AND Close Close 1 Then Ploti ST E KR Else Plobl F KR EasyLanguage for RadarScreen Writing RadarScreen Indicators 183 SetPlotColor Number Color This reserved word is used to change the foreground or plot color of a particular plot Syntax SetPlotColor Number Color Parameters Number is a number from 1 to 4 representing the number of the plot to modify Color is the EasyLanguage color to be used for the plot Notes This reserved word cha
109. Bar At Close 5 Points Stop This is a valuable technique that allows you to refer easily to the prices of the bar on which the entry order was generated Examples The next statement exits all contracts shares of all open short entries at the close of the cur rent bar 144 Understanding Built in Stops CHAPTER 3 ExitShort This Bar on Close The following instruction exits all contracts shares of any short entries opened by the entry order Entry 1 at the open of the next bar and this order is named ShortExit ExitShort ShortExit From Entry Entry 1 Next Bar at Market The next instruction places an order to close 5 contracts in total at the high of the current bar plus 1 point or anything higher This order is active throughout the next bar until filled or canceled ExitShort 5 Contracts Total Next Bar at High 1 Point Stop The next instruction places an order to exit 100 shares out of every open entry at the low minus the range of the current bar or anything lower This order is active throughout the next bar until filled or canceled and is named HighExit ExitShort HighExit 100 Shares Next Bar at Low Range Limit The following statement enables you to monitor your risk by placing an exit order 5 points over the closing price of the bar on which you generated the short entry order ExitShort From Entry MySell Next Bar At Close 5 Points Stop Understanding Built in Stops S
110. Condition Instead the following statement is correct Input Textl Yes Text2 No Conditionl Textl Text2 Notice that while both Text and Text2 are string values the result of the comparison is a true false value which is properly assigned to a true false variable 405 Cannot implicitly convert TrueF alse to String Whenever the PowerEditor expects a text string expression and instead finds a true false expression it will highlight the true false expression and display this message In this ex ample Condition is a true false variable and cannot be directly combined with a string FileAppend Output txt This is a text string Conditionl Instead the following expression corrects the problem by creating a string value based on whether Condition is true or false Variable txt If Conditionl Then txt true Else txt false FileAppend Output txt This is a text string txt 406 Cannot implicitly convert Numerical to String Whenever the PowerEditor expects a text string expression and instead finds a numerical expression it will highlight the numerical expression and will display this message For example FileAppend Output txt This is text Valuel displays an error when a numeric expression is found Instead the following expression will accomplish the expected results because it uses the keyword NumToString to convert a numerical expression to a string
111. DarkBlue 9 DarkCyan Tool DarkCyan 10 DarkGreen Tool DarkGreen 11 DarkMagenta Tool DarkMagenta 12 DarkR ed Tool DarkRed 13 DarkBrown Tool DarkBrown 14 DarkGray Tool DarkGray 15 LightGray Tool_LightG ray 16 Widths You can specify the width of a plot in EasyLanguage by using a numerical value from 0 6 where 0 represents the thinnest width and 6 the thickest Also you can use 1 to have the analysis technique use the width specified in the Properties tab of the Format dialog box 274 APPENDIX B Trendline and Text Object Error Codes Value Explanation 2 The identification number used was invalid i e there is no object on the chart with this ID number 3 The data number Data2 Data3 etc passed to the function was invalid There is no symbol or data stream on the chart with this data number 4 The value passed to a SET function was invalid for example an invalid color or line thickness was used 5 The beginning and ending points were the same only when working with trendlines Can occur when you relocate a trendline or change the begin end points 6 The function was unable to load the default values for the tool 7 Unable to add the object Possibly due to an out of memory condition Your system resources have been taxed and it cannot process the request 8 Invalid pointer Your system resources have been taxed and it cannot process the request 9 Previous failure Once an object returns an error code n
112. Draw Line is set to False by default If however you change the DrawLine input to True as you apply the indicator or when you format it then the zero line will be drawn on the chart It is also possible to refer to the value of an input on a previous bar to do so include the square brackets and number after the name of the input For example the following state ments calculate and plot a momentum value Inputs Price Close Length 5 Valuel Pric Price Length Plotl Valuel Momentum We use an input to refer to the price we want to use to calculate the momentum as well as the number of bars to use In this case the value of the input 5 bars ago may be different because the input is a price which varies from bar to bar If the value of the input does not vary referencing a previous value is not necessary Advanced Tip Assigning Series Values to Inputs Inputs are evaluated every instance they are referenced in the body of a trading sig nal or analysis technique this is similar to simple functions However series func tions are NOT calculated each instance For example if you use the AverageFC function a series function four times in your procedure it is evaluated once and then the resulting value is referenced during the procedure However there may be instances where you want to use a series function but want it to be recalculated every instance to force it to recalculate you can assign the series fun
113. ETO BA Figure 3 18 ShowMe and Paintbar studies ShowMe Studies To write ShowMe studies you use the P otN reserved word described on page 150 but instead of plotting a value for every tick or bar you specify the conditions under which you want the Plot statement to be executed using an IF THEN statement Also instead of specifying the value to plot you specify the value on the bar at which to place the mark when the conditions are met for example the high low open close or any other numeric value Below is an example of the Outside Bar ShowMe study which places a mark at the high of the bar when the high is higher than the previous high and the low is lower than the previous low If High High 1 AND Low Low 1 Then Plot1 High Outside Bar In the above example we specified only the value at which to place the mark in this case the high price of the bar and we named the plot Outside Bar We could also specify the color of the mark and the width or thickness of the mark as described in the discussion of the reserved word PlotN When working with ShowMe studies you have an additional reserved word available to you NoPlot 156 X Writing ShowMe and PaintBar Studies CHAPTER 3 NoPlot Num This reserved word removes the specified plot from the current bar in the price chart Syntax NoPlot Num Parameters Num is a numeric expression representing the number of the plot to remove Notes This r
114. EasyLanguage width to be used for the plot For a list of the available widths refer to Appendix B of this book Example The following EasyLanguage statements change the width of the plot to a thicker line when the Momentum Indicator is over 0 and to a thinner line when it is under 0 Plot1 Momentum Close 10 Momentum If Plot1 gt 0 Then SetPlotWidth 1 4 If Plot1 lt 0 Then SetPlotWidth 1 1 In this example the Momentum Indicator has two possible widths thicker when it is over 0 and thinner when it is below 0 However in some cases you will want the indicator to have three or more possible widths Please refer to the example for the previous reserved word SetPlotColor for a variation on the usage of the SetPlotWidth reserved word 154 Writing ShowMe and PaintBar Studies CHAPTER 3 Specifying the Availability of Indicators When you create an indicator in the EasyLanguage PowerEditor you are prompted to specify the windows e g price chart OptionStation Position Analysis window RadarScreen window for which your indicator will be available By available we mean it will appear in the library of indicators to apply when you choose to insert an indicator into the application The choices available to you depend on which Omega Research product s you purchased For example if you purchased Omega Research ProSuite by default the indicator is available in TradeStation charts RadarScreen and all sections o
115. For example assigning a value to delta in a Volatility model will produce this error 318 A data alias POSITION or MODELPOSITION expected here When working with OptionStation analysis techniques and referring to some data infor mation or expression referring to a position or a modeled position it is necessary to specify if the data being referred to is from a position or the modeled position In order to correct this error add the qualifier of Position or of ModelPosition to the expression used 319 A data alias OPTION or LEG expected here When working with OptionStation analysis techniques and with some data information referring to an option or a leg it is necessary to specify which option or leg you are refer ring to by adding the qualifier of Option n or of Leg n to the expression highlighted by the PowerEditor 320 A data alias ASSET or LEG expected here When working with OptionStation analysis techniques and referring to data information it is necessary to specify what the analysis technique is referring to the asset or the leg In order to correct this add the qualified of Asset or of Leg to the expression used 321 A data alias OPTION expected here When working with OptionStation analysis techniques and with some data information referring to an option it is necessary to specify which option or leg you are referring to by adding the qualifier of Option n to the expression highlighted by the PowerEdi
116. Limitation of Liability Information in this document is subject to change without notice THE TRADING SIGNALS INDICATORS SHOWME STUDIES PAINTBAR STUDIES PROBABILITYMAP STUDIES ACTIVITYBAR STUDIES SEARCH STRATEGIES MODELS FUNCTIONS AND TRADING STRATEGIES AND PARTS THEREOF IN THIS BOOK ARE EXAMPLES ONLY AND HAVE BEEN INCLUDED SOLELY FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES OMEGA RESEARCH DOES NOT RECOMMEND THAT YOU USE ANY SUCH TRADING SIGNALS INDICATORS SHOWME STUDIES PAINTBAR STUDIES PROBABILITYMAP STUDIES ACTIVITYBAR STUDIES SEARCH STRATEGIES MODELS FUNCTIONS OR TRADING STRATEGIES OR ANY PARTS THEREOF AS THE USE OF ANY SUCH TRADING SIGNALS INDICATORS SHOWME STUDIES PAINTBAR STUDIES PROBABILITYMAP STUDIES ACTIVITYBAR STUDIES SEARCH STRATEGIES MODELS FUNCTIONS AND TRADING STRATEGIES DOES NOT GUARANTEE THAT YOU WILL MAKE PROFITS INCREASE PROFITS OR MINIMIZE LOSSES THE SOLE INTENDED USES OF THE TRADING SIGNALS INDICATORS SHOWME STUDIES PAINTBAR STUDIES PROBABILITYMAP STUDIES ACTIVITYBAR STUDIES SEARCH STRATEGIES MODELS FUNCTIONS AND TRADING STRATEGIES INCLUDED IN THIS BOOK ARE TO DEMONSTRATE HOW EASYLANGUAGE CAN BE USED TO DESIGN THEM OMEGA RESEARCH INC IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING ANY INVESTMENT OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL ADVICE IF INVESTMENT OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL ADVICE IS REQUIRED THE SERVICES OF A LICENSED PROFESSIONAL SHOULD BE SOUGHT Copyright 2000 Omega Research Inc All rights reserved No part of this publica
117. Modeling Engine New data obtained wn by OptionStation j osition Search run or from GlobalServer Position Analysis window opened PM Pricing Model VM Volatility Model B A Bid Ask Model Figure 5 1 OptionS tation data analysis process First any new data for the underlying asset and options currently being analyzed is passed from the GlobalServer into OptionStation This is the beginning of the data analysis process and therefore considered Step 1 Automatically as soon as any new data is received by OptionStation the OptionStation Price Modeling Engine calculates the necessary modeled values and prepares all data for analysis The modeled values calculated are the Market Implied Volatility MIV on Close MIV on Bid and MIV on Ask the volatility theoretical and greek values for all options being analyzed the modeled Bid and Ask values for the options and the MIV for the mod eled Bid and Ask values This automatic process is considered Step 2 It is a resource in tensive step because the values are being calculated for the underlying asset s chosen for analysis and all the options included in the analysis Pricing Volatility and or Bid Ask Models are used during Step 2 The Price Modeling Engine is described in detail in the section of this chapter titled Writing OptionStation Models Step 3 occurs when you run a Position Search or open an OptionStation Position Analysis window During the Position Sea
118. NSE TRER MEAT POA NTE Re oigcs ceveccai retra Axe ee ea AE eda T CREER CUP e E TU cee Pointer Data Types see DLL Functions Points PointValue Pos Position Position Analysis Window Position Data Aliases futures contract number in window obtaining se 199 referencing current 196 referencing specific sss 197 options number in window obtaining 201 referencing current 199 referencing specific sss 200 position number of legs obtaining see 203 referencing current feferencing le8 4 4 eIeteseec te aia underlying asset referencing oo esee 196 understanding Position Search Engine understanding 214 Position Search Wizard holding period specifying esee 215 underlying asset target price specifying 217 PositionID volatility specifying 346 The Omega Research EasyLanguage Reference Guide POSItIOnBP 5Otub x oDbeuseueeie etek rede 311 upper boundary Positions Trading Strategy obtaining 2 eedem ies 164 310 entries limiting eee Ree epe er eene des 122 setting ae opening positions determining number of shares 121 Product PositionSEbatus oe ege deseen eun eeepc aede 221 311 PLOLEC ue POWQE uude etie eie ete ode rr ex RMLs 312 Profit Target PrevCODnbPrrbl uslebeeeleesnt tiere 312 Pr
119. O rder Name num of shares execution instruction execution instructions this bar on close next bar at market next bar at price stop next bar at price limit Usage Sell Next Bar at Market Sell Buy Close 20 Shares This Bar on Close Sell 5 Contracts Next Bar at Low Range Stop Sell BuyLimit Next Bar at Price Limit SeriesCount The number of series available in the option chain Usage Valuel SeriesCount of Asset Sess1EndTime Ending time of the first trading session for the security in 24 hour format Usage Value2 SesslEndTime returns 1615 for IBM trading on the NYSE Sess1FirstBarTime Completion time of the first bar in the first session in 24 hour format sage Value2 SesslFirstBarTime returns 1000 for IBM using 30 min bars Sess1StartTime Starting time of the first trading session for the security in 24 hour format Usage Valuel Sess1StartTime returns 0930 for IBM trading on the NYSE Sess2EndTime Ending time of the second trading session for the security in 24 hour format Usage Value2 Sess2EndTime returns 0745 for US Treasury Bonds on CBOE 318 APPENDIX C Sess2FirstBarTime Completion time of the first bar in the second session in 24 hour format Usage Valuel Sess2FirstBarTime returns 1715 for S amp P 500 Futures on 30 min bars Sess2StartTime Starting time of the second trading session for the security in 24 hour format Usage Valuel Sess2StartTime returns 1530
120. OWE ESCI ub wetee tute a ie EEEa 300 RAE TAG Mise eg shee 300 LPBYTE LEDOUBLR uecnpee poets Ree pacierspxe onmi Duas anes e ree Fd 300 LPDWORD LPFLOAT DPIN E gurs LPLONG LESER voze LPWORD M Ma genta de Ionen cupide dete a e eer copddencnasdesens els obs MakeNewMovieRef I icu pd M MEL D RA Market ueste essere AE TV ae EURO MEUS REM RUE EY Market If Touched MIT By 1st rre e debet ExitLong ExitShort Sell eoe titre Pe ert asiteiaat TIT VEO Ue EON EYE exe ed Market Implied Volatility MIV pricing model obtaining from sess 223 theoretical model obtaining from 224 Market Ordets ere mte eH Reps MarketPosition see Mathematical Operators MaxBarsBack Auto Detect setting sss 19 definition Ws ProbabilityMap studies sse 161 User defined setting sess 20 dxBarbrsBaQk 30e EErEE erheben eee see en onde ee qe keen 301 axBabtsEOLCWal dtd eise coire e boc oe 301 AXCONSEEHOSSUS accel esac e xe Ie setti D eb dea i 301 axConsecWinref s ee cceedicedad nsssses terne itin ies Aetate 301 AKCOMEPA CES custode uitae tier teen 302 axContractsHeld qduuavezeneeete nre 302 ext res tke ad d dee dd oet d dictos E Ie 302 KG Th Pp RE 302 344 The Omega Research EasyLanguage Reference Guide AaxIDDrawDOWD 3g ertet praes 302 Maximum Number of Bars Study Will Reference Se
121. OptionStation Writing Search Strategies 217 The Holding Period The objective of a Position Search is to find the best position based on some price and volatility assumptions at a specific point in time This point in time can be the present or any other date in the future The first dialog box of the Position Search Wizard the Holding Period dialog box shown in Figure 5 6 enables you to specify the date on which the valuation of the positions will be performed Id eere Hig pasci Dosah os dab M ctos T coche Tosibos Turri cielo kic lors lb ri LA E hihi Ta piikin Da re d jei raha itu D MILI IIT V Dios hu poskon at ey prd ri im perio cm ba reser pano dea V Dese Bon pace e dep fal Bm m nd ot Rer rmm 7 Kiss me pea 177779 0 m Lar a Laa Tie Figure 5 6 OptionStation Position Search Wizard holding period You have three choices Close the position at the end of the session on the nearest expiration date Close the position after X day s at the end of the session Close the position at a specific date and time local time Your choice gives OptionStation a specific date to work with to calculate the valuation of all positions Volatility Volatility is defined as a measure of the amount by which an underlying asset is expected to fluctuate in a given period of time It is generally measured by the annual standard deviation of the daily price changes in the asset Volatility is an important factor in w
122. Plot1 the second Plot2 and so on Whenever referring to the plot color or width you can use the word Default in place of the parameter s to have the Plot statement use the default color and or width selected in the Properties tab of the Format indicator dialog box For example the following statement can be used to display the volume in the default color but a specific width Plot1 Volume V Default Default 3 Again you can use the word Default for the color parameters or the width parameter Also the same plot i e Plot1 Plot2 can be used more than once in an analysis technique the only requirement is that you use the same plot name in both instances of the Plot state ment If no name is assigned then the default plot name is used i e Plot1 Plot2 For example if you want to plot the net change using red when it is negative and green when it is positive you can use the same plot number in this case Plot1 twice as long a the name of the plot is the same EasyLanguage for RadarScreen Writing Indicators for SuperCharts SE 189 Valuel Close Close 1 If Valuel gt 0 Then Plotl Valuel NetChg Green Else Plotl Valuel NetChg Red In this example the plot name NetChg must be the same in both instances of the Plot statement Note Once you have defined a plot using the PlotN reserved word you can reference the value of the plot simply by using the reserved word PlotN In the ex
123. PlotBG Color statement instead your instructions would be as follows Plot1 RSI Close 9 RSI Default Default If RSI Close 9 75 Then SetPlotBGColor 1 Red If RSI Close 9 25 Then SetPlotBGColor 1 Green The same applies for the previous reserved word SetPlotColor NoPlot Num This reserved word removes the specified plot from the cell Syntax NoPlot Num Parameters Num is a numeric expression representing the number of the plot to remove Notes This reserved word is useful when you want the cell to revert back to a blank cell EasyLanguage for RadarScreen Writing Indicators for SuperCharts SE 185 Example The following indicator displays the percentage change of the price from the open when it is more than 5 in either direction up or down When the percentage change is less than 5 either up or down the cell is blank Valuel Close Open Open 100 If Valuel gt 5 or Valuel lt 5 Then Plotl Valuel Pcnt Change Else NoPlot 1 Writing Indicators for SuperCharts SE This section discusses how to write indicators for use with SuperCharts SE and is intended for those who have purchased RadarScreen only In this case you have SuperCharts SE available for your charting and technical analysis needs If you purchased Omega Research ProSuite or TradeStation you will have TradeStation available for your charting and trading strategy testing needs and you should refer
124. RT 44 71 275 TEND Lseeensneneeectne i DH ese OE 275 A AS SKLO WOE uondetelesuudueteaea edens 275 AB_AddCell AB_AddCellRange AB_AverageCells AB_AveragePrice AB CT LOU INT cand saon donuts ded in vame axo AE d epa dde AB ColorIntervals 3scvasedev eae oio oes 216 AB GetCellChar ws AB GetGellCOolOr 52585 ie eee eren 171 277 AB GetCellDaLte g seen ser rris en 171 277 AB GetCellTime e AB GetCellValug zzxenuedecirsedorelomes 172 277 AB GetNUmCel138 15 o ederet e e E VEE 173 277 AB GetZoneHigh 173 277 AB GetZoneLow 174 277 AB HIGH nsu 174 278 AB LetterL tervalS 5 0 Ve eet 278 ABE TOW idees eiie 175 278 AB Mecttanressdiastice ee eee eR Eee REAA 278 AB ModeGCount iu nbl dete ties idiot eet idus 278 AB MOdePr4GQG eese eden ca sro een tinto neon cre nike 278 AB RemoveCell 169 278 AB OROWGCA LC esee piedtessctexbeeere dee ee evene Te Ce nee RETE 279 AB ROWHeYght selurinn na ere ee EA 279 AB SetActiveCell 169 279 AB SetRowHetZghE xbsnceseeceueEeo pps 168 279 AB SetZOone kde r a e a a ee der oves 168 279 AB SPADE ue eal efr i ou TAI UR aon rm 279 ADOVWG eene p ee e eia I er AREE PS 279 ADS Vas Ue ei estie tette n ier EO ot rete Dio teu etn 280 Accumulative Calculations generating orders for next bar calculations for 58 loading data for 5 eee tte 9 updating every tick calculations for 58 ActivityBar Studies bar status obtaining e
125. SetHigh Highest High 50 sets the PM top to the Highest High PM_SetLow Sets the lower range value of a ProbabilityMap Syntax PM SetLow P rice Price a numeric expression or value for a price Usage PM SetLow 14 5 sets the PM bottom to a price of 14 50 PM SetNumColumns Sets the number of columns in a probability map array Syntax PM_SetNumColumns Num Num a numeric expression or value representing the desired number of columns Usage PM_SetNumColumns PM_BarColumns PM_SetRowHeight Sets the height of the rows for a ProbabilityMap grid Syntax PM_SetRowHeight R owHeight RowHeight a numeric expression or value for the height of each PB row Usage PM SetRowHeight 125 sets the PM row height to a price of 125 Reserved Words Quick Reference 311 Pob Retained for backward compatibility Replaced by Limit Point The minimal fractional value a symbol can move one increment in the Price Scale Usage ExitLong This Bar at EntryPrice 1 Point Stop POINTER Reserved for use with custom DLLs designed for EasyLanguage and ELKIT32 DLL Points Represents multiple Point increments of the Price Scale See Point Usage Buy This Bar at Close 3 Points Stop PointValue The dollar value per share of one increment on the price scale Calculated as Big Point Value divided by the Price Scale using the values specified in the symbol dictionary Usage Valuel PointValue freturns 2 5 for S amp P Future
126. Skip word ignored during execution Usage If Plotl Does Cross Over Plot2 Then Any Operation DOUBLE Reserved for use with custom DLLs designed for EasyLanguage and ELKIT32 DLL DownTicks Number of ticks on a bar whose value is lower than the tick immediately preceding it or an unchanged tick that follows a downtick DownTo Instructs a loop s counter to decrement and exit the loop at a specified value Usage For Value5 Length DownTo 0 Begin Any Operations End DWORD Reserved for use with custom DLLs designed for EasyLanguage and ELKIT32 DLL Reserved Words Quick Reference 291 EasyLanguageVersion Returns the EasyLanguage version currently installed i e EL 2000i is version 5 1 Usage If EasyLanguageVersion gt 5 0 Then Any Operation EL DateStr Returns an 8 character YY YYMMDD string based on month day and year values Syntax EL_DateStr Month Day Y ear Month is a numeric expression representing a month e g J anuary 01 Day is a numeric expression representing the day of the month Y ear is a numeric expression representing a four digit year Usage Valuel EL_DateStr 09 05 1999 freturns the string 19990905 Else Used to execute instructions when the specified If condition returns False Usage If Conditionl Then Operation done if condition is true Else Operations done if condition is false End Used with Begin to execute multiple statements based on a condition See Be
127. Strategy TradeStation will have no way of knowing that the market jumped in price so the order is filled at 100 Movement Nd IX uu Fa Figure 3 9 Intra bar movement assumption The second and third assumptions are important only when there are multiple active orders in one bar If a Trading Strategy places both a stop loss and a profit target order and both prices are reached during one particular bar the behavior of the market inside that bar de termines if the trade is a winner or a loser For instance if the market dropped reached the low and then rallied to the high the stop loss was hit first and the trade lost money However if the high is reached first the profit target makes the trade a winner Without the tick data available there is no certain way to determine how the market moved during the bar The assumptions may or may not be cor rect Keep in mind however that by law of averages if a backtest includes sufficient incidents of these scenarios and they are resolved in a consistent fashion the errors in favor and against tend to offset each other Bouncing Ticks The markets do not move in straight lines and they tend to oscillate even when in a strong trend In fact the market will rarely if ever move in the straight line as assumed by the second and third market assumptions explained in the previous section Even within a bar the market will usually oscillate as it reaches the highs and lows a
128. The Alert statement is not included as part of the IF THEN statement and is therefore executed on every bar You can however include more than one statement in the IF THEN statement To do so use a Block IF THEN statement Block IF THEN Statement Block IF THEN statements enable you to specify any number of statements to be executed by the IF THEN statement You include the statements by using the reserved words Begin and End around them For example to have the ShowMe study mark the bar and trigger an alert each time a gap up bar is found you can use a Block IF THEN statement If High High 1 AND Low Low 1 Then Begin Plot1 High OutSide Bar Alert End All statements within the Begin End block must end with a semicolon You can include as many statements as you want within the block The Basic EasyLanguage Elements EasyLanguage Control Structures 35 IF THEN Else Statement Also you can structure an IF THEN statement so that it performs a certain action if the condition is met and an alternate action if the condition is not met You do this using the IF THEN Else statement Consider the following statement If Close Close 1 Then Valuel Valuel Volume Else Valuel Valuel Volume In this example Value will keep the summation of the volume of the days with a positive net change minus the summation of the volume of the days with negative net change Notice that there is no semicolon used until the end
129. Use alert max bars as study default Cancel Help Figure 2 7 Indicator P roperties tab In RadarScreen and in OptionStation when no data alias is specified the symbol corre sponding to the row in which the indicator is applied is the default data stream For infor mation on how to refer to other data streams in RadarScreen and OptionStation read the chapter on EasyLanguage specific to that product When working with price charts you can also base only the parameter for a function on another data stream as opposed to the entire function Consider the following statement Valuel Average Volume of data2 10 In the above statement the data alias is used in the parameter of the function As with bar offsets the difference between using a data alias for the entire function versus the parameter is subtle but it can result in significantly different results depending on the calculation being performed For example let s use the function we used earlier to discuss bar offsets OpenDiff This function calculates the difference between the open of the bar and a value passed to the function The function subtracts the value from the open of the current bar OpenDiff Open Price Assume we write the following statement Valuel OpenDiff Close of data2 EasyLanguage bases the entire calculation of the function on the second data stream it uses both the open and the close of the second data stream and it returns the diffe
130. User Manual These words are referred to as jump words The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Output Methods 67 To create a jump word that plays a music WAV file enclose the complete file name and path of the sound file using the following syntax wb lt path filename gt we For example to link your commentary to the file c windows ding wav you could write the following statement Commentary This links to a file wbc ding wav we To create a jump word that brings up the existing definition in the Online User Manual enclose the word using the following syntax pb lt word gt pe or hb lt word gt he The Expert Commentary window uses the HELP_KEY WinHelp API call and retrieves the specified topic from the Omega Research Online User Manual The text string between pb and pe is used as the keyword and defined space comma defined is appended to the text string For example the following syntax retrieves the topic Bottom defined from the Online User Manual pbBottom pe The text string between hb and he is used as the keyword and Indicator space open parenthesis Indicator close parenthesis is appended to the text string For example the following syntax retrieved the topic ADX Indicator from the Online User Manual hbADX he Before creating a jump word make sure the definition exists in the Online User Manual To determine that it exists search the Online User Manual index You can c
131. Valuel End TenBarAvg Value2 10 A function can return a numeric true false or text string value You specify what type of value the function will return when you create the function or format its properties in the EasyLanguage PowerEditor as shown in Figure 2 8 The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Understanding User Functions 55 Function Properties MyFunction x General Name M wFunction Notes Example E Return type Function storage Numeric Auto detect C TrueFalse C Simple C String Text C Series OK Cancel Help Figure 2 8 Function Properties in the EasyLanguage PowerE ditor Any of the EasyLanguage components explained in this chapter for example IF THEN statements loops variables arrays math and relational operators and even other EasyLanguage functions can be used to perform calculations within an EasyLanguage function and once you calculate the desired resulting value you assign the value to the function name using a Function Value Assignment statement Understanding Function Types Simple amp Series Most functions are simple functions These functions perform a calculation and return a val ue However some functions are series functions Series functions reference previous val ues of the function itself variables and or arrays within the function When the function includes counters and accumulation operations from bar to bar the
132. a This value is important to ensure that you don t query values outside of the ProbabilityMap study drawing area Syntax PM Low Parameters None Example The following statement checks whether or not a particular value is inside the upper and lower boundaries of the ProbabilityMap study drawing area before assigning a color value to a cell If Valuel PM Low AND Valuel PM High Then PM SetCellValue 1 Valuel 100 PM High This reserved word returns a numeric value representing the upper boundary of the ProbabilityMap study drawing area This value is important to ensure that you don t query the values outside of the ProbabilityMap study drawing area Syntax PM High Parameters None Example The following statement checks whether or not a particular value is inside the upper and lower boundaries of the ProbabilityMap study drawing area before assigning a color value to a cell If Valuel PM Low AND Valuel PM High Then PM SetCellValue 1 Valuel 100 EasyLanguage for TradeStation Writing ProbabilityMap Studies 165 PM GetRowHeight This reserved word returns numeric value representing the height in points of the cells of the ProbabilityMap study drawing area Syntax PM GetRowHeight Parameters None To obtain the value returned by this reserved word you can assign the value to a numeric variable for example Valuel Notes This value should be used as an increment when traversing th
133. acter position of the start of String2 if found Zero if not found Usage Valuel InStr Net Profit Margin Profit returns a 5 INT Reserved for use with custom DLLs designed for EasyLanguage and ELKIT32 DLL IntPortion Returns the integer portion of the specified decimal number Syntax IntPortion Num Num A numeric value or expression Usage Valuel IntPortion 4 125 returns a 4 Is Skip word ignored during execution Usage If a Close is gt 100 Then fany operation Reserved Words Quick Reference 299 JulianToDate Returns the calendar date Y YYMMDD for the specified Julian date Syntax JulianToDate Date jDate numeric expression for the date in J ulian format Usage Value2 JulianToDate 36457 returns Date value of 991024 L Returns the lowest price of the bar referenced abbreviation for Low Usage Valuel L 4 returns the Low of 4 bars ago LargestLosTrade Returns the dollar value of the largest closed out losing trade LargestWinTrade Returns the dollar value of the largest closed out winning trade Last_Split_Date Returns the Date on which the last stock split was reported Last_Split_Fact Returns the size or ratio of last stock split LastCalcJDate Returns the Julian date of last completed bar LastCalcMMTime Returns the time of last completed bar in minutes since midnight Usage Valuel LastCalcMMTime freturns a value of 540 if last bar was at 9 00 am LastTradingDate Refers to
134. age TL SetSize 2 4 sets trendline 2 to thickness 4 Reserved Words Quick Reference 331 TL SetStyle Changes line style for the specified trendline Syntax TL SetStyle TL Ref Type TL Ref a numeric expression representing the object identification number Type Tool Solid 1 solid Tool Dashed 2 dashed Tool Dotted 3 dotted Tool Dashed2 4 dashed pattern Tool Dashed3 5 dashed pattern Usage TL SetStyle 4 Tool Dashed sets trendline 4 to dashed To Used in a For Loop statement to separate the starting and ending counter values Usage For Value5 Start To Start 10 Begin Any operations End Today Retained for backward compatibility Replaced by This Bar Tomorrow Retained for backward compatibility Replaced by Next Bar Tool Black Retained for backward compatibility Replaced by the color name Black Tool Blue Retained for backward compatibility Replaced by the color name Blue Tool Cyan Retained for backward compatibility Replaced by the color name Cyan Tool DarkBlue Retained for backward compatibility Replaced by the color name DarkBlue Tool DarkBrown Retained for backward compatibility Replaced by the color name DarkBrown Tool DarkCyan Retained for backward compatibility Replaced by the color name DarkCyan Tool DarkGray Retained for backward compatibility Replaced by the color name DarkGray Tool DarkGreen Retained for backward compatibility Replaced by the color n
135. ale and the minimum value If the price scale of a given symbol is 1 100 and the minimum movement is 10 then this symbol only trades in 10ths of a point therefore 100 1 950 5 and 10 000 7 are valid prices whereas 95 125 is not If the order being processed is an or higher order the price is rounded up to the nearest valid trading price If it is an or lower order the price is rounded down to the nearest price Figure 3 3 describes how orders are interpreted by the Trading Strategy Testing Engine Trading Verb Stop Limit Buy or Higher or Lower Sell or Lower or Higher ExitLong or Lower or Higher ExitShort or Higher or Lower Figure 3 3 Stop and Limit orders To continue with the above example in which the price scale is 1 100 and the minimum movement is 10 if an order to Buy at 100 125 limit is placed this order will be placed in TradeStation as an order to Buy at 100 1 or anything lower lf an order is placed to Buy at 100 125 stop this order will be placed as Buy at 100 2 or higher This rounding is essential because if an order is received to buy at 100 125 or higher it means that you do not want to buy at 100 124 or at 100 120 or much less at 100 1 because the order stated 100 125 or higher therefore the only alternative is to round up to the nearest valid trading price The opposite is done for or lowerorders for the same reason EasyLanguage for TradeStation The Trading Strategy Testin
136. aluated in a specific order Division and multiplication are evaluated first and addition and subtraction are evaluated second If there is more than one 14 Expressions and Operators CHAPTER 2 division and or multiplication or addition and or subtraction these are resolved from left to right For example the numeric expression High 2 Range 2 Will multiply the range of the bar by two first then divide that value by two It will then add the result to the high In an effort to find the midpoint of a bar you might try to write the following numeric expression High Low 2 but this will divide the low by two first and then add the result to the high giving a com pletely different result than what you intended In order to perform the calculation as expected and calculate the midpoint of the bar you need to use parentheses Using parentheses allows you to control the order in which the cal culations are performed Anything inside parentheses is evaluated first before all the oper ators and expressions outside of the parentheses Therefore to obtain the midpoint of the bar you can write High Low 2 This will result in the high and the low being added and then divided by two Advanced Tip Division by Zero Whenever EasyLanguage finds a division sign it performs an internal check to ensure that the trading signal analysis technique or function is not attempting a division by zero In order
137. aluel Average Close 20 of data2 For example when an indicator is applied to a stock that is plotted as Datal and the second data stream is the Dow 30 the indicator can calculate the 10 day average volume of the Dow 30 and incorporate this calculation into the analysis of the stock The statement would be written as follows Valuel Average Volume 20 of data2 Again when no data alias is specified EasyLanguage assumes the function is meant to be based on the data stream to which the procedure is applied So if an indicator is applied to a price chart that has three stocks and the following statement is used in an indicator Valuel Average Volume 20 the average of the volume will be calculated based on the symbol to which the indicator is applied Note When formatting the indicator on a price chart under the Properties tab there is an option to choose what symbol the indicator is based on as shown in Figure 2 7 This selection displays the data stream to which the indicator is currently applied The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Understanding User Functions 53 Format Indicator Mov Avg 1 line Inputs Style Scaling Properties Max number of bars study will reference Auto detect User specified 50 Base study on 1 MSFT Micr oft Corp LAST Daily TIMSET Microsoft Corp LAS I Daily 2 INTC Intel Corp LAST Daily 3 DELL Dell Computer Corp Enable Alert v Update every tick
138. aluel StockSplitDate 3 date of a stock split reported 3 periods ago StockSplitTime The time at which a stock split occurred during a certain period Usage Value2 StockSplitTime time of the last reported stock split Stop In an entry or exit order means or higher or or lower depending on the context Usage Buy Next Bar at 65 Stop fenters a long position at a price of 65 or higher ExitLong Next Bar at 65 Stop exits along position ata price of 65 or lower Strike Returns the strike price of an option or position leg Usage If OptionType of Option Call Then If Close of Asset Strike of Option Then Plotl Call in the money Option Else Plotl Call out of the money Option StrikeConfidence Returns a numeric expression of the confidence level of the strike price calculation StrikeCount Returns the number of strikes available in the option chain Usage Valuel StrikeCount of Asset StrikeITM Count Reserved for future use StrikeO TM Count 322 APPENDIX C Reserved for future use String Defines a function input that accepts a string expression value Usage Input MyMessage String faccepts a text string value StringArray Defines a function input array that accepts multiple string expressions Usage Input Messages n StringArray farray that accepts text strings StringArrayRef Defines a function input array that accepts multiple string references Usage Input Note n
139. aluelis any numeric variable or array You must assign the trendline reserved word to a numeric variable or array so that you can determine whether or not the reserved word performed its operation successfully This reserved word returns zero 0 when it successfully changes the end point of a trendline and one of the EasyLanguage drawing object errors when it fails For example if the end point of the trendline is set to exactly the same value of the start point the 106 Drawing Trendlines on Price Charts CHAPTER 2 reserved word will return an error 5 Also it is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any trendlines by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error Example The following statement sets the end point of trendline 5 to the current bar s high price Valuel TL SetEnd 5 Date Time High TL SetExtLeft Trendlines can be extended to the left or right This reserved word enables you to toggle the trendline between extended to the left and not extended Syntax Valuel TL SetExtLeft Tl ID Extend Parameters TI IDis a numeric expression representing the ID number of the trendline and Extend is a true false expression that either extends the trendline to the left or not Notes Valuelis any numeric variable or array You must assign the trendline reserve
140. ame DarkGreen 332 APPENDIX C Tool DarkMagenta Retained for backward compatibility Replaced by the color name DarkMagenta Tool DarkRed Retained for backward compatibility Replaced by the color name DarkRed Tool DarkYellow Retained for backward compatibility Replaced by the color name DarkYellow Tool Dashed Represents a dashed line style 2 used with drawing objects Tool Dashed2 Represents a dashed line style 4 used with drawing objects Tool Dashed3 Represents a dashed line style 5 used with drawing objects Tool Dotted Represents a dotted line style 3 used with drawing objects Tool Green Retained for backward compatibility Replaced by the color name Green Tool LightGray Retained for backward compatibility Replaced by the color name LightGray Tool Magenta Retained for backward compatibility Replaced by the color name Magenta Tool Red Retained for backward compatibility Replaced by the color name Red Tool Solid Represents a solid line style 1 used with drawing objects Tool White Retained for backward compatibility Replaced by the color name White Tool Yellow Retained for backward compatibility Replaced by the color name Yellow Total Specifies the number of shares contracts to exit from a position created by pyramiding Usage ExitLong 5 Contracts Total Next Bar at Market Exits five contracts shares from the entire long position Reserved Words Quick Reference 333 TotalBa
141. ample below the reserved word Plot1 is used to plot the accumulation distribution of the volume The value of the plot is referenced in the next statement in order to write the alert criteria Plotl AccumDist Volume AccumDist If Plotl gt Highest Plotl 20 then Alert SetPlotColor Number Color This reserved word is used to change the color of a particular plot in a price chart window Syntax SetPlotColor Number Color Parameters Number is a number from 1 to 4 representing the number of the plot to modify Color is the EasyLanguage color to be used for the plot For a list of the available colors refer to Appendix B of this book Example The following EasyLanguage statements color the plot red when the RSI Indicator is over 75 and green when it is under 25 Plotl RSI Close 9 RSI SetPlotColor 1 Default If Plotl gt 75 Then SetPlotColor 1 Red If Plotl lt 25 Then SetPlotColor 1 Green In this example the RSI Indicator has three possible colors red when it is over 75 green when it is below 25 and the default color when it is between 25 and 75 190 Writing Indicators for SuperCharts SE CHAPTER 4 If you only set two colors one for over 75 and one for under 25 it would remain one of the two colors which ever it was set to last when it is between 25 and 75 What you need to do is reset the plot color to a default color every bar so that it is only red when above 75 and gre
142. analysis techniques that ref erence the ActivityBar study Use zero 0 for this parameter if you do not want to specify a meaningful value Notes When writing an ActivityBar study you must also specify the cell height To do so use the reserved word AB SetRowHeight described next 168 X Writing ActivityBar Studies CHAPTER 3 Example The following statement adds a green cell to the right side of the bar for every tick Each cell contains the letter A and stores the trade volume for the tick in each cell AB AddCell Close of ActivityData RightSide A Green Volume of ActivityData AB SetRowHeight Value This reserved word is used to define the height of each cell row on a bar by bar basis it is required when writing an ActivityBar study Syntax AB SetRowHeight Value Parameters Value is a numeric expression representing the row height Notes You want the row height to be dynamic because symbols vary greatly in price from one symbol to another For example a row height of 0 25 will work nicely if the instrument is trading at 50 but it will be an enormous row height for a penny stock trading at 1 per share Also the trading range for a symbol can change significantly during a span of several years e g a stock adjusted for several stock splits and an appropriate row height for to day may not work well in the past or the future The built in ActivityBar studies use the reserved word AB RowCalc as the pa
143. anding 5 pouce d c underlyiig asset ine us E referedcin SIC D Esset seit tete e do ere E RR Ee 320 z Skip Words sssisssssssierisnsrsissrirsnssnerenisnen 12 target price SUT PPA eS ed dote ARE IOREK rente 320 348 The Omega Research EasyLanguage Reference Guide SnapEundEEiSUts cutem enira 320 SymbolNumbGetr cdeehbeicece represent 323 SOFting ATFTays eese trt nene ionen enti 63 SymbolRoot Sound Files playing 110 Syntax Errors Spaces wees 320 Squa tE ueste eene eene ense 320 T Square Brackets definition sss 1i D M 11 323 SquareRoOtb ioeesseee 321 S TAD Cl b 5 te etn e ere re erred 3 T rgGe6t sd uensequedsnWude ees 323 Stand by Orders 123 Target TIvpeUcsxssesete EH REA 231 323 StartDate we 321 Testing Trading Strategies see Trading Strategy Testing Statements definition sese 10 Engine StockSplit 5 252 PEPA Text StockSplitCount 321 adding SEOGKSpILtD Be ee dtes ute hp 321 price chart 18 StoGkSplitLblmne ue esee tere erede a 321 RadarScreen 182 Stop alignment setting 88 Stop LOSS e T 148 color Stop Orders 555 aset teorie gerere 120 Obtain Lr kb nobi ceo ahaha hac eril ot Aa 80 Stops Settilg or sic eerte oe etie do Ge tare 86 Breakeven Stop Floor sse 145 date obtaimmng eee Ue Petite rs 81 Close at End of Day sss 145 deleting contract basis eITOr COMES oriris eere enr
144. ap Studies Text GetVStyle ShowMe studies see ShowMe Studies Text New we Subtraction performing seen 13 Text SetColor SumList 322 Text SetLocation rrr EEE EEE 87 325 Sunday n 323 TEXE SEU SEE TO Ws ve 88 325 Symbol Nams 4 ener rere tere EHI ESI TORTE AN EE 323 Text SeUSUtV Ie quest eere etta Herten 88 326 Index 349 Than Skip wWOoEd y dqJunaensencen eee 326 Tool DarkRed suede DH 332 The Skrp WO ictadloe eret errem denetes 326 TOool DarkYelloW ruere RERET A SS TREN eie E E I S EEE E Ea 326 Tool Dashed TheoreticalGrossIn aeee e n e 326 Tool_Dashed2 Iheor tregblGrossSOUt ient ert eene 326 Tool Dashed3 TheoreticalValue 226 326 Tool_Dotted Theta as decedente 228 326 Tool Green Theta Values 4t irren en etn aunt ease 228 Tool LightGray Tbe ias drei E endor este MR coa eed aes lene tr e Ds aaah es 327 Tool Magenta IhHrSsday usus ees oed tre n EI eee i TAA Io nel 327 Tool_Red Tick Type obtaining eee 232 r ool Solid PACS MT MD Iu T 11 327 rIool White TO CIOL Ve t cdrsad tes eret OTHER RE TARDE 232 327 Tool Yellow aS eite dr t teria Ios br HR tases abs EROR NN ETEN ERU 11 23 327 TOt e enecnibtesstttibe delere bate teet deseo iic Tan Times working with sese 23 TotalBarsLos 1 LimelroMinubes nluneneseeesereesgreA ER te 24 TotalBarsWinl T
145. ar referenced Usage Value2 High of 1 bar ago returns the High of the previous bar Reserved Words Quick Reference 297 Higher Synonym for stop or limit orders depending on the context used within a strategy Usage Buy Next Bar at MyEntryPrice or Higher Buy Stop ExitShort Next Bar at MyExitPrice or Higher ExitS hort Stop Usage 2 Sell Next Bar at MyEntryPrice or Higher Sell Limit ExitLong Next Bar at MyEntryPrice or Higher ExitLong Limit HistFundExists True if historical fundamental info EPS Dividends and Splits exists for symbol I Number of contracts outstanding at the close of a bar abbreviation for OpenInt Usage Valuel I of 1 bar ago returns the open interest of the previous bar I AvgEntryPrice Returns the average entry price of each open entry in a pyramided position For use when writing indicators and studies Usage Value2 I AvgEntryPrice returns150 for opens entries at 130 145 and 175 I ClosedEquity Returns the profit or loss realized when a position is closed For use when writing indi cators and studies I CurrentContracts Returns the number of contracts held in all open entries For use when writing indica tors and studies Usage Value2 I CurrentContracts returns 3 for 3 open enries of 1 contract each I MarketPosition A strategy s current market position 1 long 1 short 0 flat For use when writ ing indicators and studies Usage Valuel I MarketPo
146. ares in total at the low of the current bar minus 1 point or anything lower This order is active throughout the next bar until filled or canceled ExitLong 5 Contracts Total Next Bar at Low 1 Point Stop The next instruction places an order to exit 100 shares from every entry at the high plus the range of the current bar or anything higher This order is active throughout the next bar until filled or canceled and will be named HighExit ExitLong HighExit 100 Shares Next Bar at High Range Limit EasyLanguage for TradeStation Trading Verbs 141 The following statement allows you to monitor your risk by placing an exit order 5 points below the closing price of the bar that generated the long entry order ExitLong From Entry MyBuy Next Bar At Close 5 Points Stop ExitShort This trading verb is used to cover a short position The specifics of the order are defined by the optional components used in the statement i e how many shares contracts at what price etc Exit orders do not pyramid Once the exit criteria is met and the exit order filled the order is ignored for that position until the position is modified i e more shares contracts are sold or a new short position is established Syntax ExitShort Order Name from entry Entry Name Number of Shares Total Execution Method Only the word ExitShort is required to exit a short position For example ExitShort The d
147. ars ago EasyLanguage currently supports addresses for the following data objects m All Date Time Open High Low Close Volume and OpenInt values m All true false and numeric variables including predefined variables m All true false and numeric arrays 238 Using Functions from DLLs CHAPTER 6 Text strings are passed by address as a default when the LPSTR parameter type is used Do not change the size of the passed string within your DLL as this can cause unpredictable results The following example uses the correct syntax for including a pointer data type as one of the parameters sent to a function from a DLL in a statement DefineDLLFunc C NUserDLLMMyLib DLL int MyFunc LPLONG If MyFunc amp Close 0 Then Buy next bar at market Itis very important to remember that pointers cannot be correctly assigned to a variable or an array element Because neither a variable nor an array element has the necessary accu racy to hold a pointer you should not try to store a pointer for later use PROHIBITED The following example is prohibited in the current version of EasyLanguage as it produces an unpredictable result when Valuel is referenced at a later time Valuel amp Open Also do not assume that there is any relationship between two memory addresses For ex ample do not assume amp Open 1 is equal to amp Open 0 plus 4 You should always use the provided ELKIT32 Functions to perform pointer calcu
148. ars one through five because the close is greater than the open yet the condition necessary to call the function is not true for bars six and seven If the function were not calculated during those bars it could not increment its value to keep an accurate count of the bar number Furthermore if on bar eight the function referred to BarNumber 1 it would not be clear to what value the function is referring Again if a series function is not called on a specific bar it is executed at the end of the pro cedure in order to perform the calculations and store all values of the function itself and any variables and or arrays in the function for later reference by the function itself Also if the same series function is called two or more times in a bar using the same pa rameters and the function does not use variables or arrays as parameters then the func tion is only calculated once per bar and the value resulting from this initial calculation is used for the other times the function is called to maximize calculation speed How ever if a function uses a variable or array as a parameter or has different parameters then the function is calculated each and every time it is called within the bar For exam ple assume you wrote the following indicator MyValuel MySeriesFunction Close 25 MyValue2 MySeriesFunction Close 25 MyValue3 10 If Conditionl Then Valuel XAverage Close MyValue3 MyValue3 20 If Co
149. as not it returns a value of False Syntax Conditionl AddToMovieChain Movie_ID File Parameters Condition is any true false variable or array Movie ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the video clip to which you re adding the avi file and File is a text string expression representing the full path and file name of the avi file to add to the video clip Notes When a video clip is played it will play all the avi files in the order they were added to the video clip Example The following statements create a video clip and add two avi files to it Variable ID 1 ID MakeNewMovieRef Conditionl AddToMovieChain ID c MMyMovie avi Condition2 AddToMovieChain ID c MMyOtherMovie avi PlayMovieChain This reserved word plays a video clip and returns a true false expression representing the success of the operation If the reserved word was able to play the video clip it returns a value of True if it was not it returns a value of False Syntax Conditionl PlayMovieChain Movie ID Parameters Condition is any true false variable or array Movie ID is a numeric expression represent ing the ID number of the video clip The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Multimedia and EasyLanguage 113 Notes Once you have created a video clip using the reserved word MakeNewMovieRef and added avi files to the video clip you are ready to play it We recommend you use the res
150. astTradingDate q_Low q_Margin q_Minute q_MinutesDelayed 110 Multimedia and EasyLanguage CHAPTER 2 q Month m q_NetAssetValue m q_NetChange q NewsCount m q NewsDay m q NewsTime q Open q Openinterest qOOptionType m q PreviousClose m qq PreviousDate m q_PreviousHigh m q PreviousLow m q_PreviousOpen m qq PreviousOpenlInterest m q PreviousTime m qq PreviousVolume m q Time m qq TimeLastAsk m q TimeLastBid m q TimeLastTrade m q TotalVolume m q TradeVolume m qq UnchangedVolume q UpVolume m q Year m q Yield m qq StrikePrice m Sessions m StrikeConfidence m SymbolName m SymbolNumber m SymbolRoot Note If a quote field has the same name as another reserved word to reference the quote field you must use the pound sign as a prefix Multimedia and EasyLanguage You can include a sound wav file or a video file avi in any of your trading signals analysis techniques or functions Common uses of audio and video include alerts and commentary You can write your analysis techniques such that when an alert is triggered a video and or a sound file is played The reserved words you use to include sound and video files are described next Playing Sound Files There is only one reserved word you use to play sounds it is described below PlaySound This reserved word finds and plays the specified sound file wav file This reserved word returns a value of True if it was able to find and play the soun
151. at market exits 100 shares out of each open entry However if you want to exit a total of 100 shares you can use the word Total in the ExitLong instruction Using the word Total instructs the Trading Strategy to exit 100 shares from the first open entry first in first out This example is illustrated in Figure 3 15 EasyLanguage for TradeStation Trading Verbs 139 pm TradeStation Chart MSFT Microsoft Corp LAST Daily MSFT LAST Daily 07 26 1999 C 89 187 1 063 1 18 2 pnl M har t Buy 2 Exit Signal Signal ExitLong 100 shares total next bar at market Figure 3 15 The instruction ExitLong 100 shares total next bar at market exits 100 shares out of the oldest open entr ies Execution Method You can use four different execution methods with the trading verb ExitLong this bar on close next bar at market next bar at price Stop next bar at price Limit The execution method this bar on close is provided for backtesting purposes only it en ables you to backtest market at close orders which you use with TradeStation when trad ing on a real time delayed basis Given that all orders are read and executed at the end of each bar TradeStation evaluates and issues the this bar on close order once the bar has closed e g once the daily trading session has ended TradeStation fills the order using the close of the current bar but you have to place an order at mar
152. b ExitLong Some examples ExitLong 100 Shares ExitLong From Entry MovAvg 10 Shares Next Bar at High 1 Point Stop Note The words shares and contracts are synonymous 138 Trading Verbs CHAPTER 3 If you do not specify the number of shares or contracts in the ExitLong instruction the exit order closes out the entire long position rendering your position flat When you specify the number of shares contracts the ExitLong instruction exits the specified number of shares contracts from every open entry Therefore if the Trading Strategy allows for pyramiding and has bought 500 shares twice for a total of 1 000 shares and an order to ExitLong 100 shares is placed by the Trading Strategy the instruction will exit a total of 200 shares 100 shares from each of the two entries Figure 3 14 illustrates this example After buying a total of 1 000 shares 500 at two different entry points the order based on the instruction Exitlong 100 shares next bar at market exits a total of 200 shares 100 from each entry leaving you in a long position consisting of 800 shares The onscreen cues in Figure 3 14 show you how many shares you hold in your current position E TradeStation Chart MSFT Microsoft Corp LAST Daily MSFT LAST Daily 07 26 1998 C 89 187 1 063 1 18 O t ni Wl UM ii lin pnl l li ri jl hil I W uy d Buy Figure 3 14 The instruction ExitLong 100 shares next bar
153. bar s worth of price information EasyLanguage makes it easy to obtain price data from any bar older than the current bar by adding a modifier after the appropriate reserved word For a detailed description of the modifier to add refer to the section titled Referencing Previous Values on page 17 Skip Words There is a subset of reserved words called skip words Skip words are optional words that can be included in any statement with the intent of making the statement easier to read Skip words have no meaning and are in fact skipped by EasyLanguage when evaluating the trading signal analysis technique or function Following is a list of the EasyLanguage skip words a an at based by does from is of on place than the was For examples using these skip words please refer to Appendix C Reserved Words Quick Reference Expressions and Operators An expression is any combination of reserved words and operators that represent a value The value can be of three different types m numeric m true false also called logical or boolean m text string As you work with EasyLanguage you will use all three types of expressions extensively to create your procedures Numeric expressions can be literal in other words a number Or they can be a reserved word that represents a numeric value for example Close The following are all examples of numeric expressions The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Expressions and Operators
154. be sufficient to apply the trading strategy or analysis technique to all the data in the chart 20 Manipulating Dates and Times CHAPTER 2 For example an indicator is applied to a chart and the application initially determines that the maximum offset is 5 However as the application evaluates the indicator on the chart it determines that the analysis technique actually requires 25 bars to perform its calculation so the application removes the analysis technique from the chart and applies it a second time with 25 as the MaxBarsBack setting This process is repeated until the indicator is evaluated for the entire chart without having to be removed This can cause Print statements and other debugging tools as well as DLL calls to be executed repeatedly for the first few bars in the chart when the trading strategy or analysis technique is first applied to the chart If this behavior is not desired you will need to change the MaxBarsBack setting to User defined For information on how the Auto Detect and User defined formatting settings work see the Online User Manual Manipulating Dates and Times You ll be using dates and times often when writing your trading signals analysis techniques and functions This section covers how to work with dates and times Working with Dates Dates in EasyLanguage are represented as a numeric expression in the form YYYMMDD where YYY are years since 1900 MM is a 2 digit month and DD corresponds to
155. ble Syntax Array AnyName Elements J InitialValue Elements the number of indexed values that this array can store InitialValue a numeric expression used to set the initial value of each element Usage Array AnyName 4 0 declares a 4 element array with 0 for initial values Arrays Used to declare an array type of variable See Array ARRAYSIZE Reserved for use with custom DLLs designed for EasyLanguage and ELKIT32 DLL ARRAYSTARTADDR Reserved for use with custom DLLs designed for EasyLanguage and ELKIT32 DLL Ask Returns the ask value of an option or position leg calculated by a Bid Ask Model Usage If Ask of Option Close of Option 125 Then Alert Very Low Ask Asset Refers to an option s underlying asset in OptionStation Usage Valuel Volume of Asset AssetType Evaluates a position leg to determine if it is an asset Usage If LegType of Leg 1 AssetType Then fany operation AssetVolatility Returns the volatility of the underlying asset Usage If AssetVolatility gt 50 Then fany operation At Skip word used to improve readability Ignored during execution Usage Buy 100 Contracts on Next Bar at Market At Anchors exit prices to the bar where the named entry order was placed Usage ExitLong from Entry MA Cross At Low 1 Point Stop 282 APPENDIX C AtCommentaryBar Returns True if the current bar was selected with the Expert Commentary Tool Usage If AtCommentaryBar Th
156. blished to describe the normal behavior of bars The Trading Strategy Testing Engine follows these rules in an attempt to simulate the market activity when there is not sufficient data available However these are market assumptions designed to improve the accuracy of the testing when there is not enough data available and historical results will not always match real time results The assumptions are 1 The market traded at every valid price throughout the range of the bar 2 Ifthe open price is nearer to the low than to the high i e the open is in the bottom half of the bar the intra bar movement is assumed to be Open Low High Close chronologically see Figure 3 9 3 If the open price is in the upper half of the bar i e nearer to the high than the low the intra bar movement is assumed to Open High Low Close chronologically see Figure 3 9 128 The Trading Strategy Testing Engine CHAPTER 3 The first assumption implies that the fill prices of stop and limit orders during backtesting may not be exactly the same as the results obtained while trading real time Stop and limit orders are interpreted as the first price available over or under a a certain level if you place a buy stop order at 100 and the market trades at 99 875 and then the next trade jumps in price to 100 5 the real time order is filled at 100 5 but if the backtest is performed and the tick data is not available to the Trading
157. cal alignment values VVal Value Placement 0 Top 1 Bottom 2 Centered If there are no text objects with the ID number you specify or if the operation fails in any way this reserved word will return a numeric expression corresponding to one of the EasyLanguage drawing objects error codes and no additional operations will be performed on any text objects by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error Notes Valuel is any numeric variable or array You must assign the text object reserved word to a numeric variable or array so that you can determine whether or not the reserved word performed its operation successfully Example The following statement changes the alignment of text object 43 so it is right aligned and sits above the specified price Valuel Text SetStyle 3 1 1 Drawing Trendlines on Price Charts You can draw and manipulate trendlines on a price chart from a trading signal analysis technique indicators and studies or functions The very first concept you need to under stand to start working with trendlines is that each instance of a trendline drawing object on a chart has a distinct identification ID number All EasyLanguage commands use the ID number to refer to a specific trendline To view the ID number for a trendline double click the trendline to display the Format Trendline dialog box the caption will contain the ID number as shown in Figure 2 15 90 Draw
158. can be either simple or series When it passes information by reference it must be of type reference You can use variables func tions and arrays when the function calls for reference parameters When a variable is passed by reference the function will use the variable from the trading signal or analysis technique that called the function so any operations the function per forms on the parameters will be reflected in the variable in the trading signal or analysis technique as well as in the function For example suppose there is an indicator that calculates two numbers representing the up per and lower values of a channel Instead of creating two functions one to calculate the upper band and one to calculate the lower band a function can accept two variables by ref erence Then the function can calculate these two values and assign the result to each one of the variables passed by reference Once the function is called the variables in the indi cator will have the values corresponding to the upper and lower bands Figure 2 10 shows the EasyLanguage for the Bands Indicator The function we wrote to calculate the two bands is called MyBands Notice how the variables for the indicator are also the parameters we passed by reference to the MyBands function e Bands Indicator Indicator Inl x c c c e 1 Written by Omega Research De iption iple Li E EE EE E Vars UpperBand 0 LowerBand 0 valuel MyBands UpperBand
159. cannot refer to the same value of a function within its calculations However if defined as a series function it can refer to a previous value of itself For ex ample the following simple function gives an error MyFunction MyFunction Volume because the calculation refers to the current value of the function By setting the function Parameter to Series the following becomes a valid expression that uses a function s previous value to accumulate the volume of the chart MyFunction MyFunction 1 Volume EasyLanguage Syntax Errors 251 204 Orders cannot be inside a loop EasyLanguage does not allow trading orders to be placed inside a For or While loop If the intention of placing an order inside a loop is to increase the number of shares or contracts that the signal will handle this can still be done by placing the calculation of the number of shares or contracts inside a loop and then using the resulting value in the order instruc tion after the loop is finished For example While Conditionl Begin Valuel calculation of number of shares End Buy Valuel Shares Next Bar at Market 205 Statement does not return a value This error is displayed when attempting to return a value from statements not designed to return a value such as those that set or change a value For example Valuel AB SetZone High Low RightSide To correct this error do not assign the expression to a variable AB SetZone High
160. ck White 2 Correct Plot1 Strike of option Strike Black White 2 The only required parameter is the value that is plotted So the following statement is valid EasyLanguage for OptionStation Writing OptionStation Indicators 207 Plot1 Strike of option When no plot name is specified EasyLanguage assigns Plot1 Plot2 Plot3 or Plot4 in that order as the plot names for each respective plot Whenever referring to the foreground color background color or the width the word De fault can be used in place of the parameter s to have the Plot statement use the default color and or width selected in the Properties tab of the Format indicator dialog box For example the following statement can be used in order to display the strike price of an option with the default foreground and a yellow background Plot1 Strike of option Strike Default Yellow The same plot number i e Plotl Plot2 etc can be used more than once in an analysis technique the only requirement is that you use the same plot name in both instances of the Plot statement If no name is assigned then the default plot name is used Plot1 Plot2 etc For example if you want to plot the net change using red when it is negative and green when it is positive you can use the same plot number in this case Plot1 twice as long as the name of the plot is the same Valuel TheoreticalValue of option Close of option If Valuel gt 0 Then P
161. cks Number of ticks on a bar whose value is higher than the tick immediately preceding it Reserved Words Quick Reference 335 V Abbreviation for Volume Returns the volume of shares contracts of a referenced bar Usage If MyVol V of 1 Bar Ago Then Sell at Close Var Declares a variable name to use throughout your analysis technique Shorthand form Usage Var Count 10 declares the variable Count with an initial value of 10 Variable Declares a variable name to use throughout your analysis technique Usage Variable Val 5 declares the variable Val with an initial value of 5 Variables Declares multiple variable names separated by commas Usage Variables Countup 0 Countdown 10 declares and initializes variables Vars Declares multiple variable names separated by commas Shorthand form Usage Vars MyVal 2 MyPrice 31 declares and initializes variables VARSIZE Reserved for use with custom DLLs designed for EasyLanguage and ELKIT32 DLL VARSTARTADDR Reserved for use with custom DLLs designed for EasyLanguage and ELKIT32 DLL Vega Returns the Vega value of an option leg or position Debit positions will return posi tive numbers and credit positions will return negative numbers Usage If Vega of Option gt HighVal Then Alert High Vega In a Pricing Model used to set the value of Vega Usage Vega 5 sets the value of Vega to 0 50 VOID Reserved for use with custom DLLs design
162. computer language It explains in detail the capabilities of the language and its structure using examples throughout to illustrate the concepts and syntax presented This book first covers the basic elements of EasyLanguage common to the Omega Research products TradeStation RadarScreen and OptionStation and then delves more deeply into the EasyLanguage specifically for use with each This book covers EasyLanguage concepts in the context of the products it does not provide procedural information on using the EasyLanguage PowerEditor or the Omega Research products or the user interface All procedural instructions are covered in the Online User Manual The appendixes at the back of the book contain two useful references a reserved word quick reference and the EasyLanguage syntax errors The reserved word quick reference is a complete list of the EasyLanguage reserved words listed alphabetically The syntax error list is a complete list of the verification syntax errors generated by the PowerEditor listed by error number You ll find this useful when troubleshooting your EasyLanguage In This Chapter W What is EasyLanguage 2 W What Can You Create s 2 W Additional Resources eeese 3 2 Whatis EasyLanguage CHAPTER 1 What is EasyLanguage EasyLanguage is a simple but powerful computer language that enables you to create your own custom trading and t
163. ction to an input The function will be called i e recalculated every instance that the input is used The Basic EasyLanguage Elements EasyLanguage Control Structures 33 To illustrate how inputs are calculated we wrote a simple indicator using the function Random When we write the indicator without inputs both print statements return different values Random is a simple function Print Random 1 Print Random 1 When we write this indicator using an input to which we assign the value Random 1 and then print the value of the input twice the result is the same as using the function twice Since the input is recalculated each time it is used each print statement returns a different result Input Val Random 1 Print Val Print Val EasyLanguage Control Structures EasyLanguage has three types of statements that control the actions that are performed un der different circumstances These statements enable you to perform actions only when certain conditions are true for a period during which certain conditions are true or for a fixed number of iterations In EasyLanguage the three main control structures are m IF THEN statement m While loop m For loop Each is described next IF THEN Statement The IF THEN statement allows you to specify operations that will be performed only when a certain condition is true Syntax If Conditionl Then EasyLanguage instruction Condition is any t
164. cts a number passed by value Usage Input Price Numeric faccepts a numeric value for Price NumericArray Defines an input that expects a number passed by value for each array element Usage Input MyArray n NumericArray accepts numeric inputs by value NumericArrayRef Defines an input that expects a numeric variable passed by reference for each array element Usage Input MyArray n NumericArrayRef accepts numeric inputs by reference NumericRef Defines an input that expects a numeric variable passed by reference Usage Input Price NumericRef faccepts a numeric variable reference for Price NumericSeries Defines an input as a numeric series expression with price history Usage Input Price NumericSeries a numeric input allowing previous bar history NumericSimple Defines an input as a numeric simple expression Usage Input Price NumericSimple fa numeric input not allowing bar history NumFutures Returns the total number of futures contracts associated with a future symbol root Usage Valuel NumFutures of Asset NumLegs Returns the total number of position legs associated with any position Usage Plotl NumLegs of Position NumLegs NumbLosTrades Returns the total count of closed out losing trades NumOptions Returns the total number of options begin analyzed for an asset or the total number of options used in the specified leg of a position Usage Valuel NumOptions of Asset freturn
165. d 1 e Plotl Plot2 For example if you want to plot the net change using red when it is negative and green when it is positive you can use the same plot number in this case Plot1 twice as long a the name of the plot is the same 152 Writing Indicators and Studies CHAPTER 3 Valuel Close Close 1 If Valuel gt 0 Then Plotl Valuel NetChg Green Else Plotl Valuel NetChg Red In this example the plot name NetChg must be the same in both instances of the Plot statement Note Once you have defined a plot using the PlotN reserved word you can reference the value of the plot simply by using the reserved word PlotN In the example below the reserved word Plot1 is used to plot the accumulation distribution of the volume The value of the plot is referenced in the next statement in order to write the alert criteria Plotl AccumDist Volume AccumDist If Plotl gt Highest Plot1 20 then Alert SetPlotColor Number Color This reserved word is used to change the color of a particular plot in a price chart window Syntax SetPlotColor Number Color Parameters Number is a number from 1 to 4 representing the number of the plot to modify Color is the EasyLanguage color to be used for the plot For a list of the available colors refer to Appendix B of this book Example The following EasyLanguage statements color the plot red when the RSI Indicator is over 75 and green whe
166. d by orders are orders that are generated by the Trading Strategy that are not active They remain on stand by for the duration of the bar on which they were placed until either the bar is closed and the order is discarded or conditions change during the bar such that the order is made active For example assume you have applied a Trading Strategy to a daily chart the bar being evaluated is a Monday and your current position is flat neither long nor short At this point the Trading Strategy places an order to exit a long position on the next bar at the low or anything lower Since you are not currently in a long position TradeStation generates this order and places it on stand by You are not informed that this order has been generated it is invisible to you Now assume that subsequently an order to buy is placed for the next bar During the next bar the Tuesday bar the entry order is filled and now your position is long At that point the status of the exit order changes from stand by to active and is listed on the Active Orders tab of the Tracking Center window Conditions changed such that the order was made active However if no long position had been established during the Tuesday bar the exit order would have been discarded This stand by feature enables you to place protective stops on the bar of entry the order is placed on stand by only until the close of the bar on which it is placed Following is a list of scenarios und
167. d development and need some help creating your strategies and techniques or you re a seasoned pro looking for ways to refine your ideas and maximize your returns this club will help you master the process of developing and perfecting your own trading ideas For more information on the club visit our web site www omegaresearch com 4 Additional Resources CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 The Basic EasyLanguage Elements EasyLanguage is the industry standard language used to describe trading ideas and it is the most powerful versatile and easy to use customization tool used by traders world wide But how does it work This chapter answers that question and introduces you to the syntax grammar control structures and general concepts that are the foundation for EasyLanguage This chapter discusses how EasyLanguage performs its calculations and provides a solid foundation for you to begin working with one or more Omega Research products TradeStation OptionStation or RadarScreen In This Chapter Wm How EasyLanguage is Evaluated 6 W Writing Alerts ee eee 39 W About the Language een 10 W Understanding Arrays 45 Referencing Price Data 11 Understanding User Functions 50 Expressions and Operators 12 Output Methods sese 64 Referencing Previous Values 17 Drawing Text on Price Charts
168. d file and it returns a value of False if it is not able to find or play it The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Multimedia and EasyLanguage 111 Syntax Conditionl PlaySound FileName Parameters Condition is any true false variable or array and FileName is any text string expression that represents the full path and file name of the sound file to be played Only wav files can be played Notes We recommended that you use this reserved word only on the last bar of the chart or on bars where the commentary is obtained Otherwise you may find that the wav file is played more often than you intended For example if your intention is to play a wav file whenever a certain bar pattern occurs and this pattern occurs 50 times in the price chart the trading signal analysis technique or function will play the wav file 50 times when it is applied to the price chart Also the wav file is only played once per bar even if the event occurs more than once intrabar unless the Update Every Tick option is enabled in which case the wav file will play with each new tick while the event is True Example The following statements play the sound file Ding wav when there is a key reversal pattern on the last bar of the chart If LastBarOnChart AND Low lt Low 1 AND Close gt High 1 Then Conditionl PlaySound c windowsNsoundsNding wav Playing Video Files You can play a video file avi file using a combination of three r
169. d the commentary uses a 50 bar average of the volume then the MaxBarsBack setting is increased to fifty However the 50 bar average is only used for the commentary so there is no need to have the indicator wait fifty bars before giving results unless Commentary is requested To have the indicator plot after 10 bars and ignore the 50 bar requirement the indicator can be written as follows Plotl Close Close 10 Momentum BeginCmtry If Plotl gt 0 Then Commentary Momentum is positive Else Commentary Momentum is negative If Volume Average Volume 50 Then Commentary and volume is greater than average Else The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Output Methods 71 Commentary and volume is lower than average j End This indicator plots the momentum and the commentary states whether the momentum is positive or negative and if the volume is over or under the 50 bar average of the volume When the indicator is applied without using commentary it will require only 10 bars to start calculating When commentary is requested the indicator is recalculated the statements within the compiler directives are evaluated and the new minimum number of bars required is 50 Any series functions within these reserved words are also ignored BeginCmtryOrAlert When the commentary and alert statements are intertwined and the commentary and alert statements are not necessary for the normal calcula
170. d the other set reserved words for ActivityBar studies are discussed next AB AddCell Price Side Str Char Color Value This reserved word is used to add a cell to the current bar of the chart You can only add cells to the bar currently being analyzed e g AB AddCell 1 is not allowed This re served word must be included in an ActivityBar study Syntax AB AddCell Price Side Str Char Color Value Parameters Price is a numeric expression representing the price value at which the cell is added It can be any value inside or outside the range of the bar Side specifies the side of the bar on which the cell is placed and it accepts one of two re served words LeftSide or RightSide Str Char is the text string expression representing the text stored in the cell being added The expression is limited to one character If the text string expression is longer than one character only the first character is used e g if you use the text string expression High the letter H is placed in the cell Color is the EasyLanguage color or its numeric equivalent representing the color in which the cell is drawn For a list of the available colors see Appendix B of this book Value is a numeric expression stored in the cell This value is required however it does not affect the calculation of the ActivityBar study and is solely for your use You can refer to the value later from the ActivityBar study itself or from other
171. d they expect a large upward move Traders use buy limit orders when attempting to enter long positions at lower prices when working with support levels or when attempting to establish a position at a bottom And conversely they use buy stop orders when searching for volatility or price break outs or when looking to ride momentum Again these are the common usages of these types of or ders they are flexible enough to be used in many different ways Examples The following statement buys 100 contracts shares at the closing price of the bar Buy 100 Shares This Bar on Close The following statement buys the default number of contracts shares specified in the Costs tab at the open of the next bar and names this entry order Entry Buy Entryf1 Next Bar at Market The next statement places an order to buy 5 contracts at the high of the current bar plus the range of the current bar or any price higher Note that Range is a function that returns the high minus the low This order remains active throughout the next bar until filled or can celed Buy 5 Contracts Next Bar at High Range Stop The next statement places an order to buy 100 shares at the lowest low of the last 10 bars or any price lower This order remains active throughout the next bar until filled or can celed and the order is named LowBuy Buy LowBuy 100 Shares Next Bar at Lowest Low 10 Limit 134 Trading Verbs CHAPTER 3 Sell Thi
172. d word to a numeric variable or array so that you can determine whether or not the reserved word performed its operation successfully It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any trendlines by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error Example The following statements draw a trendline at the low of a key reversal bar and extend it to the right Variable ID 1 If Low Low 1 AND Close High 1 Then Begin ID TL New Date 1 Time 1 Low Date Time Low Valuel TL SetExtRight ID True End TL SetExtRight Trendlines can be extended to the left or right This reserved word enables you to toggle the trendline between extended to the right and not extended Syntax Valuel TL SetExtRight Tl ID Extend The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Drawing Trendlines on Price Charts 107 Parameters TI IDis a numeric expression representing the ID number of the trendline and Extend is a true false expression that either extends the trendline to the right or not Notes Valuelis any numeric variable or array You must assign the trendline reserved word to a numeric variable or array so that you can determine whether or not the reserved word performed its operation successfully It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will
173. d words used to write your own models are discussed next 228 Writing OptionStation Models CHAPTER 5 Model Reserved Words Most of the Model reserved words function as set words in that they set the different values for the options e g Theoretical Value Delta These same words when used in the other EasyLanguage documents obtain the values rather than set them Theoretical Value num This reserved word is used in the Pricing Model to set the Theoretical Value of the option When this reserved word is used in another analysis technique it is used to obtain the Theoretical Value of the option Syntax TheoreticalValue num Parameters Num is a numeric expression representing the Theoretical Value of the option This param eter is needed only when setting the value in the Pricing Model not when obtaining it Example For example when writing a Pricing Model if the value of the Theoretical Value is stored in the variable Value then the Theoretical Value for the option is set by using TheoreticalValue Value When writing other analysis techniques use this word to obtain the Theoretical Value of the option Example instructions are shown below Valuel TheoreticalValue of option Notice the use of the qualifier Of Option For information on qualifiers see the section earlier in this chapter titled Reading OptionStation Data Delta num This reserved word is used in the Pricing Model to set the
174. ding De flnecusbEYeld iex RU eU real time delayed data monitoring for DEF TEE UN resorter oE EA viadar qne un Uds via ee trading strategies 118 DeliveryMonth 4 referencing for each bar 11 Delivery Year wes resolution for trading strategy testing 126 Delta seese streams referencing 52 Delta Value LES time format enne 23 Description trading strategies evaluating data for 117 Dividend sss types see DLL Functions Dividendiyreka e Data Aliases DividendCount data streams referencing different 52 D rvigdengDate E functions DividendTime esate parameters using data aliases as 53 Division by Zero oe s using functions with data aliases s 52 Division performing E E E EERE I EAE futures contract DLL Functions obtaining number in Position Analysis Window 199 arrays referencilg idee paced tees 49 referencing current data UP E referencing specific defining no data alias specified extension dett ob eer ler He EL od tn vro Mero ME options pointer data types number of obtaining 201 using weseeeeeeennneteeee nnne ttt tents ttt teennnnni titt nennen referencing current E Dilr Risk Trailing E ls ale us eset E E AEN E EAT Does Skip WOT aare iiaeiai eneen n ie 290 referencing specific Index 341 TOU A A HEE easdem vet von ERN TTA ORE wa aos 290 DownTi Down Drawing texton price charts e sete ere tee etis trendlines on price char
175. dy to a chart and formatted it to use a dotted line The result is shown in Figure 3 19 158 Writing ShowMe and PaintBar Studies CHAPTER 3 DELL LAST Daily 08 31 1999 B H 46 500 L 45 813 y 9314000 My PB jl dun guit Wi wd i wh li in Wh Il fo Figure 3 19 Use of a PaintBar study to shade an area of the chart NoPlot Num This reserved word removes the specified plot from the current bar in the price chart Syntax NoPlot Num Parameters Num is a numeric expression representing the number of the plot to remove Notes This reserved word is useful when collecting data on a real time delayed basis and you have the Update Every Tick check box selected for the PaintBar study If the PaintBar study condition becomes true during the bar but is not true at the end of the bar the plot is removed from that bar If you do not use this reserved word the bar is painted when the condition becomes true and remains painted even when the condition is no longer true Example The following PaintBar study paints the bars while the close is less than the 10 bar average of the close but removes the plot from the current bar if the condition is no longer true EasyLanguage for TradeStation Writing ProbabilityMap Studies 159 If Close Average Close 10 Then PlotPaintBar High Low Price lt BarAvg Else NoPlot 1 A PaintBar study uses one plot for two parameters
176. e itis assumed If how ever you want to find when the expression is false then you must state the comparison as follows Conditionl High lt Highest High 10 1 AND Low gt Lowest Low 10 1 If Conditionl False Then Alert New high or low The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Using Variables 29 Normally you would write the expression such that you want it to evaluate to true howev er it is up to you which way you want to write the expressions and statements It is also possible to refer to the value of a variable on a previous bar to do so include the square brackets and number after the name of the variable For example the following statements refer to the value of a variable called EntryPrc five bars ago Variable EntryPrc 0 EntryPrc Highest High 10 If EntryPrc EntryPrc 5 Then Buy Next Bar at Entryprc Stop Advanced Tip Working with Series Variables EasyLanguage will automatically determine if a previous value of a variable is accessed at any point in the trading signal analysis technique or function and will store the historical values of the variable only if required and then only as much history as specified by the MaxBarsBack setting For example consider the following indicator Valuel Close 1 05 Value2 Close Close 10 Value3 Valuel 5 Value2 Plot1 Value3 A historical value of Valuel is referenced in the third line the valu
177. e the following statement can be used to display the volume in the default color but a specific width Plot1 Volume V Default Default 3 Again you can use the word Default for the color parameters or the width parameter Also the same plot i e Plot1 Plot2 can be used more than once in an analysis technique the only requirement is that you use the same plot name in both instances of the Plot state ment If no name is assigned then the default plot name is used i e Plot1 Plot2 For example if you want to plot the net change using red when it is negative and green when it is positive you can use the same plot number in this case Plot1 twice as long a the name of the plot is the same EasyLanguage for OptionStation Writing Indicators for SuperCharts SE 213 Valuel Close Close 1 If Valuel gt 0 Then Plotl Valuel NetChg Green Else Plotl Valuel NetChg Red In this example the plot name NetChg must be the same in both instances of the Plot statement Note Once you have defined a plot using the PlotNum reserved word you can reference the value of the plot simply by using the reserved word PlotNum In the example below the reserved word Plotl is used to plot the accumulation distribution of the volume The value of the plot is referenced in the next statement in order to write the alert criteria Plotl AccumDist Volume AccumDist If Plotl gt Highest Plotl 20 the
178. e 4 positions ago ExitLong A trading strategy order to partially or completely liquidate a long position Syntax ExitLong from entry MyTrade num of shares execution instruction execution instructions this bar on close next bar at market next bar at price stop next bar at price limit Usage ExitLong Next Bar at Market ExitLong From Entry BuyClose Next Bar at 75 Stop ExitLong 5 Contracts Next Bar at Low Range Stop ExitLong From Entry BuyLimit Next Bar at Price Limit ExitPrice Returns the exit price for the specified position Usage Valuel ExitPrice 2 the exit price 2 positions ago ExitShort A trading strategy order to partially or completely cover short positions Syntax ExitShort from entry MyTrade num of shares execution instruction execution instructions this bar on close next bar at market next bar at price stop next bar at price limit Usage ExitShort Next Bar at Market ExitShort From Entry BuyClose Next Bar at 75 Stop ExitShort 5 Contracts Next Bar at Low Range Stop ExitShort From Entry BuyLimit Next Bar at Price Limit ExitTime Returns the exit time for the specified position in 24 hour HHMM format Usage Valuel ExitTime 1 the exit time 1 position ago Reserved Words Quick Reference 293 ExpirationDate The expiration delivery date of an option future or position leg as YYYMMDD ExpirationMonth Returns the expiration delivery month of an option
179. e Basic EasyLanguage Elements Drawing Trendlines on Price Charts 97 TL GetEndTime This reserved word returns the time of the ending point of the trendline The ending point of the trendline is the one with the later date if the trendline is vertical the higher of the two points is considered to be the ending point Syntax Valuel TL GetEndTime Tl ID Parameters Tl ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the trendline whose ending time you want to obtain Notes Valuelis any numeric variable or array and holds the date of the ending point It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any trendlines by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error Example The following statement assigns the EasyLanguage time of the bar used as the end point for the trendline with the ID number 5 to the variable Valuel Valuel TL GetEndTime 5 TL GetEndVal This reserved word returns a numeric expression corresponding to the price value used as the ending point of the trendline The ending point of the trendline is the one with the later date if the trendline is vertical the higher of the two points is considered to be the ending point Syntax Valuel TL GetEndVal Tl ID Parameters TI ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the trendl
180. e LE ec oh orae Ets 298 J dJdullanToDate usddeneetiteettetetese edere rae 22 299 Jump Words and Commentary eese 67 LargestLosl LargestWinl Last Split Date 5o eee A A 299 Last Split Fact LAST CALCIDACES enu REN Iris LastCalcMMTime LastTradingDate Learning to Use EasyLanguage book 3 Letft9eTde s scenes INVE edet ee er eed 177 299 LefbStE zeiten toli RM ti aat 299 HIE EE 299 TiS CHC TUM MEN rp MEE 202 DO GT YDS pew e exce cose toe aen P RR RED MERE CREME ERR Deas 300 Libraries Mits OM 2 scere errorae es 3 LightGray 300 DITE qGA eqeeeee etie hess ESPERE EIE ANE EAR 300 Limit Orders 120 Limits on Size of Libraries see 3 Loading Additional Data for Accumulative Calculations deer ee ent rita 9 LOG muceetidecauepdien ueste pte e ek DD ta Ea 300 Logical EXPTESSIONS eere iege nee eee oe eee e epa pee ee ee Nen 12 operators a THING fp Long Positions CLOSING 4st oon dista opt ri 134 136 Open iecore avara ree pe ege 131 Loops arrays populating SOrting Locis ettet itai Us ct tao d control EXPLESSIOM 42s epe eter 36 yariables serores herri porosta Tesini inean aN E nesis 38 For LOOP o ro a erem C ode eri 38 ME e ence a Sas van OA ENS ANN 37 While Loo0p ettet tette tee tet pene einn 36 Losses limiting see Stops WOW aeieea crees so eo ursa EE T tbe eg abe ORTA das dhe see PUER EEEn Lower L
181. e PlotNum statement then you don t have to use the first SetPlotColor statement instead your instructions would be as follows Plotl RSI Close 9 RSI Default If Plotl1 gt 75 Then SetPlotColor 1 Red If Plotl1 lt 25 Then SetPlotColor 1 Green SetPlotWidth Number Width This reserved word sets the width of the specified plot Syntax SetPlotWidth Number Width Parameters Number is a number from 1 to 4 representing the number of the plot to modify Width is the EasyLanguage width to be used for the plot For a list of the available widths refer to Appendix B of this book Example The following EasyLanguage statements change the width of the plot to a thicker line when the Momentum Indicator is over 0 and to a thinner line when it is under 0 Plot1 Momentum Close 10 Momentum If Plot1 gt 0 Then SetPlotWidth 1 2 If Plot1 lt 0 Then SetPlotWidth 1 6 In this example the Momentum Indicator has two possible widths thicker when it is over 0 and thinner when it is below 0 However in some cases you will want the indicator to have three or more possible widths Please refer to the example for the previous reserved word SetPlotColor for a variation on the usage of the reserved word The same applies for SetPlotWidth EasyLanguage for OptionStation Writing Search Strategies 215 Specifying Availability of Indicators When you create an indicator in the EasyLanguage PowerEditor
182. e ProbabilityMap study drawing area Example The following loop traverses the first column of the ProbabilityMap study drawing area Valuel PM Low While Valuel PM High Begin EasyLanguage instructions Valuel Valuel PM GetRowHeight End PM_GetNumColumns This reserved word returns a numeric value representing the number of columns of the ProbabilityMap study drawing area Syntax Valuel PM_GetNumColumns Parameters None To obtain the value returned by this reserved word you can assign the value to a numeric variable for example Value Example The following loop traverses a row of the ProbabilityMap study drawing area from the first to the last column For Valuel 1 To PM GetNumColumns Begin EasyLanguage instruction s End 166 Writing ActivityBar Studies CHAPTER 3 PM GetCellValue Column Price This reserved word returns the number corresponding to the value of the specified cell of the ProbabilityMap study drawing area The number returned by this reserved word is between 0 and 100 corresponding to the color patterns shown in Figure 3 22 Syntax Valuel PM GetCellValue Column Price Parameters Column and Price are numeric expressions representing the cell in the ProbabilityMap study drawing area for which you want to obtain the value To obtain the value returned by this reserved word you can assign the value to a numeric variable for example Valuel Example The fo
183. e Sm e tede PTEE rdc TTT 315 Index 347 dq TradeVolumecgs neus A A aA 315 validity of position determining 221 q UpdateDate Volatility 1 222 4 eerte i n e reete tenent 216 q UpdateTime WICH P 214 qt Yo tte ced T on rod tes seis 1 etd bee tab s Sell Jine 134 317 Qualifiers see Data Aliases Semicolon definition wissiet 10 QUEXCK JRSETO seo DA Eee 315 Series Quotation Marks definition sse 11 AITAYS ca has EEEE EEEE E 49 PUNCH ONS E ive deesiseeatees 56 R inputs assigning series values to sss 32 RaTdom arrir he dive tee tee d ORE eet 316 parameters nennen 59 BawRgkiLges slg dela e LIS p E dui E er din 316 variables 8e te tree etim e iat e err ets 29 BawEWdd E eo eL LEN DES US 316 Sernr sCOUlE sese dtentume diete 317 RS Urea 316 SesslEndTime sssssseee eH 317 Reference Parameters 59 SesslFirstBarTime SEC 317 Relational Operators 14 Sess1St art TAG aped eer iot ID e edet 317 Removing a Plot 156 158 184 Sess2EndTime Repeat soe E ER er Rees ete Pt asesu cee ves e V eu det 316 Sess2FirstBarTime seseeeee 318 Reserved Words Sess 2 Stant TAM Ss wende eme ee eR 318 also see Functions Sessions dM MMe Fini gorans bd d i ds SEEP EAREVEN tutta tuse carats adnan gt price data referencing Se ue uL EIE UIT 146 318 WICK reference 1 itte Siete D Nee eee SetExitOnClo
184. e Trading Sig nal s within the Trading Strategy Limiting the Number of Open Entries per Position When you enable pyramiding it is possible for a Trading Strategy to buy or sell short a number of consecutive times increasing the size of the position You can specify the max imum number of times the Trading Strategy can buy or sell short without closing any of the open entries You set this in the Entry Settings section of the Format Strategy dialog box as shown in Figure 3 7 The Maximum open entries per position option enables you to force the Trading Strat egy to ignore any new orders to add to the current position once the Trading Strategy has EasyLanguage for TradeStation The Trading Strategy Testing Engine 123 already bought or sold short a specified number of consecutive times in a single posi tion Format Strategy x Inputs Style Costs Properties m Pyramiding Settings multiple entries in same direction c 1 Allow for different entry signals only Allow for same and different entry signals r Entry Settings Maximum open entries per position so Maximum contracts shares per position e5000 r Backtesting Settings l Strategy testing resolution Tick C Minute fi Day Max number of bars strategy will reference 50 Generate orders for next bar Use as strategy default Cancel Help Figure 3 7 Format Strategy P roperties tab Stand by Orders Stan
185. e close of the last 10 bars in any grid window Because the objective of grid applications is to analyze multiple trading instruments at the same time they are optimized to use as little data as needed to save memory and increase calculation speed Due to this optimization feature most indicators are defaulted to calcu late only on the most recent bar or trading interval and to load only the necessary data Let s elaborate on this concept When an indicator is applied to a grid window EasyLan guage determines the maximum number of bars the indicator needs to perform its calcula tions and passes this number to the application i e RadarScreen or OptionStation The application then obtains as much data as necessary for the EasyLanguage indicator to per form its calculations But again it is important to remember that the application will only obtain enough data to calculate the result of the indicator based on the most recent bar of the trading instrument So if a 10 bar moving average indicator is applied to RadarScreen RadarScreen will load 10 bars worth of data for every symbol on the page and it will calculate the 10 bar average for each symbol for the last bar only This method works very well for most indicators but it also implies that if you are calcu lating a cumulative or recursive indicator i e one that uses a running total to calculate the current value or references previous values of the indicator you will no
186. e description in cluded in the Additional Info field is written in the EasyLanguage alert statement included in the procedure that triggered the alert You can include alert statements in Indicators ShowMe studies PaintBar studies ActivityBar studies Probability Map studies You can use any of the reserved words described in this section with indicators and studies When the EasyLanguage criteria is met on the last bar in the price chart or grid an alert is triggered Itis very important to remember that alerts are only triggered if the criteria specified by the alert statement s are met on the last bar of the price chart or grid Historical instances of alerts are not logged in the Tracking Center window nor is the Alert Notification dialog box displayed Alerts can be thought of as a switch that can be turned on or off throughout the analysis technique by using different statements Once all instructions are read the final state of this switch determines if the alert is triggered or not For example say that the fourth line of an indicator triggers an alert however the very last line of the indicator is a statement that disables the alert In this case the indicator will not trigger an alert Alerts are not triggered at the moment they are read but after all the EasyLanguage state ments have been analyzed for the last bar of the price chart or grid This gives you the abil ity to enable and or disable an alert based on cha
187. e end of each statement Punctuation marks are considered reserved words because they are a part of the structure of the language The following punctuation marks are recognized in EasyLanguage Symbol Name Description Semicolon Ends a statement Parentheses Groups values and forces them to be calculated first Also surrounds the set of parameters or inputs required by a reserved word The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Referencing Price Data 11 Symbol Name Description A Comma Separates each parameter or input in a set required by a reserved word Also separates a list of declared inputs or variables Colon Used in declaration statements to begin the list of inputs or variables Also used with Print statements to format numeric expressions uu Quotation Defines a text string Marks Square Hard Used as a modifier to reference a value from a Brackets previous bar Also specifies elements in an array variable U Curly Brackets Surrounds text that is to be ignored by EasyLanguage Enables you to include comments You will find examples of the usage of these punctuation marks throughout this book Referencing Price Data The main objective of any trading or technical analysis tool is to evaluate price data There fore EasyLanguage provides a set of reserved words to refer to the price data available for each bar These reserved words match the common verbiag
188. e first traded price at or over 50 It is possible for stop and limit orders not to be filled i e price never reached in this case the orders are canceled at the close of the bar Figure 3 2 shows the meaning of the different orders EasyLanguage for TradeStation The Trading Strategy Testing Engine 117 Trading Verb Stop Limit Buy or Higher or Lower Sell or Lower or Higher ExitLong or Lower or Higher ExitShort or Higher or Lower Figure 3 2 Stop and Limit orders Each component of a trading order is discussed in the section Trading Verbs on page 131 The Trading Strategy Testing Engine To as accurately as possible reproduce how a Trading Strategy would have performed in the past and to keep track of your trading rules as new data is collected TradeStation uses a powerful Trading Strategy Testing Engine This engine takes all the orders generated by the Trading Strategy applied to the chart and creates the TradeStation Strategy Performance Report This section covers all the different procedures that the Trading Strategy Testing Engine uses and the assumptions it makes in orderto evaluate the Trading Strategy applied to a chart The Trading Strategy Testing Engine performs two functions backtesting and automation Backtesting is the process of analyzing historical data and deriving historical profitability results and automation is the process of monitoring and analyzing new data as it i
189. e for syntax Usage TextValuel Text_GetString 3 returns text string of object number 3 Text_GetTime Returns the time of the left edge of the specified text object see Text_Delete for syntax Usage Value2 Text_GetTime 4 returns the time of text object 4 Text_GetValue Returns the price vertical axis of the specified text object see Text_Delete for syntax Usage Valuel Text_GetValue 2 returns the price of text object 2 Reserved Words Quick Reference 325 Text GetVStyle Gets the vertical placement style of the specified text object see Text Delete for syntax Returns 0 for top 1 for bottom 2 for center or error code if operation not successful Usage Value2 Text GetVStyle 5 returns vert style of text object 5 Text New Creates and draws a new text object at a specified date time and price location Syntax Text_New cDate Time P rice Text cDate date in YYYMMDD format Time time in HHMM 24 hour format Price value or numeric expression of the price Text text variable or text expression within quotes Returns object number if successful or error code if operation not successful Note Drawing objects are numbered by type in the order they are created from 0 to n Therefore 0 is the identification number of the first drawing object of that type created and n is the last object of the same type created Usage Valuel Text New Date Time High 1 Stock Split Text SetColor
190. e last and for every bar of the chart one at a time starting with the price data from bar A then from bar B etc across all of the bars in the chart Statements are evaluated for every bar from the left most bar to the right A H B o Statements are read from the first line to the last line ZB HiLoPlot Indicator Gf x Variables HighLine 0 LowLine 0 HighLine Highest High lO0 of 1 bar ago LowLine Lowest Low l0 of 1 bar ago m Plotl HighLine Plot2 LowLine Figure 2 1 Evaluating bars from the first line to the last and left to right Even though the EasyLanguage instructions might not be clear at this time it s important that you understand that each instruction is evaluated in order from the first line to the last for every bar of the chart one at a time EasyLanguage and Grids You can also apply indicators to grid windows such as RadarScreen and the OptionS tation Position Analysis Window When thinking about analysis techniques on price charts we think in terms of analyzing past data in order to display information about the current market applying indicators to grids is no different A grid allows us to analyze and view the results of multiple trading instruments simulta neously As with price charts past values are available for the analysis For example a 8 How EasyLanguage is Evaluated CHAPTER 2 10 bar moving average will be able to reference th
191. e of five bars ago also the MaxBarsBack setting for the indicator is 10 since the close of 10 bars ago is referenced and that is the most history required Therefore the indicator will store the values for Valuel for the last 10 bars The variables Value2 and Value3 do not require that history be saved they are simple thus historical values of these variables are not stored Variables can be either series or simple When they are series history is stored for them when they are simple history is not stored for them This becomes important when accessing the values of variables from third party languages through DLLs because there may or may not be historical data stored for the variable or not as much as desired by the third party developer In this scenario you can force a variable to be a series variable by referencing a previous value of the variable in the trading signal analysis technique or function i e by using a dummy statement Or you may want to consider working with functions you can force a function to be a series function See the section later in this chapter titled Understanding User Functions on page 50 30 Using Inputs CHAPTER 2 Using Inputs Inputs are placeholders that hold a value you can define the value of the input once at the beginning of the procedure and then reference the value throughout the trading signal or analysis technique by using the name of the input The value of an input cannot
192. e overall position profit The profit on a contract share basis is calculated by dividing the overall position profit by the number of contracts shares and then subtracting the commissions from the resulting value The Breakeven Stop Floor trading signal only takes effect once a certain amount of profit is reached so in a given position it may never take effect Therefore you should not use it to limit losses SetExitOnClose This reserved word is used to place an order to exit the position or contract share at the close of the current bar Syntax SetExitOnClose Parameters None Trading Signal Close at End of Day The Close at End of Day trading signal has no inputs It will exit all open positions at the close of the day It is particularly useful for day traders who do not want to hold any positions overnight 146 Understanding Built in Stops CHAPTER 3 SetDollarTrailing This reserved word is used to specify the amount based on the maximum open position profit you are willing to lose in dollars The position or contract share is closed out when the specified amount is lost Syntax SetDollarTrailing DollarValue Parameters DollarValue is the amount of the maximum open profit that you are willing to lose Notes Use with SetStopContract or SetStopPosition Trading Signal Dllr Risk Trailing The Dllr Risk Trailing trading signal allows you to indicate the maximum amount of money you are willing
193. e the data alias Of Asset where Of is a skip word that makes the expression easier to read Example The following instructions traverse through all available options using a For loop in this case the loop adds the open interest for all Put options and stores them in the variable TotalPutl For Valuel 1 To NumOptions of asset Begin If OptionType of option Valuel Put Then TotalPutI TotalPutI OpenInt of option Valuel End 202 Reading OptionStation Data CHAPTER 5 Position Information EasyLanguage also offers the possibility of referencing position related information through a set of reserved words that will allow the manipulation of both position and position leg related information These reserved words are available when working with Search Strategies and indicators specifically written for the Positions section of the Position Analysis window Position This reserved word is used to reference the information for the position being analyzed You cannot reference another position only the position in the row in the Position Analysis window to which the indicator is applied Syntax Value of position Parameters None Value is any value you can obtain for the position for example a piece of information such as the Delta value Of is a skip word that makes the expression easier to read Example The following statement assigns the delta of the position to the variable Valuel Valuel Delta of positio
194. e they control how information is displayed or plotted either in a grid i e a RadarScreen window or in a price chart PlotN Expression PlotName ForeColor BackColor Displays values resulting from a calculation or an expression in a RadarScreen window The values can be numeric or text string Syntax PlotN Expression PlotName ForeColor BackColor Parameters Nis a number between 1 and 4 representing one of the four available plots Expression is the value that will be plotted either numeric or text string expression and lt PlotName gt is the name of the plot ForeColor is an EasyLanguage color that will be used for the plot foreground and BackColor is an EasyLanguage color that will be used for the plot back ground The parameters PlotName ForeColor and BackColor are optional When plot ting a text string expression the expression must be enclosed in quotation marks e g T For a list of the available colors refer to Appendix B of this book Notes There is a category of reserved words called Quote Fields These words enable you to ac cess snapshot information from the datafeed and allows indicators applied to RadarScreen to use less memory and be more efficient in its calculations in other words to optimize its performance They are very useful for performing analysis on intraday minute and tick bars and referencing the current day s information e g daily high low open For i
195. e to wait un til the second bar of the chart in order to perform any calculation This is called max imum number of bars the study will reference or MaxBarsBack This concept is discussed in detail on page 18 When your procedure is done evaluating the current bar EasyLanguage steps forward to the next bar in the chart making it the bar on which the statements in your procedure are evaluated or the current bar Typically a trading signal analysis technique or function includes a number of instruc tions each of which can result in an action for example an indicator will display a value The Basic EasyLanguage Elements How EasyLanguage is Evaluated 7 and a trading signal will generate a buy or sell order Once all the EasyLanguage instruc tions are processed for the current bar the price data from the next bar is read and the in structions are evaluated using the new prices This continues across the chart from left to right until all of the bars from the chart are read and analyzed Using the trading signal ex ample the result is that for a 500 bar chart the instructions are evaluated a total of 499 times once for each bar except the first bar when there is not enough data to perform the calculation For example look at the chart shown in Figure 2 1 consisting of bars A through H to which we applied an indicator named HiLoPlot Each statement within the indicator is eval uated from the first line of EasyLanguage to th
196. e used in everyday trading e g Open High Low Close Volume The following table lists the reserved words used to refer to the prices and other bar data along with the abbreviations you can use in place of the words Reserved Word Abbreviation Description Close C Last traded price of a bar Date D Date of the close of a bar Time T Time of the close of a bar Open O First traded price of a bar High H Highest traded price of a bar Low L Lowest traded price of a bar Volume V Number of shares or contracts traded in a bar OpenInt OI Number of outstanding contracts at the close of a bar available with futures only Ticks Total number of trades in a bar 12 Expressions and Operators CHAPTER 2 Reserved Word Abbreviation Description UpTicks Number of trades in which price was higher than the previous trade or unchanged tick after an uptick DownTicks Number of trades in which price was lower than the previous trade or unchanged tick after a downtick You can use any or all of these reserved words in your trading signals analysis techniques and functions to refer to information regarding the current bar being evaluated Remember that trading signals analysis techniques and functions are evaluated for every bar from old est to most current and results are obtained for every bar Also since trading decisions are rarely made on just one
197. eRef 1 Margin Returns the margin setting from the applied strategy s Costs tab Market Order type referring to the opening price of the next bar Usage Buy Next Bar at Market MarketPosition The market position 1 long 1 short 0 flat of the specified position Syntax MarketPosition Num Num number of positions ago Usage Valuel MarketPosition 2 returns1 if long 2 posittions ago was long MaxBarsBack The minimum number of bars required to evaluate a study or trading strategy MaxBarsForward Represents the number of bars to the right of the last bar on the chart MaxConsecLosers Represents the longest chain of consecutive closed out losing trades MaxConsecWinners Represents the longest chain of consecutive closed out winning trades 302 APPENDIX C MaxContracts The maximum number of contracts held during the specified position Syntax MaxContracts Num Num number of positions ago Usage Valuel MaxContracts 2 returns number of contracts held 2 posittions ago MaxContractsHeld Maximum number of contracts held at any one time MaxEntries The maximum number of entry signals for the specified position Syntax MaxEntries Num Num number of positions ago MaxGain Returns the Maximum Gain of the position Usage If MaxGain of Position lt HighVal Then any operation MaxIDDrawDown The largest drop in equity in dollars throughout the entire trading period MaxList Re
198. ea you should assign a number between 0 and 100 to each one of the 160 Writing ProbabilityMap Studies CHAPTER 3 cells in the grid This number reflects the probability that the price or value will reach that particular cell Sl Traclatsialian Chaat ESCU Cuca Spasa inc LASI EBEOLAST DwN I DT T3ES r TA HITIIBH Lz el S44 DO E Z E nap Tit Hor Bom LI Expressed a j parca a E ui m z z Tohan Enpraezad a5 bars hw Du pu TA ee ae um E Figure 3 21 ProbabilityMap Study drawing area As explained above when creating a ProbabilityMap study a rectangular area is created and divided into a grid with a specified number of rows and columns Each one of the cells in this grid is assigned a value from 0 to 100 representing the probability that the price will reach that cell When the ProbabilityMap study is applied to price chart a color is assigned to each cell of the drawing area thereby creating the ProbabilityMap graph As shown in Figure 3 22 there are three available patterns fire smoke and fade You specify the pattern using the Properties tab in the Format dialog box Fre nd VALUE Figure 3 22 ProbabilityMaps color patterns When creating ProbabilityMap studies it is important to know that they are evaluated the same way as other analysis techniques and as is explained in Chapter 2 The Basic Ele ments of EasyLanguage
199. echnical analysis tools By combining common trading terminology with simple decision statements EasyLanguage makes it easy for you to write your own trading rules and actions in a clear and straightforward manner Simply put TradeStation RadarScreen or OptionStation reads your EasyLanguage statements evaluates them based on the price data that has been collected and performs the specified actions What Can You Create EasyLanguage enables you to create your own trading signals indicators studies search strategies models and functions Or if you choose you can copy and modify any of the hundreds of built in trading signals analysis techniques and functions that are included with the Omega Research products The types of trading and technical analysis tools you can create for each Omega Research product are TradeStation m Indicators chart based m ShowMe Studies m PaintBar Studies m ActivityBar Studies m ProbabilityMap Studies m Trading Signals to form Trading Strategies m Functions RadarScreen m Indicators grid based m Functions OptionStation m Indicators grid based m Search Strategies m Pricing Models m Volatility Models m Bid Ask Models Introduction Additional Resources 3 m Functions SuperCharts SE included with RadarScreen and OptionStation m Indicators chart based Your Omega Research product can store a total of 1 000 ActivityBar studies 1 000 functions 1 000 trading
200. ecific to a symbol that are offered by the datafeed and that are forwarded through the GlobalServer and made available to you in EasyLanguage for use with RadarScreen and OptionS tation This data is available only as snapshot information no historical values are available The main purpose of these words is to allow indicators applied to RadarScreen and OptionStation to use less memory and be more efficient in other words to optimize the performance of your grid applications It is important to remember that it is not possible to refer to historical values for any of these quote fields They are useful for performing analysis on intraday minute and tick bars and referencing the current day s information e g daily high low open Following is a list of the quote fields available in the Omega Research ProSuite 2000i ap plications For descriptions of these words including examples of their use see Appendix C Reserved Word Quick Reference PLEASE NOTE Availability of the data for any quote field depends on the datafeed Category Cusip Description ExpirationMonth ExpirationRule ExpirationStyle ExpirationYear Expired FirstNoticeDate HistorySettings Maturity MinMove PointValue q 7DayYield q Ask q AskExchange q AskSize q Bid q BidExchange q BidSize q Close q_Datafeed q_Date q_DateLastAsk q_DateLastTrade q_ExchangeListed q_DownVolume q_ExpirationDate q_Headline q_HeadlineCount q_High q_Hour q_Last q_L
201. ed Figure 3 12 Bouncing tick example With this technique TradeStation introduces several oscillations into the intra bar move ment without having the underlying tick data This particular example showed how the bouncing tick technique can turn a winning trade to a losing trade however it can just as easily turn a losing trade into a winning trade Again if a backtest includes sufficient inci dents of these scenarios and they are resolved in a consistent fashion the errors in favor and against tend to offset each other Itis very important to remember that this technique is designed to simulate market activity but itis only a simulation Actual market movement may differ significantly from this sim ulation and produce differences in the TradeStation Strategy Performance Report results EasyLanguage for TradeStation Trading Verbs 131 Trading Verbs Using the four trading verbs you can simulate a wide variety of trading ideas and order types This section describes the four trading verbs Buy Sell ExitLong and ExitShort in detail Buy This trading verb is used to open a long position it covers your short positions and opens a long position The specifics of the order are defined by the optional parameters used in the statement 1 e number of shares at what price etc Syntax Buy Order Name Number of Shares Execution Method Only the word Buy is required to open a long position The following i
202. ed for EasyLanguage and ELKIT32 DLL Volume Returns the number of shares contracts traded for the referenced bar Usage If TestVol Volume of 3 Bars Ago Then Buy at Market Was Skip word ignored during execution Usage If Close was than the Lowest Close 14 Then any operation Wednesday Specifies day of the week Wednesday numeric value 3 336 APPENDIX C While Defines instructions that are executed until a true false expression returns False Usage While Conditionl Begin fany operations End continues to loop until the Condition is no longer true White Specifies color White numeric value 8 for plots and backgrounds WORD Reserved for use with custom DLLs designed for EasyLanguage and ELKIT32 DLL Year Year on specified calendar date in short form last 2 or 3 digits of year Returns the year Y Y Y portion of the specified calendar date Syntax Year cDate cDate numeric expression for the date in YYMMDD or YYYMMDD format Usage Valuel Year 1011004 returns the year 101 representing 2001 Yellow Specifies color Yellow numeric value 7 for plots and backgrounds Yesterday Retained for backward compatibility Refers to the previous bar Note Server fields Q_ may not exist or return the same values for all datafeeds Index TBEGINAZBERT ou cenmcec UGG sub end eceadegees 43 2775 TBEGLINCMTIRY 3 dd een Te Re 70 275 BEGINCMTRYORALE
203. ed word is that AlertEnabled returns a value of True for all bars when the alert is enabled whereas CheckAlert returns a value of True only for the last bar on the chart Syntax AlertEnabled For example the following statements calculate a cumulative advance decline line and an alert is triggered when the cumulative advance decline line hits a 50 bar high The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Writing Alerts 43 If AlertEnabled Then Begin If Close Close 1 Then Valuel Valuel Volume Else Valuel Valuel Volume If Valuel gt Highest Valuel 50 1 Then Alert New A D line high End In this example the advance decline line will only be calculated if the alert is enabled and it will be calculated for all bars on the price chart or in the grid not just the last bar Note Although the statements that follow this reserved word are sometimes ignored the indicator or study still takes into account the statements when it determines the number of bars necessary for the indicator or study to perform its calculations MaxBarsBack also any series functions within the statements are calculated See the section Alert Compiler Directives for information on additional reserved words you can use to have the statements ignored completely Using Alert Compiler Directives These reserved words are complier directives that cause your indicator or study to completely ignore the statements that follow the rese
204. ed word is used to change the color on a value by value 184 Writing RadarScreen Indicators CHAPTER 4 basis For example if a symbol is overpriced the indicator can change the background color of the cell to red and when the symbol is under priced the indicator can set the color to green For a list of the available colors refer to Appendix B of this book Example The following EasyLanguage statements color the background of the cell red when the RSI Indicator is over 75 and green when it is under 25 Plotl1 RSI Close 9 RSI SetPlotBGColor 1 Default If RSI Close 9 75 Then SetPlotBGColor 1 Red If RSI Close 9 25 Then SetPlotBGColor 1 Green In this example the RSI Indicator has three possible colors red when it is over 75 green when it is below 25 and the default color when it is between 25 and 75 If you only set two colors one for over 75 and one for under 25 it would remain one of the two colors which ever it was set to last when itis between 25 and 75 What you need to do is reset the plot color to another color every bar so that it is only red when above 75 and green when below 25 The rest of the time it is the other color In this example we used the SetPlotBGColor reserved word to reset the plot to the default color You can also set the default color of the plot using the PlotN reserved word If you set the default color in the PlotN statement then you don t have to use the first Set
205. efault values used for the rest of the expression when they are not specified are ExitShort SX This Bar on Close The above statement covers the entire short position Each portion of the statement Order Name Entry Name Number of Shares and Execution Method is described next Order Name If a Trading Strategy includes multiple exits it is helpful to label each one with a different name As shown in Figure 3 13 this helps to identify these exit orders in both the price chart and the TradeStation Strategy Performance Report To name an exit specify a name in quotation marks and parentheses after the trading verb ExitShort For example ExitShort My Exit This statement exits the short position in its entirety and the order is named My Exit Tying an Exit to an Entry It is possible to tie an exit instruction to a specific entry This can be done only if you name the short entry and if the short entry is in the same Trading Signal as the exit For example 142 Trading Verbs CHAPTER 3 Sell MySell ExitShort from Entry MySell In the previous example the ExitShort statement only acts upon entries established from the entry named MySell and ignores entries by any other statements Important The entry name is case sensitive Be sure to use consistent capitalization Also it is inportant to remember that exit orders do not pyramid therefore if an exit does not close out a position you will
206. eference to the value of the input of five bars ago but was declared as a NumericSimple input If the reference to a previous value is necessary change the input type to series 258 Variables arrays and inputs not allowed here This error is displayed when a variable array or input is used as the initializer for an input value such as Vars MyVar 3 Input MyInput MyVar 259 This number is too big The PowerEditor displays this error whenever it finds a number that is outside the support ed range a number which is too big The following statement produces this error Valuel 99999999999999999999 260 NextBar can only be applied to OPEN DATE and TIME The only prices available from the next bar that can be read from a signal are Open Date and Time All other prices from the next bar can t be accessed EasyLanguage Syntax Errors 259 261 The word BAR expected here This error is shown whenever writing an order in a signal where the word Bar is left out of the expression For example the following Buy Next on the Close generates an error because Bar is missing The correct syntax is Buy Next Bar on the Close 262 At market order can only be placed for the next bar All analysis techniques are read and executed at the end of each bar Because of this mar ket orders can only be placed for the next bar An error will be generated whenever a mar ket order is placed to be filled on
207. eferencing Previous Values 19 Er TradeStation Chart MSFT Microsoft Corp LAST Daily 09 29 1999 C 91 125 1 000 1 09 O 91 563 H 92 125 The Momentum Indicator waits 10 bars before plotting results MomgntumiClose 10 1 50 us al ity wl ali AM Figure 2 3 Momentum indicator waiting 10 bars before returning a value For grid applications the MaxBarsBack setting is the number of bars the application loads for each symbol to perform the calculation of the indicator and display the most current val ue For example assume you insert the Momentum Indicator in a RadarScreen window This indicator compares the current bar to the bar 10 bars ago Therefore the MaxBarsBack setting for the indicator is 10 and 10 bars of data will be loaded for each symbol in the RadarScreen window Refer to section in this chapter titled How EasyLanguage is Evaluated on page 6 for in formation on how EasyLanguage performs its calculations Advanced Tips Understanding the Auto Detect Loop When you apply a trading strategy or analysis technique to a price chart and use the Auto Detect MaxBarsBack setting the application looks for the largest data offset used by the trading strategy or analysis technique and uses that number for the MaxBarsBack setting However if the trading strategy or analysis technique uses a variable offset e g Close Value1 then it is possible that the value initially chosen by the application will not
208. egy can analyze the more accurate the Trading Strategy results are when comparing real time results to backtested results In real time stop and limit orders are monitored for possible fill prices on every tick received from your datafeed therefore when your Trading Strategy includes stop and or limit orders to achieve the same results when backtesting your Trading Strategy it is necessary to have all the historical tick data available A bar has four prices the open high low and close By reading these four values the only certain fact is that the first and last prices traded correspond to the values of the open and close respectively The order in which the market reached the high and low and how much the market oscillated when building the bar cannot be inferred from these four prices Therefore when the tick data is not available TradeStation must make assumptions about how the market moved inside the bar As shown in Figure 3 8 when formatting a Trading Strategy the Properties tab includes a section labeled Backtesting Settings that contains the option Strategy testing resolution This option enables you to specify the data resolution to use when backtesting your Trading Strategies If you don t specify an option the data resolution of the price chart to which the Trading Strategy is applied is used Format Strategy x Inputs Style Costs Properties r Pyramiding Settings multiple entries in same direction
209. els ask Seting eese denen Pe 229 bid Settmp s dec tes tots dele e 230 calculate modeled bid ask values 223 data availability sese 194 delta obtaining gamma obtaining seen 227 global variables eene trennen 234 Rho obtaining theoretical value obtaining eee 226 Theta obtaining sees tick type obtaining underlying asset price referencing 230 Vega Obtain esi eee eere eite rien eee e volatility obtaining BigPotmntValue u 4g eee ertet acutus llc Block IF THEN Statement 5 BlocGkNUmbDGE 5 2 ed DEG HUP en RE EIER BI Ue dash eere eg desscta ite erre Se i HR RE Book Val Per Share Index 339 BO OL iiss ct ig evs PETRUS 284 Compiler directives sess 70 Boolean Expressions a AD JUMP WOLdS i aderenti roten 67 Bouncing Ticks 128 working With eet tenerent nfi eden eros 64 BoxSize 284 Commentary 65 286 Brackets wll CommentaryCL meses 67 286 Breakeven Stop Floor 145 CommentaryEnabled 69 286 BreakEvenStopElOoOrF urere ene 284 COMMIUSS LON 22er eee aper 286 Built in Stops see Stops CommodityNumber 286 Ii 131 284 Comparing Expressions eee 15 By Compiler Directives BY TEM Lote edet udo ie a le e NER UNUS 284 C p
210. en your commentary AvgBarsLosTrade The average number of bars that elapsed during losing trades for all closed trades Usage Valuel AvgBarsLosTrade Note returns the integer portion of the average AvgBarsWinTrade The average number of bars that elapsed during winning trades for all closed trades Usage Value2 AvgBarsWinTrade Note returns the integer portion of the average AvgEntryPrice Returns the average entry price of each open entry in a pyramided position Usage Valuel AvgEntryPrice returns 70 for open trades entered at 45 75 and 90 AvgList Returns the average of the listed values Usage Value2 AvgList 18 67 98 24 65 19 returns a value of 48 5 Bar References values for a specific bar based on the data compression interval Usage Buy Next Bar at Open BarInterval Returns the data compression interval in minutes for bars on a minute based chart Bars References a bar occurring N bars ago based on the data compression interval Usage Value2 Open of 5 Bars Ago BarsSinceEntry Bars since initial entry of position num position s ago Syntax BarsSinceEntry Num Num number of positions ago 0 for current position BarsSinceExit Bars since position closed out num position s ago Syntax BarsSinceExit Num Num number of positions ago 0 for current position Reserved Words Quick Reference 283 BarStatus Determines if a trade tick opened the bar closed the bar or is
211. en when below 25 The rest of the time it is the default color In this example we used the SetPlotColor reserved word to reset the plot to the default color You can also set the default color of the plot using the PlotN reserved word If you set the default color in the PlotN statement then you don t have to use the first SetPlotColor statement instead your instructions would be as follows Plotl RSI Close 9 RSI Default If Plotl gt 75 Then SetPlotColor 1 Red If Plotl1 lt 25 Then SetPlotColor 1 Green SetPlotWidth Number Width This reserved word sets the width of the specified plot Syntax SetPlotWidth Number Width Parameters Number is a number from 1 to 4 representing the number of the plot to modify Width is the EasyLanguage width to be used for the plot For a list of the available widths refer to Appendix B of this book Example The following EasyLanguage statements change the width of the plot to a thicker line when the Momentum Indicator is over 0 and to a thinner line when it is under 0 Plot1 Momentum Close 10 Momentum If Plot1 gt 0 Then SetPlotWidth 1 2 If Plot1 lt 0 Then SetPlotWidth 1 6 In this example the Momentum Indicator has two possible widths thicker when it is over 0 and thinner when it is below 0 However in some cases you will want the indicator to have three or more possible widths Please refer to the example for the previous reserved w
212. endlines are added to the chart using the default properties set in the charting application As you will see you can change any of these properties using the reserved words listed in this section For example the following statements add a trendline to the price chart and extend it to the right every time there is a key reversal pattern Variable ID 1 If Low Low 1 AND Close High 1 Then Begin ID TL New Date 1 Time 1 Low Date Time Low Valuel TL SetExtRight ID True End TL Delete This reserved word deletes the specified trendline from the price chart Syntax Valuel TL Delete Tl ID Parameters TI ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the trendline to delete Notes Valuelis any numeric variable or array You must assign the trendline reserved word to a numeric variable or array so that you can determine whether or not the reserved word performed its operation successfully It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any trendlines by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error Example The following statements draw a trendline at the low of a key reversal and extend it to the right and in addition delete the old trendline from the chart when a new key reversal is found The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Drawing Trendlin
213. ene 176 283 cell color obtaining cell date obtaining cell time obtaining cell value obtaining eee 172 277 cells adding cota serait e ie es tot eon 167 275 TeMOVINE ML 169 278 highest cell price obtaining 174 278 left side of bar specifying occ eee 177 299 lowest cell price obtaining 175 278 number of cells obtaining 173 277 price markers specifying placement 169 279 referencing ActivityBar data using data alias right side of bar specifying row height specifying text string obtaining eee Understanding veies eere ri e E enana zone height obtaining eene low price obtaining eee properties specifying ACTA VEE VDAC ab eecetanauere terere e esteri Addition performing eere Additional EasyLanguage Resources AddToMowvreGChadin 532221 eene 338 The Omega Research EasyLanguage Reference Guide Advanced Tips auto detect loop understanding sss 19 calculation time speeding up esses 58 conditional expressions writing sene 17 division by zero 5 eere Lee ee toe tenido ci 14 series arrays working with sese 49 series values assigning to inputs 32 series variables working with
214. ents Element 1 0 contains the value 980503 and element 5 2 contains the value 103 125 Or you can define an array with three dimensions which we can envision as looking more like a cube with rows columns and multiple layers To reference the element of a three dimensional array you ll use three numbers e g element 1 0 1 You can define an array with up to 10 dimensions It is hard to envision an array with more than three dimensions let alone 10 dimensions instead just understand that to reference an element in a 4 dimensional array you ll need to specify four numbers e g element 2 1 1 3 and to reference an element in a 10 dimensional array you ll need to specify 10 numbers e g element 1 3 6 1 0 4 5 2 1 1 The numbers are the address where a value is stored Like variables arrays are place holders that can hold values although instead of being able to hold only one value they can hold as many values as the number of elements they have available Arrays are used for many different purposes the most common being to store informa tion about relevant market conditions during the analysis of price data to store infor mation about what happened during previous bars For example Figure 2 6 illustrates a multi dimensional array with four columns and sev en rows that was used to store information on seven different bars each row corresponds to a bar and each column corresponds to a piece of info
215. ents use a While loop to traverse all the possible cells Valuel AB High While Valuel AB Low Begin EasyLanguage Instruction s Valuel Valuel AB GetRowHeight End First we use AB High to obtain the highest price at which a cell is drawn and we assign this value to Value In each iteration of the While loop we subtract the value equal to one row which we obtain using AB GetRowHeight The loop continues as long as Valuel is greater than the lowest price on the bar at which a cell is drawn AB Low This reserved word returns a numeric value representing the lower of two values the lowest price of the bar on which the ActivityBar study is applied or the lowest price on the bar at which a cell is drawn Syntax AB Low Parameters None Notes If no cells are drawn a value of zero 0 is returned To store the resulting value you can assign this reserved word to a numeric variable You can use this reserved word in an Activity Bar study as well as any other analysis technique trading strategy or function Example The following statements use a While loop to traverse all the possible cells Valuel AB Low While Valuel AB High Begin EasyLanguage Instruction s Valuel Valuel AB GetRowHeight End First we use AB Low to obtain the lowest price at which a cell is drawn and we assign this value to Valuel In each iteration of the While loop we add the value equal to one row which we obtain
216. entum and triggers an alert if the momentum becomes positive while experiencing volume that is greater than twice the 50 bar average When the indicator is applied without enabling the alert it requires only ten bars to start calculating When the alert is enabled the indicator is recalculated the statements within the compiler directives are evaluated and the new requirement is 50 bars BeginCmtryOrAlert When the commentary and alert statements are intertwined and the commentary and alert statements are not necessary for the normal plotting of the indicator or study use the reserved word BeginCmtryOrAlert The statements between this compiler directive and the reserved word End are evaluated only when either commentary is generated or the alert is enabled You must use the reserved word End with this reserved word Syntax BeginCmtryOrAlert EasyLanguage instruction s End For example the following indicator plots the 10 bar momentum of the close and triggers an alert when the momentum becomes positive while experiencing volume that is greater than twice the 50 bar average In addition commentary is written to help point out the market conditions bar by bar Plot1 Close Close 10 Momentum BeginCmtryOrAlert If Plotl gt 0 Then Commentary Momentum is positive Else Commentary Momentum is negative The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Understanding Arrays 45 If Vo
217. eoretical Value of the option and all its Greek values Step 4 Bid Ask Model The objective of this fourth step is to calculate modeled Bid and Ask values for the option Given that Bid and Ask prices are not always accurately transmitted by the datafeeds it is sometimes desirable to have modeled Bid and Ask values When a Bid Ask Model other than raw Bid and Ask is selected the Bid Ask Model uses all the values obtained during the first three steps and calculates smart Bid and Ask values to replace values transmitted from the datafeed Step 5 Obtaining Modeled MIVs with the Theoretical Model This fifth step and third pass through the Pricing Model is done with the intention of cal culating the MIV values for the modeled Bid and Ask calculated in Step 4 As in Step 1 this is an iterative step where the Volatility Model and Vega are run repeatedly with dif ferent values for volatility attempting to find the MIV for the smart Bid and Ask values ob tained in Step 4 EasyLanguage for OptionStation Writing OptionStation Models 227 Update Logic of the Price Modeling Engine The five step process is performed for every option available for the underlying asset In other words OptionStation will run through this process for each and every option avail able in the GlobalServer for the underlying asset specified In spite of all the optimizations in place to speed up this process performing it for every option is still a very labor i
218. er than the underline _ For example this error will be generated when the following statement is verified Input MyInput 0 APPENDIX A 70 Array size cannot exceed 2 billion elements Arrays can have up to 2 billion elements The number of elements is calculated by multi plying all the dimensions of the array For example an array declared using the following statement will have 66 elements Array MyArray 10 5 0 This arrays will have rows 0 through 10 and columns 0 though 5 in other words 11 rows and 6 columns The resulting number from multiplying the dimensions of the array can t exceed 2 billion 74 Invalid array name The PowerEditor displays this error whenever it finds an invalid name in an array decla ration statement Array names cannot start with a number nor any special character other than the underline _ For example this error will be generated when the following statement is verified Array MyArray 10 0 90 The first jump command must be a begin hb pb wb This error is displayed when the PowerEditor finds an end jump command without a begin jump command in a text string The end jump commands are he pe we Before these commands a begin jump command must be used Note when specifying a file name for the Print or FileAppend words files that start with any of the jump commands will produce this error So a file name c hello txt will produce this err
219. er that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any trendlines by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error Syntax Valuel TL GetFirst Num Parameters Num is a numeric expression representing the origin type of the trendline The possible values for Num are Value of Num Description 1 Trendline created by a trading signal analysis technique or function Trendline created by the trendline drawing object tool only Trendline created by either the trendline drawing object tool or a trading signal analysis technique or function If a value different than 1 2 or 3 is used EasyLanguage will assume a value of 3 Notes Valuel is any numeric variable or array that holds the ID number of the desired trendline Example The following statements delete the oldest trendline on a price chart drawn by a trading signal analysis technique or function TL GetFirst 1 TL Delete Valuel Valuel Value2 Note When the oldest first trendline is deleted the next oldest second trendline becomes the first drawn on the price chart and so on 100 Drawing Trendlines on Price Charts CHAPTER 2 TL GetNext You can draw trendlines using trading signals analysis techniques indicators or studies or functions or by using the drawing object tool EasyLanguage enables you to search for trendline
220. er that is displayed in the ActivityBar cell e g A N Color an EasyLanguage color value e g Red Black Value a numeric expression representing the value of the cell Usage AB AddCell Open Leftside A 7 1 276 APPENDIX C AB AddCellRange Adds cells to a price range of the current bar starting at Low Value to High Value Syntax AB AddCellRange HighPrice LowPrice Side str Char Color Value HighPrice a numeric expression representing the highest price for a column LowPrice a numeric expression representing the lowest price for a column Side LeftSide RightSide str Char a character that will be placed in the ActivityBar cell e g A N Color an EasyLanguage color value e g Red Black Value a numeric expression representing the value of each cell to be added Usage Valuel AB AddCellRange High of ActivityData Low of ActivityData RightSide U Green 0 AB AverageCells Returns the average number of ActivityBar cells per row for the current bar Syntax AB AverageCells Side Side LeftSide RightSide Usage Value2 AB AverageCells RightSide AB_AveragePrice Returns the average price of the ActivityBar cells on one or both sides Syntax AB AveragePrice S ide Side LeftSide RightSide Usage Value2 AB AveragePrice LeftSide AB_CellCount Counts and returns the number of cells on one or both sides of an ActivityBar Syntax AB CellCount S ide Side LeftSide RightSide Usage Val
221. er which orders are placed on stand by 124 The Trading Strategy Testing Engine CHAPTER 3 General Scenarios If the Trading Strategy is not in a long position all exit orders for long positions are placed in stand by If an exit order for a long position is tied to a specific entry and the current long position was not initiated by the entry to which the exit is tied the exit order is placed in stand by If the Trading Strategy is not in a short position all exit orders for short positions are placed in stand by If an exit order for a short position is tied to a specific entry and the current short position was not initiated by the entry to which the exit is tied the exit order is placed in stand by If there are multiple or higher exit orders the Trading Strategy traverses the or ders starting from the order with the lowest price and adds the number of shares contracts in each exit order Any orders above and beyond the number of outstand ing shares contracts are placed in stand by Ifthere are multiple or lower exit orders the Trading Strategy traverses the orders starting from the order with the highest price and adds the shares contracts that each order is covering Any orders above and beyond the number of outstanding shares contracts are placed in stand by No Pyramiding All cases already described under General Scenarios If the Trading Strategy is already in a long position any additional stop or lim
222. error is displayed when the PowerEditor expects a true false expression and finds a numeric or text string expression instead For example Conditionl High 281 Mixing data types NUMERIC TrueFalse String not allowed This error appears when incompatible data types are combined in a single expression In this example Valuel 100 12 the text string 12 cannot be directly combined with a numeric value To resolve such a problem use the appropriate EasyLanguage reserved word to convert the data to a com patible type For example use the function StrToNum to convert the text string to a numeric value Valuel 100 StrToNum 12 262 APPENDIX A 283 Signal has no inputs Comma not needed When including a signal through the IncludeSignal keyword the list of the inputs must be supplied and each input must be separated by a comma This error is displayed if the signal has no inputs and an input is mistakenly included in the statement Following is the correct syntax of an IncludeSignal statement of a signal with no inputs IncludeSignal My Trailing LX 284 There is no such signal This error is displayed by the PowerEditor whenever the signal name referenced by an IncludeSignal statement does not exist in the signal library 265 Strategy circular reference found A circular reference is defined as two formulas that refer to each other s current bar value in their respective calculations This
223. erstanding User Functions 63 Given that the contents of the array are stored for every bar to allow trading signals anal ysis techniques and functions to refer to previous values of the array elements it is possi ble to refer to previous values of the array For example assume you want the function to refer to value 10 bars ago of the first element of an array passed into a function in order to compare it to the current bar s high To do so you can use the following statements Input MyArray M NumericArray If MyArray 0 10 High Then EasyLanguage instruction When an array is passed by value i e when it is not passed by reference it is not possible to assign or modify the values of the elements of the array However the values can be read and used within the body of the function and you can refer to previous values of the ele ments For example the following statements make up a function called MaxValArray which will find the maximum value stored in the array but it doesn t change the values of any of the elements within the array Input MyNumericArray M NumericArray Variable Result 0 Result MyNumericArray 0 For Valuel 1 To M Begin If MyNumericArray Valuel gt Result Then Result MyNumericArray Valuel End MaxValArray Result When an array is passed by reference all its values can be modified in the body of the func tion any changes made in the function will be
224. erved word PlayMovieChain only on the last bar of the chart or on bars where the commentary is obtained using the AtCommentaryBar or LastBarOnChart reserved words Otherwise you may find that the video clip is played more often than you need it to If your intention is to play the video clip when a certain bar pattern occurs and this pattern occurs 50 times the price chart the trading signal analysis technique or function will play the video clip 50 times when applied to the price chart Example The following statements create and play a video clip on the bar where commentary is obtained Variable ID 1 If BarNumber 1 Then Begin ID MakeNewMovieRef Conditionl AddToMovieChain ID c MMyMovie avi Condition2 AddToMovieChain ID c MMyOtherMovie avi End If AtCommentaryBar Then Conditionl PlayMovieChain ID Notice that the video clip is created and the video files are added to it only once by using an IF THEN statement to check for the first bar of the chart If we don t use this IF THEN statement the indicator will create as many video clips as there are bars in the chart Note You can also use the reserved word LastBarOnChart instead of AtCommentary Bar 114 Multimedia and EasyLanguage CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 3 EasyLanguage for TradeStation This chapter covers EasyLanguage specifically for use with TradeStation 2000i You are introduced to syntax for writing Trading Signals a
225. es the use of OR increases the likelihood of the overall expression being true as only one of the two expressions needs be true in order for the overall expression to be true More complex true false expressions can be written using logical operators For example in order to find a key reversal bar you can use the following expression Low Low of 1 bar ago AND Close High of 1 bar ago Given that we are using AND this expression is true only when both conditional expres sions are true these are the current bar s low is lower than the low of the previous bar AND the close of the current bar is greater than the high of one bar ago As another example you can use the following expressions to look for stocks that have ei ther a price equal to or greater than 50 a share or a volume greater than two million shares Close gt 50 OR Volume gt 2000000 Given that we used OR the above expression will be true when either the closing price is greater than 50 OR the volume is greater than two million shares It will only be false if the closing price is under 50 and the volume is under two million shares When you use multiple ORs and ANDs in a expression EasyLanguage will evaluate them in the order they appear from left to right If necessary use parentheses to group expres sions and alter the order in which EasyLanguage evaluates the expressions For example assume you write an indicator and want to find either a key reversal w
226. es 500 000 you can use the following instructions Variable SumVolume 0 For Valuel 0 To 4 Begin SumVolume SumVolume Volume Valuel If SumVolume gt 500000 Then Valuel 5 End For loops are used in many of the trading signals analysis techniques and functions built into the Omega Research products Among the most common are the user functions e g Average Summation Highest Lowest MRO Writing Alerts Many of the analysis techniques built into Omega Research products provide the option of enabling an audio visual alert When an alert is triggered the alert is logged in the Tracking Center window and a dialog box appears as shown in Figure 2 4 A notification sound is also played at the same time id Alert Notification BBE Attention There are new alerts for CORL Analysis Technique Moving Average Workspace Scanning orw Additional Info Moving Average Crossover Go to Tracking Center Go to Window Figure 2 4 Alert Notification Dialog Box The dialog box displays the name of the symbol the name of the analysis technique and the workspace in which the alert was triggered In addition the dialog box has a field called Additional Info that contains additional information provided by the analysis technique All this information is also logged in the Tracking Center 40 Writing Alerts CHAPTER 2 To include an alert in an analysis technique you use alert statements Th
227. es on Price Charts 93 Variables OldKeyID 1 ID 1 If Low lt Low 1 AND Close gt High 1 Then Begin OldKeyID ID ID TL New Date 1 Time 1 Low Date Time Low Valuel TL SetExtRight ID True If OldKeyID lt gt 1 Then Valuel TL Delete OldKeyID End In the above example first we declare two variables one to hold the ID number of the old trendline and one to hold the ID number for the new trendline When we find a new key reversal we store the existing trendline s ID number in O dKeyID and create a new trendline at the low of the key reversal bar and extend it to the right Then we delete the old trendline Before deleting the old trendline we first check to make sure the ID number in OldKeyID is not 1 which it will be until the second trendline is drawn This way we don t reference an invalid ID number TL GetAlert This reserved word obtains the alert setting for the specified trendline Syntax Valuel TL GetAlert Tl ID Parameters TI ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the trendline whose alert status you want to obtain Notes Valuel can be any numeric variable or array and holds the alert status This reserved word returns one of these three values Value Description 0 None no alert enabled 1 Breakout Intrabar 2 Breakout on Close An alert set to Breakout on Close is triggered when on the previous bar the close of the symbol was lower than the tre
228. eserved word is useful when collecting data on a real time delayed basis and you have the Update Every Tick check box selected for the ShowMe study If the ShowMe study condition becomes true during the bar but is not true at the end of the bar the mark is removed If you do not use this reserved word the mark would be placed on the bar when the condition became true and left there even when the condition was no longer true The following ShowMe study marks the low of a gap down bar but removes the mark if the condition is no longer true for the bar If High Low of 1 Bar Ago Then Plot1 Low GapDown Else NoPlot 1 PaintBar Studies To write PaintBar studies you use the reserved words described next PlotPaintBar BarHigh BarLow PlotName ForeColor BackColor Width This reserved word is used only within a PaintBar study and enables you to paint the entire bar a specified color or paint the bar between two specified values Syntax PlotPaintBar BarHigh BarLow BarOpen BarClose PlotName ForeColor BackColor Width Parameters BarHigh BarLow BarOpen and BarClose are numeric expressions representing the high low open and closing prices for the bar to be drawn by the PaintBar study and lt PlotName gt is the name of the plot ForeColor is an EasyLanguage color that will be used to paint the bar BackColor is an EasyLanguage color that is currently not used and Width is a numeric value rep
229. eserved words EasyLanguage allows you to build video clips out of many different avi files and it allows you to mix and match video clips at will First you obtain a video clip ID number for each video clip that you will be using in your trading signal analysis technique or function then you specify what avi files will make up that video clip You can play the resulting video clip at any time The three reserved words necessary to create video clips are described next MakeNewMovieRef This reserved word creates a new video clip and returns a numeric value representing the ID number of the new video clip created Syntax Valuel MakeNewMovieRef Parameters Value is any numeric variable or array Notes Once you create the video clip using this reserved word you can add one or more avi files to it using the reserved word AddToMovieChain You must save the ID number of 112 Multimedia and EasyLanguage CHAPTER 2 the video clip as it will be the way to reference the video clip in order to add avi files as well as play it Example The following statement creates a new video clip and assigns the ID number to the variable Valuel Valuel MakeNewMovieRef AddToMovieChain This reserved word adds avi files to an existing video clip and returns a true false value representing the success of the operation If the reserved word was able to add the avi file to the video clip it returns a value of True if it w
230. etBeginVal Tl ID Parameters TI ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the trendline whose starting price value you want to obtain Notes Valuelis any numeric variable or array and holds the price value of the starting point of the trendline It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any trendlines by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error Example The following statement assigns the price value of the starting point of trendline 5 to the variable Value Valuel TL GetBeginVal 5 TL GetColor This reserved word returns a numeric expression corresponding to the color assigned to the specified trendline Syntax Valuel TL GetColor Tl ID Parameters Tl ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the trendline whose color you want to obtain 96 Drawing Trendlines on Price Charts CHAPTER 2 Notes Valuelis any numeric variable or array and holds the EasyLanguage color or numeric equivalent of the specified trendline It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any trendlines by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error For a list of supported colors refer to Appendix B of th
231. evious bar Lower Synonym for stop or limit orders depending on the context used within a strategy Usage Buy Next Bar at MyEntryPrice or Lower Buy Limit ExitShort Next Bar at MyExitPrice or Lower E xitS hort Limit Usage2 Sell Next Bar at MyEntryPrice or Lower Sell Stop ExitLong Next Bar at MyEntryPrice or Lower ExitLong Stop LowerStr Used to convert a string expression to lowercase letters Usage Valuel LowerStr My TextString returns my textstring LPBOOL Reserved for use with custom DLLs designed for EasyLanguage and ELKIT32 DLL LPBYTE Reserved for use with custom DLLs designed for EasyLanguage and ELKIT32 DLL LPDOUBLE Reserved for use with custom DLLs designed for EasyLanguage and ELKIT32 DLL LPDWORD Reserved for use with custom DLLs designed for EasyLanguage and ELKIT32 DLL Reserved Words Quick Reference 301 LPFLOAT Reserved for use with custom DLLs designed for EasyLanguage and ELKIT32 DLL LPINT Reserved for use with custom DLLs designed for EasyLanguage and ELKIT32 DLL LPLONG Reserved for use with custom DLLs designed for EasyLanguage and ELKIT32 DLL LPSTR Reserved for use with custom DLLs designed for EasyLanguage and ELKIT32 DLL LPWORD Reserved for use with custom DLLs designed for EasyLanguage and ELKIT32 DLL Magenta Specifies color Magenta numeric value 5 for plots and backgrounds MakeNewMovieRef Creates new movie reference number Usage Print MakeNewMovi
232. f one bar ago is not allowed in this calculation 224 Signal name already used The PowerEditor does not allow the reuse of a name in two different orders It is manda tory that all orders have a different name The following Sell statement produces this error If Conditionl Then Buy MySignal Next Bar at Market If Condition2 Then Sell MySignal Next Bar at Market because both orders cannot have the same name 226 Nextbar s prices can only be used in a signal The Open Date and Time of the next bar can only be referenced from a signal no other analysis has access to this information 254 APPENDIX A 227 Default expected here When declaring an input in any analysis technique you need to enclose the default value in parentheses This error will be shown whenever there is no default value specified the parentheses are empty For example the following is the correct syntax for declaring an input with the default value of 15 Input MyInput 15 229 Invalid initial value An initial value needs to be specified when declaring a variable or array This initial value needs to be enclosed by parentheses and is used to 1 determine the type of the variable or array numeric true false or text string and 2 assign the initial value of the variable or array on the first bar The correct syntax when declaring a variable is Variable MyVariable 10 where the initial value assigned to this variable is 7
233. f scaling with respect to price charts and indicators Using different scaling can dramatically alter the display of your indicators For information on scaling search the Online User Manual Answer Wizard for Indicator Formatting You use two of the same plot statements to create an indicator for use in a price chart as you do for use in the OptionStation Position Analysis window PlotNum and SetPlotColor however there are some parameters for these plot statements that apply only when working with price charts Therefore the plot statements are discussed again this time with the focus on the parameters and considerations that apply when working with price charts PlotNum Expression lt PlotName gt ForeColor BackColor Width Displays values resulting from a calculation or an expression in a price chart For price charts the values displayed can only be numeric Syntax PlotNum Expression PlotName ForeColor Back Color Width Parameters N is a number between 1 and 4 representing one of the four available plots Expression is the numeric value that will be plotted and lt PlotName gt is the name of the plot ForeColor is an EasyLanguage color that is used for the plot BackColor specifies the background col or for use only with the OptionStation Position Analysis and RadarScreen windows and Width is a numeric value representing the width of the plot The parameters lt PlotName gt ForeColor BackCo
234. f the Position Analysis window For information on specifying the applications for which your indicator is available search the Online User Manual Answer Wizard for the phrase Specifying Applications Writing ShowMe and PaintBar Studies ShowMe and PaintBar studies are somewhat similar to one another in that both look for a bar that meets a specific condition and marks the bar if the condition is met Their difference lies in the way each study marks the bar the PaintBar study colors the entire bar while the ShowMe studies typically place a mark above or below the bar A ShowMe study is best used when the objective of the analysis is to find a criteria that normally happens once every certain number of bars A mark usually a round dot is placed above or below these bars The intention of the ShowMe study is to save you the work of scrolling through the chart looking for bars that meet a certain criteria A PaintBar study is best used to highlight when a market enters a certain mode or trend In other words it is best used in order to highlight an event that happens for a number of consecutive bars For example in Figure 3 18 we see how a ShowMe study is used to EasyLanguage for TradeStation Writing ShowMe and PaintBar Studies 155 find all Bullish Key Reversal bars and a PaintBar study is used to find whenever the momentum of the symbol is positive ees el ee P ae tate tre Cant FER reece arar Meche Ces Ls 3a BERE ola iB EL
235. fic bar It is important to remember that this reserved word returns a value even if the trendline is not shown on or projected through the bar specified For example if a trendline is drawn from December 1st to January 5th and the following statement is used Valuel TL GetValue 10 990203 1400 Even though the date specified is in February the TL GetValue reserved word will return the trendline value as if the trendline were extended to that particular bar along the same slope Syntax Valuel TL GetValue Tl ID TLDate TLTime Parameters TI ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the trendline whose price value you want to obtain TLDate and TLTime are the date and time respectively of the bar for which you want to obtain the trendline s value Notes Valuelis any numeric variable or array You must assign the trendline reserved word to a numeric variable or array so that you can determine whether or not the reserved word performed its operation successfully The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Drawing Trendlines on Price Charts 103 It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any trendlines by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error Example The following statement triggers an alert when the close crosses over trendline 10 If Close Crosses Ove
236. g Engine 119 Determining Which Order to Fill A Trading Strategy can place more than one order of the same type buy sell or exit for a particular bar and when it does the Trading Strategy Testing Engine determines which order to fill by following two rules Rule 1 Orders on Close and Next Bar at Market Orders that are placed to be filled this bar at the close have the highest priority once all these orders have been filled the next bar at market orders are evaluated If there is more than one order of the same type e g three orders to buy this bar on the close then the order that was placed first takes priority and is filled first This is important to remember when designing a Trading Strategy that contains multiple entry orders that could enter the market on the same bar For example assume your Trading Strategy has a Trading Signal that will enter a long position at the open of the next bar after a moving average crossover is found and a second signal that will enter a short position at the open of the next bar after a hammer candlestick pattern formation is found If both the long and short conditions are met on the same bar the Trading Strategy will issue orders to enter both a short and long position is executed first and the second order is executed immediately after If the entry signal to establish a short position is listed second the Trading Strategy will end that bar with a short position open However if the sig
237. g would be 3 1416 Sending Information to the Debug Window File or Printer You can send information from any trading signal analysis technique or function to the Debug window This window resides in the EasyLanguage PowerEditor and can be used to send text that would help you see intermediate calculations that are not shown in the end results of the trading signal analysis technique or function or any message that would help determine the exact behavior of an EasyLanguage statement The EasyLanguage Debug window does not offer an API nor can it be included in a Workspace it resides in the EasyLanguage PowerEditor but it is very efficient and easy to use for debugging purposes Note The Debug window replaced the Print Log which was available in previous versions of the Omega Research products The same reserved word used to send information to the Debug window can be used to send information to a file or printer instead Print This reserved word sends information to the EasyLanguage Debug Window a file or the default Windows printer Regardless of where you send the information the Print reserved word always adds a carriage return at the end of the expressions so each new statement is placed on a new line 74 Output Methods CHAPTER 2 Syntax Print Printer File File Name Expression File Name is the complete path and name of the file to which the Print statement is to send the exp
238. ge date is stored in the variable Valuel CurrentDate This reserved word returns a numeric value representing the EasyLanguage date Y Y YM MDD format corresponding to the date and time of your computer or datafeed if you are connected to a datafeed Syntax CurrentDate Parameters None The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Manipulating Dates and Times 23 Example To have a trading signal analysis technique or function perform its calculations only be fore January 1 2000 or any other date for that matter you can write If CurrentDate ELDate 2000 01 01 Then Begin EasyLanguage instruction s End Working with Times In EasyLanguage times are expressed as numeric expressions in the form HHMM where HH is the hour and MM is the minutes The hours are managed in what is commonly called 24 hour or military format so 1 30pm is represented as 1330 and 10 05am is represented as 1005 In addition when you work with time to facilitate mathematical operations such as addi tion and subtraction you can refer to the time as minutes past from midnight For instance 1 00am is 60 60 minutes after midnight and 10 30am is 630 630 minutes after midnight For example if the current time is 10 30am or 1030 and you want to add 60 minutes to the current time you may think that you simply add 60 to 1030 1030 60 However doing so results in a total of 1090 which is not a valid time Therefore to add 60 min
239. ge is displayed when a left curly brace is found without a matching right curly brace this was written by Trader Joe If Close Highest High 10 1 Then Buy Next Bar at Market Above the right curly brace was omitted somewhere before the vertical cursor In this ex ample a right curly brace should have been placed after the word Joe 168 was expected here When declaring assigning or referencing array values you are required to use the squared braces to specify the array element s This error is displayed if the left squared brace is not used when working with an array Array MyArray 10 For example here the highlight shows that a squared brace corresponding to the declared number of array element is expected before the parenthesis 169 was expected here When working with bar offsets or arrays the bar or array index must be enclosed in squared braces This message is displayed if the right squared brace is missing Valuel Close 10 1 05 In this example the highlight indicates that a squared bracket should be placed somewhere before the semicolon Note that since the PowerEditor is expecting a numeric value in the squared braces it places the highlight after the last character in a numeric expression However in this case the right bracket was probably intended to be placed after the num ber 10 170 Assignment to a function not allowed This error is displayed when you attempt to assign a va
240. gin Entry An optional Exit parameter used to reference a specific named entry Usage ExitLong from Entry MyTrade Next Bar at Market EntryDate Returns the entry date for the specified period in the format YY YMMDD Usage Valuel EntryDate 2 the date of the entry 2 periods ago EntryPrice Returns the entry price for the specified period Usage Value2 EntryPrice 1 the price of the entry 1 period ago Entry Time Returns the entry time for the specified period in the 24 hour format HHMM Usage Valuel EntryTime 3 the time of the entry 3 periods ago EPS Returns the reported earnings per share value for the specified period Usage Value2 EPS 5 the Earnings Per Share 5 periods ago EPS PChng Y Ago The percent change in EPS this quarter vs same quarter 1 year ago 292 APPENDIX C EPS PChng YTD The percent change in EPS YTD earnings vs YTD earnings same period 1 year ago EPSCount The number of times that Earnings Per Share has been reported for a specified period EPSDate The date on which Earnings Per Share were reported for the specified period Usage Valuel EPSDate 2 the Earnings Per Share date 2 periods ago EPSTime The time at which Earnings Per Share were reported for the specified period Usage Valuel EPSTime the Earnings Per Share time for this period ExitDate Returns the exit date for the specified position in the format YY YMMDD Usage Value2 ExitDate 4 the exit dat
241. gnal analysis technique or function that generated the error Example The following statement assigns the thickness of trendline 10 to the variable Value Valuel TL GetSize 10 TL GetStyle This reserved word returns a numeric expression representing the line style used for the specified trendline Syntax Valuel TL GetStyle Tl ID Parameters Tl ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the trendline whose line style you want to obtain 102 Drawing Trendlines on Price Charts CHAPTER 2 Notes Valuelis any numeric variable or array and holds the numeric expression representing the line style of the specified trendline Following are the possible return values and their numeric equivalents Tool Solid 1 Tool Dashed 2 Tool Dotted 3 Tool Dashed2 4 Tool Dashed3 5 You can use either the numbers or the EasyLanguage reserved word It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any trendlines by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error Example The following IF THEN statement verifies that a trendline is solid before executing the EasyLanguage instruction If TL GetStyle 10 Tool Solid Then EasyLanguage instruction TL GetValue This reserved word returns a numeric expression corresponding to the value of a trendline at a speci
242. hat determines whether or not a cell is added You can also define and draw a zone around the ActivityBar study cells You can draw this zone to the left right or on both sides of the bar The EasyLanguage instructions define the upper and lower boundaries for the left and right zone separately the width is automatically determined by the longest row of cells For example if the longest row has 35 cells the zone is drawn wide enough to include all 35 cells EasyLanguage for TradeStation Writing ActivityBar Studies 167 You can also draw an arrow or pointer to highlight a specific price of the bar You can draw this arrow on the left or right side of the bar or both By default these pointers are drawn on the open and closing prices of the bar The ActivityBar study reserved words can be divided into three groups 1 reserved words used to set the properties of the ActivityBar study 2 get keywords used to obtain informa tion on an existing ActivityBar study and 3 other reserved words that are not necessary to when creating ActivityBar studies but are helpful when working with them Reserved words in the first two groups set and get are described next For information on reserved words in the third group refer to the Reserved Word Library in the Online User Manual Set Reserved Words There are many ActivityBar study reserved words but only two are required to write an ActivityBar study AB AddCell and AB SetRowHeight These an
243. he EasyLanguage time HHMM format equivalent to a specific number of minutes from midnight Syntax MinutesToTime mTime Parameters mTime is a numeric expression representing the minutes past midnight to be converted into the equivalent EasyLanguage time Example The following statement converts the current time into minutes past midnight adds 20 to it and then converts the resulting number back into an EasyLanguage time Valuel MinutesToTime TimeToMinutes Time 20 The expression within parentheses is evaluated first the reserved word TimeToMinutes It converts the time of the current bar to minutes past midnight Then 20 is added to the minutes past midnight and the resulting number is used as the parameter for the reserved word MinutesToTime which converts the number back into an EasyLanguage time HHMM format CurrentTime This reserved word returns a numeric value representing the EasyLanguage time HHMM format corresponding to the time of your computer or datafeed if you are connected to a datafeed Syntax CurrentTime The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Using Variables 25 Parameters None Example To have a trading signal analysis technique or function perform its calculations only if it is before 2 00pm you can write If CurrentTime 1400 Then Begin EasyLanguage instruction s End Using Variables Variables are placeholders that hold a value once you assign a value to the
244. he Message Log window and are displayed real time in the window The Message Log has a limit of 255 characters per line For example the following statements send the date and time the last traded price the highest high and lowest low of the current year the volume and the average volume for the last bar of the chart to the Message Log If LastBarOnChart Then Begin MessageLog Average Volume Average Volume 50 MessageLog Volume Volume MessageLog Highest High HighY 0 Lowest Low LowY 0 MessageLog Last Close The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Output Methods 73 MessageLog Date ELDateToString Date Time Time End The Message Log updates from the top down the most recent line sent to the Message Log is displayed at the top of the window Keep this in mind when you send information to it You can also format numeric expressions sent to the Message Log as follows MessageLog Valuel N M Valuel is any numeric expression N is the minimum number of integers to use and M is the number of decimals to use If the numeric expression being sent to the Message Log has more integers than what is specified by n the MessageLog reserved word will use as many digits as necessary The decimal values will be rounded to the nearest value For example assume Valuel is equal to 3 14159 and we have written the following MessageLog Valuel1 0 4 The numeric expression displayed in the Message Lo
245. he expression will not be evaluated because 5 4 is always true and we are using the OR operator Therefore regardless of the result of the second half of the operation the expression will evaluate to True Therefore to write your trading signals analysis techniques and functions as efficiently as possible place the most restricting criterion of your expression first Referencing Previous Values You can reference the value of an expression for any previous bar by adding either of the two qualifiers listed below after the expression of N bars ago N N is the number of bars ago to reference For example consider the following EasyLanguage expression Low of 1 bar ago This expression is referencing the low price of the previous bar The reference is relative to the current bar bar currently being evaluated For example if your trading signal analysis technique or function is being evaluated for the 12th bar of a chart the following expres sion refers to the traded volume of the 9th bar or 3 bars back from the current bar Volume of 3 bars ago 18 Referencing Previous Values CHAPTER 2 The alternate method for referring to data from a previous bar is to enclose the number N between square braces after a reserved word input or variable where N is the number of bars ago For example the following expression is referencing the opening price from 2 bars ago Open 2 Keep in mind that when talking about trading s
246. hen you use inputs in your trading signals you can then use TradeStation s optimization feature to fine tune your trading strategy ies For in formation on optimizing your trading strategies search the Online User Manual Answer Wizard for Understanding Optimization Input Types Inputs can be one of three types numeric true false or text string Numeric inputs repre sent numeric values true false inputs represent expressions that evaluate to True or False and text string expressions hold text strings Inputs can be literal expressions such as a specific number or a text string or they can be expressions whose values will change from bar to bar for example an input can be set to the close of the bar in which case the value will change with each bar Or it can be set to the range of the bar using the function Range The value of an input cannot change within a bar To use inputs you first have to declare them once you declare them you can reference them in your trading signal or analysis technique There is no Assignment statement for in puts since their value cannot be changed within the procedure The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Using Inputs 31 Declaring Inputs Before using any name as an input it is necessary to tell EasyLanguage that this name will be used as an input or to declare the inputs you will be using To do so you use an Input Declaration statement Syntax Input Name value Name is the name
247. ht For example the BackColor and Width parameters can be excluded from a statement as follows Plotl Volume V Red But the plot name cannot be omitted if you want to specify the plot color and width For instance the following example generates a syntax error because the name of the plot state ment is expected Incorrect Plot1 Volume Black White 2 Correct Plotl Volume V Black White 2 The only required parameter for a valid Plot statement is the value to be plotted So the fol lowing statement is valid Plot1 Volume When no plot name is specified EasyLanguage uses Plot1 Plot2 Plot3 or Plot4 as the plot names for each plot The first plot is named Plot1 the second Plot2 and so on Whenever referring to the plot color or width you can use the word Default in place of the parameter s to have the Plot statement use the default color and or width selected in the Properties tab of the Format indicator dialog box For example the following statement will display the volume in the default color but spec ifies a specific width Plot1 Volume V Default Default 3 Again you can use the word Default for the color parameters or the width parameter Also the same plot i e Plot1 Plot2 can be used more than once in an analysis technique the only requirement is that you use the same plot name in both instances of the Plot state ment If no name is assigned then the default plot name is use
248. iable type If the statement is as signing a value to a numeric variable the expression must be a numeric expression For example the following statement assigns the average true range of the last 10 bars to the variable Valuel Valuel Average TrueRange 10 The following statements declare a true false variable called KeyReversal and then assign the result of a comparison to the variable Variable KeyReversal False KeyReversal Low lt Low 1 AND Close gt High 1 Referencing the Value of a Variable Once you have declared a variable and a value has been assigned to it you can reference its value by using the name of the variable in place of the expression For example the fol lowing statements calculate an entry price assign it to a numeric variable called EntryPrc and then reference the value of the variable in the buy order Variable EntryPrc 0 EntryPrc Highest High 10 If MarketPosition lt gt 1 Then Buy Next Bar at EntryPrc Stop In the following example the statements calculate the highest high of the last 10 bars com pare it to the current high and assign the result to a true false variable called Condition We then use an IF THEN statement to determine if Conditionl is true and if it is then an alert is triggered Conditionl High gt Highest High 10 1 If Conditionl Then Alert New 10 bar high Notice that we do not have to use the comparison Condition Tru
249. ified type Syntax TL_GetFirst Type Type identifies the origin of the requested first trendline 1 trendline created by an analysis technique 2 trendline created by the drawing object only and 3 trendline created by either the drawing object or an analysis technique Returns ID if operation successful or error code if not Usage Value2 TL GetFirst 2 returns id of first trendline of type TL_GetNext Returns the text object id for the next object of a specified type after specified object Syntax TL_GetNext TL_Ref Type TL_Ref a numeric expression representing the object identification number Type see TL_ GetFirst Returns ID if operation successful or error code if not Usage Valuel TL GetNext 2 1 returns id of trendline draw object after id 2 TL_GetSize The line thickness setting weight for the specified trendline see TL_Delete for syntax Usage Value2 TL_GetSize 3 returns thickness of trendline 3 Reserved Words Quick Reference 329 TL GetStyle The line style for the specified trendline Syntax TL GetStyle TL Ref TL Ref a numeric expression representing the object identification number Returns Tool Solid 1 solid Tool Dashed 2 dashed Tool Dotted 3 dotted Tool Dashed2 4 dashed pattern Tool Dashed3 5 dashed pattern Usage Valuel TL GetStyle 60 returns 3 if trendline 6 is dotted TL GetValue The price vertical axis of the specified trendline at date and time Syn
250. ignals analysis techniques or functions we are always referring to bars all trading signals analysis techniques and functions are based on bars and not on days minutes or ticks This allows the trading signal analysis tech nique or function to analyze a daily minute or even tick chart without any modifications For example a 10 bar average indicator will calculate a 10 day average if applied to a daily chart or a 10 minute average if applied to a 1 minute chart or a 10 tick average if applied to a 1 tick chart Maximum Number of Bars a Study will Reference or MaxBarsBack All trading signals analysis techniques and functions that refer to past data will need to wait a certain number of bars before they can start performing calculations This waiting period can be adjusted for any analysis technique and it is called Maximum number of bars a study will reference or MaxBarsBack This concept is best explained through an example Let s use the Momentum Indicator which plots the difference between any price of the current bar and the same price N bars ago Using 10 as the number of bars ago if we scroll all the way to the beginning of the chart we will see that we cannot calculate this indicator until we have 10 bars of data on the chart The indicator will start showing results on the 10th bar Again this is because it needs to refer to the price of the previous 10 bars as shown in Figure 2 3 The Basic EasyLanguage Elements R
251. ilable only when writing Search Strategies Syntax Value of ModelPosition Parameters None Value is any value you can obtain for the modeled position for example a calculated function or a piece of information such as the theoretical value Of is a skip word that makes the expression easier to read Notes This information is used when evaluating the criteria in a Search Strategy to determine whether or not to include the position in the search results Example The following statement obtains the Delta of the modeled position and assigns it to the variable Value Valuel Delta of ModelPosition NumLegs This reserved word returns the number of legs in the position being analyzed It enables you to know exactly how many legs are open at any point in time Syntax NumLegs data alias 204 Writing OptionStation Indicators CHAPTER 5 Parameters None however you must specify Of Position or Of ModelPosition Of is a skip word that makes the expression easier to read Example The following loop adds the total cost of all legs in a position and stores the result in the variable Sum Variable Sum 0 For Valuel 1 To NumLegs of position Begin Sum Sum Cost of leg Valuel End Writing OptionStation Indicators An indicator is a mathematical formula that returns a value These values are displayed either in a grid like in the OptionStation Position Analysis window or in a price chart This section firs
252. ine whose ending price value you want to obtain Notes Valuelis any numeric variable or array and holds the price value of the ending point of the trendline It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any trendlines by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error 98 Drawing Trendlines on Price Charts CHAPTER 2 Example The following statement assigns the price value of the ending point of trendline 5 to the variable Value Valuel TL GetEndVal 5 TL GetExtLeft Trendlines can be extended to the right or left This reserved word returns a value of True or False If the trendline is extended to the left it will return a value of True otherwise it will return a value of False Syntax Conditionl TL GetExtLeft Tl ID Parameters TI ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the trendline whose extension status you want to obtain Notes Condition can be any true false variable or array and holds the true false value determin ing whether or not the trendline is extended If an invalid ID number is used the value False is returned Example The following instructions extend the trendline 10 to the left if it is not already extended If TL GetExtLeft 10 False Then Valuel TL SetExtLeft 10 True TL GetExtRight Trendlines ca
253. ing Trendlines on Price Charts CHAPTER 2 5 es Figure 2 15 Formatting a trendline on a chart Trendlines are added to a chart using the default properties i e color thickness line style extension status and alert status of the charting application You can modify these attributes using the trendline related reserved words To place a trendline on the chart you need to define its start and end points Each point is defined using a date and time x axis and a price value y axis This is the basic information that you manipulate when working with trendlines additional information that you manipulate using reserved words includes the color thickness and line style as well as extension and alert status All of the reserved words used to work with trendlines return a numeric value representing the result of the operation they performed If the reserved word was able to carry out its task successfully it will return a value of 0 however if an error occurred the reserved word returns a numeric value representing the specific error The following table lists the possible return values of the trendline reserved words Value Explanation 2 The identification number used was invalid i e there is no object on the chart with this ID number 3 The data number Data2 Data3 etc passed to the function was invalid There is no symbol or data stream on the chart with this data number 4 The value passed to a SET funct
254. ing asset referencing ee 196 aliases see Data Aliases understanding syin e tas e A e iA aas 195 appending to text files 73 Data Analysis OptionStation 194 charts evaluating data for sss 6 Data Streams referencing 2 92 compression DataCompression 288 RadarScreen indicators sss 180 Data nU Tor cttrmp RH 288 strategy backtesting sese 127 race 288 date format Dae icrsdcetnant oss 11 21 288 functions using functions with data aliases 52 Dates working with seem 20 grids BateToUudlian uidet RA teeth 22 289 evaluating data for sss 7 194 loading data for accumulative calculations 9 DayOotMonBeh ss a e aeri e rop grece oer e A 289 reading data for 195 DayOfWeek 5g AA nohcseunetio Ye oHG 289 historical data testing with trading strategies 125 Days MaxBarsBack setting see MaxBarsBack Debug Window using n 73 OptionStation Declaring availability of data 194 AIT AY S eese ze ere ee to de Fs egre e elebna rb rr nee pe a Ere renta 46 data analysis process 194 global variables OptionStation s 233 reading pira outputting parameters EN 2s pointer data types see DLL Functions vattables souti tiaa e tette ett previous values referencing De fault ue Sate eet eene nennen nennen nnne nennen pinine eor eeina aneii Define Feature functions n quote fields understan
255. ing asset price referencing 230 q DatateedED sLicebee tete nme NH Vega Setting oreet eet o Chi Da Ss tees EN volatility obtaining Biv T U cebeassavecssen E e No le taedet don EE Print Log see Debug Window using Print Statement inienn eren ag ele c 73 PPA ESE 2e D RD DRE RERO UA fa ratas 312 Printer outputting tO 73 ProbabilityMap Studies cell value obtaining 1e dera Rer 166 309 Setting o ed sesnen ume EEAMUNEE 163 310 columns number of Obfaining eee om eter 165 310 Setting eoe terio ete eer ere 162 310 lower boundary obtaining seseseeenneen eene 164 310 Setting P T 162 310 row height obtaining ueteri ti ibit 165 310 usua M 163 310 understanding sse eene 159 q ExchangeListed q ExpirationDate EE aie 2s sscne ED MR EON SEIEN q GLAS E E E iia qos neve EXIT evs q LastTradingDate ec eee 314 GqUEOW Asqeneo diia ip np e pua a pe dd ded 314 Gi MEG AN EP TEE D EAE 314 S Uo M x deyugers tesdevumocusents 314 GM at Chr e iet reos dre eo reet tss cttm E iare 314 G MENTI 4 2 teorie tech nrbe obs Sea ete EE deere Maria Peg 314 Gq ODGn s esiteceie e ietpese is usa I RR hats o Rire Re E ers 314 omae REPE 314 Gr ODEN TNE ST SSE iresi teraria i eiai ai iiis 315 GOP ELON hype E AAE TEETE 315 q QuoteStatus usn EA E EREA 315 q Second E A IA EAE EEST 315 Gi H K S1 e EEEE ene EOE E 315 A C PSkEIBend zeesnete R E EA ERE 315 C
256. ing signals indicators and studies for use with TradeStation 210 Writing Indicators for SuperCharts SE CHAPTER 5 Writing Indicators Indicators calculate a mathematical formula and display their values on a chart When you apply an indicator to a price chart you can format the indicator to display their values in different ways for example as shown in Figure 5 4 you can format the indicator to display as a line chart as a histogram from the bottom of the chart or as a series of dots etc K T x ln t Ll hi Di i hta FUN I p p hs v e Momentum Close 1 0 13 69 lun Vcg pM RSl Close 14 30 70 Green Magenta 67 88 30 00 70 00 Figure 5 4 Different forms of indicators You can even format the properties of an indicator to display as a bar chart For example in the case of an indicator with three plots such as the 3 Line Moving Average Indicator you can format the indicator and set one plot to bar high another to bar low and another to right tick The 3 Line Moving Average indicator displayed as a bar chart is shown in Figure 5 5 EasyLanguage for OptionStation Writing Indicators for SuperCharts SE 211 T Laen Chais SE Chari APF D Biop p LAET pay jem aieia Her Ary i beri Figure 5 5 Indicator formatted to display as a bar chart For more information on formatting indicators please refer to the Online User Manual Also make sure you understand the concept o
257. ing statement checks the alert status for trendline 10 and if it is not set to Brea kout on Close it enables it and sets it to Breakout on Close If TL GetAlert 10 lt gt 2 Then Valuel TL SetAlert 10 2 104 Drawing Trendlines on Price Charts CHAPTER 2 TL SetBegin This reserved word changes the start point of the specified trendline It is very important to know which is the starting point and which is the ending point for a trendline the start point has an earlier date and time If the trendline is vertical the point with the lower price value is considered the starting point However if the starting point of a trendline is changed by EasyLanguage or by using the drawing tool such that it has a later date than the ending point the starting point then becomes the old ending point of the trendline Syntax Valuel TL SetBegin Tl ID iDate iTime iVal Parameters TI ID is a numeric expression representing the identification number of the trendline and iDate iTime and iVal are numeric expressions representing the trendline s starting point date time and value respectively Notes Valuelis any numeric variable or array You must assign the trendline reserved word to a numeric variable or array so that you can determine whether or not the reserved word performed its operation successfully This reserved word returns zero 0 when it successfully changes the beginning point of a trendline and it returns one
258. ing to sell short at a top And conversely they use Sell stop orders whenever searching for volatility or price break unders or when looking to ride negative momentum Again these are the common usages of these types of orders they are flexible enough to be used in many different ways Examples The following statement sells 100 contracts shares at the closing price of the current bar Sell 100 Shares This Bar on Close 136 Trading Verbs CHAPTER 3 This statement sells the default number of contracts shares specified in the Costs tab of the Format dialog box at the open of the next bar and names this order Entry 2 Sell Entry 2 Next Bar at Market The following statement places an order to sell 5 contracts at the low of the current bar mi nus the range of the current bar or any price lower Note that Range is an EasyLanguage function that returns the high minus the low of the current bar This order remains active throughout the next bar until filled or canceled Sell 5 Contracts Next Bar at Low Range Stop The following statement places an order to sell 100 shares at the highest high of the last 10 bars or any price higher This order remains active throughout the next bar until filled or canceled and is named HighSell Sell HighSell 100 Shares Next Bar at Highest High 10 Limit ExitLong This trading verb is used to close a long position The specifics of the order are defined by the optional com
259. initial value of all the elements in the array For example the following statement declares a one dimensional array with a total of 6 elements Array MyArray 5 0 The array called MyArray will have elements 0 1 2 3 4 and 5 The elements in this array will start with a value of zero 0 The following Array Declaration statement declares a 3 dimensional array with a total of 726 elements Array MyBigArray 10 10 5 0 The array MyBigArray will hold a maximum of 726 elements 11x11x6 and all elements will begin with a value of zero 0 Once declared the size of the array cannot be changed whatever dimensions the array is created with will be constant throughout the EasyLanguage trading signal analysis technique or function You cannot use inputs variables or any other numeric expressions when defining the size of the array in the Array Declaration statement You must use a numeric literal i e a number Arrays can hold all three types of EasyLanguage expressions numeric true false and text string In order to create arrays that hold each different type of expressions set the initial value of the elements using the desired type of expression For example to create an array that holds true false values you can use the following Array Declaration statement Array MyTFArray 10 False The above statement creates a single dimension array with a total of 11 elements all of which are set to False to begin
260. instead to the chapter of this book titled EasyLanguage for TradeStation for information on writing trading signals indicators and studies for use with TradeStation Writing Indicators When working with price charts indicators calculate a mathematical formula and display their values on the price chart When you apply an indicator to a price chart you can format the indicator to display their values in different ways for example as shown in Figure 4 2 you can format the indicator to display as a line chart as a histogram or as a series of dots 186 Writing Indicators for SuperCharts SE CHAPTER 4 M SuperCharts SE Chart MSFT Microsoft Con LAST ud Iof xi MSFT LAST Daily 08 26 1989 0 35 436 i ih ik u je Jj i Riera hit iy E VM LE I um P i Momentum Close 10 13 69 liti bd iq ll RSI Close 14 30 70 Green Magenta j 30 00 70 00 Figure 4 2 Different forms of indicators You can even format the properties of an indicator to display as a bar chart For example in the case of an indicator with three plots such as the 3 Line Moving Average Indicator you can format the indicator and set one plot to bar high another to bar low and another to right tick The revised 3 Line Moving Average indicator displayed as a bar chart is shown in Figure 4 3 EasyLanguage for RadarScreen Writing Indicators for SuperCharts SE 187 a TLAS Tete DRITTE EE 1 f STAI O00 L 31 DE Ye
261. inter Print Printer Date Time Close Print statements for historical bars print multiple lines per page however Print statements for data collected on a real time delayed basis print at the close of each bar For example if the trading strategy or analysis technique is applied to a chart with 500 bars and the trading strategy or analysis technique sends one line to the printer for every bar on the chart the first printout will consist of 500 lines with as many lines per page as each page can hold Then as data is collected on a real time delayed basis one line will be sent to the printer at the close of each bar one line per page each time the bar closes The same holds true when sending the information to a file and for all applications The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Output Methods 75 To send information to a file the first expression included in parentheses of the reserved word must be File along with the full path and name of the file enclosed in quotation marks For example the following statement sends the EasyLanguage date time and the close of every bar of a chart to a file instead of the printer Print File c Omega ResearchMMyText txt Date Time Close Important Every time the trading signal analysis technique or function is recalculated or deleted and reapplied to the chart the target file is overwritten Also you cannot use a text string expression as the file name it must be the ac
262. ion was invalid for example an invalid color or line thickness was used The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Drawing Trendlines on Price Charts 91 Value Explanation 5 The beginning and ending points were the same only when working with trendlines Can occur when you relocate a trendline or change the begin end points 6 The function was unable to load the default values for the tool 7 Unable to add the object Possibly due to an out of memory condition Your system resources have been taxed and it cannot process the request 8 Invalid pointer Your system resources have been taxed and it cannot process the request 9 Previous failure Once an object returns an error code no additional objects can be created by the trading signal anal ysis technique or function that generated the error 10 Too many trendline objects on the chart 11 Too many text objects on the chart Whenever any of the trendline reserved words is unable to perform its task and returns an error the trading signal analysis technique or function will stop manipulating all trendlines from that bar forward The trading signal analysis technique or function itself will continue to be evaluated but all statements that include trendline reserved words will return a value of 9 Previous failure error and will not perform the intended action If you have any intention of modifying or referring to the trendline drawn in the price chart in any way yo
263. ionStation related analysis techniques 312 This word not allowed in a Volatility Model The word highlighted by the PowerEditor is not allowed in a Volatility Model Words like Buy Sell etc are not allowed in a Volatility Model EasyLanguage Syntax Errors 267 313 This word notallowed in a Bid Ask Model The word highlighted by the PowerEditor is not allowed in a bid ask model Words like Plot1 Buy Sell etc are not allowed in this analysis technique 314 This word is only allowed in ActivityBar studies The words that are used to set the properties and draw ActivityBars are only allowed from ActivityBars and are not allowed in any other study or strategy 315 This value can only be assigned in a Volatility Model The value highlighted by the PowerEditor can only be assigned in a Volatility Model Usu ally this refers to the volatility For example assigning a value to volatility in a bid ask model will produce this error 316 This value can only be assinged in a Bid Ask Model The value highlighted by the PowerEditor can only be assigned in a Bid Ask Model Usu ally this refers to modeled bid or ask values For example assigning a value to the modeled bid in a Pricing Model will produce this error 317 This value can only be assigned in a Pricing Model The value highlighted by the PowerEditor can only be assigned in a Pricing Model Usu ally this refers to the theoretical price or any of the greeks
264. ips see Advanced Tips TotalTftades d caeterae enin Th Delete edenda Ne nei HRS 92 327 Trading Signals TI oGetALeGEt wichis csc utielssi iris a herent en 93 327 also see Orders TLh GetBedlnDateQ cens Ree 94 327 bouricing ticks oct ma 128 TL GetBeginTime essssserrerseserserereseeserrsssesesee 94 327 built in stops see Stops TL GetBeginVal eee 95 327 execution methods see Execution Method TU Get COL OR i36 mette IURI 95 327 exit price tying to bar of entry 140 143 L GetEndDate seeeeeeeeeeteeetes tes eetee tee eeneeeenenneneans 96 328 exits to entries tying 137 141 TL GetEndTime eee esses estes e 97 328 naming escas erede 131 134 136 141 L GetEnQVal eeeeee 97 328 shares contracts specifying number L GetEXxtLeft eects 98 328 HOUSE em 132 134 137 142 L Ge tExtRight EPA MER US stops see Stops Tse PEA St un Strategy Testing Engine see Trading Strategy TL_Ge t ext Testing Engine Thee eae 2S testing see Trading Strategy Testing Engine L_GetStyle A TL GetValue trading verbs see Trading Verbs TL New CPP MUNDI D erry LEERY 91 329 understanding eerie tegere dontesecvercenncoa cesses 116 TL Se Trading Strategy Testing Engine TL Set automation TL Set canceling orders sse L SetE contracts shares specifying number TL Set open entries limiting per position L Seti orders determining which to fill TL Se price for placing and filling orders TL Se st nd by order
265. iration date Variables OurNumber 0 Counter 0 Valuel DateToJulian ExpirationDate of future 1 DateToJulian CurrentDate For Counter 1 To NumFutures of asset Begin If DateToJulian ExpirationDate of future Counter DateToJulian CurrentDate lt Valuel Then Begin Valuel DateToJulian ExpirationDate of future Counter DateToJulian CurrentDate OurNumber Counter End End First we declare our two variables OurNumber and Counter We also use a predeclared variable Value We then subtract the current date from the expiration date of the future assigned number 1 and assign the result to the variable Value Then using a For loop we subtract the current date from the expiration date of each future contract available 1 through NumFutures and compare the result to the value in Value1 If the result is less than the value in Value then a new value is assigned to Valuel and the number for the future contract is assigned to OurNumber When the loop is done the variable OurNumber will contain the number assigned by OptionStation to the front future contract Note OptionStation depends on the GlobalServer to mark options expired The GlobalServer marks symbols as expired during Nightly Maintenance Allowing Nightly Maintenance to run each night as scheduled will ensure all expired options are marked as such and therefore not included in the analysis EasyLanguage for OptionStation Reading Opti
266. is Shaner a ees eo tient E MO o eoo 205 background color setting 205 207 data availability foreground color setting sss 205 206 upon dp RS 205 RadarScreen adding oledendetude tete re tes 181 background color setting wees 181 183 foreground color setting a namimng oec nene E rem Oe Seats TEMOVING 3e ree ere eene S WEICHE OL 4 estet e Oe ES SuperCharts SE adding 4o Eee ete e ee en A color setting formatting naming width setting 187 190 210 213 writing for 185 208 tick type obtaining sse 232 TradeStation adding une bar chart displaying as Color setting oco ree TOPMALING xoti bre tee et sr ke ed cis rt DAmifig 2 eee RR CH Vh ae In ash dS due ERR RIA Index 343 wadth settiig eden 150 153 WINE LOT desisyon isaret a r raorto Pp 148 Infinite Loops wot Pri tas Marae ni 3 een ede 298 Input S excede cote eoe lt tester naan 31 298 Inputs also see Parameters Input Declaration Statement eee 31 61 series values assigning tO 32 types using values referencing sse 31 Inside the Bar Technology see ActivityBar Studies Tnst Percent Held uccdeeeeNeYe nene 298 IBSEE deett imb n seasoned thes eire 298 INTE gdsssensenesegosbi it prune atus 298 DICBRQECIOD amaes t HERD ses sansestelevaieletiatesnaes 298 Intrinsic Value call option seen 200 TS 10S ip WObh hohe
267. is book Example The following statements draw a trendline at the low of each key reversal pattern If the col or of the trendline matches the background color of the chart the indicator sets the trendline to a different color it adds 1 to the current color Variable ID 1 If Low Low 1 AND Close gt High 1 Then Begin ID TL New Date 1 Time 1 Low Date Time Low Valuel TL GetColor ID If Valuel GetBackGroundColor Then Value2 TL_SetColor ID Valuel 1 End TL_GetEndDate This reserved word returns the date of the ending point of the trendline The ending point of the trendline is the one with the later date if the trendline is vertical the higher of the two points is considered to be the ending point Syntax Valuel TL GetEndDate Tl ID Parameters TI ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the trendline whose end date you want to obtain Notes Valuelis any numeric variable or array and holds the date of the starting point It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any trendlines by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error Example The following statement assigns the EasyLanguage date of the bar used as the end point for the trendline with the ID number 5 to the variable Value Valuel TL GetEndDate 5 Th
268. ise when we apply the indicator to the Options section of the window if we use Of Future num we can refer to the future contract underlying the option in the row to which the indicator is applied or to any future contract being analyzed When OptionStation obtains the future contracts from the GlobalServer it numbers them arbitrarily from 1 through n Therefore to refer to a particular contract you must first determine what number OptionStation has assigned to it The only identifying characteristic of a future contract is its expiration date which means you can use the reserved word ExpirationDate to find specific contracts For example if you know the expiration date for the future contract you want to refer to you can find the number assigned to it using the following instructions 198 Reading OptionStation Data CHAPTER 5 For Valuel 1 To NumFutures of asset Begin If ExpirationDate of future ExpirationDate of future Valuel Then Value2 Valuel End When the loop is done the variable Value2 will contain the number assigned by OptionStation to the future contract and you can use it in place of the num parameter The examples here use the reserved word NumFutures which is described next Or we can find the front contract the one that will expire next by looking for the future contract that is closest to current date We can find the future contract with the smallest number when we subtract the current date from the exp
269. it buy orders are placed on stand by If the Trading Strategy is in a short position any additional stop or limit sell orders are placed on stand by If the Trading Strategy is in a long or short position and there is more than one or higher exit order all exit orders except the one with the lowest target price are placed on stand by If the Trading Strategy is in a long or short position and there is more than one or lower exit order all exit orders except the one with the highest target price will be placed on stand by If there are multiple or higher or or lower entry orders while the Trading Strategy is not in a long or short position all orders except the order that is closest to the market will be placed on stand by Pyramiding Allow Multiple Orders in Same Direction by Same and Different Entry Orders All cases already described under General Scenarios If the Trading Strategy has more than one or higher entry orders it will consider the lower orders first and if the combined orders reach the maximum number of shares contracts allowed by the Trading Strategy then all additional higher entry orders will be placed on stand by If the Trading Strategy has more than one or lower entry orders it will consider the highest orders first and if the combined orders reach the maximum number of shares contracts allowed by the Trading Strategy then all additional higher entry orders will be placed on stand by Pyramiding
270. it signal This error is displayed when an exit signal is mistakenly tied to another exit signal Exit signals can only be tied to an entry through the use of the instruction from Entry entry name For example the following statements will generate this error If Conditionl Then Buy MyEntry This Bar at Close If Condition2 Then ExitLong MyExit This Bar at Close ExitLong from Entry MyExit Next Bar at Lowest Low 10 Stop Instead the following statements are correct If Conditionl Then Buy MyEntry This Bar at Close If Condition2 Then ExitLong MyExit This Bar at Close ExitLong From Entry MyEntry Next Bar at Lowest Low 10 Stop 242 Cannot exitshort from a buy signal This error will be displayed when an short exit signal is tied mistakenly to a long entry signal Short exit signals can be tied only to a short entry through the use of the instruction from Entry entry name For example the following statements will generate this error If Conditionl Then Buy MyEntry This Bar at Close ExitShort From Entry MyEntry Next Bar at Lowest Low 10 Stop In this case the error can be corrected by using the appropriate exit instruction ExitLong If Conditionl Then Buy MyEntry This Bar at Close ExitLong From Entry MyEntry Next Bar at Lowest Low 10 Stop EasyLanguage Syntax Errors 257 243 Cannot exitlong from a sell signal
271. it will have the last description which in the above example is the alert with the description Volume Alert Cancel This reserved word is used to cancel an alert it turns off any alerts triggered during the cur rent bar Syntax Cancel Alert For example if you write an indicator with two alert criteria but you only want the alert to be triggered after 11 00am you can use the following statements If Close Crosses Over Average Close 10 Then Alert Average Cross Over If Volume Average Volume 10 Then Alert Volume Spike If Time lt 1100 Then Cancel Alert If an alert is triggered by either one of the Alert statements it is turned off by the Cancel Alert statement unless it is after 11 00am Once it is after 11 00am the alert is triggered when either Alert statement is true CheckAlert This reserved word determines whether or not the current bar is the last bar on the price chart or grid and whether or not the alert is enabled for the indicator or study When the alert is enabled and it is the last bar on the chart or grid this reserved word returns a value of True This reserved word will return a value of False for all other bars on the price chart and on the last bar of the price chart if the alert is not enabled 42 Writing Alerts CHAPTER 2 This allows you to optimize your indicators and studies for speed you can have the indicator or study skip all statements relating to the ale
272. ith vol ume greater than the previous bar s volume or an outside bar You can accomplish this by writing one expression using ANDs ORs and parentheses The portion highlighted in gray finds the key reversal with volume greater than the previous bar s and the boxed portion finds the outside bar Notice the placement of parentheses The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Referencing Previous Values 17 Low lt Low 1 AND Close gt High 1 AND Volume gt Volume 1 OR High High 1 AND Low Low 1 Notice that instead of writing out of one bar ago we used the shorthand 1 See the next section Referencing Previous Values for more information Advanced Tip Writing Conditional Expressions EasyLanguage is optimized for speed and one optimization relates to evaluating true false expressions that include logical operators When an expression is being evaluated and it is determined that regardless of the remainder of the expression the first part of the expression is false or true the remainder of the expression is not evaluated For example in the following expression 5 lt 4 AND Close gt Open Because 5 lt 4 is false and we are using the AND operator EasyLanguage will not evaluate the second half of the expression because regardless of the result of this second part the entire expression will evaluate to False Similarly if we have the expression 5 4 OR Close gt Opan The second half of t
273. ition Search Engine obtains and evaluates every possible combina tion of options based on the assumptions and the Search Strategy or Strategies you ve spec ified in the Position Search Wizard It then lists the positions found up to 50 sorted in order of theoretical profitability For example let s assume we used a Search Strategy that specifies writing one call and three puts with Delta close to neutral and we are analyzing Microsoft options Microsoft is at 95 and we think it will not move much from here to December 17 the expiration date we specified We want the Delta as close to delta neutral as possible because we think MSFT will not move but if it does the calls and puts will not change much in value and hopefully will expire either at a lower price than we sold them for or worthless leaving us with at least the money we got up front as the premium When we run the Position Search the OptionStation Position Search Engine will go through every combination of one call versus three puts and do the following process on each one at a time 1 Runthrough the Search Strategy and determine if it evaluates to True In other words see if the current combination of one call and three puts it meets the criteria specified by the Search Strategy If not it will obtain a different combination of one call versus three puts and evaluate again until it finds a position that meets the criteria 2 As soon as it finds a position that meets
274. ize 10 0 108 Drawing Trendlines on Price Charts CHAPTER 2 TL SetStyle This reserved word enables you to modify the style of the specified trendline Syntax Valuel TL SetStyle Tl ID Style Parameters TI IDis a numeric expression representing the ID number of the trendline whose style you want to change and Style is a numeric expression representing the new line style for the trendline The possible styles are Tool Solid 1 Tool Dashed 2 Tool Dotted 3 Tool Dashed2 4 Tool Dashed3 5 You can use either the number or the reserved word The style only applies when the trendline is set to the thinnest size which is zero 0 Notes Valuelis any numeric variable or array You must assign the trendline reserved word to a numeric variable or array so that you can determine whether or not the reserved word performed its operation successfully It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any trendlines by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error Example The following statement changes the line style of trendline 10 to a dotted line Valuel TL SetStyle 10 Tool dotted The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Understanding Quote Fields 109 Understanding Quote Fields There is a category of reserved words called Quote Fields These words are data related words sp
275. ket to be executed on the next bar This invariably introduces slippage An order to ExitLong at price Limit instructs TradeStation to exit a long position at the first opportunity at the specified price or higher An ExitLong at price Stop instructs TradeStation to exit a long position at the first opportunity at the specified price or lower Stop and limit orders are treated by TradeStation as market if touched MIT orders It is possible for stop and limit orders not to be filled i e price never reached in this case the orders are canceled at the close of the bar As a general guideline traders use market and close orders when the exact entry price is not critical to their trading strategy after a large move occurred They use limit orders when they are attempting to exit long positions at higher prices to exit at resistance levels or to 140 Trading Verbs CHAPTER 3 exit at a top And finally they generally use stop orders whenever looking to stop losses or to place trailing stops Again these are common usage for the different type of orders they are flexible enough to be used in many different ways Tying the Exit Price to the Bar of Entry When specifying the execution method you can vary stop and limit orders by using At instead of at Using At forces the Trading Signal to refer to the value the numerical ex pression Price had on the bar where the entry order was generated Consider the following state
276. l Percent Risk Trailing The Percent Risk Trailing trading signal enables you to indicate what percent of the maximum position profit you are willing to give back before the position is automatically closed out It also requires that you provide a minimum profit level that must be reached by the position before the stop will take effect The maximum profit is calculated from the point of entry using the highest high when long or the lowest low when short The percent of this amount per contract that you are willing to risk is then subtracted and the trailing stop is placed at that point For example assume that a Percent Risk Trailing Stop is placed at 2096 with a floor of 500 Once profits exceed the floor value of 500 the stop will become active The stop is then placed for the maximum profit to date minus 20 If the maximum open position profit for the trade does not exceed the floor level this trailing stop does not take effect Consequently this stop only locks in profits it does not limit losses SetProfitTarget This reserved word is used to specify the amount of profit you want to reach in order to close out the position or per contract share Syntax SetProfitTarget DollarValue Parameters DollarValue is the amount of profit to reach in order to close the position or exit from the contracts shares Notes Use with SetStopContract or SetStopPosition Trading Signal Profit Target The Profit Target tradi
277. l Variables 237 Volatility Model Global Variables The values of the Volatility Model Global Variables can only be set in Volatility Models but they can be read from Pricing and Bid Ask Models Search Strategies and indicators Syntax GVValueNum Parameters Num is a number 0 through 99 Notes Global variables are pre declared you do not have to declare them using a Declaration Statement Example For example when calculating the volatility for an option chain you can calculate this val ue once and make it accessible to all other options by using Volatility Global Variables If FirstOption then Begin EasyLanguage Instructions to calculate volatility here GVValuel OurVolty End ModelVolatility GVValuel 238 X OptionStation Global Variables CHAPTER 5 Bid Ask Model Global Variables The values of Bid Ask Model Global Variables can only be set in Bid Ask Models but they can be read from Pricing and Volatility Models Searches Strategies and indicators Syntax GBValueNum Parameters Where num is a number 0 through 99 Notes Global variables are pre declared you do not have to declare them using a Declaration Statement Example For example Bid Ask Models can store intermediate calculations that might be useful for indicators and Search Strategies by using global variables GBValuel Valuel CHAPTER 6 EasyLanguage and Other Languages EasyLanguage enables you to use functions
278. l be displayed when writing information to a file with a FileAppend statement FileAppend file txt Valuel that includes the numeric expression Value instead of a text string Numeric expressions can be converted to strings by using the NumToStr keyword For example FileAppend file txt NumToStr Value1 2 569 Buy or Sell name within double quotes expected here When specifying the name of a trading signal only a text string literal can be used and it can t be substituted by a variable or an input The following statements will generate this error Variable txt MySignal Buy txt Next Bar at Market while the correct way of assigning a name to a signal is to use a literal string such as Buy Signal Name Next Bar at Market 272 APPENDIX A EasyLanguage Colors Widths amp Codes 278 APPENDIX B EasyLanguage Colors Widths amp Codes Colors When working with analysis techniques or drawing objects using colors you can specify any of the 17 colors listed below including 1 using the name EasyLanguage word or numeric equivalent Color Name Reserved Word Numeric Equivalent Use the color specified in Default 1 Properties tab of Format dialog box Black Tool_Black 1 Blue Tool Blue 2 Cyan Tool Cyan 3 Green Tool Green 4 Magenta Tool Magenta 5 Red Tool Red 6 Yellow Tool Yellow 7 White Tool White 8 DarkBlue Tool
279. lations Using Functions from DLLs Once it is defined using DefineDLLFunc statement a DLL function can be called from EasyLanguage in much the same way as any other EasyLanguage function is used A DLL function can be called within an expression or as a distinct statement if the return value is not used To call a DLL function the user must specify the function name and enclose all parameters within parenthesis If multiple parameters are used they must be separated by commas For example in order to use a function called MessageBeep which is included in USER32 DLL the following statements can be used DefineDLLFunc USER32 DLL bool MessageBeep int If Open Close Then MessageBeep 0 A second example follows DefineDLLFunc MYLIB DLL int MyAverageFunc multiple Valuel MyAverageFunc Open LONG Open EasyLanguage and Other Languages More About the EasyLanguage DLL Extension Kit 239 The return value of the function MyAverageFunc is assigned to Value1 Notice the data type specifier LONG is included before the second parameter s value This specifier is necessary because MyAverageFunc declares multiple parameter fields In this instance a data type specifier must precede each parameter The exception to this rule is when a text string is used as a parameter of a DLL function as in Example 2 With this exception in mind we know that the data type must be LPSTR Therefore no data type specifier i
280. lity of the option When this reserved word is used in another analysis technique it is used to obtain the volatility of the option Syntax ModelVolatility num Parameters Num is a numeric expression representing the modeled volatility of the option This param eter is needed only when setting the value in the Volatility Model not when obtaining it Example For example if in a Volatility Model the volatility value is stored in the variable Value then the volatility of the option is set by using ModelVolatility Valuel The following expression can be used in order to assign the volatility of an option to a vari able in a Pricing Model Valuel ModelVolatility of option Notice the use of the qualifier Of Option For information on qualifiers see the section earlier in this chapter titled Reading OptionStation Data Ask num This reserved word is used in the Bid Ask Model to set the Ask of the option When this reserved word is used in another analysis technique it is used to obtain the Ask of the option Syntax Ask num Parameters Num is a numeric expression representing the modeled Ask of the option This parameter is needed only when setting the value in the Bid Ask Model not when obtaining it Example For example if in a Bid Ask Model the Ask value is stored in the variable Valuel then the Ask value is set by using Ask Valuel 232 Writing OptionStation Models CHAPTER 5 The foll
281. llowing statement obtains the value of the cell in the lower left corner of the Proba bilityMap study drawing area Valuel PM GetCellValue 1 PM Low Writing ActivityBar Studies ActivityBar studies provide you with the ability to show trading patterns that occur within a range of bars on a chart Unlike other indicators or studies which consist of lines drawn between price points or that plot symbols above or below a bar ActivityBar studies produce aseries of cells to the right or left of a bar that show additional information about the trading activity within each bar ActivityBar studies break down each bar into smaller bars by adding cells to the right or left of the bar following the EasyLanguage instructions provided in the ActivityBar study When writing new ActivityBar studies in the PowerEditor it is helpful to think of the stud les as multi data analysis techniques where the two data streams are for the same symbol but one data stream has a finer resolution smaller data compression than the other and is placed in a hidden subgraph All the EasyLanguage instructions are evaluated on the hidden data stream referred to as the ActivityData data stream and the resulting cells are added to the visible bars When creating an ActivityBar study only two instructions are necessary The first is the instruction that defines the height of the cells which is determined on a bar by bar basis The other is the instruction or criteria t
282. lon to be used when declaring certain elements of the language like inputs variables arrays and DLLs In order to declare a new input the word input should be followed by a colon and then the list of input names This error will be dis played whenever the colon is missing from this expression for example Input MyValue 10 Since there is no colon after the word Input the word MyValue is highlighted and this error message is displayed To correct the error simply add a colon after Input Input MyValue 10 215 Cannot use next bar s price and close order in the same signal EasyLanguage does not support using information from the next bar the Date Time or Open and placing an order at the close of the current bar in the same signal If the instruc tions are not related they should be written as different signals and merged using TradeStation StrategyBuilder The following produces an error because it includes a reference to the Open of Next Bar with a Close order for This Bar current bar If Open of Next Bar gt Price Then Buy This Bar on Close 217 Function circular reference found A circular reference is defined as two formulas that refer to each other in their respective calculations This type of formula cannot be solved by EasyLanguage so whenever a cir cular reference is found this error is displayed For example a circular reference can happen if you have a function A which is defined as the va
283. lor and Width are optional 212 Writing Indicators for SuperCharts SE CHAPTER 5 For a list of the available colors and widths refer to Appendix B of this book Notes The BackColor parameter has no effect when plotting the indicator in a price chart window however it is required in order to specify a width as discussed in the example Example Any one or more of the optional parameters can be omitted as long as there are no other parameters to the right For example the BackColor and Width parameters can be excluded from a statement as follows Plot1 Volume V Black But the plot name cannot be omitted if you want to specify the plot color and width For instance the following example generates a syntax error because the name of the plot state ment is expected Incorrect Plot1 Volume Black White 2 Correct Plotl Volume V Black White 2 The only required parameter for a valid Plot statement is the value that will be plotted So the following statement is valid Plot1 Volume When no plot name is specified EasyLanguage will use Plot1 Plot2 Plot3 or Plot4 as the plot names for each plot The first plot will be named Plot1 the second Plot2 and so on Whenever referring to the plot color or width you can use the word Default in place of the parameter s to have the Plot statement use the default color and or width selected in the Properties tab of the Format indicator dialog box For exampl
284. lor of a specified trendline Syntax TL_SetColor TL Ref Color TL_Ref a numeric expression representing the object identification number Color the color name or numeric value Usage TL_SetColor 3 Blue sets trendline 3 to color blue TL_SetEnd Changes the ending point of a specified trendline Syntax TL_SetEnd TL_Ref eDate eTime ePrice TL_Ref a numeric expression representing the object identification number see TL_New for descriptions of eDate eTime eP rice Usage TL SetEnd 2 990221 1515 207 125 TL_SetExtLeft Changes the leftward extension status of a specified trendline Syntax TL SetExtLeft TL Ref Status TL Ref a numeric expression representing the object identification number Status True turns on leftward extension False turns it off Usage TL SetExtLeft 2 True turns on left extend for trendline 2 TL_SetExtRight Changes the rightward extension status of a specified trendline Syntax TL_SetExtRight TL_Ref Status TL_Ref a numeric expression representing the object identification number Status True turns on rightward extension False turns it off Usage TL_SetExtRight 3 False turns off right extend for trendline 3 TL_SetSize Changes the line thickness setting weight for the specified trendline Syntax TL SetSize TL Ref Size TL Ref a numeric expression representing the object identification number Size numeric value ranging from 0 the thinnest to 6 the thickest Us
285. lotNum value or expression representing the plot number Usage Value2 GetPlotWidth 1 296 APPENDIX C GetPredictionValue Returns the prediction value from a ProbabilityMap cell array Syntax GetPredictionValue Column Price Column column number of the desired cell Price the desired price level of the cell to use for the predicting value Usage Plot1 GetPredictionValue 4 99 25 Predicted Value GetRowIncrement Returns the row increment value in a ProbabilityMap array GetStrategyName Returns the strategy name as a string value GetSymbolName Returns a string with the symbol name to which the analysis technique is applied GetSystemName Reserved for backward compatibility See GetStrategyName GetTopBound Returns the top boundary of a ProbabilityMap array Also see GetBotBound Gr_Rate_P_EPS Returns the Earnings Per Share Growth Rate for a stock Green Specifies color Green numeric value 4 for plots and backgrounds GrossLoss Cumulative dollar total of all closed out losing trades Usage Valuel GrossLoss returns 1000 for three losing trades of 500 200 and 300 GrossProfit Cumulative dollar total of all closed out winning trades Usage Value2 GrossProfit returns 800 for three winning trades of 100 300 and 400 H Returns the highest price of the bar referenced abbreviation for High Usage Valuel H 2 returns the High of 2 bars ago High Returns the highest price of the b
286. lotl Valuel TValue Green Else Plotl Valuel TValue Red In this example the plot name TValue has to be the same in both instances of the Plot statement SetPlotColor PlotNumber Color This reserved word is used to change the foreground or plot color of a particular plot and can be used when applying indicators to a price chart or a Position Analysis window Syntax SetPlotColor PlotNumber Color Parameters PlotNumber is a number from 1 to 4 representing the number of the plot to modify Color is the EasyLanguage color to be used for the plot Notes This reserved word changes the color of the plot the reserved word described next SetPlotBGColor changes the background color of the plot for use only with the Position Analysis window For a list of the available colors refer to Appendix B of this book 208 Writing OptionStation Indicators CHAPTER 5 Example The color of the plot can be changed for each price for example if the indicator value is negative the plot can be displayed in red and when the indicator value is positive the plot can be displayed in green The following statements show how to modify the color of an indicator in this case the Momentum Indicator Plot1 Momentum Close of asset 10 Momentum If Plotl gt 0 Then SetPlotColor 1 Green Else SetPlotColor 1 Red SetPlotBG Color PlotNumber Color This reserved word is used to change the background colo
287. lue of the current bar of a function B plus 1 and the definition of the function B is the value of the current bar of A plus 1 In order to calculate the value of function A the value of B is needed but in order to calculate B the value of A is needed Therefore it is not possible to obtain the values of these functions and this error occurs EasyLanguage Syntax Errors 253 220 Cannotanchor a global exit The price date of the bar where an entry order was placed can be accessed from an exit by using Af This is only allowed when the entry order has a label and if the exit is tied to the entry An error will be generated if the entry is not labeled or if the exit does not specify what entry it is attempting to close For example the following exit will cause this error If Conditionl Then Buy MyEntry This Bar on Close ExitLong At Low 1 Stop since the exit does not specify the name of a matching entry The correct syntax is If Conditionl Then Buy MyEntry This Bar on Close ExitLong From Entry MyEntry AtS Low 1 Stop 223 A simple function cannot call itself Historical values of simple functions are not available to EasyLanguage so referring to previous values of itself in its calculations is not allowed If this is necessary change the function to a series MyFunction MyFunction 1 Volume For example if MyFunction is a simple function the above reference to the value of MyFunction o
288. lue to a function By definition a function is an EasyLanguage procedure that returns a value so it is not possible to assign a different value to a function except when returning a value from within a function Average 100 1245 In this example the highlighted function name indicates that you cannot assign it a value EasyLanguage Syntax Errors 247 171 A value was never assigned to user function By definition a function is a set of statements that return a value This error will be dis played when editing or creating a function and the PowerEditor finds that no value has been assigned to the function A statement similar to the following must be included in every function MyFunction Value where MyFunction is the name of the function and Value is the expression to be returned when the function is referenced 172 Either NUMERIC TRUEFALSE STRING NUMERICSIMPLE NUMERICSERIES TRUEFALSESIMPLE TRUEFALSESERIES STRINGSIMPLE or STRINGSERIES expected When declaring the inputs in a function it is necessary to specify the type of each input This error is generated when any word or value other than a valid input type is used when declaring function inputs 174 Function not verified In order for an analysis technique to verify all functions used by the analysis technique must be verified as well This error is displayed if there is a function that is not verified and you attempt to verify the analysis techniq
289. luel Valuel AB GetCellDate Open of Datal RightSide 1 AB GetCellTime Price Side Offset Each time a cell is added to a bar the date and time of when it was added is stored with the cell This reserved word returns the time that the cell was added to the bar Syntax AB GetCellTime Price Side Offset Parameters Price is a numeric expression representing the price of the cell being referenced Side spec ifies the side of the bar on which the cell is located you must use one of two reserved words LeftSide or RightSide to specify the side and Offset is the column number of the cell referenced where column 1 is the closest to the bar Notes To store the time returned by the reserved word you can assign this reserved word to a numeric variable You can use this reserved word in an ActivityBar study as well as any other analysis technique trading strategy or function If you reference a cell that does not exist a runtime error will occur Example The following statement retrieves the time of the first cell on the right side at the opening price of the bar and assigns this date to the numeric variable Valuel Valuel AB GetCellDate Open of Datal RightSide 1 AB GetCellValue Price Side Offset When you add a cell to a bar using the AB AddCell reserved word you can store a value in the cell You use the AB GetCellValue reserved word to obtain the value Syntax AB GetCellValue Price Side Offset Pa
290. lume Average Volume 50 Then Begin Commentary and volume is greater than average If Volume Average Volume 50 2 Then Alert End Else Commentary and volume is lower than average End Understanding Arrays Arrays are variables that store multiple values simultaneously Think of an array as being like a spreadsheet which has a predetermined number of cells For example an array called MyArray that has 6 cells which in an array are called elements will look like a one column spreadsheet document as shown in Figure 2 5 CO ER O NM wr Figure 2 5 Array with one dimension The example array in Figure 2 5 is said to have one dimension and 6 elements you refer ence the information in the array using one number For example in the above array ele ment 1 contains a value of 3 and element 2 contains a value of 5 However you can define arrays with multiple dimensions For example you can define a two dimensional array which will look like multiple rows and columns in a spreadsheet document as shown in Figure 2 6 980301 1400 100 25 880503 1200 105 5 980812 1105 98 75 981209 1015 95 625 990225 1345 101 75 890511 955 103 125 890725 1540 105 375 Figure 2 6 Array with two dimensions 46 Understanding Arrays CHAPTER 2 In this case you use two numbers to reference each element row column For example the illustration above shows a two dimensional array containing 27 elem
291. ment ExitLong From Entry MyBuy Next Bar At Low 1 Point Stop The above statement places an order to exit the long position at one point lower than the low of the bar where the order to establish the long position was generated e g if an order to buy next bar is generated today the prices referenced will be today s not tomorrow s Even though the order was placed and filled tomorrow it was generated today and that is the bar referenced To use the At reserved word you must name the entry order and the ExitLong instruction must refer to the specific entry order As another example if the maximum risk you will tolerate for a position is 5 points under the closing price of the bar on which you generated the entry order you can use the follow ing statement ExitLong From Entry MyBuy Next Bar At Close 5 Points Stop This is a valuable technique that allows you to refer easily to the prices of the bar on which the entry order was generated Examples This statement exits all contracts shares of your open long position at the close of the current bar Your position will be flat ExitLong This Bar on Close The next instruction exits all contracts shares of your positions opened by the entry order Entry at the open of the next bar and the exit order is named LongExit ExitLong LongExit From Entry Entry 1 Next Bar at Market The following statement places an order to close 5 contracts sh
292. ment statement For example the following statement will cause an error Valuel 10 and would be corrected by adding an equal sign as in Valuel 10 159 This word cannot start a statement Not all words can be used to start a statement For example the data word Close cannot be used to start a statement Usually reserved words that generate some action are used to start statements such as Buy Plotl or If Then 160 Semicolon expected here All EasyLanguage statements must end with a semicolon Whenever the PowerEditor finds a word or expression that can be interpreted as a new line it will place the cursor before this expression and show this error For example the following statements will pro duce this error Valuel Close Open Buy Next Bar at Valuel Stop Given that the word Buy is always used at the beginning of a statement to place a trading order a semicolon is required after the Open EasyLanguage Syntax Errors 245 161 The word THEN mustfollow an If condition This error is displayed whenever the word Then is omitted from a f Then statement The word Then must always follow the condition of the f Then statement The correct syntax for an If Then statement is If Conditionl Then any operation 162 STOP LIMIT CONTRACTS SHARES expected here This error is displayed by the PowerEditor if it finds a numeric expression following a trading verb without including one of the words listed
293. mit orders below the market or buy limit or sell stop orders above the market TradeStation will accept these orders and fill them on the next bar at the first available price which will usually be the open of the bar For example if the market is trading at 950 and the Trading Strategy places an order to buy at 1 000 limit TradeStation will fill this order during the next bar at the first price under 1 000 which will probably be the open of the next bar Determining the Number of Shares when Opening Positions When formatting Trading Strategies under the Costs tab Figure 3 6 there is an option to specify the default number of shares or contracts that the Trading Strategy will use when opening a position This number is used unless the Trading Strategy s buy or sell order specifies the number of shares contracts to buy sell or close out as discussed in the section Trading Verbs on page 131 When the order specifies the number of shares contracts it will override the setting in the Costs tab Format Strategy Inputs Style Costs Properties Commission 7 Amount 0 000000 Per Unit C Per Transaction r Slippage pon Per Unit Amount a Per Transaction Margin futures only Amount o 000000 p Ln 1 C Dollars per Transaction 10000 000000 minimum lot size fi Cancel Help Figure 3 6 Format Strategy Costs tab 122 The Trading Strategy Testing Engine CHAPTER 3
294. mount representing the minimum needed to activate the stop Percent the percentage of the maximum equity needed to be lost to close the trade Usage SetStopPosition can also use SetStopC ontract SetPercentTrailing 500 15 exits after returnof 15 over 500 earned Reserved Words Quick Reference 319 SetPlotBG Color Assigns a specified background color to grid cells for an indicator Syntax SetPlotBGColor Num Color Num plot number to set Color EasyLanguage color word e g red black white or color number Usage SetPlotBGColor 1 Green sets background color of Plotl cells to Green SetPlotColor Sets the color value of a chart s plot line or grid s foreground text color Syntax SetPlotColor Num Color Num plot number to set Color EasyLanguage color word e g red black white or color number Usage SetPlotColor 2 Blue sets foreground color of Plot2 text to Blue SetPlotWidth Modifies the width value thickness of a plot line in a chart Syntax SetPlotWidth N um Width Num plot number to set Width Numeric expression representing the plot s width Usage SetPlotWidth 1 5 sets the line width of Plotl to 5 SetProfitTarget Sets a profit target stop this reserved word specifies the profit required in order to exit the position Used by the trading signal Profit Target Syntax SetProfitTarget Amount Amount the dollar value of the profit target Usage SetStopContract SetProfitTarget 400 fexits
295. mple Array MyArray 10 0 Valuel Average_a MyArray 0 10 the will be highlighted because an array index appears after the array name The correct syntax would be Array MyArray 10 0 Valuel Average_a MyArray 10 304 Numeric Array Parameter expected here Functions can receive arrays as parameters If a function is expecting an array any other type of parameter variable input or reserved word will display this error In the follow ing example Variable MyVar 0 Valuel Average a MyVar 10 the function Average a requires an array on which to calculate an average and displays this error because MyVar is not an array Instead you can write Array MyArray 20 0 Valuel Average a MyArray 10 266 APPENDIX A 305 TrueFalse Array Parameter expected here Functions can now receive arrays as parameters If a function is expecting a true false ar ray and instead the PowerEditor finds a variable input or other reserved word different than a true false array it will display this error For example a function MyTrueFalse a that correctly uses true false arrays would be written as follows Array MyArray 20 False Variable MyTF False MyTF MyTruefalse a MyArray 10 306 String Array Parameter expected here Functions can now receive arrays as parameters If a function is expecting an array of text strings and instead the PowerEditor finds a variable input or o
296. n Leg num This reserved word is used to reference information for any leg of the position being analyzed Syntax Value of leg num Parameters Num is a numeric expression representing the leg of the position to which the expression is referring Value is any value you can obtain for the leg for example a piece of information such as the expiration date strike price etc Of is a skip word that makes the expression easier to read Notes Legs are numbered arbitrarily from 1 through n To reference a specific leg you need to first determine which number is assigned to the leg you want to analyze To do so use the expression LegType of Leg num Strike of Leg num or ExpirationDate of Leg num to determine which option comprises the specific leg Example The following Search Strategy will create a position that consists of writing a call and buying EasyLanguage for OptionStation Reading OptionStation Data 203 a second call The Of Leg num qualifier is used to compare the strike prices of the two legs being evaluated CreateLeg 1 Call CreateLeg 1 Call Conditionl Strike of leg 1 lt Strike of leg 2 10 PositionStatus Conditionl For information on Search Strategies see the section later in this chapter titled Writing Search Strategies ModelPosition This reserved word is used to reference information for the modeled positions built when a Position Search is run This reserved word is ava
297. n Alert SetPlotColor Number Color This reserved word is used to change the color of a particular plot in a price chart window Syntax SetPlotColor Number Color Parameters Number is a number from 1 to 4 representing the number of the plot to modify Color is the EasyLanguage color to be used for the plot For a list of the available colors refer to Appendix B of this book Example The following EasyLanguage statements color the plot red when the RSI Indicator is over 75 and green when it is under 25 Plot1 RSI Close 9 RSI SetPlotColor 1 Default If Plotl gt 75 Then SetPlotColor 1 Red If Plot1 lt 25 Then SetPlotColor 1 Green In this example the RSI Indicator has three possible colors red when it is over 75 green when it is below 25 and the default color when it is between 25 and 75 214 Writing Indicators for SuperCharts SE CHAPTER 5 If you only set two colors one for over 75 and one for under 25 it would remain one of the two colors which ever it was set to last when it is between 25 and 75 What you need to do is reset the plot color to a default color every bar so that itis only red when above 75 and green when below 25 The rest of the time it is the default color In this example we used the SetPlotColor reserved word to reset the plot to the default color You can also set the default color of the plot using the PlofNum reserved word If you set the default color in th
298. n be extended to the right or left This reserved word returns a value of True or False If the trendline is extended to the right it will return a value of True otherwise it will return a value of False Syntax Conditionl TL GetExtRight Tl ID Parameters TI ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the trendline whose extension status you want to obtain Notes Condition can be any true false variable or array and holds the true false value determin ing whether or not the trendline is extended If an invalid ID number is used the value False is returned Example The following instructions extend the trendline 10 to the right if it is not already extended If TL GetExtRight 10 False Then Valuel TL SetExtRight 10 True The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Drawing Trendlines on Price Charts 99 TL GetFirst You can draw trendlines using trading signals analysis techniques indicators and studies or functions or by using the drawing object tool EasyLanguage enables you to search for trendlines based on how and in what order they were created The charting application stores the chronological order of all trendlines added to a chart and this information is made available to EasyLanguage This reserved word returns the ID number of the first trendline added to the price chart by a trading signal analysis technique or function or by a drawing tool or by either It is important to rememb
299. n it is under 25 Plot1 RSI Close 9 RSI SetPlotColor 1 Default If Plotl gt 75 Then SetPlotColor 1 Red If Plotl lt 25 Then SetPlotColor 1 Green In this example the RSI Indicator has three possible colors red when it is over 75 green when it is below 25 and the default color when it is between 25 and 75 If you EasyLanguage for TradeStation Writing Indicators and Studies 153 only set two colors one for over 75 and one for under 25 it would remain one of the two colors which ever it was set to last when it is between 25 and 75 What you need to do is reset the plot color to a default color every bar so that it is only red when above 75 and green when below 25 The rest of the time it is the default color In this example we used the SetPlotColor reserved word to reset the plot to the default color You can also set the default color of the plot using the PlotN reserved word If you set the default color in the PlotN statement then you don t have to use the first SetPlotColor statement instead your instructions would be as follows Plotl RSI Close 9 RSI Default If Plotl gt 75 Then SetPlotColor 1 Red If Plotl1 lt 25 Then SetPlotColor 1 Green SetPlotWidth Number Width This reserved word sets the width of the specified plot Syntax SetPlotWidth Number Width Parameters Number is a number from 1 to 4 representing the number of the plot to modify Width is the
300. nal to establish a long position is listed second the Trading Strategy will end the bar with a long position In similar fashion a Trading Signal can have multiple orders If this is the case the one that appears first in the PowerEditor Trading Signal document will be filled first and if there are multiple signals in the Trading Strategy that place the same type of order then the orders from the signal that is listed first in the Signal tab of the TradeStation StrategyBuilder is given priority Figure 3 4 You can rearrange the Trading Signals using the Move Up and Move Down buttons in the Signals tab System Properties Candlestick Patterns x General Signals Inputs Pyramiding Position Signals included mme tenatsty Lona Et Short Entry Shor Emt A Hammer 2 v4 2 Morning Star Dark Cloud Hanging Man 5 ATR Trailing LX B ATR Trailing SX Move Up Move Down Figure 3 4 Trading Signals in the TradeStation StrategyBuilder You can move the signals up or down to specify the order in which they are read by the engine 120 The Trading Strategy Testing Engine CHAPTER 3 Another example is when a Trading Strategy includes two Trading Signals to enter a long position Signal A and Signal B Each will enter a position with different position sizes Assume that Signal A will open a position with 100 shares and Signal B will open a position with 500 shares If both signals issue an order to buy on
301. nals analysis techniques indicators and studies or functions or by using the drawing object tool EasyLanguage enables you to search for text objects based on how they were created This reserved word returns the ID number of the oldest text object on the price chart the first drawn It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any text objects by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error Syntax Valuel Text GetFirst Num 82 Drawing Text on Price Charts CHAPTER 2 Parameters Num is a numeric expression representing the origin type of the text object The possible values for num are Value of num Description 1 Text created by a trading signal analysis technique or func tion Text created by the text drawing object tool only Text created by either the text drawing object tool or a trading signal analysis technique or function If a value different than 1 2 or 3 is used EasyLanguage will assume a value of 3 Notes Valuel is any numeric variable or array that holds the ID number of the desired text object Example The following statements delete the oldest text object on a price chart drawn by a trading signal analysis technique or function Valuel Text GetFirst 1 Value2 Text Delete Valuel Note When the oldest first text object is deleted
302. nd its movement will generally more closely resemble the illustration in Figure 3 10 than a straight line EasyLanguage for TradeStation The Trading Strategy Testing Engine 129 To simulate this behavior the Trading Strategy Testing Engine uses a technique called bouncing ticks that simulates market oscillations whenever stop or limit orders are filled Figure 3 10 Normal intra bar price movement The method by which TradeStation s Strategy Testing Engine simulates this market activity is by bouncing the assumed price a certain percentage of the bar s range 10 by default in the opposite direction of any filled stop or limit order For example if the range of the bar is 10 points and a buy stop order is filled TradeStation looks down the bar as far as point under the entry price of the buy stop order looking for other orders to fill before continuing with the bar assumptions Figure 3 11 If the stop or limit order filled is read as an or higher order the Trading Strategy Testing Engine bounces the tick down if the order is read as an or lower order it bounces the tick up Buy Filled Buy Stop Order Bouncing Tick Check Original Intra bar market Intra bar market Assumption Bar Assumption with the Bouncing Ticks concept Figure 3 11 Bouncing tick Bouncing ticks affect Trading Strategy results in a very minor way and only when the Trading Strategy includes multiple stop and limit orders that are placed very clo
303. ndition2 Then Valuel XAverage Close MyValue3 58 Understanding User Functions CHAPTER 2 The first two lines call the same series function and they do not use variables or arrays as parameters therefore the function MySeriesFunction is calculated only once and the value is assigned both to MyValuel and to MyValue2 However the function XAverage uses a variable as a parameter therefore the function is calculated twice each bar This is to make sure that the function is calculated with the most current value of the variable that is used as the parameter In the above example the value stored in MyValue3 does indeed change for the second calculation of the function Parameters are discussed in detail in the next section Also when you re receiving data on a real time delayed basis and have the Update ev ery tick option enabled for an analysis technique or the Generate orders for next bar option for trading strategies EasyLanguage evaluates the analysis technique or trading strategy as well as any series functions that are referenced by the analysis technique or trading strategy for each new tick To keep accumulated values accurate each time a new tick is received all variables arrays and function values are pushed back to their values from the previous bar and the calculation based on the most recent tick is per formed This ensures that the trading signals analysis technique and functions perform their calculations a
304. ndline and on the current bar the close is higher than the trendline This type of alert is only evaluated once the bar is closed An alert set to Breakout Intrabar is triggered if the high crosses over the trendline or if the low crosses under the trendline This alert is triggered at the moment the trendline is broken 94 Drawing Trendlines on Price Charts CHAPTER 2 Example The following statement checks the alert status for trendline 10 and if it is not set to Breakout on Close it enables it and sets it to Breakout on Close If TL GetAlert 10 lt gt 2 Then Valuel TL SetAlert 10 2 TL GetBeginDate This reserved word returns the date of the starting point of the trendline The start point is the one with the earlier date If the trendline is vertical the lower of the two points is considered to be the starting point Syntax Valuel TL GetBeginDate Tl ID Parameters TI_ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the trendline whose start date you want to obtain Notes Valuelis any numeric variable or array and holds the date of the starting point It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any trendlines by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error Example The following statement assigns the EasyLanguage date of the bar used as the start p
305. ndow Variable MyText Print Text GetString 5 Text GetTime This reserved word returns a numeric expression corresponding to the EasyLanguage time of the bar on which the specified text object is anchored It is important to remember that The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Drawing Text on Price Charts 85 if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any text objects by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error Syntax Valuel Text GetTime Text ID Parameters Text ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the text object for which you want to obtain the time Notes Valuel is any numeric variable or array and holds the time of the specified text object Example The following statement assigns the EasyLanguage time of the bar where the text object with the ID number 5 is drawn to the variable Value Valuel Text GetTime 5 Text GetValue Text objects are drawn at a specific price value on the price chart This reserved word returns a numeric value corresponding to the price at which the specified text object is anchored It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any text objects by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error
306. ne trading signal If the Close gt High of 1 Bar Ago Then Buy at Market This simple statement is instructing EasyLanguage to compare the closing price of one bar with the high price of another and to generate a buy order for the open of the next bar when the close is greater than the high This comparison is made on the closing price of every bar in the chart each time referencing the high price of the preceding bar Assume you have incorporated the above trading signal into a trading strategy that you ve applied to a chart Even though your trading strategy is applied to a chart filled with many different bars the information that is evaluated for each bar is always the same i e close price volume high price etc Remember a chart is a visual representation of a period of trading history for a symbol where individual bars represent trading intervals To evaluate your chart EasyLanguage evaluates the price data from the very first bar in the chart to the most recent bar on the chart In terms of your trading signal analysis technique or function the bar being evaluated is considered the current bar thus at some point every bar on the chart is considered to be the current bar The EasyLanguage statements in your procedure are always evaluated relative to the current bar Now on the first bar of the chart there are no previous bars so the comparison in the example above cannot be performed Thus the trading strategy would hav
307. need another exit order or buy sell order in order to close out a position Number of Shares Contracts To specify how many shares contracts to close out use a numeric expression followed by the word shares after the trading verb ExitShort For example ExitShort 100 Shares Or ExitShort 5 Contracts Note The words shares and contracts are synonymous If you do not specify the number of shares contracts in the ExitShort instruction the order exits all shares contracts rendering your position flat If you do specify the number of shares contracts the ExitShort instruction exits the determined number of shares contracts out of every open entry For example if the Trading Strategy allows for pyramiding and has shorted 500 shares three times for a total of 1 500 shares and an order to ExitShort 100 shares is placed the exit order will exit a total of 300 shares 100 shares from each one of the three entries Refer to the discussion on the trading verb ExitLong on page 136 for an additional examples and charts illustrating this feature However if the purpose of the ExitShort statement is to exit a total of 100 shares you can use the reserved word Totalin the ExitShort statement Using the word Total causes the Trading Strategy to exit 100 shares from the oldest open entry first in first out Execution Method You can use four different execution methods with the trading verb ExitShort this bar on close next ba
308. nerates fewer ID numbers to keep track of Example These statements display the name of the symbol above the first bar in the chart after Max BarsBack and then change the location of the text to always display it on the last bar of the chart If BarNumber 1 Then Valuel Text New Date Time High 1 01 GetSymbolName Value2 Text SetLocation Valuel Date Time High 1 01 88 Drawing Text on Price Charts CHAPTER 2 Text SetString This reserved word changes the text string expression of the specified text object Syntax Valuel Text SetString Text ID MyText Parameters Text ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the text object whose text string expression you want to modify and MyText is the new text string expression for the text object Notes Valuel is any numeric variable or array You must assign the text object reserved word to a numeric variable or array so that you can determine whether or not the reserved word performed its operation successfully It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any text objects by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error We recommend that you change the text string expression of the text object rather than delete the text object and draw a new one Changing an existing text object is faster and gene
309. nformation on Quote Fields refer to Chapter 2 The Basics EasyLanguage Elements Example Any one or more of the optional parameters can be omitted as long as there are no other parameters to the right For example the background color can be excluded from the state ment as follows Plot1 Volume V Black But the plot name cannot be omitted if you want to specify the plot colors For instance the following example generates a syntax error because the name of the plot statement is ex pected 182 Writing RadarScreen Indicators CHAPTER 4 Incorrect Plot1 Volume Black White Correct Plot1 Volume V Black White The only required parameter for a valid Plot statement is the value plotted So the following statement is valid Plot1 Volume When no plot name is specified EasyLanguage will use Plot1 Plot2 Plot3 or Plot4 as the plot names for each plot The first plot will be named Plot1 the second Plot2 and so on Whenever referring to the foreground color or background color you can use the word De fault in place of the parameter s to have the Plot statement use the default colors selected in the Properties tab of the Format indicator dialog box For example the following statement can be used to display the volume in the default fore ground color but a specific background color Plotl Volume V Default Red Again you can use the word Default for either of the color parameters
310. ng ExitPrice Exits entries tying exits tO sess 137 141 execution method sese 139 142 IET ME 136 141 price tying to bar of entry sese 140 143 shares contracts specifying number of 137 142 stops see Stops EXYIUSHOEL vost en diee bv e ede 141 292 BX LET UMS 25032 ma cou ens eU Pe PR Pap re 292 Expert Commentary see Commentary ExpirationDate ExpirationMonth ExpirationRule ExpirationStyle ExpirationYear EXpued Suena cited disi Expressions Comparing zer terere e e on nutnenc 210 6 dd cer o rc aera E fr tu order of precedence previous values referencing see 17 text SINE aee ete eee eie e diete 12 true false also conditional logical boolean ExpVadue ix bts cree et eis ariete concede ues 293 F Pa lis Gs Ce n ete TE ee POS EE 293 uM EE 293 FileAppend el 293 FileDelete 4 203 Files outputting tO 73 Filling Orders precedence of see Fill precedence under Orders Find Feature functions sess 51 EirstNoticeDate 4222 gp ee tangente ee 293 PISUODULOLn zuerst erint 231 294 FLOAT Floor BAIE 1 Nest exi T tenet asi etua ga Desa dI SE For LOOD rrai E R O EER mpm 38 FracPortion 294 FreeCshFlwPerShare es ssesesssesseseseessersseeseessseese 294 iE O i e PUE MEDIE RAICES AERE ETUR A EON 294 From skip Word unteren ce murder ttes 294 Function Value Assignment Statement ou eee 54
311. ng signal enables you to set a profit target in dollars per contract share or per position at which your position is automatically closed out If that profit level is never reached the stop will not take effect This stop locks in profits it does not limit losses SetStopLoss This reserved word is used to specify the amount you are willing to lose per position or per contract share Syntax SetStopLoss DollarValue Parameters DollarValue is the amount you are willing to lose per position or per contract share Notes Use with SetStopContract or SetStopPosition 148 Writing Indicators and Studies CHAPTER 3 Trading Signal Stop Loss The Stop Loss trading signal enables you to specify the maximum amount of money you are willing to risk on any position or on any one contract share For example if you specify a per position stop loss of 500 on your S amp P 500 Futures contracts TradeStation automatically exits the entire position when losses on the position reach 500 If on S amp P 500 Futures you specify a per contract stop loss of 500 TradeStation automatically exits the position when losses for any contract reach 500 A Stop Loss trading signal should never be used as the only exit your trading strategy is using as it requires the position to lose money in order to exit the trade For example if the market goes in your favor and you achieve a great deal of profit you would have to lose all of that profit plus
312. nges the color of the plot the reserved word described next SetPlotBGColor changes the background color of the plot for use only with grid applications in other words the RadarScreen or OptionStation Position Analysis windows For a list of the available colors refer to Appendix B of this book Example The color of the plot can be changed for each price for example if the indicator value is negative the plot can be displayed in red and when the indicator value is positive the plot can be displayed in green The following statements show how to modify the color of an indicator in this case the Momentum Indicator Plot1 Momentum Close 10 Momentum If Plotl gt 0 Then SetPlotColor 1 Green Else SetPlotColor 1 Red In this example the Momentum Indicator has two possible colors green when it is over 0 red when it is below 0 Please refer to the example for the next reserved word SetPlotBGColor for a variation on the usage of this reserved word SetPlotBG Color Number Color This reserved word is used to change the background color of the cell where the value of the plot is displayed Syntax SetPlotBGColor Number Color Parameters Number is a number from 1 to 4 identifying the plot to modify and Color is the EasyLanguage color to be used for the background of the cell Notes The color of the plot can be set as you create the plot using the reserved word PlotN the SetPlotBGColor reserv
313. ngine gives a higher priority to the order that is closest to the market closest to the current price This is done in order to simulate how stop and limit orders are actually filled If a symbol is trading at 950 and there are two limit orders to buy one at 949 and one at 948 as the market drops the order to buy at 949 would be filled first and the order to buy at 948 would be filled second Therefore the TradeStation Strategy Engine fills these orders in that way producing results are as realistic as possible As another example assume there are three or more different orders to buy at a limit price e g buy 100 shares at 101 limit buy 300 shares at 98 limit and buy 500 shares at 95 limit In this case when pyramiding is disabled TradeStation only displays the order EasyLanguage for TradeStation The Trading Strategy Testing Engine 121 to buy 100 shares at 101 limit which is closest to the market If pyramiding is enabled then all three orders are shown and the orders that are closest to the market are filled first To summarize this rule if the stop or limit orders are an or higher order TradeStation gives a higher priority when filling orders to the order with the lowest price target If the stop or limit orders are or lower TradeStation gives a higher priority when filling orders to the highest price target Advanced Tips Acceptable Orders Although many brokers will not accept buy stop or sell li
314. nging market conditions Following are the alert related reserved words you ll be using to include alerts in your in dicators and or studies Alert This reserved word triggers an alert and enables you to provide a description of the condi tions that triggered the alert Syntax Alert Description Description is any user defined text string You use the text string to provide information about the alert such as the market conditions that triggered it This text string appears in the Additional Info field of the Alert Notification dialog box shown in Figure 2 4 and in the Tracking Center You do not have to provide a description in which case the Additional Info field in the Alert Notification dialog box and the description for the alert entry in the Tracking Center are left blank The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Writing Alerts 41 If you include more than one Alert statement in your indicator or study and more than one alert is triggered the description included with the last alert triggered is the description shown For example assume the following indicator is applied to a price chart Plot1 Average Close 10 Avg If Close Crosses Over Plotl1 Then Alert Price crossed over average If Volume gt Average Volume 10 Then Alert Volume Alert If on the last bar of the price chart both conditions are true both alerts are evaluated In this case only one alert is actually triggered and logged and
315. nguage instruction 22 Manipulating Dates and Times CHAPTER 2 DateToJulian eDate This reserved word returns a numeric expression representing the Julian Date equivalent to the specified EasyLanguage date Syntax DateToJulian eDate Parameters eDate is the EasyLanguage date Y Y YMMDD format to be converted into a Julian Date Example You can use the following statement to obtain the Julian Date equivalent to the EasyLanguage date of the current bar and assign it to a variable in this case Value 1 Valuel DateToJulian Date JulianToDate jDate This reserved word returns a numeric expression representing the EasyLanguage date equivalent to the specified Julian Date Syntax JulianToDate jDate Parameters jDate is a numeric expression representing the Julian Date to convert into an EasyLanguage date Y YYMMDD format Example The following statement obtains the Julian Date of the day 20 calendar days ahead of the date of the current bar and converts the result into an EasyLanguage date Valuel JulianToDate DateToJulian Date 20 The expression inside parentheses the reserved word DateToJulian is evaluated first It converts the date of the current bar to a Julian Date Then the number 20 is added to the resulting Julian Date This Julian Date is then the parameter for the reserved word JulianToDate which converts the Julian Date to an EasyLanguage date in the format YYYMMDD This EasyLangua
316. ns a value of 1718 at 5 18 pm CustomerID Returns the User ID number of the person to whom the software is registered 288 APPENDIX C Cusip Returns a numeric expression representing the CUSIP number for stocks Cyan Specifies color Cyan numeric value 3 for plots and backgrounds D Returns the closing date of the bar referenced Abbreviation for Date DailyLimit Number of stocks contracts allowed traded in 1 day from the Symbol Dictionary DarkBlue Specifies color Dark Blue numeric value 9 for plots and backgrounds DarkBrown Specifies color Dark Brown numeric value 14 for plots and backgrounds DarkCyan Specifies color Dark Cyan numeric value 10 for plots and backgrounds DarkGray Specifies color Dark Gray numeric value 15 for plots and backgrounds DarkGreen Specifies color Dark Green numeric value 11 for plots and backgrounds DarkMagenta Specifies color Dark Magenta numeric value 12 for plots and backgrounds DarkRed Specifies color Dark Red numeric value 13 for plots and backgrounds DataN Used to reference information from a specified data stream Usage Valuel Low of DatalO returns the Low for the current bar from data stream 10 DataCompression The compression setting of the price data for the applied analysis technique Returns 0 forTick 1 for Intraday 2 for Daily 3 for Weekly 4 for Monthly 5 for Point amp Figure Usage If DataCompression 2 Then Any Operati
317. ntensive task Therefore OptionStation provides three different update logic choices as shown in Figure 5 11 tome Modal oboli lees pmemP 1 Foe Medel wena a e Cac baicun 0 apaiia fe Mosis on usd lc D Updaie on gabiak ck Tita fa Tw ini peter grey pried TP T Psp rm a Figure 5 11 OptionStation Update Logic They are Update all symbols for this underlying when any symbol for this underlying ticks All values for all options are calculated whenever there is an update in any of the underlying asset or option symbols This is the most labor intensive mode of OptionStation and in most instances it will result in unnecessary calculations as all modeled values are re calculated on a constant basis as ticks are received from the datafeed m Update each symbol as it ticks or the underlying ticks This is the recommended setting when the specific option ticks the modeled values are updated and when the underlying asset ticks the modeled values for all options are updated m Update each symbol as it ticks This setting is the least labor intensive choice the modeled values for the specific option are updated when the option ticks The modeled values are not updated when the underlying asset ticks The three settings above can be based on either every trade tick and on every Bid and Ask tick that is received from the datafeed or on both by selecting the appropriate Calculation Dependencies check box The reserve
318. nute bar looking for fill prices for the stop and or limit orders placed by the Trading Strategy This significantly improves the accuracy of the results over using daily data to backtest but reduces considerably the resource requirements when compared to testing the Trading Strategy on a one tick resolution On the other hand if a Trading Strategy only places orders at the close of the current bar or on the next bar at market it is not necessary to backtest using a fine resolution because these prices are always known Remember from the four prices every bar has we know at which price the bar opened and at which price the bar closed so if a Trading Strategy includes an order to buy at the open of the next bar this price will not be any different historically than in real time Examining the ticks that compose a bar reveals no additional information about the open or closing prices of the bar Therefore enabling the backtesting resolution setting for Trading Strategies containing only these types of orders does not increase the backtesting accuracy of the Trading Strategy Bar Assumptions When tick data is not available TradeStation makes certain assumptions about how each price bar was formed These bar assumptions apply only when the Trading Strategy uses stop and or limit orders they do not apply when it includes only on close or at market or ders as described in the section above After extensive research a few rules were esta
319. o a WORD LPLONG Pointer to a LONG LPDWORD Pointer to a DWORD LPFLOAT Pointer to a float in C float FAR LPDOUBLE Pointer to a double in C double FAR LPSTR Pointer to a char All pointers are 32 bit pointers and EasyLanguage treats each of them in the same manner Also it is very important to remember that all values in EasyLanguage are floats except for the Open High Low and Close values which are integers To manipulate these prices you will want to send to the function the price scale of the symbol being plotted For example if a stock has a price scale of 1 1 000 and the last price was 105 125 this price will be sent to a DLL as 105125 For the DLL to know how to read this price you need to send the value in the reserved word PriceScale which in this case returns a value of 1 000 steD ata Types Pointer data types are designed to pass the memory addresses of and data point to a DLL function All pointers used in EasyLanguage are treated as 32 bit pointers To obtain the pointer of any data element in EasyLanguage the user must precede the data element with an ampersand amp For example in order to refer to the address of the open high of one bar ago and the value of variable value of two bars ago you would use the following expressions amp Open Address of the open price of the current bar amp High 1 Address of the high price of the previous bar amp Valuel 2 Address of the Valuel variable of two b
320. o additional objects can be created by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error 10 Too many trendline objects on the chart 11 Too many text objects on the chart When the text or trendline operation was successful zero 0 is returned Reserved Words Quick Reference 275 APPENDIX C Reserved Words Quick Reference rvi BEGINALERT A compiler directive that executes instructions between BeginAlert and End only when the Enable Alert check box is selected Usage BeginAlert Alert ADX Alert End BEGINCMTRY A compiler directive that executes instructions between BeginCmtry and End only when using the Expert Commentary tool to select a bar on a chart or a cell on a grid Usage BeginCmtry Commentary ExpertADX Plot1 End BEGINCMTRYORALERT A compiler directive that executes instructions between BeginCmtryOrAlert and End when either the Alert or Commentary conditions exist Usage BeginCmtryorAlert Alert ADX Alert Commentary ExpertADX Plot1 End END A compiler directive used to terminate an alert or commentary block statement A Skip word ignored during execution Usage If a Close is gt 100 Then fany operation AB_AddCell Adds a cell to an ActivityBar row Syntax AB AddCell Price Side Str Char Color Value Price a numeric expression representing the price of a bar e g 0pen Close Side LeftSide RightSide Str Char a charact
321. o do this you only need to be aware of how to read all the option related data see the previous section in this chapter titled Reading OptionStation Data and EasyLanguage syntax This section describes how OptionStation performs its calculations along with the reserved words you ll use to create your own models 224 Writing OptionStation Models CHAPTER 5 The Price Modeling Engine OptionStation uses the Price Modeling Engine for now analysis and future time analysis The now analysis consists of evaluating the Pricing Model using the most current price information for the underlying asset and all the options as well as the current date and time to run through the Price Modeling Engine This is done primarily in the Position Analysis window to keep track of the current option chain and positions on a real time and or delayed basis The future time analysis consists of evaluating the Pricing Model using market assumptions By changing the date and time underlying price or volatility OptionStation can determine how much a position may be worth under specific circumstances This is done during the Position Search and in the Position Chart window where OptionStation finds the best position given a user specified market assumption The mathematics of Pricing Volatility and Bid Ask Models is very complex and advanced and the purpose of this section is to explain how these models are used by OptionStation not to explain their ra
322. o exit short positions at lower prices at support levels or at a bottom And finally they use ExitShort stop orders whenever looking to stop losses or place trailing stops Again this is the common usage for these type of orders they are flexible enough to be used in many different ways Tying the Exit Price to the Bar of Entry When specifying the execution method you can vary the stop and limit orders by using At instead of at Using At forces the Trading Signal to refer to the value the numerical expression Price had on the bar where the entry order was generated Consider the follow ing statement ExitShort From Entry MyBuy Next Bar At High 1 Point Stop The statement places an order to exit the short position at one point higher than the high of the bar where the specified short entry order was generated For example if an order to sell next bar is generated today the prices referenced will be today s not tomorrow s Even though the order was placed and filled tomorrow it was generated today and that is the bar referenced To use the reserved word At you must name the entry order and the ExitShort instruction must refer to the name of the specific entry order As another example if the maximum risk you will tolerate for a position is 5 points over the closing price of the bar on which you generated the order to enter the market you can use the following expression ExitShort From Entry MySell Next
323. odel or Bid Ask Model as specified in Figure 5 2 on page 195 Option This reserved word is used as a qualifier or data alias to reference the information for the option being analyzed Syntax Value of option Parameters None Value is any value you can obtain for the option for example a calculated function or a piece of information such as the closing price strike price etc Of is a skip word that makes the expression easier to read Notes When used in an indicator applied to the Options section of the Position Analysis window the instructions will apply to the single option in each row to which the indicator is applied The instructions apply to the specific option being analyzed To reference an option other than the one currently being analyzed use Of Option num which is described next Example The following calculates the intrinsic value of a call Valuel Strike of option Close of asset Option num This reserved word is used as a qualifier or data alias to reference the information for a specific option It enables you to reference the values of any available option not just the option being analyzed Syntax Value of option num Parameters Num is a numeric expression representing the option to which the expression is referring Value is any value you can obtain for the option for example a piece of information such as the closing price strike price etc Of is a skip word that makes the
324. of the input The name has to start with a letter and it can be a maximum of 20 characters in length The name can contain letters numbers dashes or periods Value is any numeric true false or text string value that will be used as the default value for the input Youcan declare more than one input using the same statement by separating the inputs with commas For example the following Input Declaration statement declares three different inputs Inputs MyNumber 0 MyCondition False MyText Text There is no limit to the number of inputs that you can declare with one statement however you can also use as many Input Declaration statements as you want in your procedure Note The reserved word Inputs is a synonym to Input they can be used interchangeably The value provided in parentheses serves two purposes first it defines the type of the input If a numeric expression is used it is a numeric input if a true false expression is used it is a true false input and if a text string expression is used the input is a text string input Second it assigns the default value to the input The value specified for each input can be altered when you apply or format the trading strategy or analysis technique but this is the value for the input each time it is applied Referencing the Value of an Input Once you have declared an input you can reference its value simply by using the name of the input in place of a numeric tr
325. ofits taking see Stops Previous Values referencing sss 17 51 63 ProfitlardetStop wonebvebne PD EE Price Data see Data Protective J2egeseesmeut ses bosses RR RR s Price Modeling Engine Punctuation marks definition lt 3 TIVE step DEOCESS i t i tnn 222 Bil EEEE EAE EEA ot Meurs sorte tt eh nderstandimg reete ettet tae tae hon ee 221 P btGOUME 2 icti ait PR HEN GE NETSE update logic ts PutITMCount Price To BOOK ueteres ecrire her ees 312 PutOTMCount PrkceSedlQ aeger e peter rena Aube a eR ADURR IRR d deen 312 P tSerieSCOUnt nete oen apte ehe iisi Pricing Models P UStrikeOCOUtig de eme dte dedo also see Price Modeling Engine Pyramiding ask obtaining 4 eec b Nie 229 order precedence bid obtaining etie tet end tee iere iden 230 stand by order es cteeneenSeteseee e calculations used in ssseee ee 221 data availability J Q Celta setting seco Asante eroe ate e Renee CASI Loeb t a deeitess teases ae 313 gamma setting q Askhxehange de eere 313 global variables nS q AskSize market implied volatility MIV obtaining 223 q BaseCOdememeeeeienanmie ire e he 313 Price Modeling Engine step obtaining 231 dq BaseCodeBlORASK oett 313 Rho setting q_Bid theoretical value setting sse 226 d BidExcGhange 2223 reet rente 313 Th ta setting 12 ert Rete te te ee P Eee IHRER GBS TZ Since D Senco 313 tick type obtaining q_Close underly
326. oint for the trendline with the ID number 5 to the variable Value 1 Valuel TL GetBeginDate 5 TL GetBeginTime This reserved word returns the time of the starting point of the trendline The start point is the one with the earlier date If the trendline is vertical the lower of the two points is considered to be the starting point Syntax Valuel TL GetBeginTime Tl ID Parameters TI ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the trendline whose starting time you want to obtain Notes Valuelis any numeric variable or array and holds the date of the starting point The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Drawing Trendlines on Price Charts 95 It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any trendlines by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error Example The following statement assigns the EasyLanguage time of the bar used as the start point for the trendline with the ID number 5 to the variable Valuel Valuel TL GetBeginTime 5 TL GetBeginVal This reserved word returns a numeric expression corresponding to the price value used as the starting point of the trendline The starting point of the trendline is the one with the earlier date if the trendline is vertical the lower of the two points is considered to be the starting point Syntax Valuel TL G
327. on tests for daily bars DataInUnion Reserved for future use Date Returns the closing date of the bar referenced in YY YMMDD format Usage If Date lt 990101 Then Buy This Bar on Close Reserved Words Quick Reference 289 DateToJulian Converts calendar date to Julian date Syntax DateToJulian cDate cDate numeric expression for the date in YY MMDD or YYYMMDD format Usage Value2 DateToJulian 991024 returns J ulian value of 36457 Day Reserved for backward compatibility Replaced by Bar DayOfMonth Returns the day of month DD portion of the specified calendar date Syntax DayOfMonth cDate cDate numeric expression for the date in YYMMDD or YYYMMDD format Usage Valuel DayOfMonth 991004 returns day value of 4 DayOfWeek Returns the day of week 0 for Sun 1 for Mon 6 for Sat for a calendar date Syntax DayOfWeek cDate cDate numeric expression for the date in YYMMDD or YYYMMDD format Usage Valuel DayOfWeek 1011024 returns 3 because Oct 24 2001 is a Wednesday Days Reserved for backward compatibility Replaced by Bars Default Used in plot statements to set a style to its default value Usage Plotl1 Valuel Ploti1 Default Default 5 DefineCustField Reserved for future use DEFINEDLLFUNC Reserved for use with custom DLLs designed for EasyLanguage and ELKIT32 DLL DeliveryMonth Used for contracts that expire Returns the month of expiration 1 12 Deliver
328. on equity RevSize Reversal size of a Point amp Figure chart Set on the Settings tab under Format Symbol Rho Returns the Rho value of an option leg or position Returns the Rho value of an option leg or position Debit positions will return posi tive numbers and credit positions will return negative numbers Usage If Rho of Option gt HighVal Then Alert High Rho In a Pricing Model used to set the value of Rho Usage2 Rho 4 sets the value of Rho to 4 RightSide Used with ActivityBars to refer to actions on the right side of a bar Usage AB_AddCell Open Rightside A 7 1 RightStr Returns the rightmost ending portion of a text string Syntax RightStr String Length String A text string to evaluate Must be enclosed in quotation marks Length The number of characters to return from the end of String Usage Valuel RightStr Net Profit 6 returns the word Profit Reserved Words Quick Reference 317 Round Returns a number rounded to nearest precision Divides two numbers and returns the remainder Syntax Round Num Precision Num any value or expression Precision the number of decimal places to keep Usage Valuel Round 9 5687 3 returns a value of 9 569 Saturday Specifies day of the week Saturday numeric value 6 Screen Reserved for future use Sell Initiates a short position Closes any open positions amp reverses an existing position Syntax Sell
329. onStation Data 199 Example The following refers to the closing price of the first future contract listed Close of future 1 The following obtains the highest high of the last 10 bars of the second future contract Highest High of future 2 10 NumFutures This reserved word is not a data alias but returns the total number of future contracts loaded in the current Position Analysis window Syntax NumFutures data alias Parameters None however you must use the data alias Of Asset where Of is a skip word that makes the expression easier to read Notes When NumFutures returns a value of 0 it means the underlying asset is a stock or index Example You can use the NumFutures reserved word to traverse through all available future contracts using a For loop As described with the reserved word Futures num the following instructions enable you to find the number OptionStation assigns to a specific futures contract when you know its expiration date For Valuel 1 to NumFutures of asset Begin If ExpirationDate of future ExpirationDate of future Valuel Then Value2 Valuel End 200 Reading OptionStation Data CHAPTER 5 Option Information EasyLanguage enables you to reference through a set of reserved words information related to the options being analyzed These reserved words are available when working with all OptionStation EasyLanguage documents Indicator Search Strategy Pricing Model Volatility M
330. one of three values Value Placement 0 Top 1 Bottom 2 Centered Example The following instructions obtain the vertical alignment of text object 10 and set it to Bot tom If Text GetHStyle 10 lt gt 1 Then Valuel Text SetVStyle 1 Text SetColor This reserved word sets the color of the specified text object Syntax Valuel Text SetColor Text ID Color Parameters Text ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the text object and Color is an EasyLanguage color or its numeric equivalent For a list of the available colors refer to Appendix B of this book Notes Valuel is any numeric variable or array You must assign the text object reserved word to a numeric variable or array so that you can determine whether or not the reserved word performed its operation successfully It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any text objects by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Drawing Text on Price Charts 87 Example The followine indicator displays the word Key wherever there is a key reversal pattern on the price chart and compares the color of the text object with the background of the price chart If the colors match the indicator sets the text object to a different color it adds 1 to the current color
331. or Search Strategy Pricing Model Volatility Model or Bid Ask Model Asset This reserved word is used as a qualifier or data alias to reference information for the underlying asset stock or index of the option being analyzed Syntax Value of asset Parameters None Value is any value you can obtain for the underlying asset for example a piece of information such as the closing price trade volume etc Of is a skip word that makes the expression easier to read Notes This reserved word is for use with stocks and indexes For referencing futures use Of Future or Of Future num If you use Of Asset to refer to a future contract OptionStation will obtain the information for the same series future contract only Example The following expression refers to the last closing price of the underlying asset Close of asset The following expression obtains the 10 bar average of the volume of the underlying asset Average Volume of asset 10 Future This reserved word is used as a qualifier or data alias to reference information for the underlying asset when analyzing options on future contracts Syntax Value of future Parameters None Value is any value you can obtain for the underlying asset for example a piece of information such as the closing price trade volume etc Of is a skip word that makes the expression easier to read EasyLanguage for OptionStation Reading OptionStation Data 197 Notes
332. or as part of the name Nhe 91 You cannot nest jump commands within other jump commands Jump commands are used in commentary related text string expressions to highlight words and create links to the on line help Jump commands cannot be nested that is there cannot be multiple starting jump commands without having matching end jump com mands EasyLanguage Syntax Errors 243 92 You must terminate all jump commands with ends he pe Wwe This error is displayed when the PowerEditor finds a begin jump command without a end jump command in a text string The begin jump commands are hb pb wh After these commands an end jump command must be used Note when specifying a file name for the Print or FileAppend words files that start with any of the jump commands will produce this error So a file name c hello txt will produce this error as part of the name is he 151 This word has already been defined User defined words such as variables arrays and inputs need to have unique names This error is generated when a user defined word is defined more than once such as in the fol lowing example Input vac 10 Variable vac 0 154 gt gt lt lt expected here This error is displayed when the PowerEditor evaluates complex true false expressions and it finds an error within the expression Conditionl Condition2 Close The intention of this statement was to assign a complex
333. or the symbol defined by the chosen expiration rule Q High The numeric value of the highest price traded during the current trading day Q Hour The hour HH portion of the last time any price field of this symbol was updated Q Last A numeric value representing the last traded price of the symbol Q LastTradingDate The last trading date YY YMMDD for the symbol defined by the chosen expiration rule Q Low The numeric value of the lowest price traded during the current trading session Q Margin A numeric expression representing the margin for a future Q Mid A legacy FOREX field representing the average Bid Ask Q Minute The minutes MM portion of the last time any price field of this symbol was updated Q Month The month portion of the last time any price field of the symbol was updated Q Open A numeric value representing the opening price of the symbol Q Open2 A numeric value representing the opening price of the previous day Reserved Words Quick Reference 315 Q Openinterest A numeric value representing the last known open interest for the symbol Q OptionType A numeric expression representing the option type Q QuoteStatus Returns the status of the last trade as REALTIME TRADE 01 REALTIME BIDASK 02 OPEN 04 SETTLEMENT 08 EXDIVIDEND 10 HIGHSETB YBID 20 LOWSETBYASK 40 NOMINALDAYCLOSE 80 NOMINAL 100 REJECTEDTRADE 200 Q Second The seconds SS portion
334. ord SetPlotColor for a variation on the usage of the reserved word The same applies for SetPlotWidth EasyLanguage for RadarScreen Specifying Availability of Indicators 191 Specifying Availability of Indicators When you create an indicator in the EasyLanguage PowerEditor you are prompted to specify the applications i e price chart RadarScreen window for which your indicator will be available By available we mean it will appear in the library of indicators to apply when you choose to insert an indicator into the application The choices available to you depend on which Omega Research product s you purchased For example if you purchased Omega Research ProSuite by default the indicator will be available in TradeStation charts RadarScreen and all sections of the Position Analysis window For information on specifying the applications for which your indicator is available search the Online User Manual Answer Wizard for the phrase Specifying Applications 192 Specifying Availability of Indicators CHAPTER 4 CHAPTER 5 EasyLanguage for OptionStation This chapter covers EasyLanguage that is specifically for use with OptionStation 20001 You can write indicators for use with the OptionStation Position Analysis window as well as price charts You can also create custom Search Strategies for use with the Position Search Wizard and Pricing Volatility and Bid Ask Models which enable you to fully customize OptionStation s
335. orking with accurate options data 218 Writing Search Strategies CHAPTER 5 You have three choices when specifying the volatility to use during the Position Search They are shown in Figure 5 7 mas aora ims rasis vs ire marba E pil ei rmn ra nom pinum cabe Paba tm doni pu om aamir ralabiy kired ir Wom vale Hake iene ce pana aan ogee ip isan ee uml y arera cmn E ji enira prem crei oe arr arcte qnum r Mep araki anger at N miror mms beri dem carm cn hips VO Sends ob no od Seite bach aries et Figure 5 7 OptionS tation Position Search Wizard volatility assumptions Use current volatility for each underlying asset OptionS tation will use the volatility obtained from the OptionStation Price Modeling En gine calculated using the most current data available Use a volatility range of X above and below the current volatility OptionStation uses the percentage specified above and below the current volatility ob tained from the Price Modeling Engine and calculates the profitability of each position us ing the high and low volatility values Specify a range of volatility for each underlying asset You select the high and low values for the range of volatility expected during the holding period OptionStation calculates the profitability of each position using these high and low values Underlying Asset Target Price In the Underlying Asset Target Price dialog box you specify the expected movement of the underlying
336. ormation on scaling search the Online User Manual Answer Wizard for Indicator Formatting The Plot statements used to write indicators for price charts are discussed next PlotN Expression PlotName ForeColor BackColor Width Displays values resulting from a calculation or an expression in a price chart For price charts the values displayed can only be numeric Syntax PlotN Expression PlotName ForeColor BackColor Width 1 Parameters N is a number between 1 and 4 representing one of the four available plots Expression is the numeric value plotted and lt PlotName gt is the name of the plot ForeColor is an Easy Language color used for the plot also referred to as PlotColor BackColor specifies the background color for use only with the OptionStation Position Analysis and RadarScreen windows and Width is a numeric value representing the width of the plot The parameters PlotName ForeColor BackColor and Width are optional EasyLanguage for TradeStation Writing Indicators and Studies 151 For a list of the available colors and widths refer to Appendix B of this book Notes The BackColor parameter has no effect when plotting the indicator in a price chart window however a value for the parameter is required in order to specify a width as discussed in the example Example Any one or more of the optional parameters can be omitted as long as there are no other parameters to the rig
337. ost of Leg 1 Cost Reserved Words Quick Reference 287 Cotangent Returns the cotangent value of num degrees Usage Valuel Cotangent 45 returns 1 0 when num is 45 degrees CreateLeg Sets the size and type of position to be created in a Position Search Strategy Syntax CreateLeg Num LegType Num the number of contracts to purchase positive value or write negative value LegType Put or Call Usage CreateLeg 2 Put creates a leg by writing 2 put options Cross Used to detect when values have crossed over under or above below another value Usage If Plotl does Cross Above Plot2 Then Any Operation Crosses Used to detect when values have crossed over under or above below another value Usage If Valuel Crosses Below Value2 Then Any Operation Current Reserved for future use Current Ratio Returns the current ratio of a stock Total Current Assets Total Current Liabilities CurrentBar Returns the number of the bar currently being evaluated CurrentContracts The number of contracts in the current position value is long value is short CurrentDate Returns the current date in the format YYMMDD or YYYMMDD Usage Valuel CurrentDate returns a value of 1011220 on December 20 2001 CurrentEntries Number of entries currently open within a position Usage Value2 CurrentEntries CurrentTime Returns the current time as HHMM using a 24 hour format Usage Value2 CurrentTime retur
338. ots This error is displayed when using the PlotPaintBar statement and specifying an odd num ber of plots There are two possible uses for this statement either specifying only a high and low value or specifying high low open and close markers The correct syntax for the PlotPaintBar statement follows PlotPaintBar High Low PB or PlotPaintBar High Low Open Close PB 403 Cannot implicitly convert String to Numerical Whenever the PowerEditor expects a numerical expression and instead finds a text string expression it will highlight the text string expression and display this message For example the following statement will produce this error Variable MyNumber 55 Valuel Close MyNumber Instead the following expression accomplishes the expected result because it first uses the keyword StrToNum to convert a text string expression to a numeric value Variable MyNumber 55 Valuel Close StrToNum MyNumber 270 APPENDIX A 404 Cannot implicitly convert String to TrueFalse Whenever the PowerEditor expects a true false expression and instead finds a text string expression it will highlight the text string expression and will display this message For example the following statement will produce the error Input Text1 Yes Text2 No Conditionl Textl because the input Text 1 was declared as a text value and cannot be assigned the true false variable
339. owing expression can be used in order to assign the Ask of an option to a variable in a Pricing Model for example Valuel Ask of option Notice the use of the qualifier Of Option For information on qualifiers see the section earlier in this chapter titled Reading OptionStation Data Bid num This reserved word is used in Bid Ask Models to set the Bid for the option When this reserved word is used in another analysis technique it is used to obtain the Bid of the option Syntax Bid num Parameters Num is a numeric expression representing the modeled Bid of the option This parameter is needed only when setting the value in the Bid Ask Model not when obtaining it Example For example if in a Bid Ask Model the Bid value is stored in the variable Valuel then the Bid value is set by using Bid Valuel The following expression can be used in order to assign the Bid of an option to a variable in a Pricing Model for example Valuel Bid of option Notice the use of the qualifier Of Option For information on qualifiers see the section earlier in this chapter titled Reading OptionStation Data ModelPrice ModelPrice is used in all three models Pricing Bid Ask and Volatility to refer to the price of the underlying asset when performing future time analysis for more information see the previous section titled The Price Modeling Engine Syntax ModelPrice data alias Parameters None however
340. pecified trendline see TL_Delete for syntax Usage Value2 TL_GetBeginTime 3 returns the start time of trendline 3 TL_GetBeginVal The price vertical axis of a trendline s starting point see TL_Delete for syntax Usage Valuel TL_GetBeginVal 4 returns the start price of trendline 4 TL_GetColor Returns the color value of the specified trendline see TL_Delete for syntax Usage Valuel TL_GetColor 3 freturns the color of trendline 3 328 APPENDIX C TL GetEndDate The date of the ending point for the specified trendline see TL Delete for syntax Usage Valuel TL GetEndDate 2 returns the end date of trendline 2 TL_GetEndTime The date of the ending point for the specified trendline see TL_Delete for syntax Usage Value2 TL_GetEndTime 4 returns the end time of trendline 4 TL_GetEndVal The price vertical axis of a trendline s ending point see TL_Delete for syntax Usage Valuel TL_GetEndVal 3 returns the end price of trendline 3 TL_GetExtLeft True if the specified trendline is extended left False otherwise see TL_Delete for syntax Usage Conditionl TL_GetExtLeft 12 true if trendline 12 extends left TL_GetExtRight True if the specified trendline is extended right False otherwise see TL_Delete for syntax Usage Conditionl TL_GetExtRight 5 true if trendline 5 extends right TL_GetFirst Returns the id number for the first trendline of a spec
341. ple parameter the user can supply any value function variable or array Series Parameters Like simple parameters series parameters are constant values that are set in the trading sig nal or analysis technique that calls the function However when the function refers to pre vious values of the value you use as the parameter e g Valuel Conditionl or Close then this parameter must be defined as a series parameter The values of series parameters are stored for each bar and current and historical values are accessible from within the body of the function This allows the function to refer to the previous bar s value of the parameter regardless of whether the function itself is of type simple or series Series parameters consume more memory and impact the speed of your calculations to some extent but they are needed to refer to historical values of the parame ter For example the Average function provides a parameter called Price which enables you to specify what value is going to be averaged To calculate a 10 bar average of the close the function will need to access the last 10 closing prices of the symbol therefore the pa rameter Price is defined as a numeric series parameter However series parameters cannot have values assigned to them within the body of the function When the function calls for a series parameter the user can supply any value function variable or array Reference Parameters Parameters can be
342. ponents used in the statement i e how many shares contracts at what price etc Exit orders do not pyramid Once the exit criteria is met and the exit order filled the order is ignored for that position until the position is modified i e more shares contracts are bought or a new long position is established Syntax ExitLong Order Name from entry Entry Name Number of Shares Total Execution Method Only the word ExitLong is required to exit a long position For example ExitLong The default values used for the rest of the expression when they are not specified are ExitLong LX This Bar on Close The above statement exits all long positions Each portion of the statement Order Name Number of Shares and Execution Method is described next Order Name If your Trading Signal or Trading Strategy includes multiple exits it is helpful to label each one with a different name As shown in Figure 3 13 this enables you to identify these exit orders in both the price chart and the TradeStation Strategy Performance Report The order name is included in both these windows EasyLanguage for TradeStation Trading Verbs 137 To assign an exit order a name specify a name in quotation marks and within parentheses immediately after the word ExitLong For example ExitLong My Exit This instruction closes the entire long position and the order is labeled My Exit Tying an Exit to an Entr
343. ps or your own trading signals written with the specific reserved words is that since they are updated on every tick the given stop price may not be realistically attainable because of the tick by tick updating of the stop EasyLanguage for TradeStation Understanding Built in Stops 145 price In addition the results of these stops like any entry exit trading signals can be affected by bar assumptions You can use the six built in stops in your trading strategies or you can use the specific reserved words in your own exit trading signals The eight specific reserved words are listed next along with a description of the corresponding trading signal SetBreakEven This reserved word is used to place an order to exit the position or contract share at the breakeven point once the specified amount of profit is reached Syntax SetBreakEven FloorAmnt Parameters FloorAmnt is the amount of profit to be reached before the exit order is placed Notes Use with SetStopContract or SetStopPosition Trading Signal Breakeven Stop Floor When the profit for the position or per contract share exceeds the breakeven floor an exit order is generated The exit order is a stop order placed at the entry price average entry price if multiple entries plus the commission specified in the Costs tab when formatting the strategy The profit on a position basis is calculated by subtracting any commissions specified in the Costs tab from th
344. ption positions is available to you through EasyLanguage you can create OptionStation indicators that use any of this information However if you apply an indicator referencing position information to the Assets or Op tions sections of the Position Analysis window you will obtain zero values You cannot ref erence position information from the Assets or Options sections Due to the nature of the Position Analysis window it is of no analytical value to reference position information in the Assets or Options sections therefore OptionStation does not allow it The next section describes the reserved words used to create indicators 206 Writing OptionStation Indicators CHAPTER 5 Plot Statements The reserved words used to create indicators result in statements referred to as plot statements because they control how information is displayed or plotted either in a grid the Position Analysis window or in a price chart PlotNum Expression PlotName ForeColor BackColor Displays values resulting from a mathematical calculation or an expression in a price chart or grid For price charts the values displayed can be only numeric whereas for the Position Analysis window the values can be numeric true false or string Syntax PlotNum Expression lt PlotName gt ForeColor BackColor Parameters Num is a number between 1 and 4 representing one of the four available plots Expression is the value that will be
345. r TL GetValue 10 Date Time Then Alert Trendline is broken TL SetAlert This reserved word changes the alert status for a trendline Syntax Valuel TL SetAlert Tl ID AlertVal Parameters TI ID is a numeric expression representing the identification number of the trendline and AlertVal is a numeric expression representing the alert setting for the trendline You can specify one of these three values Value Description 0 None no alert enabled 1 Breakout Intrabar 2 Breakout on Close An alert set to Breakout on Close is triggered when on the previous bar the close of the symbol was lower than the trendline and on the current bar the close is higher than the trendline This type of alert is only evaluated once the bar is closed An alert set to Breakout Intrabar is triggered if the high crosses over the trendline or if the low crosses under the trendline This alert is triggered at the moment the trendline is broken Notes Valuelis any numeric variable or array You must assign the trendline reserved word to a numeric variable or array so that you can determine whether or not the reserved word performed its operation successfully It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any trendlines by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error Example The follow
346. r at market next bar at price Stop next bar at price Limit EasyLanguage for TradeStation Trading Verbs 143 The execution method this bar on close is provided for backtesting purposes only it en ables you to backtest market at close orders which you use with TradeStation when trad ing on a real time delayed basis Given that all orders are read and executed at the end of each bar TradeStation evaluates and issues the this bar on close order once the bar closes TradeStation fills the order using the close of the current bar but you must place an order at market to be executed on the next bar This invariably introduces slippage An order to ExitShort at price Limit causes TradeStation to close a short position at the first opportunity at the specified price or lower An ExitShort at price stop order causes TradeStation to close at the first opportunity at the specified price or higher Stop and limit orders are filled as market if touched MIT orders A MIT order becomes a market order when the price of the traded symbol reaches the specified target price It is possible for stop and limit orders not to be filled i e price never reached in this case the orders are can celed at the close of the bar As a general guideline traders use at market and on the close orders when the exact entry price is not critical to their trading strategy and after a large move occurred They generally use ExitShort limit orders when attempting t
347. r is not a valid character and cannot be used as part of a file name EasyLanguage Syntax Errors 263 291 The word OVER or UNDER expected here This error is displayed whenever using the word Cross without Over or Under when writ ing a true false expression For example the following expression will produce this error Conditionl Close Crosses Open The correct syntax would be Conditionl Close Crosses Over Open 292 Two constants cannot cross over each other The PowerEditor displays this error whenever using the logical operators Crosses Over or Crosses Under compares two constants Since they are constants they will never cross each other and the statement will display an error as in Conditionl 10 Crosses Over 15 293 This plot has been defined using a different name The value of a plot can be assigned more than once within an analysis technique but it must always be referenced using the same name or the name can be left out For example the following statement will cause this error Plot1 Volume Vol If Volume 1000000 Then Plot1 Volume V Red because the plot has been assigned a second name V The correct way of writing this statement is Plot1 Volume Vol If Volume 1000000 Then Plot1 Volume Vol Red 295 This plot name has never been defined This error is displayed whenever referencing a Plot with a different name than it was de fined with or a plot
348. r minus the close of the previous bar However assume you write the following statement instead Valuel OpenDiff Close 1 The function will subtract the close of the previous bar from the open of the current bar yielding a completely different result than the previous statement 52 Understanding User Functions CHAPTER 2 Using Data Aliases When applying a trading strategy or analysis technique to a price chart or grid the proce dure is applied to a data stream This can be a data stream on a chart one of the symbols in a Position Analysis window or a symbol in a RadarScreen window By default all trading strategies and analysis techniques are based on the data stream to which the procedure is applied and all calculations default to using the data from it How ever you can refer to any available data stream For example you can apply an indicator to a price chart of OMGA and the Dow 30 Index that references both symbols Or you can apply an indicator to the underlying asset in the OptionStation Position Analysis window that refers to the prices of an option listed in the window To refer to a data stream other than the one to which the trading strategy or analysis technique is applied on a chart you add the data alias of dataN after the function For example the following statement calculates the 20 bar average of the close of the second symbol in a price chart even though the indicator is applied to the first symbol V
349. r of the cell where the value of the plot is displayed This reserved word works only when the indicator is applied to the Position Analysis window it is ignored when applied to a price chart Syntax SetPlotBGColor PlotNumber Color Parameters PlotNumber is a number from 1 to 4 identifying the plot to modify and Coloris the EasyLanguage color to be used for the background of the cell Notes The color of the plot can be set as you create the plot by using the reserved word PlotNum this reserved word is used to change the color on a value by value basis For example if a symbol is overpriced an indicator can change the background color of the cell to red when a symbol is underpriced the indicator can change it to green For a list of the available colors refer to Appendix B of this book Example The following statements color the background of the cell red when the RSI Indicator is over 75 and green when it is under 25 Plot1 RSI Close of asset 9 RSI SetPlotBGColor 1 Default If RSI Close of asset 9 75 Then SetPlotBGColor 1 Red If RSI Close of asset 9 25 Then SetPlotBGColor 1 Green In this example the RSI Indicator has three possible colors red when it is over 75 green when it is below 25 and the default color when it is between 25 and 75 If you only set two colors one for over 75 and one for under 25 it would remain one of the two colors which ever it was set to last when itis between 25
350. r these basics we ll move on to the specifics of writing EasyLanguage trading signals indicators studies search strategies models and functions Statements An EasyLanguage statement represents a complete instruction Statements can contain re served words operators and punctuation marks and always end in a semicolon For exam ple Buy 100 Shares on the Next Bar at 100 Stop Reserved Words The basic vocabulary of EasyLanguage consists of a set of pre defined words which we call reserved words Reserved words each have a specific meaning or purpose for example to display values or create objects in a window perform a trading action or evaluate and manipulate data As we cover each topic we will introduce and describe the reserved words required to use the particular EasyLanguage feature Operators Operators are symbols that represent an operation for example a plus sign is an operator representing the addition of two values There are many different kinds of operators available for your use in EasyLanguage mathematical relational string and logical These are described in detail in the section titled Expressions and Operators on page 12 Punctuation Marks There are a number of punctuation marks that you will use often as you write EasyLan guage to establish statements define parameters delimit words and establish order of pre cedence For example EasyLanguage uses the semicolon to mark th
351. rameter for this reserved word to calculate a dynamic row height When writing an ActivityBar study you must also use the AB AddCell reserved word discussed previously to add cells Example The following statement sets the row height to 1 20th of the average range of the last 10 bars The result is approximately 20 rows of cells per bar AB SetRowHeight Average Range 10 20 AB SetZone HighVal LowVal Side This reserved word defines the properties of the ActivityBar study zone Syntax AB SetZone HighVal LowVal Side Parameters HighVal and LowVal are numeric expressions representing the upper and lower boundaries of the ActivityBar study zone respectively Side is one of two reserved words LeftSide or RightSide which specifies the side of the bar on which the zone is drawn EasyLanguage for TradeStation Writing ActivityBar Studies 169 Notes The zone is drawn on every bar using the same drawing properties color and thickness of the bars and is wide enough to fit the widest row of cells of that bar The ActivityBar study zone is not drawn if there are no cells for a bar Example The following statements draw the Activity Bar study zone to the left of each bar at one standard deviation above and below the median price of the ActivityBar cells Valuel AB Median RightSide Value2 AB StdDev 1 RightSide AB SetZone Valuel Value2 Valuel Value2 RightSide The above example uses the reser
352. rameters Price is a numeric expression representing the price of the cell being referenced Side spec ifies the side of the bar on which the cell is located you must use one of two reserved words LeftSide or RightSide to specify the side and Offset is the column number of the cell referenced where column 1 is the closest to the bar Notes To store the value returned by the reserved word you can assign this reserved word to a numeric variable You can use this reserved word in an ActivityBar study as well as any other analysis technique trading strategy or function If you reference a cell that does not exist a runtime error will occur EasyLanguage for TradeStation Writing ActivityBar Studies 173 Example The following statement retrieves the value stored in the first cell on the right side at the opening price of the bar and assigns this value to the numeric variable Valuel Valuel AB GetCellValue Open of Datal RightSide 1 AB GetNumcCells Price Side This reserved word returns the number of cells in a specified row Syntax AB GetNumCells Price Side Parameters Price is a numeric expression representing the price of the row being referenced and Side specifies the side of the bar Side accepts one of two reserved words LeftSide or RightSide Notes If you reference any attribute of a non existent cell a run time error is generated by the ActivityBar study when applied to a chart For example if at p
353. rates fewer ID numbers to keep track of Example These statements display the closing price of the symbol above the first bar in the chart af ter MaxBarsBack and then change the location of the text and the text to always display the closing price of the last bar on the chart If BarNumber 1 Then Valuel Text New Date Time High 1 01 NumToString Close 2 Value2 Text_SetLocation Valuel Date Time High 1 01 Text SetString Valuel1 NumToString Close 2 Value3 Text_SetStyle A text object is always anchored at a specific bar and price value There are three horizontal alignment settings to the left of the bar where it is drawn to the right or centered Also there are three vertical alignment settings the top being at the specified price the bottom being at the specified price or centered This reserved word changes the horizontal and vertical alignment of the specified text ob ject Syntax Valuel Text SetStyle Text ID HVal VVal The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Drawing Trendlines on Price Charts 89 Parameters Text ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the text object whose alignment you want to change and HVal and VVal are numeric expressions representing the horizontal and vertical alignment of the text object respectively You can use one of three horizontal alignment values HVal Value Placement 0 Left 1 Right 2 Centered You can use one of three verti
354. ray boxes can be assigned to a variable By using a vari able in this example the variable is Value we can simplify the statement to the follow ing Valuel High 1 Average Range 10 0 5 If Close gt Valuel Then Buy Next Bar at Valuel Stop This second example is much easier to read because of the use of a variable If you are going to use an expression throughout a procedure you should assign it to a variable Note If you use an expression very frequently and in more than one trading signal or analysis technique you may want to create a function Variables can only be used in the procedure where they are declared and are not shared between trading signals and analysis techniques whereas functions can be referenced by other trading signals and analysis techniques and even other functions The section later in this chapter titled Understanding User Functions on page 50 covers functions in detail When working with variables you declare them assign values to them and reference their values How to do each is discussed next Declaring Variables Before you can use a name as a variable you must tell EasyLanguage that the name is to be used as a variable this is known as declaring the variable s To declare a variable you use a Variable Declaration statement When you declare a variable you also specify its type and initial value Syntax Variable Name Value The Basic EasyLanguage Elemen
355. rch any Search Strategies selected are executed using data from the GlobalServer and the values calculated in Step 2 Similarly when you open a Position Analysis window all indicators are executed using the data from the GlobalServer and the values calculated in Step 2 What this means is that when you write OptionStation indicators Search Strategies and or models you have to keep in mind what data is available For example you cannot reference position information when you re writing a Pricing Volatility or Bid Ask Model because positions are not established until Step 3 The table in Figure 5 2 shows the availability of EasyLanguage for OptionStation Reading OptionStation Data 195 data in different OptionStation EasyLanguage documents Indicator Search Strategy Pricing Model Volatility Model or Bid Ask Model OPTIONSTATION EASYLANGUAGE DOCUMENTS PAPER DUE Volatility Bid Ask Indicators Search Strategy 1 Underlying asset price data 4 4 Option price data 4 MIV on raw last Bid and Ask 4 Model Volatility Theoretical Value and Greeks Modeled Bid and Ask MIV on modeled Bid and Ask Position information Figure 5 2 OptionStation data availability Keep the information in the above table in mind when you write your indicators Search Strategies and or models to ensure that you reference data that is available Reading OptionStation Data The previous section provides an overview of the order in which OptionS
356. rd will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any text objects by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error Syntax Valuel Text Delete Text ID Parameters Text ID is a numeric expression representing the identification number of the text object to delete Notes Valuel is any numeric variable or array You must assign the text object reserved word to a numeric variable or array so that you can determine whether or not the reserved word per formed its operation successfully Example The following statements write the text string Key wherever there is a key reversal pat tern on the price chart and delete old text from the chart as new key reversals are found 80 Drawing Text on Price Charts CHAPTER 2 Variables OldKeyID 1 ID 1 If Low lt Low 1 AND Close gt High 1 Then Begin OldKeyID ID ID Text New Date Time Low Key If OldKeyID lt gt 1 Then Valuel Text Delete OldKeyID End In the above example we declare two variables to hold the Text IDs for the existing and new text objects When we find a new key reversal we assign the ID number of the current text object to the variable OldKeyID We then create a new text object at the new key reversal Finally we delete the text object with the ID number held in the variable OldKeyID We first check for OldKeyID to be 1 because it will be 1 until we draw the second text object
357. re cent value of the indicator Another and more complex example of where this setting is necessary is the Accumulation Distribution Indicator Essentially the EasyLanguage instructions for this indicator read as follows If the close of the current bar is greater than the close of the previous bar then add the volume to a running total If not then subtract the volume from the running total Display the result on every bar In order for this indicator to calculate and return a value it needs the current bar s data and the data of one bar ago in order to find if the current bar is an up or down bar therefore it needs a total of two bars When this indicator is applied to a grid window without loading any additional data it loads two bars of data and compares the current close with the close of one bar ago and it displays the current bar s volume as a positive or negative number In order for the indicator to step through a number of bars and calculate the value of the indicator as it would on a price chart with the same data the desired number of bars must be specified under the Load additional data for accumulative calculations setting illus trated in Figure 2 2 10 About the Language CHAPTER 2 About the Language There are certain basic elements in EasyLanguage that apply regardless of what type of trading or technical analysis tool you are writing you ll use these elements whenever you work with EasyLanguage Once we cove
358. re use CallSeriesCount Returns the number of call series available in the option chain Usage Value2 CallSeriesCount of Asset CallStrikeCount Returns the number of strike prices available for calls in the option chain Usage Valuel CallStrikeCount of Asset Cancel Used in conjunction with Alert to cancel a previously triggered alert Usage If Any Condition Then Cancel Alert Category Category of symbol 0 Unspecified 1 Stock 2 Future 3 Stock Option etc Usage Valuel Category returns a value of 3 for MSQ option of MSFT Ceiling Returns the lowest integer greater than num Syntax Ceiling Num Num a numeric value or expression Usage Valuel Ceiling 4 5 returns a value of 5 CHAR Reserved for use with custom DLLs designed for EasyLanguage and ELKIT32 DLL CheckAlert Returns True for the last bar when Enable Alert check box is selected Usage If CheckAlert Then Any Operation CheckCommentary Returns True when the Expert Commentary Tool is applied to the current bar Usage If CheckCommentary Then Any Operation ClearDebug Clears the contents of the Debug window in the PowerEditor Close Returns the closing price of the bar being referenced Usage Valuel Close of 1 Bar Ago If Close gt Close 1 Then Plotl High ClosedUp 286 APPENDIX C Commentary Sends EasyLanguage expression s to the Expert Commentary window Usage Commentary This is expert commentary
359. reate jump words for any index entry that has the suffix defined or Indicator CommentaryCL This reserved word sends the expression or list of expressions to the Expert Commentary window for whatever bar is selected by the Expert Commentary pointer or for the last bar in the case of a grid application You can use this reserved word multiple times and it will include a carriage return at the end of each expression or list of expressions sent Syntax CommentaryCL MyExpression MyExpression is a single or a comma separated list of numeric text string or true false expressions that are sent to the Expert Commentary window 68 Output Methods CHAPTER 2 For example the following statements produce the commentary shown in Figure 2 13 CommentaryCL The close of today is Close CommentaryCL The 10 day average of the close is Average Close 10 3 Expert Commentary for TradeStation BS 2 OMGA Omega Research Inc LAST Daily 11 17 1999 The close of today is 7 052 The 10 day average of the close is 7 75 Important This commentary is designed solely as a training tool for the understanding ol echnical analysis of the financial markets It is not designed to provide any investment lor other professional advice Figure 2 13 Expert Commentary window You can also create links in your Commentary text to the Windows Media Player to play a video or audio clip using the Commenta
360. reflected in the trading signal or analysis technique that called the function For example the following statements make up a function called SortMyArray that accepts an array and sorts it using the bubble sort technique i e drops the value in the last ele ment of the array fills each element with the value in the element before it and places the latest value in the first element 64 Output Methods CHAPTER 2 Input MyArray N NumericArrayRef Variables Done False Counter 0 Done False While Done False Begin Done True For Counter 0 To N 1 Begin If MyArray Counter gt MyArray Counter 1 Then Begin Valuel MyArray Counter MyArray Counter MyArray Counter 1 MyArray Counter 1 Valuel Done False End End End SortMyArray 1 Notice that a dummy statement is included in the above function highlighted in gray The function returns the value 1 however in this example the true purpose of the function is the manipulation of the array that you pass by reference This array is changed by the function and the change is reflected in the trading signal or analysis technique that called the function regardless of the value the function returns The following statement calls the function in the above example Valuel SortMyArray MyArray 12 This statement could be included in any trading signal or analysis technique Again in this case the value stored in Valuel is of no
361. rence Now assume we rewrite the statement as follows Valuel OpenDiff Close of data2 54 Understanding User Functions CHAPTER 2 The function is based on the first data stream but will calculate the OpenDifffunction using the open of the current bar of datal and the close of the current bar of data2 The value re turned would be the value of the first data stream s open minus the second data stream s close Writing User Functions The only statement required in a function is the one that specifies what value the function will return This statement is called the Function Value Assignment statement and it consists of the name of the function followed by an equal to sign and then the expression representing the value of the function For example if there is a function called One that returns the numeric value 1 all the function needs is the statement One 1 Likewise a function named HigherHigh that returns true if the current bar s high is greater than the previous bar s high can be written using the following statement HigherHigh High gt High 1 The value of True or False is assigned to the function HigherHigh by means of the Function Value Assignment statement and this value is returned as the value of the function Or a function called TenBarAvg that calculates the 10 bar average of the volume using a For loop would look like this Value2 0 For Valuel 0 To 9 Begin Value2 Value2 Volume
362. res Next Bar at Open Sign Returns 1 for a positive num 1 for a negative num and 0 for a num of zero Syntax Sign Num Num a numeric value or expression Usage Valuel Sign 9 5687 freturns a value of 1 Sine Returns the sine value of num degrees Usage Valuel Sine 72 returns 0 9511 when num is 72 degrees Skip Reserved for future use Slippage Returns the slippage per contract from the strategy s Costs tab SnapFundExists True if snapshot fundamental data exists in the data stream False otherwise Spaces Specifies the number of blank spaces to add to a text or commentary string Usage Print Close Spaces 5 NumToStr Close 3 Square Returns the square 2nd power of the specified number Syntax Square Num Num a numeric value or expression Usage Valuel Square 6 23 returns a value of 38 8219 SquareRoot Reserved Words Quick Reference 321 Returns the square root of the specified number Syntax SquareRoot Num Num a numeric value or expression Usage Valuel SquareRoot 5 returns a value of 2 2361 StartDate Reserved for future use StockSplit Ratio of the stock split reported during a certain period Usage Value2 StockSplit 2 returns the split ratio reported 2 periods ago StockSplitCount The number of stock splits that have been reported in a given time frame StockS plitDate The date on which a stock split was reported during a certain period Usage V
363. resenting the width of the plot EasyLanguage for TradeStation Writing ShowMe and PaintBar Studies 157 Notes You can also specify only two of the bar parameters instead of the four BarHigh BarLow BarOpen or BarClose However you must specify either two or four of the bar parameters The parameter BackColor currently has no effect on a chart however you do need to in clude it in the statement when you want to specify Width You can abbreviate the PlotPaintBar reserved word to PlotPB Also you can use the PlotN reserved word described previously to write a PaintBar study however we rec ommend you use the PlotPaintBar reserved word For a list of the available colors and widths refer to Appendix B of this book Example For example the following instructions can be used in order to paint red the bars with twice the 10 bar average of the volume If Volume 2 Average Volume 10 Then PlotPB High Low Open Close AvgVol Red The following instructions paint the area between the two plots of the Bollinger Bands Indicator when the 14 bar ADX value is lower than 25 Variables Top 0 Bottom 0 Top BollingerBand Close 14 2 Bottom BollingerBand Close 14 2 If ADX 14 25 Then PlotPaintBar Top Bottom Area Blue In this last example notice that although we omitted the BarLow and BarClose parameters we are still able to specify the name and color of the plot We applied this PaintBar stu
364. residing in dynamic link libraries written in C or C in your trading signals analysis techniques and functions This means that in addition to all the EasyLanguage reserved words and functions you also have at your disposal any function in a DLL that is written in C or C Omega Research provides an EasyLanguage DLL Extension Kit which consists of four files and detailed documentation This chapter introduces you to the kit and discusses the use of DLL functions with EasyLanguage This is an advanced topic and this chapter assumes you know C or C as well as how to create a Windows DLL file In This Chapter m Defining a DLL Function 236 W More About the EasyLanguage DLL Extension Kit eese 239 W Using Functions from DLLs 238 NECEM 236 Defining a DLL Function CHAPTER 6 Defining a DLL Function Before you can call a DLL function from EasyLanguage you must declare the DLL using a DLL Function Declaration statement Syntax DefineDLLFunc DLLNAME DLL Return Type FunctionName Parameters DLLNAME DLL is the name of the DLL where the function resides Return Type is the type of expression the function will return FunctionName is the name of the function as defined in the DLL and Parameters is the list of parameters expected by the function each param eter separated by a comma Itis very important to remember that 32 bit DLLs use case sensitive expor
365. responds to Sep tember 23 1999 We strongly recommend you use the reserved words Date or ELDate whenever referring to a date This will ensure compatibility regardless of any future changes in date format The reserved words that will allow you to reference and manipulate dates are listed next Date This reserved word returns a numeric expression representing the EasyLanguage date of the closing price of the bar being analyzed The date is an EasyLanguage date so itis a numeric expression of the form Y YYMMDD where Y YY is years since 1900 MM is the month and DD is the day of the month Syntax Date Parameters None Example See the example for the reserved word ELDate ELDate YYYY MM DD This reserved word returns a numeric expression representing the EasyLanguage date YYYMMDD equivalent to the standard date specified Y YY Y MM DD Syntax ELDate YYYY MM DD Parameters YYYY is the 4 digit numeric expression representing the year MM is the 2 digit expression representing the month and DD is the 2 digit numeric expression representing the day of the month Notes We highly recommend you use the reserved words Date or ELDate whenever referring to a date This will ensure compatibility regardless of any future changes in date format Example To verify that the date of the current bar is December 17 1999 you can use the following IF THEN statement If Date ELDate 1999 12 17 Then EasyLa
366. ression s and Expression is any expression or a comma separated list of expressions The expressions can be numeric true false or text string or any combination To use the EasyLanguage Debug window as the output method include the list of expressions without any additional information For example the following statement sends the date time and close to the Debug window Print Date Time Close You can format the numeric expressions displayed using the Print reserved word To do so use the following syntax Print Valuel N M Value 1 is any numeric expression N is the minimum number of integers to use and M is the number of decimals to use If the numeric expression being sent to the Debug window has more integers than what is specified by N the Print statement uses as many digits as necessary and the decimal values are rounded to the nearest value For example assume Valuel is equal to 3 14159 and we have written the following statement Print Valuel 0 4 The numeric expression displayed in the Debug window would be 3 1416 As another ex ample to format the closing prices you can use the following statement Print ELDateToString Date Time Close 0 4 To send information to the default printer Printer needs to be the first expression included in the parentheses of the reserved word For example the following statement sends the date time and the close of every bar of a chart to the default pr
367. rice 100 there are 5 cells to the right of the bar and the study attempts to obtain the color of cell number 6 an error is generated and the study is turned off You can avoid these errors by using the AB GetNumCells reserved word to determine the number of available cells before attempt ing to reference any of them To store the resulting value you can assign this reserved word to a numeric variable You can use this reserved word in an ActivityBar study as well as any other analysis technique trading strategy or function Example The folowing statements obtain the text string expression stored in the last cell in the row corresponding to the open of the bar Notice that we first obtain the total number of cells in the desired row and store this number in the variable Value We then use the resulting number Value to obtain the text string expression Variable Str Valuel AB GetNumCells Open of Datal RightSide Str AB GetCellChar Open of Datal Valuel RightSide AB GetZoneHigh Side This reserved word returns a numeric value representing the upper boundary of the Activity Bar study zone Syntax AB GetZoneHigh Side Parameters Side specifies the side for which to obtain the value Side accepts one of two reserved words LeftSide or RightSide 174 Writing ActivityBar Studies CHAPTER 3 Notes To store the resulting value you can assign this reserved word to a numeric variable You can use this rese
368. riety of ways in the TradeStation Strategy Performance Re port which is commonly referred to as the Strategy Report 118 The Trading Strategy Testing Engine CHAPTER 3 The second part of the process is the automation of new orders Backtesting takes a few sec onds to complete at which point TradeStation begins to evaluate the new data as it is re ceived TradeStation also monitors any outstanding orders remaining from the backtesting process When each new bar is completed TradeStation evaluates the EasyLanguage in structions of the Trading Strategy for this new bar and places any orders for the close of the current bar and or the next bar This process is repeated on every new bar until the Trading Strategy is deleted from the chart or the workspace is closed Automation and backtesting are discussed in detail next Automation Automation is the process of monitoring new data that is received by the GlobalServer for the symbol to which the Trading Strategy is applied The rules followed by the Trading Strategy Testing Engine to evaluate the Trading Strategy orders are described next Price at Which Orders are Placed and Filled The very first thing TradeStation does to any order it receives from a Trading Strategy is verify that the order has a valid price for the instrument to which it is applied A valid price is any price that has a valid decimal value compared to the settings of the charted symbol The settings are the price sc
369. rmation for that bar date time price and volume for each bar Arrays can store either numeric true false or text string expressions but they can only store one type of expression at a time Also the values in all elements of the array are car ried forward from bar to bar Note When working with RadarScreen or OptionStation where you are analyzing multiple symbols simultaneously keep in mind that using arrays will add to the processing time and the resources required and the time and resources required is multiplied by each symbol being analyzed When working with arrays you declare an array assign values to the elements of the array and reference the values of the elements within an array How to do each is discussed next Declaring Arrays Before you can use a name as an array you must tell EasyLanguage that the name is to be used as an array this is known as declaring the array s To declare an array you use an Array Declaration statement When you declare an array you also specify the array s dimensions and the number of elements in each dimension and the initial value for all the elements Syntax Array MyArray M N The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Understanding Arrays 47 MyArray is a user defined name for the array which can be a total of 20 characters in length M is a number or numbers specifying both the dimensions of the array and the number of elements in each dimension and N is the
370. rrent bar Close 0 is assigned to MyArray 0 0 and the volume of the current bar Volume 0 is assigned to MyArray 0 1 Valuel is incremented to 1 for the second iteration through the loop so now the close and volume of one bar ago are stored in the array in MyArray 1 0 and MyArray 1 1 respectively Again this loop iterates a total of 10 times and the result is that the closing prices and volume for the current and previous 9 bars are stored in the array for reference at any time Referencing Values of Array Elements Once you have declared an array and you have assigned values to elements in the array you can reference the values of the elements by using the name of the array and the element number in place of the numeric true false or text string expression For example the following statement assigns the value held in element 10 to the numeric variable Valuel Valuel MyArray 10 Also arrays can be used wherever an expression can be used For example you can plot the value held in element 0 of an array Plotl MyArray 0 Or you can use the true false value of an element in an array as the true false expression in an IF THEN statement The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Understanding Arrays 49 If MyConditionArray 7 Then EasyLanguage instruction You can also reference the previous value of an array For example the following statement references the value that element 5 of an array called MyA
371. rrors 249 188 The word BEGIN expected here This error is generated whenever the PowerEditor is expecting a block statement For ex ample all loops require Begin and End block statements so writing the following will generate this error For Valuel 1 To 10 Value10 ValuelO Volume Valuel The correct syntax is For Valuel 1 To 10 Begin Valuel0O Valuel0O Volume Valuel End 189 This word not allowed in a signal The word highlighted by the PowerEditor is not allowed in a Signal Words like Plot TheoreticalValue ModelVolatility etc are not allowed in Signal 190 This word not allowed in a function The word highlighted by the PowerEditor is not allowed in a function Words like Plot1 Buy Sell etc are not allowed in functions 191 This word not allowed in a study The word highlighted by the PowerEditor is not allowed in a study Words like PlotI Buy Sell etc are not allowed in studies 192 This word not allowed in an ActivityBar The word highlighted by the PowerEditor is not allowed in an ActivityBar study Words like Plot Buy Sell etc are not allowed in ActivityBar studies 193 Comma expected here Commas are used to separate elements in a list for example when declaring multiple in puts or variables or when listing the parameters of a function This error will be generated whenever the PowerEditor finds two words that seem to be part of the list which are not
372. rsBack The reserved words available for the use of ProbabilityMap studies are divided into two groups set reserved words and get reserved words The set reserved words are used to de fine the properties of the ProbabilityMap studies and to draw the graph itself The get re served words on the other hand are used to read the values of an existing ProbabilityMap study or other analysis techniques applied to the price chart 162 Writing ProbabilityMap Studies CHAPTER 3 Set Reserved Words To create a ProbabilityMap you will use all the ProbabilityMap set reserved words These words define the size and properties of the ProbabilityMap study drawing area PM SetHigh Num This reserved word specifies the upper boundary of the ProbabilityMap area The ProbabilityMap is not drawn above the value specified Syntax PM SetHigh Num Parameters Num is a numeric expression representing the upper boundary of the ProbabilityMap study Example The following statement sets the upper boundary of the ProbabilityMap study to a value of the close plus three times the range of the current bar PM SetHigh Close Range 3 PM SetLow Num This reserved word specifies the lower boundary of the ProbabilityMap area The ProbabilityMap is not drawn below the value specified Syntax PM SetLow Num Parameters Num is a numeric expression representing the lower boundary of the ProbabilityMap Example The following statement set
373. rsLosTrades The total number of bars that elapsed during losing trades for all closed trades Usage Value2 TotalBarsLosTrades TotalBarsWin Trades The total number of bars that elapsed during winning trades for all closed trades Usage Valuel TotalBarsWinTrades TotalTrades The total number of closed trades in the current strategy TrailingStopAmt Retained for backward compatibility with previous versions of the product Replaced by the reserved word SetDollarTrailing TrailingStopFloor Retained for backward compatibility with previous versions of the product Replaced by the reserved word SetPercentTrailing TrailingStopPct Retained for backward compatibility with previous versions of the product Replaced by the reserved word SetPercentTrailing True Represents a true or correct conditional expression TrueFalse Defines an input that expects a true false expression Usage Input Switch TrueFalse accepts a true false input for Switch TrueFalseArray Defines an input that expects a true false expression for each array element Usage Input MyArray n TrueFalseArray accepts t f inputs by value TrueFalseArrayRef Defines an input that expects a true false variable reference for each array element Usage Input MyArray n TrueFalseArrayRef accepts t f inputs by reference TrueFalseRef Defines an input that expects a true false variable reference Usage Input Switch TrueFalseRef accepts a t
374. rt or commentary is enabled 181 There can only be 10 dimensions in an array Arrays can have up to 10 dimensions The correct syntax for creating a multi dimensional array is Array MyArray 10 10 10 0 where this statement creates a three dimensional array of 11x11x11 183 More than 100 errors Verify termination When the PowerEditor is verifying a document for correctness it will continue to evaluate expressions until it finds 100 errors These errors will be found in the error log once the verification process is finished If the PowerEditor finds more than 100 errors it will stop the process and will display this message 185 Either HIGHER or LOWER expected here When specifying the execution instructions for an order in a signal it is possible to use the words or Higher and or Lower as synonyms to stop and limit This error occurs when the word or is found in an order without the words Higher or Lower The following is the proper syntax for this statement Buy Next Bar at Low Range or Lower 186 Input name too long Input names in any PowerEditor analysis technique can be up to 20 characters long This error is displayed by the PowerEditor whenever an input has a name that has more than 20 characters 187 Variable name too long Variable names can have up to twenty characters This error is displayed whenever a vari able is declared with a name that contains more than twenty characters EasyLanguage Syntax E
375. rt unless it is the last bar of the price chart and the alert is enabled Syntax CheckAlert For example the following statements can be used to trigger an alert when the volume is twice the average volume and to display the ratio between the current volume and the average Because CheckAlert is used the calculations are ignored for all historical bars as well as when the alert is not enabled If CheckAlert Then Begin Valuel Volume Average Volume 10 If Volume gt 2 Average Volume 10 Then Alert Volume is Valuel End Note Using CheckAlert in an IF THEN statement to optimize your analysis technique is effective however even when the statements that follow are ignored the indicator or study still takes into account the statements in order to determine the number of bars necessary for the indicator or study to perform its calculations MaxBarsBack and any series functions are calculated Refer to the section Alert Compiler Directives for information on other reserved words you can use to have the statements ignored completely AlertEnabled This reserved word returns a value of True when the alert is enabled for the indicator or study applied to a price chart or grid and False when it is not This allows you to optimize the indicator or study for speed the statements after this reserved word are evaluated only when the alert is enabled The difference between this reserved word and the CheckAlert reserv
376. rue false expression and EasyLanguage instruction is any Easy Language statement For example you can keep a count of how many times a gap up has occurred in a chart the open is greater than the previous bar s high by having an IF THEN statement add 1 to a variable each time a gap up is found 34 EasyLanguage Control Structures CHAPTER 2 If Open High 1 Then Valuel Valuel 1 In this example every time a bar gaps up the variable Value is incremented by one As another example you can place a buy order only when the fast moving average crosses over the slow moving average If Average Close 10 Crosses Over Average Close 20 Then Buy Next Bar at Market IF THEN statements are used extensively in EasyLanguage for example ShowMe studies are written exclusively with IF THEN statements The objective of a ShowMe study is to identify a certain scenario and mark any bar on which this scenario occurs The following example shows a typical one statement ShowMe study which finds and marks each outside bar in a price chart If High gt High 1 AND Low lt Low 1 Then Plot1 High Outside Bar If an outside bar is found a mark is placed at the high price of the bar Keep in mind that only the first EasyLanguage statement after the reserved word then is included in the IF THEN statement For example take the following ShowMe study If High gt High 1 AND Low lt Low 1 Then Plotl High Outside Bar Alert
377. rved word in an ActivityBar study as well as any other analysis technique trading strategy or function Example The following statement assigns the high price of the ActivityBar zone to the numeric variable Valuel Valuel AB GetZoneHigh RightSide AB GetZoneLow Side This reserved word returns a numeric value representing the lower boundary of the Activity Bar study zone Syntax AB GetZoneLow Side Parameters Side specifies the side for which to obtain the value Side accepts one of two reserved words LeftSide or RightSide Notes To store the resulting value you can assign this reserved word to a numeric variable You can use this reserved word in an ActivityBar study as well as any other analysis technique trading strategy or function Example The following statement assigns the high price of the ActivityBar zone to the numeric variable Value Valuel AB GetZoneLow RightSide AB High This reserved word returns a numeric value representing the highest price on the bar at which a cell is drawn Syntax AB High Parameters None Notes If no cells are drawn a value of zero 0 is returned To store the resulting value you can assign this reserved word to a numeric variable You can use this reserved word in an ActivityBar study as well as any other analysis technique trading strategy or function EasyLanguage for TradeStation Writing ActivityBar Studies 175 Example The following statem
378. rved word unless the alert is enabled for the indicator or study The indicator or study will not take into account the statements following these words when it determines the number of bars necessary to perform its calculations MaxBarsBack nor will any series functions within the statements be calculated BeginAlert The statements between this compiler directive BeginAlert and the reserved word End are evaluated only when the alert is enabled for the analysis technique You must use the reserved word End with this reserved word Syntax BeginAlert EasyLanguage instruction s End For example an indicator that calculates the 10 bar momentum of the closing price needs ten bars in order to start plotting results However if an alert is added to this indicator and the alert uses a 50 bar average of the volume then the bar requirement is upped to fifty However the 50 bar average is only used for the alert calculations so there is no need to have the indicator wait fifty bars before returning results unless the alert is enabled 44 Writing Alerts CHAPTER 2 Therefore to have the indicator plot results after ten bars and ignore the 50 bar requirement use BeginAlert in your indicator as follows Plotl Close Close 10 Momentum BeginAlert If Plotl1 Crosses Over 0 AND Volume gt Average V 50 2 Then Alert Momentum is now positive End The above indicator plots the mom
379. ryCL reserved word Refer to the discussion of jump words in the description of the Commentary reserved word AtCommentaryBar This reserved word returns a value of True on the bar clicked by the user with the Expert Commentary pointer It will return a value of False for all other bars This allows you to optimize your trading signals analysis techniques and functions for speed as it will allow EasyLanguage to skip all commentary related calculations for all bars except for the one where the commentary is requested Syntax AtCommentaryBar The difference between AtCommentaryBar and CommentaryEnabled discussed next is that CommentaryEnabled returns a value of True for ALL bars when the Expert Commentary window is open while the AtCommentaryBar returns a value of True only for the bar clicked with the Expert Commentary pointer The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Output Methods 69 For example the following statements display a 50 bar average of the volume in the Expert Commentary window but avoids calculating this 50 bar average for every other bar of the chart If AtCommentaryBar Then Commentary The 50 bar vol avg Average Volume 50 Note Although the statements that follow this reserved word are sometimes ignored the trading signal analysis technique or function still takes into account the statements when it determines the number of bars necessary for the indicator or study to perform its calculations MaxBarsBack
380. s Pos Returns the absolute positive value of a number Usage Valuel Pos 17 freturns a value of 17 Value2 Pos 9 returns a value of 9 Position References a position in a Search Strategy Usage If Delta of Position lt 1 Then any operation PositionID References the PositionID of a position in a Search Strategy Usage Plotl PositionID of Position Position ID PositionProfit Returns the current gain positive or loss negative of the specified position Usage Valuel PositionProfit returns 1 00 if the position had a loss of 1 00 PositionStatus Used in Search Strategies to create a position Specified position is created when the expression criteria evaluates to True Syntax PositionStatus Criteria Criteria a true false expression or value for the height of each PB row Usage Conditionl OS_CheckProx Call ExpDate OTM Max Min PositionStatus Conditionl creates position when Condition1 is True 312 APPENDIX C Power Returns the number raised to the specified power Syntax Power Num Exponent Num a numeric expression or value Exponent the power by which to raise the number Usage Valuel Pow 2 3 returns 8 based on 2 PrevContribl With FutureSource returns the name of the institution that provided the previous quote for a specific FOREX symbol Price To Book Stock price vs net worth of stock company PriceScale Price scale of stock future symbol inverted
381. s 1 eene eerte ntt EVN AT NC NNUS backtesting TO Cal Y n r i E m ine en A A 331 bar assumpuons bouncing ticks Tool Biss data resolution Tool Blue OVERVIEW scatet e e SR edere ETHER z Trading Verbs ool_Cyan Tool DarkBlue Buy nA I Bnntt d We en qi ee 131 Tool DarkBrown ExitLong P E ME EN 136 Tool DarkCyan EXitSHOL iei eset ee eo ede ce Ste i nt 141 NS or higher 117 120 124 ool_DarkGray re or lower 117 120 124 ool_DarkGreen Tool DarkMagenta sssssssessssessusssneeneseneenees 332 OLUGLS 4 erra MORET 116 Underlying Asset referencing sese 196 350 The Omega Research EasyLanguage Reference Guide Sell sarea te eite tee 134 UnionSesslEndIime 532 eene eee 334 understanding 116 UnionsesslEirfstBaY jenes 334 TrailingStopAmt 333 UNTONSESSISt ALE TIMES 4 2 gere ninis 334 TrailingStopFloor 5333 UnionSess2EndTime eee 334 TrallrngStopPGoU 4nd A ett ietas 333 UnionSess2EIrsbBat uere exi cere 334 Trendlines UnionSess2StartTi METTE 334 adding to price charts 89 9 UMTS EE EN EE AET ER rie ebrei 334 alert status UNSIGNED tenerte O e EROR 334 obtaining UTE dn esse ehem tem mene een 334 Seting cessisse ee eee e EO Meas Nee AERA bankers Update Every Tick Calculation 58 156 158 color DDOESEE imei tats TEC AMPH ERREUR Rie Rois 334 obtaining UDTiCks 422512 eee eere 12 334 setting z
382. s Colors Curly Brackets definition eene 11 numeric equivalents eee 273 Current plot background changing Current Bar understanding 6 19 OptionStation esee 207 Current Ratione rh e iege 287 RadarScreeti 5 er eter 183 CUPTeDI Bet eoa HIER INO 287 plot foreground changing Current Contracts coner eira seantans ae 287 OptionStation sess 206 CurrentDate 22 287 RadatScreen eo eere HR 183 CurbPentEHUtfie6s 4 syeereicrelomie modems 287 SuperCharts SE sess 189 212 CurrentTime 24 287 TradeStation 35 eere een 150 152 CUSED sedeat IRI GS eS E NERA a I 288 text CUSsCtOmerTID 5uee eemper tena inte 287 obtaining rre RERO 80 o soc EE 288 SEIUITB AE eos ei et DI E UN NEER T 86 trendlines D obtaining Les ee eer EE 95 D ieente ele E nine Bike RUE oe setting n DailyLimit Comma definition ene ennes 10 DaElBLbe 2u nnH nec ie roten aed als eT INTE ro ose Commentary DarkBrown Commentary Statement 65 DATE CVA E 340 The Omega Research EasyLanguage Reference Guide DarkGray qon mee Oa A a BO 288 position DarkGreen number of legs obtaining eee 203 DarkMagenta d referencing current 201 DATIGREG 2 e RAO Rive pter sites referencing leg 202 Data referencing modeled position 203 ActivityData iicet tenete 166 176 underly
383. s egt due REO RD ua 25 Using Inputs cei o eta itte sooo efti ib esc o a retia ee DERE 30 EasyLanguage Control Structures esent eene enne 33 Waiting Alerts 5e dene edere oi edu aae d recede 39 Understanding Arrays eene he p et aes 45 Understanding User Functions s esee nennen enemies 50 Output Methods eren easet das ber e m 64 Drawing Text on Price Charts ue deese neret TE ET E AE iE 76 Drawing Trendlines on Price Charts seen 89 Understanding Quote Fields eese rennen emen 109 Multimedia and EasyLanguage esee nennen nennen retener enne 110 CHAPTER 3 EasyLanguage for TradeStation 115 Writing Trading Signals sess en neen nennen nens 116 The Trading Strategy Testing Engine esee 117 CRAN 131 Understanding Built in Stops eese enne enne trennen 144 ii Contents Writing Indicators and Studies ssessseseeeeeeeeee tenente 148 Writing ShowMe and PaintBar Studies sse enne 154 Writing ProbabilityMap Studies oo eee ee eeceeeceeceeeeeeecaeeeeecaeesaecaecsaeeaeeasesescaessaeeaessaeeaees 159 Waiting Activity Bar Studies ger Srt ede debe tee TOO EE 166 CHAPTER 4 EasyLanguage for RadarScreen 179 Writing RadarScreen Indicators rnrn iooni raene aeae r EEEE e enne enne 1
384. s a complete Easy Language statement Buy When the parameters are not specified the default values used for this statement are Buy Buy This Bar on Close The above order uses the default number of shares contracts specified by the Trading Strat egy in the Costs tab when formatting the strategy Each portion of the statement Order Name Number of Shares and Execution Method is described next Order Name If your Trading Signal or your Trading Strategy includes multiple long entries it is helpful to label each entry order with a different name By naming entry orders you can easily identify all positions both on the chart and in the TradeStation Strategy Performance Re port Also naming the entry orders allows you to tie an exit to a particular entry order for information on doing this refer to the discussion of the trading verb ExitLong on 136 To name a long entry order include a descriptive name in quotation marks and within pa renthesis after the trading verb Buy For example Buy My Entry This instruction initiates a long position named My Entry Again when a Trading Signal or Strategy that contains this statement is applied to a price chart the order name also referred to as signal name is displayed on the chart under the onscreen arrows that correspond to 132 Trading Verbs CHAPTER 3 this statement and in the TradeStation Strategy Performance Report under the Trade by Trade tab Fig
385. s and returns the remainder Syntax Mod Num Divisor Num any value or expression Divisor any numeric expression representing the divisor Usage Valuel Mod 17 5 divides 17 by 5 and returns 2 as the remainder ModelPosition References a modeled position in a Search Strategy Usage If Delta of ModelPosition lt 1 Then any operation ModelPrice The underlying price currently used by the Pricing or Volatility Model Usage Value2 ModelPrice BigPointValue of Option ModelVolatility References the volatility calculated by the Volatility Model in OptionStation Debit positions return positive numbers and credit positions return negative numbers Usaget If ModelVolatility gt 75 Then Alert High Volatility In a Volatility Model used to set the value of ModelVolatility Usage2 ModelVolatility 32 sets the ModelVolatility to 32 Monday Specifies day of the week Monday numeric value 1 MoneyMetStopAmt Reserved for backward compatibility with previous versions of the product Replaced by the reserved word SetStopLoss Month Returns the month MM portion of the specified calendar date from 1 to 12 Syntax Month cD ate cDate numeric expression for the date in YYMMDD or YYYMMDD format Usage Valuel Month 991004 returns day value of 10 Reserved Words Quick Reference 305 MULTIPLE Reserved for use with custom DLLs designed for EasyLanguage and ELKIT32 DLL Neg Returns the absolute negative value of a number
386. s based on how they were created The charting application stores the chronological order of all trendlines added to a chart and this information is made available to EasyLanguage This reserved word returns the ID number of the trendline on the price chart added immediately after the trendline specified Youcan use this reserved word together with the reserved word TL GetFirst to traverse all the trendlines in a price chart It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any trendlines by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error Syntax Valuel TL GetNext TL ID Num Parameters TL ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the trendline and Num is a numeric expression representing the origin type of the trendline The possible values for Num are Value of Num Description 1 Trendline created by a trading signal analysis technique or function Trendline created by the trendline drawing object tool only Trendline created by either the trendline drawing object tool or a trading signal analysis technique or function If a value different than 1 2 or 3 is used EasyLanguage will assume a value of 3 Notes Valuel is any numeric variable or array and holds the ID number of the trendline added after the trendline specified Example The following statements
387. s need ed even when MULTIPLE is used This is why there is no data type specifier before the string Open More About the EasyLanguage DLL Extension Kit The EasyLanguage DLL Extension Kit consists of four files a ELKIT32 DLL m ELKIT32 H m ELKITVC LIB for use with VC only ELKITBOR LIB for use with Borland C Builder only These files are located in the Omega Research VProgram directory and the documentation for the kit is provided on the program CD The EasyLanguage Toolkit Library ELKIT32 DLL is a dynamic link library that pro vides useful functions that can be called from any user DLL It is commonly used to find the address of an offset of an EasyLanguage data object from within a user DLL For the most up to date documentation for the EasyLanguage DLL Extension Kit review the online documentation available on the Omega Research program CD To install the doc umentation browse the program CD and look for a folder called DEVKIT Run the file set up exe under this folder to install the documentation 240 More About the EasyLanguage DLL Extension Kit CHAPTER 6 EasyLanguage Syntax Errors 241 APPENDIX A EasyLanguage Syntax Errors Syntax errors are produced when verifying an EasyLanguage statement that is not under stood or expected by the PowerEditor Following is a list of all syntax errors and their de scription listed by error number Each entry includes the description of the error probable causes
388. s ob tained This section describes each process in detail Overview Once you create a price chart and apply a Trading Strategy to it TradeStation evaluates all the Trading Strategy rules for the very first oldest bar on the chart as it does with all EasyLanguage procedures and generates the trading orders to buy sell or exit to be ex ecuted either at the close of that first bar or on the next bar Once TradeStation evaluates all instructions for the first bar on the chart it reads the second bar of data and evaluates any orders that were left active from the first bar with the prices of the second bar looking for possible fills If tick data is available TradeStation can look at each traded price or tick to determine the price at which the orders would have been filled or if they would have been filled at all If there is no tick data available TradeStation simulates the fill prices using several market assumptions explained later in this section Once the Trading Strategy Testing Engine is done evaluating the orders that were active through the second bar TradeStation returns to the EasyLanguage instructions that com pose the Trading Strategy and generates the necessary orders for the close of the second bar and places those for the third bar This process called backtesting is repeated on every bar until the last bar on the chart is reached the most recent bar The results of each trade are stored and are presented in a va
389. s on individual indicators as well as sort your symbols by up to four indi cators Keep in mind also that the concept of price bars and data compression on a price chart also applies when working with a RadarScreen window For instance in RadarScreen the data compression can vary just like it does in a price chart and when an indicator refers to bars it is referring to the data compression selected for the symbol For example if a Moving Average 1 Line Indicator is applied to a RadarScreen window and the symbol s data compression is set to daily the default and the Length input of the indicator is set to 10 this indicator will calculate the 10 day average of this symbol How EasyLanguage for RadarScreen Writing RadarScreen Indicators 181 ever if another symbol s data compression is set to 30 minutes then the same indicator will calculate the 5 hour average for that symbol How EasyLanguage evaluates data for the RadarScreen window is discussed in detail in Chapter 2 The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Refer to the first section of that chapter titled How EasyLanguage Evaluates Data It provides an important foundation you ll need to understand the RadarScreen Plot statements and begin writing your indicators The reserved words used to write indicators for use with RadarScreen are described next Plot Statements The reserved words used to create indicators result in statements referred to as plot statements becaus
390. s the lower boundary of the ProbabilityMap study to the a value equal to the lowest low of the last 20 bars PM SetLow Lowest Low 20 PM_SetNumColumns Num This reserved word is used to determine the number of columns inside the ProbabilityMap drawing area The ProbabilityMap is not drawn past the number of bars specified Syntax PM_SetNumColumns Num Parameters Num is a numeric expression representing the maximum number of bars to the right of the current bar that the ProbabilityMap is to be drawn EasyLanguage for TradeStation Writing ProbabilityMap Studies 163 Example The following statement defines the ProbabilityMap study drawing area to 50 bars PM SetNumColumns 50 You can use the following expression to set the ProbabilityMap drawing area to have as many columns as bars to the right available in the chart PM SetNumColumns MaxBarsForward PM SetRowHeight Num This reserved word is used to specify in points the height of each row of the ProbabilityMap drawing area Syntax PM SetRowHeight Num Parameters Num is a numeric expression representing the row height Notes The row height of the drawing area is usually specified as ProbabilityMap Upper Boundary ProbabilityMap Lower Boundary Number of Rows So for instance if the difference between the upper and lower boundaries of the Probabil ityMap is 50 and you want 100 rows the row height must be 0 5 The more rows there are in
391. s though each tick were the last tick of the bar Advanced Tip Speeding Up Calculation Time When you use a series function as a parameter for a simple function and that particular parameter is used repeatedly throughout the simple function the calculation time for the trading strategy or analysis technique can increase noticeably This situation produces an increase in overhead because the series function must be calculated each time that the simple function is referenced To avoid this situation assign the series function to a variable and then use the variable as the parameter for the simple function This simple adjustment eliminates the overhead since the series function is only called once when it is assigned to the variable Understanding Parameters and Parameter Types Many functions are written such that they ask you provide certain information to them when you use them You provide information to a function by means of parameters There are three types of parameters numeric true false and text string m Numeric When a parameter is defined as numeric the user of the function can pass any number e g 5 10 or 100 or numeric expression as the parameter into the function This parameter will be used within the function as a numeric expression m True false When a parameter is defined as true false the user of the function can pass any true false expression or the words True or False as the parameter into the function
392. s total options for an Asset Reserved Words Quick Reference 307 NumToStr Converts the specified numeric expression to a string expression Syntax NumToStr Num Dec Num a numeric expression to be converted to a string Dec the number of decimal places for the string version of the value Usage Valuel NumToStr 1170 5 2 returns the text string 1170 50 Num WinTrades Total count of closed out winning trades O Abbreviation for Open Returns the opening price of a referenced bar Usage If Price O of 1 Bar Ago Then Sell at Market Of Skip word ignored during execution Usage If Close of Datal Highest High 14 Then fany operation On Skip word ignored during execution Usage Buy 100 Contracts on Next Bar Open Open Returns the opening price of the bar referenced Usage Valuel Open of 2 Bars Ago OpenInt The open interest or number of contracts outstanding at the close of a specific bar Usage Value2 Average OpenInt 10 returns the average Openint over 10 bars OpenPositionProfit Returns the gain or loss of current open position only used with strategies Option Used to reference a data element Open Close OpenInt etc of a specified option Usage Valuel Close of Option 5 OptionType Used to determine if an option is a call or put Usage If OptionType Call Then any operation Or Links 2 true false expressions together True if either expression is true
393. s trading verb is used to open a short position it closes your long position and opens a short one The specifics of the order are defined by the optional parameters used in the statement i e number of shares at what price etc Syntax Sell Order Name Number of Shares Execution Method Only the word Sell is required to open a short position The following is a complete Easy Language statement Sell When the parameters are not specified the default values used for this statement are Sell Sell This Bar on Close The above order uses the default number of shares contracts specified by the Trading Strat egy in the Costs tab when formatting the strategy Each portion of the statement Order Name Number of Shares and Execution Method is described next Order Name If your Trading Signal or your Trading Strategy includes multiple short entries it is helpful to label each entry order with a different name By naming entry orders you can easily identify all positions both on the chart and in the TradeStation Strategy Performance Re port Also naming the entry orders allows you to tie an exit to a particular entry order for information on doing this refer to the discussion of the trading verb ExitShort on page 141 To name a short entry order include a descriptive name in quotation marks and within pa renthesis after the trading verb Sell For example Sell My Entry This instruction ini
394. s well as the Trading Strategy Testing Engine which is the engine that performs the backtesting and automation of your Trading Strategies This chapter also describes the reserved words for use with indicators and studies ShowMe PaintBar Activity Bar and ProbabilityMap when working with TradeStation In This Chapter m Writing Trading Signals 116 m Writing Indicators and Studies 148 W The Trading Strategy Testing Engine 117 Wm Writing ShowMe and PaintBar Studies 154 W Trading Verbs 131 m Writing ProbabilityMap Studies 159 W Understanding Built in Stops 144 W Writing ActivityBar Studies 166 116 Writing Trading Signals CHAPTER 3 Writing Trading Signals EasyLanguage enables you to express your trading ideas very specifically using TradeStation Trading Signals An example of a statement within a Trading Signal is Buy 100 Shares Next Bar at Market The statements used to create in your Trading Signal have two parts which are very similar to the language you use to communicate with your broker The first part of the statement is the trading order which is a description of the action you want to perform for example buy 100 shares The second part of the statement is the execution method which is exactly how when and at what price the order should be carried out for example next bar at market There are four reserved words you can use
395. se skip NOTOS ciii EEEE E E EE ET SetPercentTrailing sssrin 146 318 Resolution see Compression under Data SSFP TotBGCOl OF eet E Me dye PR NER Aah 183 207 319 Resources EasyLanguage eene 3 m EI Ret On Avg Equit CEE ARENE NIRE MS T SetProfitTarget e oe d erent SetstopContract Set5topLOSS Jgee me pror te een Tine REI Re Kuna ead Rho Val eri i SetStopPosition sssini 148 320 ightSide eesseeeee nennen BOR Pee By NEESSIdS erecto ficii 320 EXOgh EST ooeieseeexes desees era e e EESEE SEE EV eee bee eva e vias Shake 320 ROUM Oe wieder ENTER MEME M o Md B nde EROR Fee Errors Shates aie rere Eis eee t oat testi e an 320 Shares Contracts number to use to open a position 132 S Short Positions CLOSING eec eet y pet eid 131 141 SUE DAY eC t E 317 PE MCN ORNA PRAE 134 Screen eene nennen nennt ener nennen nennen 317 ShowMe Studies Search Strategies adding 150 data availability sss eee 194 color 8 etting A A NEM 150 futures contract namins NE A KENN NER MIN 150 referencing current 196 ro M ONDE a alas oN 156 referencing specific issues eene 197 width Setting iste tute Pp Pedro 150 holding period writing 155 Mt position referencing ciscus x WEE CC NH E P IONS RUMR 320 referencing current 199 Signals see Trading Signals des Simple referencing specific 200 f ncb us 55 position parameters xo eet bees dre cop O EEE E 59 creatine leg oon ur e PONENS variables 29 Position Search Engine underst
396. se instructions obtain the Gamma for the option Valuel Gamma of option Notice the use of the qualifier Of Option For information on qualifiers see the section earlier in this chapter titled Reading OptionStation Data Rho num This reserved word is used in the Pricing Model to set the Rho of the option When this reserved word is used in another analysis technique it is used to obtain the Rho of the option Syntax Rho num Parameters Num is a numeric expression representing the Rho of the option This parameter is needed only when setting the value in the Pricing Model not when obtaining it Example For example if in a Pricing Model the value of Rho is stored in the variable Valuel then the Rho for the option is set by using Rho Valuel 230 Writing OptionStation Models CHAPTER 5 When writing other analysis techniques these instructions obtain the Rho for the option Valuel Rho of option Notice the use of the qualifier Of Option For information on qualifiers see the section earlier in this chapter titled Reading OptionStation Data Theta num This reserved word is used in the Pricing Model to set the Theta of the option When this reserved word is used in another analysis technique it is used to obtain the Theta of the option Syntax Theta num Parameters Num is a numeric expression representing the Theta of the option This parameter is needed only when setting the value
397. se to each other Let s look an example of how bouncing ticks can affect your Trading Strategy results 130 The Trading Strategy Testing Engine CHAPTER 3 Suppose there are three orders active for a particular bar a buy stop order at 100 a sell short stop order at 99 125 and an ExitLong limit order at 103 The market opens at 99 5 goes up to 105 falls to 90 and finally closes at 92 What trades took place and what is the your market position at the close of the bar If bouncing ticks is not enabled set to 0 the buy stop order is filled first followed by the ExitLong limit order resulting in a profit and then the sell short order is filled leaving you in a short position at the close of the bar If bouncing ticks is set to 1046 the buy stop order is filled then TradeStation bounces the price 10 lower hitting the sell stop this exits you from the long position with a loss and establishes a short position and bounces the price again this time upwards At this point since there are no valid orders left the ExitLong order is ignored since you are in a short position TradeStation finishes traversing the bar normally and leaves you in a short position This example is illustrated in Figure 3 12 Without bouncing ti With bouncing ticks bouncing ticks Buy filed ExitLong filled Buy Filled ExitLong Limit ExitLong Limit Buy Stop Buy Stop Sell Stop Sell Stop Sell Filled Sell Fil
398. sed in detail in Understanding Parameters and Parameter Types on page 58 Using Existing Functions For your convenience the EasyLanguage PowerEditor provides the EasyLanguage Dictio nary which is a tool that lists all the EasyLanguage reserved words and existing user func tions grouped by category The EasyLanguage Dictionary allows you to browse and or search through the list of words and functions and provides direct links to the Online User Manual All Omega Research products are provided with a vast library of built in user functions which range from commonly used industry calculations e g ADX DMI CCI to com mon mathematical and statistical operations e g Abs Value Sine Square Whenever you need to perform a calculation instead of writing the calculation yourself in EasyLanguage The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Understanding User Functions 51 first use the EasyLanguage Dictionary s Find feature to search for an existing function that will perform the calculation You can also use the functions as a reference or learning tool when writing your own functions If you are not sure if a function will do exactly what you want highlight the function in the EasyLanguage Dictionary and click the Define button for a description of the user function and its usage The EasyLanguage Dictionary is an indispensable reference that you will be using often as you work with EasyLanguage Referencing Previous Values of Func
399. served Words Quick Reference 295 G Rate P Net Inc The Net Income Growth Rate percentage for a stock Gamma Returns the Gamma value of an option leg or position Debit positions will return positive numbers and credit positions will return negative numbers Usaget If Gamma of Option VLowVal Then Alert Low Gamma In a Pricing Model used to set the value of Gamma Usage2 Gamma 0 sets the value of Gamma to zero GetBackgroundColor Returns the current chart background color see Online User Manual for color values Usage Valuel GetBackgroundColor GetBotBound Returns the bottom boundary of a ProbabilityMap array Usage Value2 GetBotBound GetCDRomDrive Returns the drive letter of first CD ROM found Usage Variable Drive D Drive GetCDRomDrive GetExchangeName Returns the name of the Exchange for a symbol Usage Valuel GetExchangeName e NYSE forthe New York Stock Exchange GetPlotBGColor Returns the background color of a cell on a grid Syntax GetPlotBGColor PlotNum PlotNum value or expression representing the plot number Usage Value2 GetPlotBGColor 1 GetPlotColor Returns the numeric color value of a chart s plot line or grid s foreground color Syntax GetPlotColor PlotNum PlotNum value or expression representing the plot number Usage Valuel GetPlotColor 2 GetPlotWidth Returns the width value of a plot line in a chart Syntax GetPlotWidthPlotNum P
400. set the color of all trendlines in the chart to yellow Valuel TL GetFirst 3 While Valuel lt gt 2 Begin Value2 TL SetColor Valuel Yellow Valuel TL GetNext Valuel 3 End The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Drawing Trendlines on Price Charts 101 In the above example we obtain the ID number for the first trendline drawn on the chart Then we set its color to yellow We then obtain the ID number of the next trendline and set that to yellow This loop continues until TL GetNext returns 2 indicating that there are no more trendlines on the chart Keep in mind that once the trading signal analysis technique or function returns 2 it cannot draw any more trendline on the chart In this situation you may want to use one trading signal analysis technique or function to draw the trendlines and another to change their color TL GetSize This reserved word returns a numeric expression representing the thickness of the trendline where 0 is the thinnest and 6 is the thickest Syntax Valuel TL GetSize Tl ID Parameters TI ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the trendline whose thickness setting you want to obtain Notes Valuel can be any numeric variable or array and holds the thickness setting It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any trendlines by the trading si
401. signals and trading strategies combined and 1 000 indicators ShowMe studies PaintBar studies ProbabilityMap studies search strategies and models combined Keep this limit in mind when creating your trading signals analysis techniques and functions Additional Resources To reduce your EasyLanguage learning curve Omega Research provides the following ed ucational and support resources Learning to Use EasyLanguage Book Itis easiest to learn a computer language step by step following a structured outline build ing upon examples and practicing what you ve learned along the way The Learning to Use EasyLanguage book included with your Omega Research product provides step by step learning and we strongly suggest you use it as your introduction to EasyLanguage or as a refresher before delving into this reference EasyLanguage Support Center The EasyLanguage Support Center provides various resources to help you create your trad ing and technical analysis tools including access to technical support a list of EasyLanguage solution providers and analysis techniques you can download and import into your EasyLanguage PowerEditor To access the EasyLanguage Support Center visit www omegaresearch com support easylanguage support Strategy Trading and Development Club STAD The STAD Club is a recurring publication that provides trading ideas and the EasyLanguage to implement them Whether you re new to strategy testing an
402. sion representing the symbol name See also GetSymbolName SymbolNumber Number representing the GlobalServer symbol See CommodityNumber and Cusip SymbolRoot Returns a text string representing the root of the symbol for futures and options only T Abbreviation for Time Returns the closing time of a referenced bar in 24 hour format Usage If T of 1 Bar Ago gt 1100 Then Buy at Market buys at or after 11 AM Tangent Returns the tangent value of num degrees Usage Valuel Tangent 72 returns 3 0776 when num is 72 degrees Target Reserved for future use TargetType Reserved for future use Text Retained for backward compatibility Text Delete Deletes the specified text object Syntax Text Delete TX Ref TX Ref a numeric expression representing the object identification number Returns status code indicating whether or not operation was successful Usage Text Delete 3 deletes text object number 3 Usage Valuel Text Delete 2 returns status code after deleting text object 2 Text GetColor Returns the color value of the specified text object see Text Delete for syntax Usage Valuel Text GetColor 4 freturns the color of text object 4 Text GetDate Returns the date of the left edge of the specified text object Syntax Text Delete TX Ref TX Ref a numeric expression representing the object identification number Usage Valuel Text GetDate 2 returns the date of text object 2 324
403. sition returns 1 if currently held position is Long I OpenEquity Returns the current gain or loss while a position is open If Specifies condition s that must be met to execute a set of instructions Usage If Conditionl Then Begin Operations done if condition is true End 298 APPENDIX C IncludeSignal Used to include one signal s EasyLanguage instructions in another Syntax IncludeSignal SignalName Inputl InputN SignalName Name of the signal to be included Input refers to one of the included signal s inputs InputN additional input names separated by commas Usage IncludeSignal LowEntry Price BarCount IncludeSystem Reserved for backward compatibility Replaced by IncludeSignal InitialMargin Returns the Initial Margin Requirement of a position Usage If InitialMargin of Position gt 500 Then Any Operation Input Used to declare an input name that accepts a user value when applying a technique Usage Input Length 10 declares input Length with an initial value of 10 Inputs Declares multiple inputs separated by commas See Input Usage Inputs Price 5 25 Length 8 Status True Inst Percent Held The percent of common stock held by institutions relative to total outstanding shares InStr Returns the location of String2 within Stringl Syntax InStr String1 String2 String1 Text string to be searched String2 Word or phrase to be found in String1 Retums Char
404. statement with the DLL s type int following the DLL name DefineDLLFunc MyDLL DLL int MyFunction int EasyLanguage Syntax Errors 261 276 DLL name cannot be longer than 60 characters The name of the DLL used to define any function through the DefineDLLFunc statement cannot exceed 60 characters 277 DLL function name cannot be longer than 65 characters The name of a function defined using the DefineDLLFunc statement cannot exceed 65 characters 278 A variable expected here Whenever the PowerEditor expects a variable and finds another reserved or user defined word it will highlight the unexpected word and give this message An example is when a function is expecting a variable as one of the parameters because itis expecting to receive the variable by reference 279 An array expected here Functions can now receive arrays as parameters If a function is expecting an array and instead the PowerEditor finds a variable input or other reserved word different than an array it will display this error In the following example the function Average a calcu lates the average of a particular array so the following will generate the syntax error Variable MyVar 0 Valuel Average a MyVar 10 To correct this problem you need declare MyVar as an array instead of an integer It should be written Array MyArray 20 0 Valuel Average_a MyArray 10 280 TrueFalse expression expected here This
405. strategy information for plots can only be used in trading signals and functions These words which are listed in the EasyLanguage Dic tionary under the categories Strategy Performance and Strategy Position can only be used when writing trading signals and functions EasyLanguage Syntax Errors 265 300 This plot has been defined with a different type The value of a plot can be assigned more than once but it must always be of the same type Plot statements can display numeric true false and string expressions but they cannot change types within an analysis technique For example the following pair of Plot state ments are not allowed in a analysis technique because they include different data types where the first plot is a text string and the second a true false value Plotl This is a text string If Conditionl Then Plot1 Conditionl 302 Different number of dimensions specified in the array than the parameter This error is shown when an array is passed into a function with the wrong number of di mensions For example this error will be generated if a function is expecting a single di mension array but is sent an array with two dimensions instead 303 Extraneous text is not allowed after the array type parameter When passing an array into a function only the array name should be used This error is displayed whenever any text words or braces are added after the array name that is passed to a function For exa
406. syLanguage color that is used for the plot BackColor specifies the background col 188 Writing Indicators for SuperCharts SE CHAPTER 4 or for use only with the RadarScreen and OptionStation Position Analysis windows and Width is a numeric value representing the width of the plot The parameters lt PlotName gt ForeColor BackColor and Width are optional For a list of the available colors and widths refer to Appendix B of this book Notes The BackColor parameter has no effect when plotting the indicator in a price chart window however it is required in order to specify a width as discussed in the example Example Any one or more of the optional parameters can be omitted as long as there are no other parameters to the right For example the BackColor and Width parameters can be excluded from a statement as follows Plotl1 Volume V Black But the plot name cannot be omitted if you want to specify the plot color and width For instance the following example generates a syntax error because the name of the plot state ment is expected Incorrect Plotl Volume Black White 2 Correct Plot1 Volume V Black White 2 The only required parameter for a valid Plot statement is the value that will be plotted So the following statement is valid Plot1 Volume When no plot name is specified EasyLanguage will use Plot1 Plot2 Plot3 or Plot4 as the plot names for each plot The first plot will be named
407. t Statement Ad AUN essen Variable Declaration Statement 55 726 Setting oe A 107 working with 25 value of line at specific bar obtaining RUD Qul MR e E E ANTO TAS P 333 Va S uaitusesee teen 335 d aes Hp peer E gt FE E E A T ee 335 FUE RASS Spies eae sicque e anii VARS TARFADDR Auriense dio iD E Xr Sr ph a adire ide dhe 335 True False Parameters eese 58 3 Vega eee 228 335 rueFalse messere 333 V d CGA Val e 35 eet 228 r eFalseAErray nee eret E denen 333 3 Video Files playing eene 111 r ueFalseArrayRef sirier asarira ieai 333 VOID 335 DPhBEHISOReT l entteeeeenennnttnee nenne ttene nnn tt ttn nnn nnno ttten nnn nnnt ttt nn 7 f Volatility Models rueFalseSerEtes eiii a N E a a 333 ask obtaining 229 i ose mu T MED bid obtaining 230 Tues day Y SESS 7 calculating volatility in OptionStation Price TXT Files outputting information to sess 74 data ever d Wo Pe ee eee ng ME S U delta obtaining i eee pee ven caste first option analyzed confirming Unde E E EN e ER qu e PS RETO Eae OAS 334 gamma obtaining eese Index 351 global variables nieri anai e ER N e 234 Rho obtainilg eite 227 theoretical value obtaining eee 226 Theta obtaining sese 228 tick type obtaining sese 232 underlying asset price referencing 230 Vega obtaining terrere
408. t covers writing indicators for the Position Analysis window and then dis cusses writing indicators for price charts In the Position Analysis window shown in Figure 5 3 you have three sections available for your analysis the Assets section the Options section and the Positions section The Assets section refers to the underlying asset or assets used as the basis for the analysis window the Options section includes information on all of the options available in the GlobalServer for the asset s and the Positions section includes all the information about any position s added to the Position Analysis window You can write indicators EasyLanguage for OptionStation Writing OptionStation Indicators 205 to use data from any of the three sections in order to calculate and display custom information oR EE REN Analysis Microsoft Corp OF x Net Change Percent Chan Total Volume Tre L Assets E EM E Last Qu Du IE ligh Day Low Day Eis Assets 0 000 46 050 800 Net Change Percent Change Total volume z Quo pen High Day Low DaY pay 2 700 ts i X 4 400 9 200 6 4 200 5 1 400 0 063 10 00 3100 gt Gross In Gross Out Gross P amp L Prob Calculator sts Actual Acto Above High Below Low 3 Pos1 1 812 50 1 812 50 0 00 25 8896 23 7396 50 39 High Target 9 2 Figure 5 3 OptionS tation Position Analysis window Since all of the information on the underlying asset s options and o
409. t get the same re sults with a grid as you would on a price chart A simple example that illustrates this point is an indicator that keeps a running total of the volume If you apply this indicator to a price chart that has a year s worth of bars you will end with the yearly trading volume whereas if you apply it to a grid window that has only one day s worth you will end with the daily trading volume Because of this there is a setting in the Format dialog box for all indicators when applied to grid windows that allows you to specify how many additional bars to use when calculat The Basic EasyLanguage Elements How EasyLanguage is Evaluated 9 ing that particular indicator This setting is under the General tab when formatting an in dicator and is called Load additional data for accumulative calculations Figure 2 2 Format lmica Aere Direkam jor GA Senensi ings Side Ce Note Enabling this feature affects the calculation speed as more data must be loaded for all symbols in the grid application Figure 2 2 Load additional data for cumulative calculations When a number other than zero is specified for this setting the grid window will load as many bars as necessary to calculate the indicator plus whatever number of bars specified by this setting Then the indicator will be evaluated for every one of these bars starting from the oldest bar and stepping forward to the most current bar and displays the most
410. t of the process you can use an IF THEN statement with TargetType The following IF THEN statement performs the instructions only when the Pricing Model is being called to calculate the MIV values on the raw data If TargetType 1 Then Begin EasyLanguage instruction s here End FirstOption This reserved word is only valid in Volatility Models It will return a true false value If the option being evaluated is the very first analyzed then this reserved word will return True if it is any other option it will return False 234 Writing OptionStation Models CHAPTER 5 Syntax FirstOption Parameters None Notes This reserved word speeds up calculations that need to be performed only once for an entire option chain Example For example if the analysis is using a fixed volatility for all options the volatility should only be calculated for the first option the resulting value can be used for the rest of the op tions instead of calculating the volatility as many times as there are options In EasyLanguage you could write a Volatility Model in the following way If FirstOption Then Begin Volatility calculations here the resulting value is assigned to global variable GVValuel End ModelVolatility GVValuel Notice that in the above example GVValuel is an OptionStation global variable For a dis cussion of global variables see the next section OptionStation Global Variables TickType TickType will
411. tation performs its calculations and what data is available to you at each stage There is a tremendous amount of information available to you and depending on the OptionStation EasyLanguage document Indicator Search Strategy Pricing Model Volatility Model or Bid Ask Model you are creating you can refer to information on the underlying asset option and or position To enable you to manage the vast amount of information available OptionStation EasyLanguage provides reserved words that act as qualifiers to enable you to specify whether you want to refer to information on the underlying asset option or position For instance to calculate the intrinsic value of an option you retrieve the strike price of the option as well as the closing price of the underlying asset In this case you need to specify that you want to refer to the closing price of the underlying asset as opposed to the close of the option The way to do this is by using the reserved words outlined next as qualifiers or data aliases The reserved words you can use as qualifiers are listed next grouped by the type of information they provide asset option or position 196 Reading OptionStation Data CHAPTER 5 Asset Information EasyLanguage enables you to reference through a set of reserved words the information related to the underlying asset being analyzed These reserved words are available when working with all OptionStation EasyLanguage documents Indicat
412. tax TL_GetStyle TL_Ref cDate Time TL_Ref a numeric expression representing the object identification number cDate date in YYYMMDD format Time time in HHMM 24 hour format Returns price if operation successful or error code if not Usage Value2 TL_GetValue 2 991104 0930 returns the price of trendline 2 TL_New Creates a new trendline using specified start and end points Syntax TL_New sDate sTime sPrice eDate eTime eP rice sDate starting point date in YYYMMDD format sTime starting point time in HHMM 24 hour format sPrice starting point price eDate ending point date in YY YMMDD format eTime ending point time in HHMM 24 hour format ePrice ending point price Returns trendline ID if operation successful error code if not Usage Valuel TL New 990107 0930 45 990125 1600 37 250 TL SetAlert Sets the alert status for a specified trendline Syntax TL SetAlert TL Ref Status TL Ref a numeric expression representing the object identification number Status O no alert 1 breakout intrabar alert 2 breakout on close alert Usage TL SetAlert 3 1 sets intrabar alert for trendline 3 TL_SetBegin Changes the starting point of a specified trendline Syntax TL_SetBegin TL_Ref sDate sTime sP rice TL_Ref a numeric expression representing the object identification number see TL_New for descriptions of sDate sTime sPrice Usage TL_SetBegin 4 990221 1015 107 225 330 APPENDIX C TL SetColor Changes the co
413. ted functions de clared using cdecl stdcall or fastcall For DLLs to be compatible with EasyLanguage exported functions should be created using all uppercase letters and be declared as stdcall These exported functions must be listed within the EXPORTS section of the DLL s DEF file Using declspec dllexport from the function s prototype is not sufficient for EasyLanguage to locate a DLL s exported functions For example the following statement declares a function called MessageBeep which resides in the DLL called USER32 DLL It returns a boolean true false value and it expects one parameter int DefineDLLFunc USER32 DLL bool MessageBeep int Data Types EasyLanguage supports a number of valid data types that may be used to send and receive information to functions contained in DLLs Following is a list of the data types supported by EasyLanguage Fundamental Data es BYTE byte integer data type char byte integer data type int 4 byte signed integer data type WORD 2 byte unsigned integer data type long 4 byte signed integer data type DWORD 4 byte unsigned integer data type float 4 byte floating point data type double 8 byte floating point data type BOOL 4 byte boolean data type EasyLanguage and Other Languages Defining a DLL Function 237 UNSIGNED LONG Same as DWORD VOID Means No returned value Pointer es LPBYTE Pointer to a BYTE LPINT Pointer to an int LPWORD Pointer t
414. tement that does not delete the target file every time the trading strategy or analysis technique is applied or recalculated This target file grows until it is manually edited or deleted 76 Drawing Text on Price Charts CHAPTER 2 Note You can use the reserved word FileDelete to delete the file and simulate the behavior of the Print statement A carriage return is not added to the end of each expression sent use the reserved word NewLine whenever you want to include a carriage return For example the following statement writes the text to the file one line for each bar on the chart FileAppend c My Documents text txt This text will be sent to a file NewLine Also because this reserved word accepts only text string expressions any dates or numbers must be converted to text strings For example the following statement sends the date and the closing price of every bar to the file FileAppend c MMy Documents text txt ELDateToString Date NumToStr Close 2 Notice that the date of the current bar is included but as a parameter to the reserved word ELDateToString which converts an EasyLanguage date Y Y YMMDD format to a text string expression Likewise the closing price is included as the parameter for the NumToStr reserved which converts numbers to text string expressions Drawing Text on Price Charts Another way to display information on screen is to write text on a price chart The first con
415. that doesn t exist For example the following statements will cause this error Plot1 High H Valuel Plot1 Plot2 since Plot2 has not been defined The PowerEditor highlights the second instance of the Plot command to indicate where the error occurred 264 APPENDIX A 296 This plot has never been assigned a value This error is generated when referring to the value of a plot that has not been previously defined in the analysis technique For example the following statements will produce this error Plotl1 Average Close 10 If Plotl Crosses Over Plot2 Then Alert because Plot2 has not been defined 297 Server field name too long cannot be more than 30 characters Server Quote fields can be up to 30 characters long This error will be generated whenever a server field with a name that has more than 30 characters is used 298 Strategy Information for plots function not allowed in a strategy None of the Strategy Information for plots words can be used within a strategy These words are designed to be used in other analysis techniques to refer to overall performance of the strategy However there are strategy specific words that can be used from the strat egy to refer to these figures These words are I AvgEntryPrice I ClosedEquity I CurrentContracts I MarketPosition I OpenEquity 299 Strategy Information function not allowed in a study Strategy information words other than the
416. the Expert Commentary window You can send multiple expressions they must be separated by commas To include a carriage return in your Commentary use the reserved word NewLine as a Commentary expression where needed You can also use the reserved word CommentaryCL instead discussed next For example the following statements produce the commentary shown in Figure 2 12 Commentary This is commentary Commentary written in one line Expert Commentary for TradeStation ioj x mla 2 OMGA Omega Research Inc LAST Daily 11 17 1999 This is commentary written in one line Important This commentary is designed solely as a training tool for the understanding ol echnical analysis of the financial markets It is not designed to provide any investment or other professional advice Figure 2 12 Expert Commentary window As mentioned above to include line breaks in the commentary you need to use the NewLine reserved word For example the following statements produce two lines of commentary text Commentary The 10 bar avg of the close NewLine Commentary is Average Close 10 Also you can create links in your Commentary text to the Windows Media Player to play an audio clip and to definitions in the Online User Manual The links are words in your Commentary that appear in a different color and that when clicked play an audio clip or bring up the specified definition in the Online
417. the criteria of the Search Strategy the four options making up the position are run through the Price Modeling Engine using the current values date time price and volatility of the underlying symbol in order to find all the values the models offer for each one of the four options Then a position is established by buying on the modeled ask or selling on the modeled bid each one of the legs of the position 3 Then the Position Search Engine calls the Price Modeling Engine and runs the position through it using the search assumptions date time price and volatility for the underlying symbol in order to find all the values the models offer Then the position is exited by selling on the modeled bid or buying on the modeled ask each one of the legs Subtracting this from the values obtained in Step 2 minus commission results in the theoretical profit of the position based on the assumptions 4 The results for this position are saved in the Position Search report if it is one of the 50 most profitable If there are more option combinations to test the Position Search Engine begins again at Step 1 Once there are no more option combinations to test OptionStation lists up to fifty 50 of the most profitable positions theoretically in the Position Search window Three of the more important dialog boxes of the Position Search Wizard are discussed next the Holding Period Volatility and Underlying Target Price EasyLanguage for
418. the day of the month For example the EasyLanguage date corresponding to December 17 1999 is 991217 whereas January 13 2000 is written as 1000113 One of the advantages of representing dates as numeric expressions is that it allows the comparison of dates For example 1000113 is greater i e itis a later date than 991217 and the following comparison evaluates to True 1000113 gt 991217 A second way of representing dates in EasyLanguage is Julian Dates The Julian Date sys tem assigns a date a number n and the next calendar day has the Julian date n all cal endar days not just trading days The Julian Date system begins on January 1 1900 which is assigned the number 2 January 2 1900 becomes the number 3 December 31 1999 is 36 525 and January 1 2000 is 36 526 etc This allows us to perform mathematical calculations with dates such as addition and sub traction without having to worry about rolling over months and years For example if we have the EasyLanguage date 991013 13 of October of 1999 and we want to find the date of 20 days ago we could incorrectly try to subtract 20 from the date 99JqIS c 20 However we would end up with 990993 which is not a valid EasyLanguage date Instead we can subtract 20 from the Julian equivalent of the date 36 446 20 The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Manipulating Dates and Times 21 This results in 36 426 which is correct because it is the Julian Date that cor
419. the same bar whichever signal is listed first in the TradeStation StrategyBuilder is filled the second order is ignored Note It is possible to enable pyramiding for a Trading Strategy in which case multiple entries in the same direction can be filled The rules used to process orders for Trading Strategies that allow pyramiding are explained on page 124 To summarize this rule this bar on close orders are evaluated first then next bar at market orders If there are multiple orders of the same type then the orders that come from the signal that is listed first in the TradeStation StrategyBuilder have a higher priority Furthermore if there is more than one order of the same type in a Trading Signal the orders that appear first in the PowerEditor Trading Signal document are evaluated first and the rest are ignored unless pyramiding is allowed As shown in Figure 3 5 if Signal A is listed first in the TradeStation StrategyBuilder then Order A1 will be executed and the rest ignored whereas if Signal B is listed first in the TradeStation Strategy Builder then Order B1 will be filled Strategy Signal A Order A1 Order A2 Signal B L Order B1 Figure 3 5 Trading Strategy with multiple Trading Signals and orders Rule 2 Stop and Limit Orders Once all market orders are evaluated the Trading Strategy Testing Engine analyzes stop and limit orders If there are multiple stop or limit orders the Trading Strategy Testing E
420. ther reserved word dif ferent than an array of text strings it will display this error For example a function Average a which combines all the text strings that are in an array into one should be used as follows Array MyArray 20 Variable MyText MyText Average a MyArray 10 307 The word Cancel must be followed by Alert Whenever cancelling a previously enabled alert the statement Cancel Alert needs to be used This error is displayed whenever using the word Cancel without the word Alert 308 A data alias POSITION was expected here When working with OptionStation analysis techniques and referring to some data infor mation or expression referring to a position it is necessary to specify if the data being re ferred to is from a position In order to correct this error add the qualifier of Position to the expression used 309 This word not allowed in a Search Strategy The word highlighted by the PowerEditor is not allowed in a Search Strategy Words like Plot1 Buy Sell etc are not allowed in Search Strategies 310 This word not allowed in a Pricing Model The word highlighted by the PowerEditor is not allowed in a Pricing Model Words like Plot1 Buy Sell etc are not allowed in Pricing Models 311 The words Future or Option may not be numbered in a Pricing Model The words Future n and Option n cannot be used in a Pricing Model These words can be used in all other Opt
421. tiates a short position named My Entry Again when a Trading Signal or Strategy that contains this statement is applied to a price chart the order name also re ferred to as signal name is displayed on the chart over the onscreen arrows that correspond to this statement and in the TradeStation Strategy Performance Report under the Trade by Trade tab see Figure 3 13 Naming Trading Signals on page 132 Number of Shares Contracts To specify how many shares or contracts to open the short position with place a numeric expression followed by the words shares or contracts after the trading verb Sell and entry order name if used Some examples Sell My Entry 100 Shares Sell 5 Contracts EasyLanguage for TradeStation Trading Verbs 135 Sell Valuel Shares Note The words shares and contracts are synonymous If the number of shares contracts is not specified the value entered under the Costs tab of the Format Strategy dialog box is used The Costs tab contains a section that controls the default trade amount this can be set to either a fixed unit or dollars per transaction What ever is specified in this dialog box is used by the Trading Strategy Engine only if the Sell statement does not specify the number of shares contracts with which to open the position Execution Method You can use four different execution methods with the trading verb Sell this bar on close next bar at market next bar at price Stop
422. tion may be reproduced stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic mechanical photocopying recording or otherwise without prior written permission of Omega Research Inc Printed in the United States of America TradeStation amp SuperCharts OptionStation Omega Research ProSuite PowerEditor and EasyLanguage are registered trademarks of Omega Research Inc RadarScreen ProbabilityMap ActivityBar PaintBar and ShowMe are trademarks of Omega Research Inc Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation and MS DOS and Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation Contents CHAPTER 1 Introduction eee ee cesse eese ee eee eese eese eese eese esee ss ssssss D Whatas BasyEanguage 2 45 ote er e Er AR FREE RE Ere E PEERERTER 2 What Can You Create uisi ote teer ere eR ER ERR He ELE T ete HR Ne Yeh cedes 2 Additional Resources oii serie dete o teret ite pe ne i t ert etre i trt eis 3 CHAPTER 2 The Basic EasyLanguage Elements 5 How EasyLanguage is Evaluated sse 6 Aboutthe EAnguape c eerte deat e ebd ae petet re ertet 10 Referencing Price Data 3 eee e e dettes eie itera 11 Expressions and Operators itte e ote ie tate esiti 12 Referencing Previous Vall s eee te aree ee reed ree reds 17 Manipulating Dates and Times sessesessseeeeeeeee nennen erret eene 20 Using Variable
423. tion of the trading signal analysis technique or function use this reserved word BeginCmtryOrAlert The statements between this compiler directive and the reserved word End are evaluated only when either commentary is requested or the alert is enabled The statements are not considered when determining the MaxBarsBack setting and any series functions within these reserved words are ignored You must use the reserved word End with this reserved word Syntax BeginCmtryOrAlert EasyLanguage instruction s End For example the following uses the same indicator as described in the previous reserved word but an alert is triggered when the volume is twice its average Plotl Close Close 10 Momentum BeginCmtryOrAlert If Plotl gt 0 Then Commentary Momentum is positive Else Commentary Momentum is negative If Volume Average Volume 50 Then Begin Commentary and volume is greater than average If Volume gt 2 Average Volume 50 Then Alert End Else Commentary and volume is lower than average 72 Output Methods CHAPTER 2 End Using the Message Log Window You can send any type of information to the Message Log window from trading signals analysis techniques and functions The Message Log window is an active document that resides in the Omega Research Desktop within a workspace just like any other Omega Research window It
424. tionale or mathematical principles In order for a Pricing Model to produce valuable results it must have all of the following pieces of information 1 Price of the underlying asset 2 Strike price of the option 3 Interest rates 4 Time to expiration of option 5 Volatility The price of the underlying asset and the strike price of each option are provided by the GlobalServer The interest rates are somewhat of a constant number that can be input into the OptionStation Pricing Model by the user The time to expiration of the option is fixed and therefore easily calculated by OptionStation Volatility is the value most open to inter pretation as there are several methods used to calculate it depending on your preference and the data available Once the Price Modeling Engine has received the first four pieces of information it will run through the OptionStation models and will derive MIV Market Implied Volatility on raw Bid and Ask MIV on Last Theoretical Value of the option Delta Gamma Rho The ta Vega modeled Bid and Ask MIV on modeled Bid and Ask and modeled Volatility not necessarily in that order When the Price Modeling Engine finishes calculating all this information is available for the analysis of the options and underlying asset The Price Modeling Engine enhances the options data that is sent from the datafeed to the GlobalServer and OptionStation with all the option specific data mentioned before All this is
425. tions You can reference the values of functions on previous bars For example the following statement refers to the value of the 10 bar average of the volume one bar ago Valuel Average Volume 10 1 In the above example the function itself is being offset Using Previous Values as Parameters You can also offset the value that you pass as the parameter For example you can also write the following statement Valuel Average Volume 1 10 What is offset is the value that is passed into the function as the parameter not the function itself In the above example the function will use the previous bar s volume to perform the calculation In this instance the results are the same for both of the above statements How ever the difference in the results can be significant depending on the calculation being per formed For example suppose there is a function called OpenDiff that calculates the difference be tween the open of the current bar and the value passed to the function through the parame ter The function takes the value passed and subtracts it from the open of the current bar using the following formula OpenDiff Open Price where Open is the opening price of the bar and Price is the parameter for the function Assume you write the following state ment Valuel OpenDiff Close 1 EasyLanguage obtains the value of the function on the previous bar The value returned is equal to the open of the previous ba
426. to express your trading ideas when writing Trading Signals We refer to these words as trading verbs and these are Trading Verb Description Buy Cover all short positions and initiate a long position Sell Cover all long positions and initiate a short position ExitLong Close a long position ExitShort Close a short position Figure 3 1 Trading Verbs Each one of these orders can have four different execution methods this bar on close next bar at market next bar at price stop next bar at price limit As with all other EasyLanguage statements the statements created using these trading verbs are evaluated at the end of every bar at which point an order is placed When an order is executed this bar on close i e at the close of the current bar it is exe cuted immediately when the bar is closed If it is specified as a next bar at market order it is executed at the opening price of the next bar Stop and limit orders are left as open orders that remain active throughout the next bar until the price specified is met or the bar is closed completed Depending on the trading verb used stop and limit orders translate into or higher or or low er than the specified price The statement Buy next bar at 100 limit opens a long position during the next bar at the first price available at or under 100 Similarly the statement ExitShort next bar at 50 stop closes a short position during the next bar at th
427. to improve your trading signals analysis techniques and functions for speed whenever dividing by a fixed number a literal use multiplication instead of division This allows EasyLanguage to skip the division by zero check For example when finding the midpoint of the bar you can write Caie sp iow 4 2 Given that we know dividing by two forces EasyLanguage to check for division by zero we can use the following expression to improve the speed of the same calculation kiea 4 ihren O45 Relational Operators Relational operators enable the following standard comparisons greater than less than equal to greater than or equal to less than or equal to and not equal to EasyLanguage also provides two trading specific operators crosses over and crosses under which enable you to identify the bar on which two numeric expressions cross The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Expressions and Operators 15 The relational operators available in EasyLanguage are Relational Meaning Operator Less than gt Greater than lt Less than or equal to gt Greater than or equal to E Equal to lt gt Not equal to crosses over Greater than on current bar but less than or equal to on the previous bar you can also use crosses above crosses under Less than on current bar but greater than or equal to on the previous bar you can also use crosses below Using these relational operators yo
428. tops are exit trading signals that are not market driven they exit you from the market based on your risk tolerance or desired profit TradeStation provides six built in stops trading signals that are written using specific reserved words The built in stops are unique because the reserved words they use are recalculated on every tick instead at the completion of a bar In other words they are active on the bar of entry and updated for every bar of a position on a tick by tick basis All other EasyLanguage instructions you write are calculated at the completion of a bar only This unique behavior is especially important to remember when using the trailing stop Once a built in stop order is placed the value of the trailing stop is recalculated on every tick and if necessary the stop order is canceled and a new stop order is placed before the completion of a bar This means that a built in stop order can be generated placed and filled on the same bar using the prices from that bar For example assume you apply a trading strategy that contains a built in trailing stop to a daily chart when collecting real time delayed data The price at which the order is placed is recalculated every tick If the price for the order differs from the last calculation e g because the market made a new high then the open order is canceled and a new order is placed on the current bar regardless of the status of the bar The drawback to using the built in sto
429. tor 268 APPENDIX A 322 A data alias ASSET expected here When working with OptionStation analysis techniques and with some data information referring to the underlying asset it is necessary to specifically state that the information referred to is from the asset In order to correct this add the qualifier of Asset to the ex pression highlighted when this error is displayed 323 Value type inputs may not be passed into reference type inputs Functions can receive array and variable parameters by reference or by value However if a function receives a variable or array by value it is not possible to pass the parameter to a second function by reference If an input of a function needs to be passed by reference to another function it must also be declared as a reference input 324 A data alias LEG expected here When working with OptionStation analysis techniques and with some data information referring to a specific leg it is necessary to specify which leg of a position should be used In order to correct this add the qualifier of Leg n to the expression highlighted 325 Only an array variable or reference input is allowed here Functions can receive arrays as parameters If a function is expecting an array any other type of parameter variable input or reserved word will display this error In the follow ing example Variable MyVar 0 Valuel Average a MyVar 10 the function Average a
430. true false value to the variable Condition1 by using Condition2 and a comparison that involves the Close A corrected version would look like this Conditionl Condition2 AND Open Close 155 expected here The left parenthesis was expected before the highlighted word for example if you are us ing a function that requires parameters and no parameters are listed Valuel Average 10 In this example the highlight signifies that a parenthesis was expected before the sign 244 APPENDIX A 156 expected here The right parenthesis was expected after the highlighted word for example if you are us ing a function that requires parameters you must enclose them in parentheses Valuel Average Close 10 Here the highlight signifies that a closing parenthesis was expected before the 157 Arithmetic numeric expression expected here This error is displayed whenever the PowerEditor is expecting a number or a numeric ex pression and it finds a true false expression string value or any other keyword that does not return a numeric expression For example the Average function expects two numeric expressions so the following Valuel Average Conditionl 10 generates an error since Condition is a true false expression 158 An equal sign expected here This error is displayed if the equal sign is omitted when assigning a value to a variable array or function writing an assign
431. ts DWORD i vas andiind daaeiadedaouda edanty sa ven vei pto Pala ponere inei Dynamic Link Libraries DLLs see DLL Functions E EasyLanguage Dictionary using see 51 EasyLanguage DLL Extension Kit 235 EasyLanguage Support Center esses 3 EasyLanguage Toolkit Library 239 EasyLanguage defined eee 2 EasyLanguageVersion 291 EL DateStr 291 ELDate dil EEKIT32 DLL net ono ent et nen bnt debseniet 239 EDEKIT32 H nene erobert 239 ELKITBOR LIB ELKITVC LIB ELSE alant erre e ioo Entries execution method specifying 132 135 exits tying exits to an entry 137 141 limiting per position oes eee seen 122 TAMING 252 oe e MN AN TETUR price specifying sene shares contracts specifying number of 132 134 ENGEY EE EntryDate EntrbyBRIT TOG qve ete ix Det tiri a Lc Pet reae 291 ET ryTqil e9e eee tee RU RE Ra neus 291 EPS BEES PChng Y AGO errato ENa O 291 EPSPChng YTD 58 erred eerte Cre 292 EPSCount EPSDate EPSTime Errors arrays TUN tme usse eter 49 division by zero avoiding 14 EasyLanguage syntax errors 241 oq prx O TT 2714 trendIimes 10i a eet erect ds 90 274 Execution Method Buy ExitLong ExitShort DCL Peaks EE pU es otk understanding sss 116 ExitDate ExitLo
432. ts Using Variables 27 Name is the name of the variable The name must start with a letter and can be a maximum of 20 characters in length The name can contain letters numbers dashes or periods Value is any numeric true false or text string value it is the initial value for the variable You can declare one or more variables using the same statement by separating the variables with commas For example the following statement declares three variables each of a dif ferent type Variables Number 0 Condition False TextStr Text There is no limit to the number of variables that you can declare with one statement al though if you prefer you can use multiple variable declaration statements There is no limit to the number of Variable Declaration statements you can use either Also the reserved words Var Vars and Variables are synonyms to Variable and can be used interchangeably For example you could re write the statement above as Vars Number 0 Condition False Var TextStr Text The values in parentheses serves two purposes First it indicates the type of variable it is numeric true false or text string If you use a numeric expression the variable is a numeric variable if you use a true false expression then it is a true false variable and likewise if you use a text string expression the variable is a text string variable Second the value in parentheses assigns the initial value to the variable
433. tting see MaxBarsBack GREASE aineeteneesntee peior epe se het RTA deese eese seeker esce eques esee EE S ART OS S cuvamoexseneioue ste SERIE RIETI eds ie duet axPositionLoss x axPositronBProfit edengeseene Nee pedi eres 302 Message Log Window character limit per line esee 72 formatting output 73 1n stallimg deep P RETO PIENO S outputting to OVELVIEW oara deen ost ei le e e eet e Hehe tet essageLog idStr DVDS oen ee nan eea one cotes dene IN sens eine pe NITE PST Die de hnnSqeusgicni t en IO I B inMove inutesToTime MIT see Market If Touched MIT MIV see Market Implied Volatility MIV IVonAsk IVonBid os IVOnGlOSGOcC ucro eee dent rer ees 303 TVONRAWASK usiri aede iia 304 IVonRawBid 304 QUO EREE 304 sje E erties 304 Ode T PoSJtT osa hens ettet reuerti 203 304 OdelPrliGe enere irei ne a dado ro xxn wo 230 304 Models Bid Ask Models see Bid Ask Models global Variables rere 233 Price Modeling Engine see Price Modeling Engine Pricing Models see Pricing Models understanding esee 221 Volatility Models see Volatility Models odelVolatility i e nea 229 304 ONO yc csetera ens oneyMgtStopAmt ODE uices oere re a E rE ATA A arietes Movie Files see Video Files Multimedia Files AVI files playing eese 111 WAY files playing 4 terrre 110 DUI IDEDBE atate deste i tx P a eared ed i dyteb dede 305 M
434. tual path and name of the file Refer to the discussion of the reserved word FileAppend below for information on appending to the file instead of overwriting it When sending information to the printer or a file we recommend you use the FileAppend reserved word instead of Print FileAppend This reserved word creates and appends text string expressions to the specified file When sending information to the printer or a file we recommend you use this reserved word instead of Print Syntax FileAppend FileName Text lt FileName gt is a text string expression representing the full path and name of the file to write to and Text is a text string expression to append to the file This reserved word accepts a text string expression for the file name it will not delete the target file when the trading strategy or analysis technique is applied to the chart or grid or recalculated it will not add a carriage return at the end of the expression sent to the file and finally it only accepts text string expressions The fact that it will allow a text string expression as the file name enables users to specify the file name to be written to through a variable and or inputs For example the following statements use the symbol name as a file name Variable Txt Txt c MMy Documents V GetSymbolName txt FileAppend Txt This will be sent to a file This reserved word provides an alternative to the Print sta
435. tures This is important when you want to access the values of array elements from third party languages through DLLs because depending on the state of the array there will be more or less historical data stored than you require In this scenario you can force an array to be a series array by referencing a previous value of an element in the array in your trading signal analysis technique or function i e by using a dummy statement Or you may want to consider working with functions you can force a function to be a series function Refer to the next section in this chapter titled Understanding User Functions on page 50 for more information 50 Understanding User Functions CHAPTER 2 Understanding User Functions A user function is a defined set of instructions that you reference by name and that return a value The value returned by functions can be numeric true false or text string and you can use functions in any part of a statement that requires a value For example in trading it is very common to calculate the range of a bar the high minus the low Every time EasyLanguage users need to calculate the range of a bar they don t need to write out the expression High Low because EasyLanguage provides a function called Range Whenever you need the calculation for the range of a bar you can use the EasyLanguage user function Range instead of writing out the expression Range is one of the simplest functions available in Eas
436. turns the highest value of the listed inputs Syntax MaxList Num1 NumN Num1 the first value or expression to compare NumN additional values to compare separated by commas Usage Valuel MaxList 45 72 86 125 47 freturns a value of 125 MaxList2 Returns the second highest value of the listed inputs See MaxList for syntax Usage Value2 MaxList2 18 67 98 24 65 19 returns a value of 67 MaxLoss The Maximum Loss of the position Usage If MaxLoss of Position gt LowVal Then any operation MaxPositionLoss Dollar amount of largest loss for the specified position Syntax MaxPositionLoss N um Num number of positions ago MaxPositionProfit Dollar amount of largest gain for the specified position Syntax MaxPositionProfit N um Num number of positions ago Reserved Words Quick Reference 303 MessageLog Sends information to the Message Log Syntax MessageLog tem1 ltemN Item1 a string or numeric expression ItemN additional strings or expressions separated by commas Usage MessageLog Today is Date Time Close is Close MidStr Returns the middle portion of a text string Syntax MidStr String Location Size String text expression to evaluate Location starting character position of the text string to be returned Size length of the text string to be returned Usage Valuel MidStr Net Profit Value 5 6 returns the word Profit MinList Returns the lowest value of the
437. type of formula cannot be solved by EasyLanguage so whenever a circular reference is found this error is displayed 266 Cannot divide by zero This error will be displayed when dividing any numerical expression by the literal number 0 So when the following is written Valuel Close 0 the PowerEditor will generate a syntax error because dividing by zero is a mathematical indetermination and cannot be solved 287 File name expected here This error is displayed when using the Print statement to send information to the printer and an invalid file name is used for the file name The file name should be specified as text between double quotes Note that a text string expression will not be accepted as a file name in the Print statement For example the PowerEditor will display this error when evaluating the following statement Print File Valuel Date Time Close The file name needs to be text included in double quotes for example Print File c omega research test txt Date Time Close 288 A file or directory name must be 260 characters and may not contain lt gt Certain instructions like the Print and FileAppend statements require a file name The file name needs to be less than 260 characters long and cannot have any of the characters listed in the error label For example this error will be displayed when writing Print File c data txt Date Time Close since the characte
438. u ation methodology as described in Pricel to Price 2 is used EasyLanguage for OptionStation Writing Search Strategies 221 Pricel X volatilities using probability This method of determining the price assumption is similar to the price range methodology only that the high and low values of the price range are determined by adding and subtracting X number of standard deviations based on the current volatility of the underlying asset from the target price specified The same evalu ation methodology as described in Price to Price 2 using probability is used 222 Writing Search Strategies CHAPTER 5 Position Search Reserved Words Every Search Strategy must contain the following two reserved words CreateLeg and PositionStatus CreateLeg Contracts LegType This reserved word is used to create a leg for a position Syntax CreateLeg Contracts LegType Parameters Contracts is the number of contracts and LegType is Call Put or AssetType Notes Contracts is the number of contracts or shares with which this leg will be created If a pos itive number is used then the leg will purchase the specified number of contracts if a neg ative number is used then the leg will sell or write the specified number of contracts LegType can be Call Put or AssetType and defines what instrument to use for the specific leg Call and Put are self explanatory AssetType specifies to use shares contracts of the un derlying
439. u can compare two numeric or text string expressions For example the following expression finds a bar that closed higher than the high of one bar ago Close High of 1 bar ago When comparing text string expressions each character is substituted with its equivalent ASCII value and the first character of both expressions is compared then the second char acter of each expression is compared and so on until all characters of both expressions have been evaluated Consider the following expression abcd zyxw The first character of the first text string expression is compared to the first character of the second expression The letter a has a smaller ASCII value than z so this expression returns a value of True Logical Operators Logical operators are used to combine two true false expressions There are two logical op erators m AND m OR 16 Expressions and Operators CHAPTER 2 AND is used when both true false expressions must be true OR is used when either one or both of the two expressions must be true Following is a table that shows the possible re sulting values of ANDs and ORs Expression 1 Expression 2 Expression 1 AND Expression 2 True True True True False False False True False False False False Expression 1 Expression 2 Expression 1 OR Expression 2 True True True True False True False True True False False False As seen in the tabl
440. u must store the ID number of the trendline If you are adding multiple trendlines to the price chart we recommended you use arrays to store their ID numbers Trendline Reserved Words Following is a list of all the trendline reserved words available in EasyLanguage TL_New This reserved word adds a trendline with the specified starting and ending points to a price chart It returns a numeric expression corresponding to the ID number of the trendline added to the chart If you want to modify the trendline in any way it is very important that you capture and keep the number the ID number is the only way of referencing a specific trendline Syntax Valuel TL New iBarDate iBarTime iPrice eBarDate eBarTime ePrice 92 Drawing Trendlines on Price Charts CHAPTER 2 Parameters iBarDate iBarTime and iPrice are numeric expressions corresponding to the date time and price respectively of the starting point eBarDate eBarTime and ePrice are numeric expressions corresponding to the date time and price respectively of the end point of the trendline Notes Valuel is any numeric variable or array and holds the ID number for the new trendline A minimum of two different points are needed in order to draw any trendline on a price chart and this is the information that you need to provide to the TL New reserved word to draw a trendline on the price chart from a trading signal analysis technique or function Tr
441. u reference a cell that does not exist a runtime error will occur Example The following statement retrieves the color of the first cell on the right side located at the opening price of the bar The color is assigned to the variable Value Valuel AB GetCellColor Open of Datal RightSide 1 AB GetCellDate Price Side Offset Each time a cell is added to a bar the date and time of when it was added is stored with the cell This reserved word returns the EasyLanguage date corresponding to the date the cell was added to the bar Syntax AB GetCellDate Price Side Offset Parameters Price is a numeric expression representing the price of the cell being referenced Side spec ifies the side of the bar on which the cell is located you must use one of two reserved words LeftSide or RightSide to specify the side and Offset is the column number of the cell referenced where column 1 is the closest to the bar Notes To store the date returned by the reserved word you can assign this reserved word to a numeric variable You can use this reserved word in an ActivityBar study as well as any other analysis technique trading strategy or function If you reference a cell that does not exist a runtime error will occur 172 Writing ActivityBar Studies CHAPTER 3 Example The following statement retrieves the date of the first cell on the right side at the opening price of the bar and assign this date to the numeric variable Va
442. uage This reserved word returns the ID number of the text object on the price chart added immediately after the text object specified You can use this reserved word together with the reserved word Text GetFirst to traverse all the text objects in a price chart It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any text objects by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error Syntax Valuel Text GetNext Text ID Num Parameters Text ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the text object and Num is a numeric expression representing the origin type of the text object The possible values for Num are Value of num Description 1 Text created by a trading signal analysis technique or function 2 Text created by the text drawing object tool only 3 Text created by either the text drawing object tool or a trading sig nal analysis technique or function If a value different than 1 2 or 3 is used EasyLanguage will assume a value of 3 84 Drawing Text on Price Charts CHAPTER 2 Notes Valuel is any numeric variable or array and holds the ID number of the text object added after the text object specified Example The following statements set the color of all text objects in the chart to yellow Valuel Text GetFirst 3 While Valuel lt gt 2 Begin Value2 Te
443. udy to perform its calculations MaxBarsBack also any series functions within the 70 Output Methods CHAPTER 2 statements are calculated See the section Using Commentary Compiler Directives for information on additional reserved words you can use to have the statements both ignored completely Using Commentary Compiler Directives These reserved words are complier directives that cause your trading signal analysis technique or function to completely ignore the statements that follow the reserved word unless the alert is enabled for the indicator or study The trading signal analysis technique or function will not take into account the statements following these words when it determines the number of bars necessary to perform its calculations nor will it calculate any series functions BeginCmtry When the commentary statements are not necessary for the normal calculation of the trading signal analysis technique or function use this reserved word Be ginCmtry The statements between this compiler directive and the reserved word End are evaluated only when the commentary is requested You must use the reserved word End with this reserved word Syntax BeginCmtry EasyLanguage instruction s End Er For example an indicator that calculates the 10 bar momentum of the closing price needs ten bars in order to start plotting results However if commentary is added to this indicator an
444. ue In order to solve this open the function and verify it or run Verify All from the Pow erEditor menu 175 or expected here This error is displayed when listing a number of elements in parentheses and a semicolon is read before the list is finished Valuel Average Close 10 In this case the highlight indicates that either more parameters separated by a comma or a right parenthesis were expected before the semicolon 176 More inputs expected here This error is displayed whenever referencing a function or an included signal without specifying enough inputs For example Valuel Average Close displays an error because only one input is specified while the Average function requires two inputs 1 the price to be averaged and 2 the number of bars 248 APPENDIX A 177 Too many inputs supplied The PowerEditor displays this error when too many inputs are supplied for a function For example the Average function requires only two inputs so the following statement will produce this error Valuel Average Close 10 5 The correct syntax would be Valuel Average Close 10 180 The word END was expected before end of file The compiler directive END must be used to indicate the end of a group of statements included in the alert or commentary only section of an analysis technique The alert and commentary compiler directives will allow certain instructions to be executed only when the ale
445. ue trading strategy or function To store the text string expression returned by the reserved word you can assign this reserved word to a text string variable If you reference a cell that does not exist a runtime error will occur Example The following statements retrieve the text string expression held in the first cell of the row corresponding to the closing price of the current bar Variable Str Str AB GetCellChar Close of datal LeftSide 1 EasyLanguage for TradeStation Writing ActivityBar Studies 171 AB GetCellColor Price Side Offset This reserved word returns a number representing the color used to draw the specified cell Syntax AB GetCellColor Price Side Offset Parameters Price is a numeric expression representing the price of the cell referenced Side specifies the side of the bar on which the cell is located you must use one of two reserved words LeftSide or RightSide to specify the side and Offset is the column number of the cell ref erenced where column 1 is the closest to the bar Notes To store the number returned by the reserved word you can assign this reserved word to a numeric variable The numeric value returned is the EasyLanguage numeric equiva lent used to specify colors For a list of the available colors refer to Appendix B of this book You can use this reserved word in an ActivityBar study as well as any other anal ysis technique trading strategy or function If yo
446. ue false or text string expression For example the fol lowing statements calculate an entry price using an input as the multiplying factor Input Mult 1 3 Variable EntryPrc 0 EntryPrc Highest High 10 Mult If MarketPosition lt gt 1 Then Buy Next Bar at EntryPrc Stop First we declare the input Then we declare a variable to which we assign the highest high price of the last 10 bars multiplied by the input whose value is set to 1 3 Once we have calculated the entry price EntryPrc we place an order If we are not currently in a long 32 Using Inputs CHAPTER 2 position we place a stop order to buy on the next bar at the entry price we ve calculated or higher Notice that we reference the value of the input simply by using the input in place of a value In EasyLanguage you use true false expressions in IF THEN statements and in While loops these are described in the section titled EasyLanguage Control Structures on page 33 These statements perform their actions when the true false expression evaluates to True The following instructions show an example of referencing the value of a true false input Input DrawLine False Plot1 Momentum Close 10 Momentum If DrawLine Then Plot2 0 Zero This indicator plots a momentum line using the closing price ofthe last 10 bars In addition it allows for the plotting of a zero line which by default will not be drawn the input
447. ue2 AB AddCellRange High of ActivityData Low of ActivityData Rightside 3 2 AddToMovieChain Appends movie file MFile to end of movie chain MChain Syntax AddToMovieChain MF ile M Chain MFile a numeric expression representing a movie chain ID MChain a string expression representing the path and name of the avi file to be added to the specified movie chain Ago References a specified number of bars back already analyzed by EasyLanguage Usage Valuel Close of 1 Bar Ago returns Close of the previous bar Alert When True triggers an alert for an indicator or study The alert description is optional Usage If Your Alert Criteria Then Alert MyAlert AlertEnabled Returns True if the Enable Alert check box is selected Usage If AlertEnabled Then Begin Your Code Here End All Specifies all shares contracts are to be sold covered when exiting a position Usage If Conditionl Then ExitLong All Shares Next Bar at Market An Skip word used to improve readability Ignored during execution Usage If an Open is gt 100 Then fany operation AND Links 2 true false expressions together True if both expressions are true Usage If Plotl Crosses Above Plot2 AND Plot2 gt 5 Then any operation Reserved Words Quick Reference 281 Arctangent Returns the arctangent value of num degrees Usage Valuel Arctangent 45 returns 88 7270 when num is 45 degrees Array Used to declare an array type of varia
448. ue2 AB CellCount LeftSide AB ColorIntervals Specifies the color of Activity Bar cells based on a user defined interval Syntax AB Colorintervals BStatus MinuteInterval AB Interval BStatus normally BarS tatus 1 to determine if the ActivityBar is complete Minutelnterval number of minutes that make up each cell color interval ABInterval the bar interval on which the ActivityBar is based e g 5 min 60 min Usage Valuel AB ColorIntervals BarStatus 1 10 BarInterval AB GetCellChar Returns the text string expression stored in the specified cell Syntax AB GetCellChar Price Side Column Price price value of the row containing the character Side LeftSide RightSide Column number of the cell column containing the character on the side specified Usage Str AB GetCellChar Close RightSide 3 Reserved Words Quick Reference 277 AB_GetCellColor Returns the color of the character stored in the specified cell Syntax AB GetCellColor Price Side Column Same parametersparameters as AB_GetCellChar above Usage Valuel AB GetCellChar Open LeftSide 2 AB_GetCellDate Returns the corresponding date of the specified cell Syntax AB GetCellDate Price Side Column Same parameters as AB GetCellChar above Usage Value2 AB GetCellDate High RightSide 5 AB GetCellTime Returns the corresponding time of the specified cell Syntax AB GetCellTime Price Side Column Same parameters as AB_GetCellChar above
449. uel AB GetNumCells Open of Datal RightSide 178 Writing ActivityBar Studies CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 4 EasyLanguage for RadarScreen This chapter covers EasyLanguage specifically for use with RadarScreen 2000i When working with RadarScreen you can write indicators for use in the RadarScreen window as well as price charts RadarScreen 2000i enables you to scan and rank symbols based on almost any criteria imaginable Unlike price charts where your indicators are restricted to plotting a numeric value your RadarScreen indicators can plot a numeric or text string expression This combined with the ability to sort your symbols by up to four indicators in ascending or descending order allows you a great deal of power and flexibility when ranking your symbols This chapter describes the reserved words you ll be using to write your RadarScreen indicators and the considerations you should keep in mind when writing them to maximize the power of RadarScreen Keep in mind that the information in this chapter builds on the foundation outlined in Chapter 2 The Basic EasyLanguage Elements Therefore we recommend you read and understand the material in Chapter 2 before continuing with this chapter particularly the section titled How EasyLanguage is Evaluated at the beginning of Chapter 2 In This Chapter W Writing RadarScreen Indicators 180 W Specifying Availability of Indicators eee 191
450. ultiplication performing sese 13 Music Files see Sound Files N NG Gi MUR 305 Nesting IF THEN Statements sese 36 et Profit Margin ij euet eI PM 305 QUPIEOTJt nues etn avertat ero Dee r det deo PO decus 305 A APRI MN 305 XE Lalsnensetiseserecece idee periere dot eruere nne e es VEN emn 305 oPlot OA EA EE EEA E EG EEG 305 t HAMAX ELSE uendere tere E evo eoa da ings 305 EhMinLbrSt uecqivencenucreuornio rod oet otia 305 uie T Ec isse 306 Numeric Expressions 12 Numeric Parameters 58 UME TT CATHAY ice derer titor ena rere grs 306 umerlcNATFayvRetR casos a e aai jpiu senos i a cvs abe cus obs luo dee cos ETEEN umericSeries umericSimple UME UU UE SSS ucsseeceseeyse erdaeccodesneobuseestepeepececeseeereh UmbheOS svasedsadsesoisini Dor CR YQ EE AA umLosTrades Of skip word OTe ses t AN A ius H1 On v skuap word xnseucenceie 307 Online User Manual and Jump Words 67 10 Of a EER EET ETT cet ee h 11 307 Openint 26er ete tete ak ue EORR beats 11 307 OpenPoSsitionPrOofit espe esee 307 Operators definition i i cree ettet tete e logical x4 ete tte rcd e A td in ce oes rete erc eos mathematical relational 2 5 enero etes string Option P Opt ons CCOWITD s da eEe14 Ee mi os a oes ule 200 Option Data Aliases esee 199 OptionType OR sasancharanavungndtscandsndesa end visas vais oan seals
451. undColor Then Valuel Text SetColor ID TxtColor 1 End In the above example we first declare two variables one to hold the text object ID number the second to hold the number representing the color of the text object Then when we find a key reversal we draw the text object at the low of the bar We also obtain the color of the text object and then compare the text object color to the color of the chart background If it is the same we change the color of the text object add one to the existing color number Text GetDate This reserved word returns a numeric expression corresponding to the EasyLanguage date of the bar on which the specified text object is drawn It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used it will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any text objects by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error Syntax Valuel Text GetDate Text ID Parameters Text ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the text object whose date you want to obtain Notes Valuel can be any numeric variable or array The EasyLanguage date obtained is assigned to this variable or array Example The following statement assigns to the variable Value the EasyLanguage date of the bar where the text object with the ID number 5 is drawn Valuel Text GetDate 5 Text GetFirst You can draw text objects using trading sig
452. unter 0 SumVolume 0 Counter 0 While SumVolume 1000000 AND Counter 20 Begin SumVolume SumVolume Volume Counter Counter Counter 1 End 38 EasyLanguage Control Structures CHAPTER 2 For Loop A For loop enables you to repeat the instructions a specified number of times Note When working with RadarScreen or OptionStation where you are analyzing multiple symbols simultaneously keep in mind that using loops will add to the processing time and the resources required and the time and resources required is multiplied by each symbol being analyzed Syntax For Valuel N To Downto M Begin EasyLanguage instruction s End Valuel is any numeric variable N and M are any numeric expressions and EasyLanguage instruction s is one or more valid EasyLanguage statements The number of times the loop iterates through the instructions is determined by the Value1 variable which is called the control variable Again this can be any declared numeric vari able The value of the control variable is set to N the first time the statement is evaluated and the value is then incremented or decremented automatically on every iteration If the word To is used in the syntax the variable is increased by one on every iteration If the word Downto is used then the variable is decremented on every iteration Internally the expression that is evaluated each time the loop is about to start executing the
453. ure 3 13 SFT LAST Dg AANE bar i 4 du ul ah p t le uf IU rt D pli T ye d IX T 2 UE LIT ee edil fe came Es Bus TUE d 3 Lead T Dr 1 RB Bii ii cant Sen Sad a EF RA br ie et IU zT DD ATE HIL Hib G GT Pus IB 537150 NEZ dde Leal lg pi B ATA jit 3 220 in m DUENE Tal 183 54 S000 Hd ijeman Eaj 183 53 GN Henr pars jiga eee Test ye Tad Ei GN vw LL LE Iad 44 DO ATE El v COLI Im 345 7 Te Chas Am An EGUNI ATS inno Lea 20S op DOR ATA Fe SED Taia Se Le een Figure 3 13 Naming Trading Signals Number of Shares Contracts To specify how many shares or contracts to open the long position with place a numeric expression followed by the words shares or contracts after the trading verb Buy and entry order name if used Some examples Buy My Entry 100 Shares Buy 5 Contracts Buy Valuel Shares Note The words shares and contracts are synonymous If the number of shares contracts is not specified the value entered under the Costs tab of the Format Strategy dialog box is used The Costs tab contains a section that controls the default trade amount this can be set to either a fixed unit or dollars per transaction What ever is specified in this dialog box is used by the Trading Strategy Engine only if the Buy statement does not specify the number of shares contracts with which to open the position Execution Method You can use four different execution methods
454. utes to a time use minutes after midnight You would write 630 60 Doing so results in 690 When you convert this number back into time in 24 hour format the result is 1130 which is the desired value Reserved words are provided for you to con vert times back and forth automatically The reserved words used to reference and manipulate times are listed next Time This reserved word returns a numeric expression representing the EasyLanguage time HHMM format of the closing price of the current bar Syntax Time Parameters None Example For example you can write your trading signal analysis technique or function such that it only evaluates the EasyLanguage instructions when the trade time is less than 11 00am If Time lt 1100 Then EasyLanguage instruction 24 Manipulating Dates and Times CHAPTER 2 TimeToMinutes eTime This reserved word returns a numeric value representing the number of minutes elapsed since midnight for the EasyLanguage time HHMM format specified Syntax TimeToMinutes eTime Parameters eTime is a numeric expression representing the EasyLanguage time to be converted into minutes past midnight Example The following statement converts the current bar s time into minutes past midnight and as signs the numeric value to a variable in this case Value 1 Valuel TimeToMinutes Time MinutesToTime mTimoe This reserved word returns a numeric expression representing t
455. utstanding shares BOOL Reserved for use with custom DLLs designed for EasyLanguage and ELKIT32 DLL BoxSize Refers to minimum price change needed to add an X or O to a Point amp Figure chart BreakEvenStopFloor Reserved for backward compatibility with previous versions of the product Replaced by the reserved word SetBreakEven Buy Initiates a long position Covers any short positions amp reverses an existing position Syntax Buy Order Name num of shares execution instruction execution instructions this bar on close next bar at market next bar at price stop next bar at price limit Usage Buy Next Bar at Market Buy Buy Close 20 Shares This Bar on Close Buy 5 Contracts Next Bar at High Range Stop Buy BuyLimit Next Bar at Price Limit By Skip word ignored during execution Usage Valuel High Close by 2 BYTE Reserved for use with custom DLLs designed for EasyLanguage and ELKIT32 DLL C Abbreviation for Close Returns the closing price of a referenced bar Usage If Price Close of 1 Bar Ago Then Buy on Close Call Used to determine if an option or leg analyzed is a call Usage If OptionType of Option Call Then Any Operation CallCount Returns the number of calls found in the option chain Usage Valuel CallCount of Asset Reserved Words Quick Reference 285 CallTMCount This word has been reserved for future use CallOTMCount This word has been reserved for futu
456. variable you can reference the value throughout the trading signal analysis technique or function by us ing the name of the variable You can also recalculate the value of the variable within the procedure The definition of variable by Webster is a symbol that may have an infinite number of val ues that which is subject to change Like the definition states the value stored by the vari ables can change any number of times throughout the procedure even from bar to bar The main use of a variable is to store the result of a calculation or comparison in order to refer to the result of this operation later without having to repeat the formula or expression For example in variable X you can store the value of the high price of the bar plus 3396 of the average true range Once this value is calculated and assigned to the variable there is no need to type the formula again you can use X instead to refer to this value Variables help with the speed and efficiency of the procedure This is because the applica tion does not have to reference repeatedly the values that compose the statement e g pric es and other values or perform the math or comparisons that are required by the expression Therefore using variables in place of frequently used expressions speeds up the procedure and uses less memory Another very important fact about variables is that the value of a variable at the end of a bar is used as the initial value of the variable
457. ved words AB Median and AB StdDev These reserved words are described in Appendix C Reserved Words Quick Reference as well as the Online User Manual AB SetActiveCell Price Side ActivityBar studies display price markers on each bar on the chart By default these markers are drawn at the open left side and closing prices right side This reserved word overrides the default placement of these markers allowing you to place them at any location on the bar Syntax AB SetActiveCell Price Side Parameters Price is a numeric expression representing the price at which you want to place the marker and Side defines the marker to move left or right Side only accepts one of two reserved words LeftSide or RightSide Example The following statements place the right side marker at the modal cell of the ActivityBar study Valuel AB Mode RightSide AB SetActiveCell Valuel RightSide AB RemoveCell Price Offset Side This reserved word is used to remove a cell from the current bar of an ActivityBar study Syntax AB RemoveCell Price Offset Side Parameters Price is a numeric expression representing the price of the row from which the cell is to be removed Offset is the column number of the cell to be removed where column is the closest to the bar and Side specifies the side of the bar on which the cell is located you must use one of two reserved words LeftSide or RightSide to specify the side 1
458. ver Therefore knowing the last traded price of the underlying asset the strike and days to ex piration of the option the interest rate and the last traded price of the option OptionS tation iterates through the Pricing Model feeding it different volatility values in or der to try to approximate as closely as possible the result of the Pricing Model to the last price transmitted from the datafeed The same is also done with the Bid and Ask values From this process OptionS tation derives the MIV on Close MIV on Bid and MIV on Ask 226 X Writing OptionStation Models CHAPTER 5 Step 2 Volatility Model The objective of this second step is to find the volatility for a particular option The Vola tility Model will calculate the volatility for each option using the raw MIV values derived in Step 1 and a Newton Raphson search method using the option s Vega for a description of this method refer to Option Volatility amp Pricing by Sheldon Natenberg McGraw Hill 1994 Page 446 Step 3 Pricing Model The objective of this third step and second pass through the Pricing Model is to calculate the Theoretical Value TV of a particular option as well as all its Greek values Delta Gamma Theta Rho and Vega Using the underlying asset s price strike price and days to expiration of the option the in terest rates and the model volatility calculated in Step 2 OptionStation will run through the Pricing Model and set the Th
459. width setting bonis Parameters arrays using as parameters 62 data aliases I ose rtes ete rms 52 declaring rrr rer tete 61 Input Declaration Statement 61 NUMETIC oe eee ese cse cee eee ees 58 offsetting values passed into functions as _ od referente ute oes erst ett 59 series 59 simple 39 text string 58 true false 58 Vala Dles2aS sites tte tle ote hire tse teeta tete oi 59 Parentheses definition precedence order of Percent Risk Trailifig erede Rer PercentProfit Place Skip word Means eee eles 308 PlayMovieChain 112 308 PLAVSOUNG xcd dee eee tuae Acces andes o deseen 110 308 PX OE T a ete etes ET Te 308 Plobl atesee tee n reap e E aeu oR PR Ta Mon e er M ut 309 POE 2 suce teni rer Nee GINE CT IERUS 309 nA E OAE A EE P A AAEE EE EE EEE ANEAN 309 PLOCA sereta innere read e nte ETE 309 PlotN 150 181 187 BI ODNUNU eese eoe ose yet ove ces ovsdevs eaa ee Pe da ro ex 205 210 PTOLPalbntBa xou tiere DONE 156 309 PI OUBPB22 2 eser tee maie tete ris 156 309 PM Ge etCelLllValue junsesceroe er oe in eh 166 309 PM GetN mGCOod m s e atento etae eroe eter deae nega 165 310 PM GetRowHedght uie erre rene lese aded 165 310 PM Hig PM Low PMxSetcellValus sveeve eoe 163 310 PM SetHig PM SetLow PM SetNum PM SetRow POR Qu Eu reote oS Seas Eccc Ned PQ ATE Qood eee EE toa ats Ire E E CEU E
460. xt SetColor Valuel Yellow Valuel Text GetNext Valuel 3 End In the above example we obtain the ID number for the first text object drawn on the chart Then we set its color to yellow We then obtain the ID number of the next text object and set that to yellow This loop continues until Text GetNext returns 2 indicating that there are no more text objects on the chart Keep in mind that once the trading signal analysis technique or function returns 2 it cannot draw any more text objects on the chart In this situation you may want to use one trading signal analysis technique or function to draw the text objects and another to change their color Text GetString This reserved word returns the text string expression corresponding to the text object specified It is important to remember that if an invalid ID number is used the reserved word will return a value of 2 and no additional operations will be performed on any text objects by the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error Syntax MyText Text GetString Text ID Parameters Text ID is a numeric expression representing the ID number of the text object whose text string expression you want to obtain Notes MyText is any text variable or array and holds the text string expression corresponding to the text object with the ID number specified Example The following statements print the contents of text object 45 to the Debug wi
461. y Itis possible to tie an exit instruction to a specific entry This can be achieved only if you named the long entry and the long entry is in the same Trading Signal as the exit order Consider the following Trading Signal Buy MyBuy 10 Shares Next Bar at Market Buy 20 Shares Next Bar at High 1 Point Stop ExitLong From Entry MyBuy Next Bar at High 3 Points Stop In the above example the Trading Signal buys 30 shares total your long position is 30 shares However the ExitLong instruction only closes out the 10 shares bought using the MyBuy entry order It ignores any other order and does not close out the other 20 shares Therefore this signal leaves you long 20 shares You can also close padrt of an entry order For example if your entry which you named MyBuy buys 10 shares you can specify that you want to exit from entry MyBuy but only close out 5 shares not the entire 10 Exitlong From Entry MyBuy 5 Shares Next Bar at High 3 Points Stop Important The entry name is case sensitive Be sure to use consistent capitalization Also it is inportant to remember that exit orders do not pyramid therefore if an exit does not close out a position you will need another exit order or buy sell order in order to close out the position Number of Shares Contracts To specify how many shares or contracts to close place a numeric expression followed by the word shares or contracts after the trading ver
462. y are series functions Using a previous value of the function within the function itself is a commonly used tech nique and in fact many industry standard indicators exponential averages ADX MACD use this technique and the Larry Williams Accumulation Distribution Indicator accumulates values from bar to bar Let s look at the considerations involved with each type of function Simple Functions Simple functions cannot refer to previous values of the function itself or previous values of any variables or arrays declared in the function when performing its calculations Simple functions require less memory and calculate faster than series functions This is be cause the resulting values of these functions and all their variables and arrays are not cal 56 Understanding User Functions CHAPTER 2 culated and stored on a bar by bar basis These functions are calculated only when they are called by the trading signal or analysis technique The function called Summation included in your EasyLanguage PowerEditor and shown below is an example of a simple function Inputs Price NumericSeries Length NumericSimple Variables Counter 0 Sum 0 Sum 0 For Counter 0 To Length 1 Begin Sum Sum Price Counter End Summation Sum Even though the function references previous values of a parameter Price it is a simple function because it does not reference previous values of itself or of any variables or ar
463. y the trading signal analysis technique or function that generated the error Example The following statements draw a trendline at the low of a key reversal and compare the color of the trendline with the background of the chart If the colors match the EasyLanguage instructions add 1 to the color and set the trendline to this new color Variables ID 1 TLColor 0 If Low Low 1 AND Close High 1 Then Begin ID TL New Date 1 Time 1 Low Date Time Low TLColor TL GetColor ID If TLColor GetBackgroundColor Then Valuel TL SetColor ID TxtColor 1 End TL SetEnd This reserved word changes the end point of the specified trendline It is very important to know which is the starting point and which is the ending point for a trendline the end point has a later date and time If the trendline is vertical the point with the higher price value is considered the ending point However if the ending point of a trendline is changed by EasyLanguage or by using the drawing tool such that it has an earlier date than the starting point the ending point then becomes the original starting point of the trendline Syntax Valuel TL SetEnd Tl ID Date Time Val Parameters TI ID is a numeric expression representing the identification number of the trendline and eDate eTime and eVal are numeric expressions representing the trendline s new ending point date time and price value respectively Notes V
464. y trendline objects on the chart 11 Too many text objects on the chart Whenever any of the text object reserved words is unable to perform its task and returns an error the trading signal analysis technique function will stop manipulating all text objects from that bar forward The trading signal analysis technique or function itself will continue to be evaluated but all statements that include text object reserved words will return a value of 9 Previous failure error and will not perform the intended action Also it is very important that you store the ID number of the text objects drawn in the price chart if you have any intention of modifying or referring to this object in any way you need the ID number If you are adding multiple text objects to the price chart we recommended you use arrays to store their ID numbers refer to Understanding Arrays on page 45 for information on using arrays Text Object Reserved Words Following is the list of all the text object reserved words available in EasyLanguage Text_New This reserved word adds the specified text string to a price chart at the specified bar and price value It returns a numeric expression corresponding to the ID number of the text object added to the chart If you want to modify the text object in any way it is very important that you capture and keep this number the ID number is the only way of referencing a specific text object Syntax Valuel Text New
465. yLanguage there are hundreds of functions available for your use plus you can write your own Another concept you need to understand when working with functions is the concept of parameters When necessary user functions are written with parameters also referred to as inputs or arguments Parameters allow the person using the function to provide pieces of information that the function needs to perform its calculations For example the user function Average is written with a parameter called Length Therefore instead of having one function for a 10 bar average another for a 12 bar average and another for a 15 bar average etc there is only one Average user function and the user can specify the number of bars the function will use to calculate the average Also creating a function to calculate the average of the close another for the average of the open another of the average of the volume etc would be very inefficient Therefore the Average function also has a parameter called Price which enables the user to specify the price or data that will be averaged The following statement calculates the average of the closing prices of the last 10 bars and assigns the result to the variable Valuel Valuel Average Close 10 The parameters for user functions are enclosed in parentheses after the function and each parameter is separated by a comma Depending on the function parameters can be required or optional Parameters are discus
466. yY ear Used for contracts that expire Returns the 3 digit year of expiration Delta Returns the Delta value of an option leg or position Debit positions will return posi tive numbers and credit positions will return negative numbers Usage If Delta of Option gt HighVal Then Alert High Delta In a Pricing Model used to set the value of Delta Usage2 Delta 0 sets the value of Delta to zero 290 APPENDIX C Description Returns a string containing the description of the symbol if it is available Usage TextString Description symbol decription blank if none available Dividend Returns the Dividend paid any number of periods ago Usage Valuel Dividend 2 the last dividend amount paid 2 periods ago Dividend_Yield Most recent cash dividend paid or declared times the dividend payment frequency DividendCount The number of times that dividends have been reported in the time frame considered DividendDate Date of reported stock dividend any number of periods ago Syntax DividendDate num Num number of periods ago use 0 or no parameter for current period Usage Value2 DividendDate 4 the date of the dividend 4 periods ago DividendTime The time at which a stock dividend was paid out any number of periods ago Syntax DividendTime num Num number of periods ago use 0 or no parameter for current period Usage Valuel DividendTime the time of the last reported dividend Does
467. you must use the data alias Of Asset Of is a skip word that makes the expression easier to read Notes Itis very important to use ModelPrice whenever referring to the price of the underlying asset in any of the models it will be used in the future time analysis performed by the Price Modeling Engine for example when creating Position Charts EasyLanguage for OptionStation Writing OptionStation Models 233 When you use this reserved word its value will change as necessary in order to obtain the Theoretical Values of the positions in the future time analysis thus generating P L figures for any number of different values of the underlying asset Example For example the following expression can be used in order to assign the price of the under lying asset to a variable in a Pricing Model Valuel ModelPrice of asset TargetType This reserved word is only valid in Pricing Models It returns a numerical value corresponding to the step of the Price Modeling Engine for which the Pricing Model is being called Syntax TargetType Parameters None Notes This reserved word returns one of these four values 0 Theoretical Value and Greek calculations 1 MIV values on raw data 2 MIV values for Bid Ask modeled values 3 Position Search Engine call Example For eane if there are calculations that are specific to when the Market Implied Volatil ity values of the raw data are calculated and are not necessary for the res
468. zTPETDU Hrs anisa 8 8JD BIEM END ETIA TL i nu ll zu j lit li Wier Haie des NIIT E Figure 4 3 Indicator formatted to display as a bar chart For more information on formatting indicators please refer to the Online User Manual Also make sure you understand the concept of scaling with respect to price charts and indicators Using different scaling can dramatically alter the display of your indicators For information on scaling search the Online User Manual Answer Wizard for Indicator Formatting You use two of the same plot statements to create an indicator for use in a price chart as you do for use in the RadarScreen window PlotN and SetPlotColor however there are some parameters for these plot statements that apply only when working with price charts Therefore the plot statements are discussed again this time with the focus on the parameters and considerations that apply when working with price charts PlotN Expression lt PlotName gt ForeColor BackColor Width Displays values resulting from a calculation or an expression in a price chart For price charts the values displayed can only be numeric Syntax PlotN Expression PlotName ForeColor BackColor Width 1 Parameters N is a number between 1 and 4 representing one of the four available plots Expression is the numeric value that will be plotted and lt PlotName gt is the name of the plot ForeColor is an Ea

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