ea tree mt4 user guide p a g e | 1€¦ · ea tree mt4 user guide ... tutorials: a. moving average...

EA Tree MT4 User Guide P a g e | 1

http://www.eatree.com/


What is the Metatrader 4 platform?

MetaTrader 4 is a very powerful trading platform designed to arrange brokerage

services in Forex, CFD, Futures, as well as equity markets around the globe. It is

one of the most popular programming trading languages. The best part is that the

MetaTrader 4 platform, real time data, and the MQL 4 language are available to you

for free.

What is EA Tree?

EA Tree is a Metatrader 4 drag and drop expert advisor builder. It is a windows

application that runs locally on your computer. You can create complex MQL4 EAs

using a very easy to use graphical user interface.

There are two different products:

- EATree MT4 standard Edition V2.0 that supports the MQL4 language

- EATree MT5 standard Edition V2.0 that supports the MQL5 language

This user guide supports EATree MT4 standard Edition V2.0

In EA Tree, expert advisors are created by connecting boxes together. Boxes may contain MQL functions, technical indicators, custom indicators, or values. Outputs of

one box may be connected to inputs of another box to form a “tree of boxes”. EA Tree generates MQL code from the “tree of boxes” and then uses the MetaTrader 4

platform installed on your computer to convert the MQL code into an executable Expert Advisor.

Copyright 2013

Disclaimer: For testing and evaluation purposes only. In no event will authors be

liable for any damages whatsoever.


Benefits of using EATree

Easy to use and understand drag and drop graphical user interface

You do not need programming background

You can quickly learn MQL

Privacy of your trading secrets. No need to share your ideas with

programmers.

You decrease EA development time to minutes instead of days or months.

You can develop complex MQL EAs with multiple currencies and multiple

timeframes.

You can incorporate multiple trading strategies into one EA

You easily reuse code by saving and loading diagrams (trees of boxes)

You are still able to import MQL custom indicators

You create correct MetaTrader MQL code every time


Contents

Quick Start: Creating a Simple EA

1. Basic Concepts

a. The concept of the “box”

b. Input and output buttons

c. Info Dialog Window

d. Connection between boxes

e. Box help

2. The “trade” box

a. Open Long (Buy)

b. Open Short (Sell)

c. Close Long

d. Close Short

e. Trading parameters

3. Logic Boxes

a. If-Else logic box

b. Crossover logic box

c. AND logic box

d. OR logic box

4. Technical Indicators Boxes

a. MACD technical indicator box

b. MA technical indicator box

5. Custom Indicators

Importing MQL custom indicators

6. Time Series Boxes

a. iOpen, iHigh, etc.

7. Function Boxes

a. Conversion Functions

b. Math Functions

8. Operator Boxes

a. Operators

9. Layout management

a. New Layout

b. Open Layout

c. Import Layout

d. Save Layout

e. Save Layout As


10. MQL EA code generation

a. Exporting MQL EA source code file

b. Viewing MQL EA source code

Edit Menu: deleting a box

11. Tutorials:

a. Moving Average Crossover EA Tutorial

b. MACD EA Tutorial

12. Color Schemes


Quick Start: Creating a simple EA

In this simple tutorial, you will create a simple EA layout in EATree then view the

MQL code and save it.

Buy condition: if MACD main indicator line is larger than its signal at previous bar

Sell condition: if MACD main indicator line is smaller than its signal at previous bar

Click on the Trade button on the toolbar, then click on the middle area of the new

Trade box and move it to the right.


Click on the condition (If-Else button) on the toolbar, click on the middle area

of the new condition (If-Else) box and move it to the top middle of the

screen, then click on the T output button of the condition box and drag a connection

line to the openLong input button of the trade box making a connection. Also

connect the F output button of the condition box and drag a connection line to the

openShort input button of the trade box making a connection.


Go to the Indicators menu and select MACD box, click on the middle area of the new

MACD box and move it to the left of the screen, then click on the M1 (Main1) output

button of the MACD box and drag a connection line to the A input button of the

condition box making a connection. Also connect the S1 (Signal1) button of the

MACD box and drag a connection line to the A input button of the condition box

making a connection. Right-click on the middle of the MACD box and select “Show

all input buttons”.

Select File->View MQL4 EA menu item to view the MQL4 code of the EATree layout

you have just created.

Select File->Save as MQL4 EA menu item to Save the MQL4 code of the EATree

layout. The default location directory is "C:\Program Files\MetaTrader 4".

You can set the MetaTrader 4 (MT4) directory by selecting File->Set Directories

menu.

In the next few sections, we will go over the basic concepts of EATree.


1. Basic Concepts

The concept of the “box” and “buttons”

Boxes are a representation of information in EATree. They may contain technical

indicator, mathematical function, etc. Each box has input buttons and output

buttons. In this example, the Add box has three input buttons labeled A, B, and C

and one output button labeled O (Out). Each box has a unique label using its name

followed by an index. In this example the label Add_4 indicates that the box name is

Add and its index is 4, which means that it was the fourth box created in a layout of

boxes.

When you double click on the middle of a box, you will see its info dialog window.


For each button of the box the info dialog window lists the following:

1. Button label

2. Button data type: double, int, string, boolean (bool), etc.

3. Button value

4. New button (variable) name: when generating MQL code, by default, button

will have the unique identifier of box label and button label for example

Add_4_A refers to a button labeled A in a box labeled Add_4. Setting a New

button (variable) name will override Add_4_A with your text, for example,

lots.

5. “Add to EA input variables”: activating this button will make this button

(variable) listed as expert advisor (EA) input variables, which makes it easier

to optimize this value in the MetaTrader 4 platform.

To remove a box, select the box then select Edit->Cut.

Connecting buttons:

Output buttons of one box can be connected to input buttons of another box if they

have the same data types, e.g. they are both “double” data type.

For example, to connect the O(OUT) button of the Add_4 box to the A input button

of the Condition_6 box, click on the O button and drag a rubber-band line, and

release it on top of the A button. To remove a connection, right-click on a button

and select “Disconnect All”.


Please note that buttons have different colors depending on their data types. In the

above example double data types are yellow, bool data types (True) are blue, bool

data types (False) are red. Please also note that if you change the color scheme

under the View menu, all layout colors will change, but buttons of the same data

types will still have the same colors.

Box help

When dragging your cursor on top of a box, you will view help info such as box

name, or what it does.

Visible and Hidden buttons:

Boxes input button are sometimes hidden to save desk layout space. To show input

buttons, simply do right-click on the middle of the box and select “show all input

buttons”. Please note that if one of the input buttons is connected, you will not be

able to show input buttons until you remove all connections to input buttons first.

To modify hidden buttons values, double click on the box to show its info dialog

window. Then you can modify the values of all input buttons including hidden ones.


2. The “trade” box

The trade box is the main box in EATree. It has many input buttons and no output

button. Please note that any box code will not be generated unless connected to a

layout that includes a Trade box. Every time you update the EATree MT4 software,

and open a layout that you have created before, please make sure to replace the

trade box by a new one to avoid code generation errors.

To create a Trade box Click on the Trade button on the toolbar or select Trade-

>Trade menu item.


“Trade” box is an exceptional case. It has a selection of input buttons always visible,

and the rest are hidden. The reason for that it has too many input buttons to show.

By default all input buttons of the trade box will show in the generated MQL4 EA as

extern (input) variables.


Trade box input buttons:

The followings are trade box input buttons names, their code name or the name that

will show up in the generated MT4 EA, data types, and description of what it does. If

you do not set their values in EATree, you will have another chance in MetaTrader 4.

However, it would be best if you set all the values that you know in EATree so you

do not have to set them again in MetaTrader 4 every time you modify your EATree

layout and create a new MT4 EA.

Button name Code name

Data- Type

Description

Open and close flags

openLong m_longOpenFlag bool Open long condition, default is false

openShort m_shortOpenFlag bool Open short condition, default is false

closeLong m_longCloseFlag bool Close long condition, default is false

closeShort m_shortCloseFlag bool Close Short condition, default is false

Main variables

symbols symbol string symbol; not used at this time

takeProfit takeProfit int Take Profit in Pips

stopLoss stopLoss int Stop Loss in Pips

trailingStop trailingStop int Trailing Stop in Pips

MM moneyManagement bool Money Management, not used at this

time

lots lot double lots value

Money Management

barExecution barExecution bool Is execution by bars?

enterAgain enterAgain bool

If exited in the same bar of entry: Enter

again : Check for completed bars if CompletedBars mode is on, if There are no new bars so do not execute in this

case

waitOppSig waitForOppositeSignal bool If exited a long with a loss enter another long or wait to enter short or vice versa

allowTrading allowTrading bool Allow trading?

allowBuy allowBuy bool Allow Buy trades?

allowSell allowSell bool Allow Sell trades?

pendingDist pendingDist int Distance for Stop orders if >0, for Limit Orders if < 0; 0 means instant execution

SLautoAdjust stopLossAutoAdjust-

ment bool

Adjust SL to three times the minimum SL allowed?

autoAdjLevel stopLossAdjustment-

Level int

Level to adjust SL to three times the

minimum SL allowed

maxRisk maxRiskCondition bool Max risk condition mode

RiskRatio RiskRatio int If maxRiskCondition is true: RiskRatio=3

means that TakeProfit/StopLoss = 3

toHaveTpSl toHaveTakeProfitAndS

topLoss bool

To have TP, SL, and TS, or not; If True:

Include TP and Sl: order includes TP and


SL; OR it is done on 2 steps, one step to open order, the other to modify it by

setting TP, and SL

hideTpSl hideTakeProfitAndStop

Loss bool Hide TP, SL, and TS from broker

slippage slipPage int Minimum slippage accepted in Pips

magic MAGIC int Magic Number. Select 0, if you don't

want to use it.

usePercEquity usePercentOfEquity bool Use Percent of Equity

PercOfEquity percentOfEquity double Percent of Equity

useRedFactor useReductionFactor bool Use Decrease factor

RedFactor reductionFactor double Reduction Factor. for money management lot-

(lot*losses/ReductionFactor)

Fix Factor

useFixFactor useFixFactor bool Uses a fix factor, if true the following will

be on:

TPlevel1 takeProfitLevel1 int TP No 1 in Pips

percentLot1 percentLot1 int Percent of lots No 1

TPlevel2 takeProfitLevel2 int TP No 2 in Pips

percentLot2 percentLot2 int Percent of lots

TPlevel3 takeProfitLevel3 int

TP No 3, Lots - all the rest, for example, if you use 50% in step1 and 25% in

step2, then you use 100-75=25% in step3

Warnings and alerts

showWarnings showWarnings bool Show Warnings/Alerts

sendAlerts sendAlerts bool Send Alerts

sendMail sendMail bool Send EMails

playSound playSound bool Play Sound

soundFile soundFile string Sound file to play

Hedging

allowHedging allowHedging bool hedging on/off

closeAtOppSig closeAtOppositeSignal bool close At Opposite Signal

Martingale

martinMode martinMode bool Martingale on/off

multAfterLoss multiplierAfterLoss double Martingale Multiplier increases the lot size after a loss

multAfterProfit multiplierAfterProfit double Martingale Multiplier increases the lot size after a profit

maxPosOnePair maxPositionsOnePair int Set Max number of positions for one

currency pair


maxLotOnePair maxLotOnePair double Set Max number of lots for one currency pair

maxPosAll maxPositionsAllPair int Set Max number of positions for all currency pair

maxLotAll maxLotAllPair double Set Max number of lots for all currency pair

Miscelanous

maxOrderRetry maxOrderRetry int Max order retry: if there is an error: how

many times to try to send the order

buyColor buyColor color Buy Color

sellColor sellColor color Sell Color

Time

useTradeTime useTradingTime bool Use Trading Time: on or off

timeZone1 timeZone1 string Time Zone No 1, time of the format "startHour:startMin-endHour:endMin" for

example "02-06"


example "08:30-19"


example "20-23"

closeNotTime closeNotTime bool close all opened positions when not in Time zone

useFriEndTime useFridayEndTime bool Do not trade on Friday after certain time

FridayEndTime FridayEndTime string Time to stop trading on Friday, time of the format Hour:Min for example "21:45"

tradeOnMon tradeOnMonday bool Trade on Monday?

tradeOnTue tradeOnTuesday bool Trade on Tuesday?

tradeOnWed tradeOnWednesday bool Trade on Wednesday?

tradeOnThu tradeOnThursday bool Trade on Thursday?

tradeOnFri tradeOnFriday bool Trade on Friday?

closeAtTime closeAtTime bool Close at a certain time after entering (entry time + period)?

closeAfterPrd closeAfterPeriod int Period (minutes)

Trailing Stop

TSbarExec checkTrailingStopBarE

xecution bool

Check trailing stops every tick regardless

of Execution Mode (Bars or ticks)?

timeBasedTS timeBasedTrailingStop bool time based trailing stop?

timeTSmin timeBasedTrailingStop

Minutes int time based trailing stop (minutes)

Highest-Lowest Line

findHiLo findHighestLowest bool Find highest high (and lowest low)in a certain time range

timeRangeHiLo timeRangeHighLow string

time range for Highest-Lowest, time of the format "startHour:startMin-endHour:endMin" for example "13:00-16:00"


Other

closeBySignalOn

lyIfProfitable

closeBySignalOnlyIfPr

ofitable bool

close By Signal Only If Profitable. Set it to true if you have a close long or close

short condition but you want it to be executed only if position is profitable.


3. Logic Boxes

Logic boxes are important to connect between trade box condition buttons:

openLong, openShort, closeLong, and closeShort and the rest of the boxes in the

layout. All logic boxes are under the Logic Menu.

Condition (If-Else) logic box

The Condition (If-Else) box has this logic:

If A operator B then T (output button) is true else F (output button) is true.

Where operator could be equal to, not equal to, less than, greater than, etc.

For example:

If previous Stochastic Main indicator line M1 is larger than its previous Signal line S1

then T is true else (otherwise) F is true.


Right-click on the middle of the Stochastic box and select “Show all input buttons”.

Please note that the “shift” input button value of the Stochastic box is 1, indicating

previous bar:


Logic Condition in a time range (Loop) box:

Logic Condition in a time range (Loop) box is used to check if certain condition is

met within a time range, e.g. five bars. It also returns the last bar number at which

this condition last happened.

Let us assume that the operator oper is “larger than”. Logic Condition in a time

range (Loop) box will have this logic:

If A is larger than B is true at least once in a time range from start bars ago to end

bars ago then T is true, otherwise T is false (default value). Please note that the

output button W stores the last bar number at which this condition is true, for

example, 2 means 2 bars ago.

For example:

If A is connected to the M1 output of RSI box that has maPeriod of 14, Oper is

“Larger than”, B has a value of 50, start is 1 and end is 10, the logic here is that:

If within the last 10 bars, RSI(14) happened to be larger than 50 for at least once,

then T is true. If the last time this happened was 3 bars ago, then W output will

store the value of 3. Please note that the shift value at RSI box is ignored as it was

overwritten by the range from start to end.


Crossover logic box

The Crossover box has this logic:

If A operator1 B AND C operator2 D then T (output button) is true else F (output

button) is true.

Where operator1 and operator2 could be equal to, not equal to, less than, greater

than, etc.

In this example we have this logic:

If Stochastic main M1 in previous bar> Stochastic signal S1 in previous bar

and

If Stochastic main two bars ago M2 < Stochastic signal two bars ago S2

Then T is true

Otherwise (else) is true

Please note that the “shift” input button value of the Stochastic box is 1, indicating

previous bar. So M1 and S1 output buttons refer to values at previous bar and M2

and S2 output buttons refer to Main and signal values two bars ago (shift + 1 =

1+1=2).


Logic Crossover in a time range (Loop) box:

Logic Condition in a time range (Loop) box is used to check if certain crossover

occurred within a time range, e.g. ten bars. It also returns the last bar number at

which this Crossover last happened.

Let us assume that oper1 is (larger than) and Opert2 is (smaller than). The logic

here is: if A > B and C < D is true at least once in a time range from start bars ago

to end bars ago then T is true, otherwise T is false (default value), W will returns the

bar number at which this crossover happened last, for example, 4 means 4 bars ago.

For example: If A is connected to the M1 output of RSI box that has maPeriod of 14, Oper1 is “Larger than”,

B is connected to the output of a Double box, where its input A has the value of 50. C is connected to the M2 output of the RSI box, Oper2 is “less than”,

D is connected to the output of a the Double box, and start is 1 and end is 10, the logic here is that:

If within the last 10 bars, RSI(14) happened to crossover 50 for at least once, then T is true. If the last time this happened was 3 bars ago, then W output will store the value of 3. Please note that the shift value at RSI box is ignored as it was

overwritten by the range from start to end. Please note that M2 is always one bar before M1. For example, if M1 represents RSI(14) 3 bars ago, then M2 represents RSI(14) 3+1=4 bars ago. The Double box is used to store the value of 50 only once,

so we optimize only one variable in MetaTrader.


AND logic boxes

The AND box has this logic:

If (A AND B AND C AND D) then O (output button) is true

There are two AND boxes ANDL or ANDLong and ANDS or ANDShort. The two boxes

have that same exact logic, only different colors.

The following example shows that the ANDL box is used to connect the Long or Buy

condition to the openLong input button of the Trade box. While the ANDS box is

used to connect the Short or Sell condition to the openShort input button of the

Trade box.


How do we get a buy signal?

In the example below, the C and D input buttons of ANDL_6 box are not connected.

But their default values are true as shown in the info dialog window.

The logic at box ANDL_6 is:

If (A AND B AND C AND D) then O (output button) is true

A is equal to Crossover_2_T (The T output of the Crossover_2 box)

B is equal to Condition_4_T (The T output of the Condition_4 box)

C is always true (default value, because it is not connected)

D is always true (default value, because it is not connected)

Therefore we need BOTH Crossover_2_T and Condition_4_T to be true in order for

ANDL_6_O, the output of the ANDL_6 box to be true and therefore we get openLong

(buy signal).

We use opposite logic for openShort (Sell signal) as shown in the red lines.


OR logic box

The OR box has this logic:

If (A OR B OR C OR D) then OUT (output button) is true

There are two OR boxes OrL or OrLong and OrS or OrShort. The two boxes have

that same exact logic, only different colors.

The following example shows that the OrL box is used to connect the Long or Buy

condition to the openLong input button of the Trade box. While the OrS box is used

to connect the Short or Sell condition to the openShort input button of the Trade

box.


How do we get a buy signal?

In the example below, the C and D input buttons of OrL_6 box are not connected.

But there default values are false as shown in the info dialog window.

The logic at box OrL_10 is:

If (A OR B OR C OR D) then O (output button) is true

A is equal to Crossover_2_T (The T output of the Crossover_2 box)

B is equal to Condition_4_T (The T output of the Condition_4 box)

C is always false (default value, because it is not connected)

D is always false (default value, because it is not connected)

Therefore we need only one of the two values: Crossover_2_T and Condition_4_T to

be true in order for ANDL_6_O, the output of the ANDL_6 box to be true and

therefore we get openLong (buy signal).

We use opposite logic for openShort (Sell signal) as shown in the red lines.


Score box:

The score box gives a numerical output if the condition is true. This is useful if you

need a numerical result. Its cond input is Boolean type (true or false) that is usually

connected to a Boolean output such as that of the Condition box. The score input

stores the value that you want it to be the output. For example, If cond is connected

to the output T of a condition box and score input is 1, then the logic here is: If

cond is true then the output O equals to 1 otherwise the output O is zero.

For example if you have 3 conditions and you will open a long position if 2 out of the

3 conditions are true. In this case, you use an add box to add the outputs of 3 score

boxes. Then you use a condition box to test if the output of add is greater than or

equal to 2. This will also allow the possibility of adding weights to each condition and

open a trade only if a certain threshold (Sum of weights) is met.


Level box:

Multiply the level value by the symbol adjusted point. The representation is in

decimal form. For example: 10 pips in EURUSD will be 0.0010 or 0.00100, so you

put 10 in the value input button of Level and the output of Level would be 0.0010.

For USDJPY, 10 pips will be 0.10 or 0.100. So you put 10 in the value button of Level

and the output of Level would be 0.10.

For example, if we have this logic: If the closing price of previous bar is greater than

the MA(20) plus 10 pips. First, we need to have an add box to add the outputs of

MA(20) and Level. The input of level is 10, so if we use EURUSD, it output will be

0.0010. We connect the output of iClose to the A input of the condition box and the

output of the Add box to the B input of the Condition box. Please note that the

default value of shift input in the MA and iClose boxes is 1, previous bar. Please note

also that Add always take three inputs that has a default value of zero, so the third

unused input button C value is zero.


Double box:

A user defined Double value (decimal number), e.g. 10.5, useful to connect to

several Double values, so you optimize in MetaTrader only once.

In this example, two input variables of two Score boxes are connected to the output

of a Double box. The input of the Double_1 box value is 1.0. When you double click

on the Double_1 box, you can change the name of the A input variable to

“score_value” instead of Double_1_A, the name that you will see in MetaTrader.

When you select the “Add to EA input variables” button, it will become an input

variable in the MeatTrader EA and therefore you can modify its value or optimize it.

In short, instead of optimizing two input variables of the Score boxes, you are

optimizing only one.


Integer box (Int):

A user defined Integer value, e.g. 7, useful to connect to several Integer values, so

you optimize in MetaTrader only once.

In this example, three input variables of three indicator boxes are connected to the

output of a Int (Integer) box. The input of the Int_4 box value is 14. When you

double click on the Int_4 box, you can change the name of the A input variable to

“indicator_period” instead of Int_4_A, the name that you will see in MetaTrader.

When you select the “Add to EA input variables” button, it will become an input

variable in the MeatTrader EA and therefore you can modify its value or optimize it.

In short, instead of optimizing three input variables of the Indicator boxes, you are

optimizing only one.

String box:

A user defined String value, e.g. “EURUSD”.

Boolean box (Bool):

A user defined boolean (true or false) value, e.g. “false”.


4. Technical Indicators Boxes

There are many technical indicators listed under the Indicators menu such as the

MACD and MA (Moving average) technical indicator boxes

The MACD technical indicator box

Select Indicators->MACD, then right-click on the middle of the MACD box and select

“Show all input buttons”.

The MA (Moving Average) technical indicator box

Select Indicators->MA, then right-click on the middle of the MA box and select

“Show all input buttons”.


As described before, indicator boxes’ input buttons are hidden to save desk layout

space. To show input buttons, simply do right-click on the middle of the box and

select “show all input buttons”. Please note that if one of the input buttons is

connected, you will not be able to show input buttons until you remove all

connections to input buttons first.

To modify hidden buttons values, double click on the box to show its info dialog

window. Then you can modify the values of all input buttons including hidden ones.

Indicator Output Buttons:

Output buttons labels ending with “1” refer to the index at the shift input button. For

example if shift=1, then M1 is the Main indicator line at previous bar. Output buttons

labels ending with “2” refer to the index at the shift input button plus one. For

example if shift=1, then M2 is the Main indicator line at shift of 1+1=2 which is two

bars ago.


5. Custom Indicators

Using the custom indicator box, you can load any valid MT4 custom indicators source

file “.mq4”. Hit Custom Indicators->Import MT4 Custom Indicator menu item and

select a custom indicators source file “.mq4”. to create a new iCustom box. Right

click on the box and select “Show all input buttons” and double click on the box to

open its dialogue window.

Input buttons:

Symbol: the symbol used, default is NULL to use chart symbol

Period: timeframe, default is zero to use current timeframe

Name: Name of the custom indicator without the “.mq4” extension. This input

button is included here in case of rare chance that the parser was not able to list the

custom indicator correctly. It can also be used as a workaround if the source file

“.mq4” is not available but the executable indicator “.ex4” is available.

Following the Name input button there will be input variables extracted from the

custom indicators source files. They are named in4, in5, etc. In the example above,

the input variable in4 has a value of 0.02 and a new variable name “Step”. The

name “Step” is actually the name of the variable extracted from the custom

indicator. But why was this button named in4 instead of “Step”. The reason is that a

variable could have very long names or it could have names that may not be valid. If

you move the mouse over an input button, you will see detailed info about it. Please

note that by default, all input variables, in1, in2, etc are added to the final EA’s input

variables.

Shift: last input button. It is the shift value of the indicator. Where a shift of 1

means previous bar, and 2 means the bar before and so on.


Output buttons:

Output buttons have labels such as O1, O2, etc. Please note that custom indicator

output buffers may not have names or may have names that are not valid, e.g.

having spaces. To find out original names of output buttons, move your mouse over

an output button. If there are no original names available, you will see “O1 output

button”, etc.

Example of using custom indicators:

In MetaTrader 4, attach both the Ichimoku and MA indicators to the chart and open

the View->Data Window. Using the Data window, you can write down your trading

rules. For example:

If Chinkou Span of Ichimoku (Green) is crossing above MA(50) (thick blue) then

open long

If Chinkou Span of Ichimoku (Green) is crossing down MA(50) (thick blue) then open

short


In EATree, select Custom Indicators->Import MT4 Custom Indicator. Then in the

indicators folder (e.g. C:\Program Files\MetaTrader 4\experts\indicators folder)

select “Ichimoku.mq4” source file. This creates the box in the figure below. Then

add an MA box and change it maPeriod to 50 and add a condition boxes. Move your

mouse over the output buttons of the Ichimoku to find out which one is “Chinkou

Span”. Connect the button O5 to the A input of the condition box and connect the

M1 output of the MA box by the B input of the condition box as shown below.

Now we have this logic:

If Chinkou Span of Ichimoku (previous bar) is greater than MA(50) (previous bar)

Please note that while custom indicator outputs are relating to one shift value, e.g. 1

or previous bar, outputs of technical indicators are relating to two shift values, e.g. 1

(previous bar) and 1+1=2 (two bars ago) such as M1 and M2 in this example.


Select Custom Indicators->Import MT4 Custom Indicator. Then select

“Ichimoku.mq4” to create another Ichimoku box “iCustom_3” in this example and

create another condition box “Condition_5”. Connect the O5 output of iCustom_3

box to the A input of Condition_5 box and the M2 output of the MA_2 box to the B

input of the Condition_5 box. Change the oper (Operator) of Condition_5 to “<”

(less than).

Now we have this logic:

If Chinkou Span of Ichimoku (two bars ago) is greater than MA(50) (two bars ago)

So, our logic so far is:

If Chinkou Span of Ichimoku is crossing above MA(50)

Connect the T outputs of the two condition boxes to inputs of a new AndL box and

the two F outputs of the two condition boxes to inputs of a new AndS box. Finally

connect the output of the AndL box to the openLong input of a new Trade box and

the output of the AndS box to the openShort input of the Trade box.

Save the EA layout using File->Save Layout as and Save the MQL4 file using File-

>Save as MQL4 EA. Then open the new MQL4 EA file in MetaEditor 4, and compile

it. Optimize your EA settings in MetaTrader 4 and use your EA.


6. Time Series Boxes

Time Series Boxes such as iOpen, iHigh, iLow, or iClose are under the Time Series

Boxes Menu. For example, to get an iopen Time Series box, select Time Series-

>iopen then right-click on the middle of the iopen box and select “Show all input

buttons”.

iOpen

It returns Open value for the bar of indicated symbol with timeframe (period) and

shift. If shift is 1, then it returns the open value of previous bar.

iHigh

It returns High value for the bar of indicated symbol with timeframe (period) and

shift. If shift is 1, then it returns the high value of previous bar.

iLow

It returns Low value for the bar of indicated symbol with timeframe (period) and

shift. If shift is 1, then it returns the low value of previous bar.

iClose

It returns Close value for the bar of indicated symbol with timeframe (period) and

shift. If shift is 1, then it returns the close value of previous bar.

iVolume

It returns volume value for the bar of indicated symbol with timeframe (period) and

shift. If shift is 1, then it returns the volume value of previous bar.


Ask

The latest known seller's price (ask price) for the current symbol. Please note that

using this function may not give accurate results in back-testing in MetaTrader.

Bid

The latest known buyer's price (offer price, bid price) for the current symbol. Please

note that using this function may not give accurate results in back-testing in

MetaTrader.

HighestHigh

This function finds Highest High value in the range from start to end previous bars.

For example if start is 5 and end is 20, then it returns the highest value of a high in

that range.

LowestLow

This function finds Lowest Low value in the range from start to end previous bars.

For example if start is 5 and end is 20, then it returns the lowest value of a low in

that range.

In this example, the logic is:

If the high of previous bar is greater than or equal to the highest high of previous 10

bars then we open long. To open short, we check if the low of previous bar is less

than or equal the lowest low of previous 10 bars.


7. Function Boxes

There are several types of function boxes under the Functions Menu: conversion

functions and math functions.

Conversion Functions

Conversion functions are very important because many buttons (variables) have

different data types, e.g. double, int, string, etc. buttons of different data types

cannot be connected and their data types have to be converted first. The most used

conversion functions are IntegerToDouble and DoubleToInt functions.

IntegerToDouble Conversion Function

It takes an integer type input A and converts it into double type output O. For

example if A=9 then O=9.0.

Please note that this function does not change the value but it allows connecting an

integer output to double input as in this example.


DoubleToInteger Conversion Function

It takes a double type input A and converts it into integer type output O. It uses the

MQL MathRound. So it rounds the double value to the nearest integer.

For example if A=0.9 then O=1

If A= 0.3 then O=zero

And If A = -0.99999 then O=1

Indicators of Indicators!

In the following example, the output of RSI indicator is multiplied by a factor = 0.2

so the values are ranging between 0 and 20 instead of 0 to 100. Then using the

DoubleToInt box it is converted to an integer type. This is connected to the period

input of two indicator boxes: Stochastics and Momentum. So these indicators’s

periods are changing from bar to bar based on the RSI output values. So now we

have indicators of indicators!


Math Functions

There are many math functions such as Abs, Max, Min, Floor, etc.

8. Operator Boxes

Under the Operators menu, there are Arithmetic Operators such as the Add,

Subtract, and Multiply operators.


9. Layout management

Layout is the hierarchy of boxes or tree of boxes. Tools to manage the layout are

available under the File menu or the left of the toolbar.

You can set the EATree and MT4 directories by selecting File->Set Directories menu

New Layout

Clear the screen and start a new layout

Open Layout

Clear the screen and open an existing layout

Import Layout

Insert an existing layout. It is very useful when inserting a subtree of boxes that is

used often.

Save Layout

Save a layout in the EATree Layout “ly4” format. Do not enter the “.ly4” file

extension.

Save Layout As

Save a layout in the EATree Layout “ly4” format in a new name. Do not enter the

“.ly4” file extension.

If you have both EATree MT4 and EATree MT5, please note that EATree MT5 uses

the format “ly5” and the old format “lay”. Please avoid opening a file with “ly5” or

“lay” extensions as this will result in an incorrect MT4 EA and you will get errors

when you compile your EA in MetaEditor.exe.


10. MQL EA code generation and viewing

Tools to generate MQL code are available under the File menu or the toolbar. You

can set the EATree and MT4 directories by selecting File->Set Directories menu

Select File->View MQL4 EA menu item to view the MQL4 code of the EATree

layout you have just created.

Select File->Save as MQL4 EA menu item to Save the MQL4 code of the EATree

layout. Do not add the “.mq4” file extension. The default location directory is

"C:\Program Files\MetaTrader 4" you can change it using File->Set Directories menu

so that our EA will be saved in the correct folder.

Once you have saved your MQL4 EA, you need to open the MT4 MetaEditor, double

click on your EA to open it, then hit “compile” to create executable EA “.ex4” that

you can use in MT4 platform.

Edit Menu:

Under Edit Menu, you can cut and select all boxes.

To delete a box, simply select it and choose Edit->cut or Ctr-X


11. Tutorials: Creating sample EAs

In this section, let us use some of the tools covered in this user guide to create

sample EAs. First we will create a Moving Average Crossover EA then we will create

a MACD EA.

A. Moving Average Crossover EA Tutorial

First, let us list the EA rules.

Entry Rules:

Open Long:

previous MA(8) >= previous MA(13) and

MA(8) two bars ago < MA(13) two bars ago

Open Short:

previous MA(8) < previous MA(13) and

MA(8) two bars ago >= MA(13) two bars ago

Exit Rules:

Close Long: same rules as Open Short

Close Short: same rules as Open Long

We will use default trade box. Let us get started:

1. Create a MA box MA_1 using Indicators-> Moving Average. Double click

on the middle of the MA_1 box to open its info dialog window. Modify

maPeriod button value to 8 and select it to be an input variable in the MQL4

EA that we will generate by clicking on “Add to EA input variables”. Make sure

that shift button value is 1. Close the info dialog window.


2. Create another MA box MA_2 using Indicators-> Moving Average. Double

click on the middle of the MA_2 box to open its info dialog window. Modify

maPeriod button value to 13 and select it to be an input variable in the MQL4

EA that we will generate by clicking on “Add to EA input variables”. Make sure

that shift button value is 1. Close the info dialog window.


3. Create Condition box Condition_3 using Logic->Condition. Connect the M1

output button of the MA_1 box to the A button of the Condition_3 box and

the M1 output button of the MA_2 box to the B button of the Condition_3

box. Double click on the middle of the Condition_3 box to open its info dialog

window. Modify Oper (Operator) to “>=” and close the info dialog window.

Now we have this logic at Condition_3 box:

If A is larger than or equal to B then T is true, otherwise F is true

Since A = M1 of (MA_1) and B = M1 of (MA_2) this logic is equivalent to:

If previous MA(8) is larger than or equal to previous MA(13) then T is true,

otherwise F is true.

Please note that since the shift button value of MA_1 box is 1, then M1 refers

to Moving Average base (main) indicator line at previous bar. Same concept

applies to MA_2 box.


4. Create Condition box Condition_4 using Logic->Condition. Connect the M2

output button of the MA_2 box to the A button of the Condition_4 box and

the M2 output button of the MA_2 box to the B button of the Condition_4

box. Double click on the middle of the Condition_4 box to open its info dialog

window. Modify Oper (Operator) to “<” and close the info dialog window.

Now we have this logic at Condition_4 box:

If A is smaller than B then T is true, otherwise F is true

Since A = M2 of (MA_1) and B = M2 of (MA_2) this logic is equivalent to:

If MA(8) two bars ago is smaller than MA(13) two bars ago then T is true,

otherwise F is true.

Please note that since the shift button value of MA_1 box is 1, then M2 refers

to Moving Average base (main) indicator line two bar ago (shift

value+1=1+1=2). Same concept applies to MA_2 box.


5. Create an AndL box AandL_5 using Logic->AndL. Connect its input button A to the T output button of the Condition_3 box and connect its input button B

to the T output button of the Condition_4 box. The AndL box is a group of conditions to open long trade. The logic at

AndL_5 box is: If (A and B and C and D) are true then the output O is true, otherwise it is

false. So all of the input buttons’ values have to be true in order for O to be true.

A is equivalent to T output of Condition_3 box B is equivalent to T output of Condition_4 box

C is not connected, so it is true (default value) D is also not connected, so it is true (default value)

So, the logic at AandL_5 box is equivalent to: If previous MA(8) is greater than or equal to previous MA(13) and If MA(8) two bars ago is smaller than MA(13) two bars ago

Then the output O is true, otherwise (if at least one of the conditions is false) O is false.


6. Create an AndS box AandL_6 using Logic->AndS. Connect its input button A to the F output button of the Condition_3 box and connect its input button B

to the F output button of the Condition_4 box. The AndS box is a group of conditions to open short trade. The logic at

AandL_6 box is: If (A and B and C and D) are true then the output O is true, otherwise it is

false. So all of the input buttons’ values have to be true in order for O to be true.

A is equivalent to F output of Condition_3 box B is equivalent to F output of Condition_4 box

C is not connected, so it is true (default value) D is also not connected, so it is true (default value)

So, the logic at AndL_6 box is equivalent to: If previous MA(8) is smaller than previous MA(13) and If MA(8) two bars ago is larger than or equal to MA(13) two bars ago

Then the output O is true, otherwise (if at least one of the conditions is false) O is false.


7. Create a Trade box Trade_7 using Trade->Trade. Connect its openLong

input button to the output of AndL_5 box, O. Connect its openShort input

button to the output of AndS_6 box, O. Now entry rules are satisfied:

Open Long:

previous MA(8) >= previous MA(13) and

MA(8) two bars ago < MA(13) two bars ago

Open Short:

previous MA(8) < previous MA(13) and

MA(8) two bars ago >= MA(13) two bars ago

8. Connect the CloseLong input button to the output of AndS_6 box, O and

connect the CloseShort input button to the output of AndL_5 box, O.

Now exit rules are satisfied:




9. Save the MQL4 file using File->Save as MQL4 EA. Then open the new

MQL4 EA file in MetaEditor 4, and compile it.

10. Optimize your EA settings in MetaTrader 4 and use your EA.


B. MACD EA Tutorial

First, let us list the EA rules.

Entry Rules:

Open Long:

1. previous MACD main > previous MACD signal and

2. MACD main two bars ago< MACD signal two bars ago and

3. Previous EMA (20) > two bars ago EMA (20)

Open Short:

1. previous MACD main < previous MACD signal and

2. MACD main two bars ago> MACD signal two bars ago and

3. Previous EMA (20) < two bars ago EMA (20)

Exit Rules:



We will use default trade box

Let us get started:

11. Create trade box using Trade->Trade, and move it to the right of the screen


12. Create an ANDL box using Logic->AndL and connect its output O to the

openLong button of the Trade box

13. Create a Crossover box using Logic-> Crossover and connect its T (true)

output button to the A button of the AndL box.


14. Create a MACD box using Indicators-> MACD, then right-click on the

middle of the MACD box and select “Show all input buttons”, then connect:

its Main output button M1 to the A button of the Crossover box,

its Signal output button S1 to the B button of the Crossover box,

its Main output button M2 to the C button of the Crossover box, and

its Signal output button S2 to the D button of the Crossover box.

The logic here is:

If previous MACD main M1> previous MACD signal S1 and

MACD main two bars ago M2< MACD signal two bars ago S2


15. Create a MA box using Indicators-> Moving Average. Right-click on the

middle of the MA box and select “Show all input buttons”.

16. Create Condition box using Logic->Condition. Connect the Main output

button of the MA box M1 to the A button of the Condition box and Main

output button of the MA box M2 to the B button of the Condition box.

17. Connect the O output of condition box to the B button of the AndL box.

The subtree for the openLong condition is now complete with these three

conditions:

1. previous MACD main > previous MACD signal and

2. MACD main two bars ago< MACD signal two bars ago and

3. Previous EMA (20) > two bars ago EMA (20)


18. Create an AndS box using Logic->AndS and connect its output button to the

openShort button of the trade box.

19. Since the openShort logic is the opposite of that of the openLong, connect the

F (false) output button of the Crossover box to the A button of the new AndS

box. Also, connect the F (false) output button of the Condition box to the B

button of the new AndS box.


20. To get exit signals, connect the O variable of the AndL box to the closeShort

button of the Trade box and the O variable of the AndS box to the closeLong

button of the Trade box.

21. Double click on both MACD and MA boxes and select a number of variables to

be input variables in the MQL4 EA that we will generate by clicking on “Add to

EA input variables”.


22. The layout is now complete.

23. Save the Layout using File->Save Layout As.

24. If you are using EATree MT5 standard Edition V2.0

save the MQL5 file using File->Save as MQL5 EA. Then open the new


save the MQL4 file using File->Save as MQL4 EA. Then open the new



Finally, we optimize selected input variables in MetaTrader 4 tester using

EURUSD H1 timeframe from Jan. 1, 2011 to Oct. 1, 2011 with no money

management. We have used: TakeProfit = 100, StopLoss = 35, MACDfast =

20, MACDslow = 22, MACDsignal = 7, MAperiod = 20.


12. Color Schemes

Under View menu there are several color schemes that are created not just to make

your layout look “pretty”, but also to make it creating EA layouts a much easier

process. You can select your favorite color scheme while you are using EATree:

1. "Avant" Color Scheme

The default color scheme which is used mostly in this user guide so far.

2. "Fizz" Color Scheme


3. "He Can" Color Scheme with connection line width of 2

4. "Robo" Color Scheme with connection line width of 2


5. "Wheels of Fire" Color Scheme

6. "Details" Color Scheme with connection line width of 2


7. "Autumn Leaves" Color Scheme with white background

8. "Tangerine Skies" Color Scheme

We wish you successful trading!

Disclaimer: For testing and evaluation purposes only. In no event will authors be liable for any

damages whatsoever.

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