Backtesting entry price == indicator value?

[gpfx19]

I would like to create a backtest that has me entering when the price == MA value (or any other indicator). I don't know how to acquire past bar values to do this. One thought would be to test & see if the MA value was between the price high & low, but the only means I know to do this involves using getValue(). How to then align the values, especially if in an array. Use bar index? The numbers for a 2 minute chart going back 30 days alone would be huge. Just as much so, if data is loading for a certain amount of historical data, how to get the starting date? Most importantly, this is bumping into, & probably beyond, my limited programming skills.

Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Greg

[ACM]

Greg
You can find a very basic example of a strategy that uses a moving average as the entry price in this thread.
The script was written using only the Formula Wizard
Alex

[gpfx19]

Hi Jason,

Thanks for the response. It gets me there in format, but how do I use none builtin studies? As an example, T3Ave.efs?

Thanks,
Greg

[gpfx19]

Oops! Mea culpa! I meant Alexis! I know how to read. Really, I do! ;-)

[gpfx19]

Hi Alexis,

From the thread you qouted:

http://forum.esignalcentral.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=26161#post26161

In strategy-limit.efs:

1. Why is there a return statement? What functional purpose does it serve?

2. What _functional_ purpose does vLastAlert serve? Logically, I could see how it might be used, but in this code, it appears to be unused. Am I incorrect?

Thanks, as always!
Greg

[ACM]

Greg
With non builtin studies you would use something similar to the example shown below (which is based on the T3 study you referenced).

//other variables here
var T3Average = null;
var T3Average_1 = null;//this is the value of the T3 at the prior bar

function main()

    if(getBarState()==BARSTATE_NEWBAR){
        //other code here
        T3Average_1 = T3Average;
    }

    //other code here

    T3Average = c1 * e6 + c2 * etc;

    if(!Strategy.isLong()){
        if(close(-1)<T3Average_1 && close(0)>T3Average){
            if(low(0)<T3Average){//this is to make sure prices traded across the T3 on the entry bar
                Strategy.doLong("Long", Strategy.LIMIT, Strategy.THISBAR, Strategy.DEFAULT, T3Average);
            }else{
                Strategy.doLong("Long", Strategy.CLOSE, Strategy.THISBAR, Strategy.DEFAULT);
            }
        }
    }
    
    return T3Average;
} 

As you can see if you exclude the code required to calculate the indicator the syntax and construct for the strategy are not much different than the ones shown in the example I indicated in my prior reply even though this script is not using a builtin study. Here I also added a further condition to ensure that prices actually traded at the T3 average to avoid unrealistic fills. The strategy in fact will go long at the T3 only if the low of the bar that generates the trade signal went below it else it will enter at the close of the bar.
Note that the above is just an example intended to illustrate the basic concept.
Alex

[ACM]

Greg
1. To return the value of the moving average to the chart
2. vLastAlert is inserted automatically by the Formula Wizard and would be used to trigger alerts/events only the first time a condition returns true.
At this point I would strongly suggest that you take some time to go through the Help Guides in the EFS knowledgeBase and in particular the Formula Wizard Guide, the Guide to Developing EFS Indicators and the Guide to Developing EFS Strategies.
Alex

[gpfx19]

Hi Alex,
Actually, I was going into a compiler question which is inappropriate here. Thank you for getting me past my difficulties once again.
- Greg