im a bit rusty and i need some help : /

[kalzenith]

hey guys, i havent been here in a while but ive got a renewed interest in writing some programs to backtest, but im a bit rusty and my code isnt working quite right, everything appears to be working EXCEPT the doLong and doShort events, and i dont know why, could someone take a look and help me out please?

var ValidTime = false
var Counter = 0
var H = 0
var L = 0
var State = 0
function preMain() {
    setPriceStudy(true);
    setColorPriceBars(true);
    setStudyTitle("4 hours");
    setCursorLabelName("4 hours",0)
    setPlotType(PLOTTYPE_FLATLINES, 0)
}

function main() {

//ONLY ALLOWS THE EFS TO ENTER A TRADE BETWEEN 22:00 AND 03:59
ValidTime = false
if (getHour() >= 22) ValidTime = true
if (getHour() < 4) ValidTime = true

// DEFINES "H" AS THE GREEN BAR ON THE CHART, AND "L" AS THE RED BAR ON THE CHART
if (getHour() >= 18 && getHour() < 22) {
    if (high() > high(-1)) H = high() 
        else H = high(-1)
    if (low() < low(-1)) L = low() 
        else L = low(-1)
}

//THIS IS JUST DRAWING THE LINES ON THE CHART
if (getHour() == 20) {
    drawLineRelative(0, H, 3, H, PS_SOLID, 4, Color.RGB(0,128,0), Counter + 6)
    drawLineRelative(0, L, 3, L, PS_SOLID, 4, Color.RGB(128,0,0), Counter + 7)
    drawLineRelative(-1, H, -1, L, PS_SOLID, 4, Color.RGB(255,0,255), Counter)
    drawLineRelative(0, H, 0, L, PS_SOLID, 4, Color.RGB(255,0,255), Counter + 1)
    drawLineRelative(-1, H, 0, H, PS_SOLID, 4, Color.RGB(255,0,255), Counter + 2)
    drawLineRelative(-1, L, 0, L, PS_SOLID, 4, Color.RGB(255,0,255), Counter + 3)
    drawLineRelative(-1, H, 0, L, PS_SOLID, 4, Color.RGB(255,0,255), Counter + 4)
    drawLineRelative(-1, L, 0, H, PS_SOLID, 4, Color.RGB(255,0,255), Counter + 5)
    Counter = Counter + 8
}

//ENTERS TRADE AT THE PRICE "H" OR "L" WHEN THE PRICE CROSSES ONE OF THE TWO LINES WITHIN "VALIDTIME"
if(ValidTime == true) {
    if (high() >= H ) State = 1
    if (high() >= H ) Strategy.doLong("", Strategy.LIMIT, Strategy.THISBAR, Strategy.DEFAULT, H)
    if (low() <= L ) State = -1
    if (low() <= L ) Strategy.doShort("", Strategy.LIMIT, Strategy.THISBAR, Strategy.DEFAULT, L)
}

//AFTER THE VALID TIME IS OVER, THE TRADE CLOSES
if (ValidTime == false) {
    if (State == 1) {
        State = 0
        Strategy.doSell("", Strategy.LIMIT, Strategy.THISBAR, Strategy.ALL, close())
    }
    if (State == -1) {
        State = 0
        Strategy.doCover("", Strategy.LIMIT, Strategy.THISBAR, Strategy.ALL, close())
    }
}

//THIS COLORS THE BAR GREEN IF IT IS CURRENTLY LONG AND RED IF IT IS CURRENTLY SHORT
setPriceBarColor(Color.RGB(128,128,128))
if (Strategy.isLong == true) setPriceBarColor(Color.RGB(0,255,0))
if (Strategy.isShort == true) setPriceBarColor(Color.RGB(255,0,0))

} 

[Doji3333]

The problems appear to be near the end of your code..

//AFTER THE VALID TIME IS OVER, THE TRADE CLOSES
if (ValidTime == false) {
if (State == 1) {
State = 0;
Strategy.doSell("", Strategy.LIMIT, Strategy.THISBAR, Strategy.ALL, close());
if (State == -1) {
State = 0;
Strategy.doCover("", Strategy.LIMIT, Strategy.THISBAR, Strategy.ALL, Close())
}

//THIS COLORS THE BAR GREEN IF IT IS CURRENTLY LONG AND RED IF IT IS CURRENTLY SHORT
setPriceBarColor(Color.RGB(128,128,128))
if (Strategy.isLong()) setPriceBarColor(Color.RGB(0,255,0))
if (Strategy.isShort()) setPriceBarColor(Color.RGB(255,0,0))

}


Your "Close position" code was not correct. You were setting the "State" variable to ZERO, then checking it again to see if you could close out the position. This won't fly in EFS.

Please try these changes and let me know if they helped?

[kalzenith]

wow, that seems rather obvious now that you point it out, thanks, ive made the changes and the backtest is giving results now. But there are a couple problems still, its still not coloring the bars on the chart when its in a trade, and the backtest is saying there are an average of 2.5 bars between trades when there should be a minimum of 9 since ive restricted the times it can trade

you missed a couple closing braces, so this is exactly what i replaced it with

//AFTER THE VALID TIME IS OVER, THE TRADE CLOSES
if (ValidTime == false) {
    if (State == 1) {
        State = 0
        Strategy.doSell("", Strategy.LIMIT, Strategy.THISBAR, Strategy.ALL, close())
    }
    if (State == -1) {
        State = 0
        Strategy.doCover("", Strategy.LIMIT, Strategy.THISBAR, Strategy.ALL, close())
    }
} 

[kalzenith]

i figured out why it wasnt coloring the bars, i put Strategy.isLong == true, not Strategy.isLong() == true