Build an Alert that can be applied to a set

[moko800]

I am new to esignal and have been playing around with the wizard a bit and still cannot quite figure out how to get it to do what I want. Basically, I want to build an alarm, that notifies only once(!) per bar (but re-armed for every new bar), if that bar breaks the high of the last bar. IE, if applied to a fifteen minute chart, if the current 15m breaks the last 15m high, the alarm buzzes and then is quiet for the duration of the current bar-- no matter how many more prices in this current bar are higher. As soon as a new 15m bar starts I want the alarm to be reset to notify if that 15m bar breaks last high. Once I have the alert built I want to apply it to an entire portfolio, or set of stocks.

The areas I am having trouble with as I try to build this myself: (1) The alarm goes off over and over (and not once per 15m bar); (2) I can set this on a chart to alert if the current active symbol has the condition, but I need to apply it to an entire list (or portfolio) of stocks at once-- to go off even if the symbol is not in any chart window when the condition is met.

Please help! I am so frustrated and I am hoping this is relatively simple! Thanks in advance-- moko.

[JayF]

moko,

The good news is that this can be done in EFS (eSignal Formula Script). The bad news is that this can only be done on a chart, so you would need a chart running for each symbol that you wanted to track with this alert system.

Please reply to this thread whether or not you would still like this study created.

[moko800]

Jay,

Thanks for the fast reply! I would still love to know how to build this particular alarm, even if I can not apply it to a set / portfolio. I can use it with individual chart windows if that is what I need to do.

But, this raises a second question: If one wanted a simple alarm-- say buzz if "any x" stock in set {y} hits a new HOD or LOD-- can one develop this to apply all at once to a list? In other words, is it possible at all (and if so, how) to apply a set of simple alarm conditions to a group of stocks. If not, can one make alarm prefs files and select these to quickly-- even if individually-- set alerts for a whole list? (My hand is tired from entering the high/low price, incremental change / value / realarm, and .wav selection) for a new watch list of 75-100 stocks each day!)

Thanks for helping. There are a lot of adjustments to be made and new things to learn in switching from Erlanger/Qcharts to Esignal! --Moko

[JayF]

Moko,

I think before we get into learning EFS, I suggest looking at Trade-Ideas' product line. Their long list of different alert types is quite impressive, and from what I've seen their ease of use and compatibility with eSignal is a great benefit. Here's some info on the different alerts they carry.

http://www.trade-ideas.com/Help.html

And some more information on the eSignal integration...

http://www.trade-ideas.com/ESignalIntegration.html

Below (and attached) is a EFS script that will do the alert you originally asked for, and contains some helpful comments to learn what the script is doing.

/************************
Copyright © eSignal, 2003
*************************/

// Global variables
var vLastAlert = null;
var vAlertHitThisBar = false;

function preMain() {
    setShowCursorLabel(false);              // Turns off Cursor Label
    setStudyTitle("Higher High Alerts");    // Sets name of study
    setPriceStudy(true);                    // Puts the "study" in the price pane
                                               // instead of creating a study pane for it
}

function main() {

    var vPrevHigh = high(-1);               // Gets the value of the previous high
    if (vPrevHigh == null) return;          // If Previous High doesn't exist then exit
    
    var vLast = close();                    // Gets current price
    if (vLast == null) return;              // If current price doesn't exist then exit
    
    vBarState = getBarState();              // Gets the state of the current bar
    
    if (vBarState != BARSTATE_ALLBARS) {    // If chart isn't still loading...
        
        // Check to see if a new bar has been created
        if (vBarState == BARSTATE_NEWBAR) vAlertHitThisBar = false;
        
        // Alert Condition -- If current price is greater then prev. high and no alert this bar...
        if (vLast > vPrevHigh && vAlertHitThisBar == false) {
            
            Alert.playSound("buzz.wav");    // This is the actual buzzer
            vAlertHitThisBar = true;
        }
       
    }   
    return;

} 

[cpatte7372]

Hello JayF,

This script would be absolutely ideal for my needs if it would alert the highest high of the day is reached. Can it be done?

Thanks

Carlton

[JayF]

You might want to go with the Global Alert feature in eSignal. This will automatically alert you when any symbol being tracked by eSignal hits its daily high.

[cpatte7372]

JayF,

Now why didn't I think of that.

Cheers

Carlton