Time

[Alan2004]

Good Morning,

I would like to read two times into an EFS. The first is the last time on an EFS tick chart. Is "getSeconds" the correct function to read the EFS time?

The second time is the time on the computer. What function would be used to read the computer seconds in a way that it could be used as a variable?

Best Regards,

Alan

[ACM]

Alan
To retrieve the bar time you can use the hour(), minute() and second() functions (see the respective links for the required syntax).
To retrieve the computer time instead you neeed to use the Date Object.
Enclosed below is a basic example of both bar time and computer time. If you search the forums you should find several threads that include detailed examples on how to retrieve/manipulate the time using either method.
Alex

function preMain(){
    setPriceStudy(true);
    setShowCursorLabel(false);
}
 
function main(){
 
    //to retrieve bar time
    var BarTime = padTime(hour(0))+":"+padTime(minute(0))+":"+padTime(second(0));
    //to retrieve computer time
    var myDate = new Date();
    var PCTime = padTime(myDate.getHours())+":"+padTime(myDate.getMinutes())+":"+padTime(myDate.getSeconds());
        
    drawTextRelative(0, BottomRow1, "Bar Time is: "+BarTime, Color.blue, null, 
                     Text.PRESET|Text.RIGHT, "Arial", 12, "bartime");
    drawTextRelative(0, BottomRow2, "Computer Time is: "+PCTime, Color.blue, null, 
                     Text.PRESET|Text.RIGHT, "Arial", 12, "pctime");
 
    return;
}
 
function padTime(input){
    if(input<10) 
        var ret = "0"+input;
    else 
        var ret = input;
    return ret;
} 

[Alan2004]

Alex,

Thank you for the detailed responce.

I am trying to create an alert program which lets me know if the data feed is lagging or has stopped completely due to a problem with the exchange. If the times differ by more than 20 seconds, an alarm would sound.

I modified your code to calculate the seconds only and plotted them on a 1T chart of $INDU. It appears when a bar is plotted, the times are updated and remain almost identical. Is there any way in EFS to calculate the difference between these values if the data feed is cut off and the next bar does not get posted because there is no data?

If the answer is no, could the calculation be done in Excell or Lotus where the the sheat reads a static value from EFS since there is no data feed and the sheet reads the PC time which continues to change?

If the answer is yes, how do I export the bar time from EFS and read it into Excell or Lotus?

As always, you support is greatly appreciated.

Best Regards,

Alan

[ACM]

Alan
The simplest way I can think of to compute the difference between bar time and computer time is to convert both to rawtime as I do in the enclosed revision of the script I posted earlier (note that I am also displaying the computer and bar times as hh:mm:ss only for comparison purposes)

function preMain(){
    setPriceStudy(true);
    setShowCursorLabel(false);
}
 
function main(){
 
    //to retrieve bar time
    var xTime = getValue("Time");
    var BarRawTime = parseInt(xTime.getTime()/1000);
    var BarTime = padTime(xTime.getHours())+":"+padTime(xTime.getMinutes())+":"+padTime(xTime.getSeconds());
    //to retrieve computer time
    var myDate = new Date();
    var PCRawTime = parseInt(myDate.getTime()/1000);
    var PCTime = padTime(myDate.getHours())+":"+padTime(myDate.getMinutes())+":"+padTime(myDate.getSeconds());
       
 
    drawTextRelative(0, BottomRow3, "Bar Time is: "+BarTime+"  "+BarRawTime, Color.blue, null, 
                     Text.PRESET|Text.RIGHT, "Arial", 12, "bartime");         
    drawTextRelative(0, BottomRow2, "Computer Time is: "+PCTime+"  "+PCRawTime, Color.blue, null, 
                     Text.PRESET|Text.RIGHT, "Arial", 12, "pctime");
              
    var TimeDiff = (PCRawTime-BarRawTime);
    drawTextRelative(0, BottomRow1, "Time Difference is: "+TimeDiff+" seconds", Color.blue, null, 
                     Text.PRESET|Text.RIGHT, "Arial", 12, "difftime");                 
 
    return;
}
 
function padTime(input){
    if(input<10) 
        var ret = "0"+input;
    else 
        var ret = input;
    return ret;
} 

However because an efs will only execute on a trade the computer time in the efs will not be updated if trades are not being received at your end hence I don't think you would be able to determine within the efs that the data feed has stopped.
As to doing this in Excel it may be possible but I would not know how it could be accomplished.
Alex

[Alan2004]

Alex,

Thank you for the assistance.

Best Regards,

Alan

[ACM]

Alan
My pleasure
Alex