Calling Windows API function MessageBox from EFS?

[eparks]

How would I call the Windows API function MessageBox from within an EFS study?

[SteveH]

You could create a DLL, pull it into your EFS code with a DLL Object and then call it.

[Unless you really know what you're doing, I would recommend against it. You're pulling in executable machine code into a highly stable product on the same thread as the main event loop which drives the entire eSignal charting application. This is a good recipe for your code crashing the entire application.]

Don't use a message box from Windows. Instead, either use one of the Alert functions in your EFS script or a debugPrintln() statement with the Formula Output Windows open (Tools->EFS->FormulaOutputWindow)

Go to your C:\Program Files\eSignal directory and look at the documentation. Most of your questions about EFS will be answered in the eSignalEFS2.chm file.

[eparks]

I have successfully called DLLs from EFS (and of course crashed the application a couple of times before success, that dev work for ya)

What I really want to do now is to make a call to a SMTP program/dll and am looking for a way to do that. I'll start a new thread on that.

[eparks]

which esignal dll is responsible for executing alert.email?

1. which esignal dll is responsible for executing alert.email?
1.b what are the dll's function names
1.b.i what the the functions paramters types?

[SteveH]

eparks,

If you don't want to use Alert.email() [why wouldn't you?] then your best bet for fast, safe development (meaning, stay away from DLLs entirely) is to:

1. Use an EFS File Object to write anything you want to a known filename.

2. Have a C# or VB.NET program monitor that file for updates and then use all the wonderful mail options you have in the .Net framework to send out custom mail alerts from information you have written to that file.

You can pick up all kinds of examples on codeproject.com to accomplish what you want on the C#/VB.NET side of things with very little deep thought on your part.

Just so you know, eSignal has no plugin architecture. If they were interested in providing that, then they would have allowed you to pull in ActiveX Objects into EFS scripts (which they don't).

The DLL Object was intended primarily for users to write faster indicator code in C or allow them to send data/commands out of eSignal and into another trading/utility application doing more highly specialized things which eSignal currently doesn't support.

[You really, really don't want to go fishing around for an undocumented set of SMTP calls inside of undocumented eSignal DLLs.]

[eparks]

been there done that, got the t-shirt... now just want to call a dll to do the same as the alert.email function.

If you know what esignal dll executes (and function) in order to do the alert.email fucntion, I'd be greatful to know.

Cheers,