Alert.addToList problem ...

[wombat953]

Good afternoon
I have some "Alert" handling code, which seems only to work when Tools, EFS, Settings,make all formulas compute on close is checked (this is what I want).

function BuyMessage(Buy_Mess){
            setBarFgColor(Color.black,0);setBarFgColor(Color.black,1);
            setBarThickness(2,0);setBarThickness(2,1);setBarBgColor(Color.green);
            debugPrint(Buy_Mess+crlf);
            Alert.addToList(getSymbol(),Buy_Mess, Color.green, Color.black );
           
            /*Alert.playSound("cashreg.wav");
            Alert.email(Buy_Mess)*/
return ; 
} 

The code is invoked by :
callFunction("FunctionLib.efs","BuyMessage",Buy_Me ss) from within a Function.

Do I need to pass the symbol, or is getSymbol(), etc. universally available to all applications?
I have found that the Alert.addToList never executes (the statements immediately before it do execute).
Unchecking this setting sets off a flood of Alerts to the Alert List: i.e. it does execute.
What is going on here, please?
Thanks
George

[Doji3333]

My assumptions...

George,

Try passing it the SYMBOL. This is the only thing that could be causing a problem with the call.

I would think this would be all you need to do to solve the problem...

Regarding the setComputeOnClose() issue. You can resolve this issue by time-stamping the action taken on a bar...

Here is an example....

var nLastAlertTime = 0;

   if (getValue("rawtime", 0) != nLastAlertTime) {

    Test for new alerts...

     nLastAlertTime = getValue("rawtime",0);
   } 

[wombat953]

Brad - thanks, but I am afraid that is not it.

I came across this on another thread:

http://forum.esignal.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2728&highlight=Alert.addToList

"Thanks for responding. ......

(... 1 hr later ...)

I finally figured out the problem. The Javascript processor IGNORES all invocations of Alert.addToList() until it has processed all prevous bars and is currently processing bar 0. The attached test.efs proves this. The eSignal developers should include this kind of detail in the online help."

I tend to agree with this, but cannot grasp why - having now modularized this message handling code by placing it in a Callable Function Library - it no longer executes, except when I setComputeonClose from Tools,EFS, Settings? Is it possible that the setCompute,etc... causes the system to never be processing Bar 0 (but that the current bar is always -1)??

Thanks
George

[JayF]

Originally posted by wombat953
Is it possible that the setCompute,etc... causes the system to never be processing Bar 0 (but that the current bar is always -1)??

I believe this is the case. I'm not completely sure if the bar index is -1, but I don't think that bar 0 will ever be reached if "Make all formulas compute on close" is checked in the Tools -> EFS -> Settings dialog.

[wombat953]

Jay -thanks, that was my interpretation.
Can you assist me with my first inquiry, below?
Thanks
George

[JayF]

George,

You'll need to pass the symbol to BuyMessage() for this to work correctly. I believe this is because getSymbol() will only return a symbol if it is active on a chart. Since you are using callFunction to activate BuyMessage(), it will not be aware of what the symbol is your wanting to use it with.

[wombat953]

Jay
I am currently passing the symbol (via getSymbol()), but this makes no difference. What does make a difference is setting setComputeOnClose() NOT to be checkmarked in Tools, EFS,Settings. Reloading of the calling EFS causes a flood of alerts to be issued. So the code is working both with, and without, passing the symbol. But I do wantComputeonClose checked.
This is counter-inuitive behaviour, and may be a bug. I don't know. It worked when the function was defined in the calling EFS.

Is there any formal documentation on Alerts, other than:
"Adds the specified symbol and description to your Alert list." from Divergence Software, Inc.


George
PS. Here is the code:
Invocation of function:

function Buy() {  
ticksize=callFunction("FunctionLib.efs","getTicksize",getSymbol());
var stopIn = (high(0)+ticksize);
var stopOut =(Math.min(low(0),low(-1))-ticksize);
ticksize=callFunction("FunctionLib.efs","getTicksize",getSymbol());
var Buy_Mess = "**"+currBarTime+"**BUY_STOP "+getSymbol()+At+formatPriceNumber(stopIn)
            +", Protective SELL_STOP "+At+formatPriceNumber(stopOut);
callFunction("FunctionLib.efs","BuyMessage",Buy_Mess,getSymbol());
return 
} 

The function itself is as before:

const tab = "\t";
const comma = ","; 
const slash = "/"; 
const blank = " ";
const colon = ":";
const crlf = "\n";
const At = "@";
const star = "*";
var ticksize=0;
function PriceBarColors(vOpen,vClose) {
            /*debugPrintln(getSymbol()+"Bar: "+getCurrentBarIndex()
+" vOpen: " +vOpen+" vCLose: " +vClose) */  
   if (vClose > vOpen) setPriceBarColor(Color.lime)
   else 
   if (vClose < vOpen)  setPriceBarColor(Color.red) 
return null
}
function getTicksize(symbol){/*debugPrintln(symbol);*/
var ESRegular =    "ES #F=2";
var ESContinuous = "ES #F";
var NQRegular =    "NQ #F=2";
var NQContinuous = "NQ #F";
var Russell2000 =  "AB #F";
var Dow          = "YM #F";
switch (symbol) {
    case ESRegular   :ticksize = 0.25;break;
    case ESContinuous:ticksize = 0.25;break;
    case NQRegular   :ticksize = 0.5; break;
    case NQContinuous:ticksize = 0.5; break;
    case Russell2000 :ticksize = 0.1; break;
    case Dow         :ticksize = 1; break;
    }                   //end switch
return ticksize;
}                       //end function
function BuyMessage(Buy_Mess,symbol){
            setBarFgColor(Color.black,0);setBarFgColor(Color.black,1);
            setBarThickness(2,0);setBarThickness(2,1);setBarBgColor(Color.green);
            debugPrint(Buy_Mess+crlf);
            Alert.addToList(symbol,Buy_Mess, Color.green, Color.black );
           
            /*Alert.playSound("cashreg.wav");
            Alert.email(Buy_Mess)*/
return null; 
}   
function SellMessage(Sell_Mess,symbol) {
            setBarFgColor(Color.black,0);setBarFgColor(Color.black,1);
            setBarThickness(2,0); setBarThickness(2,1);  setBarBgColor(Color.red);
            debugPrint(Sell_Mess+crlf);
            Alert.addToList(symbol,Sell_Mess, Color.red, Color.black );
            /*Alert.playSound("cashreg.wav");
             Alert.email(Sell_Mess)*/
return null;
}
function averageIntervalRange(numIntervals,date,time) {
var x=0;var rng=0;var period=0;
var nTot=0;
if (numIntervals==null) numIntervals=100;
    for (x=-numIntervals; x<0; x++) {
        rng = Math.abs(high(x)-low(x));
        nTot =nTot+rng;
    }
    avg = (nTot/numIntervals).toFixed(2);
    if (!isDWM()) period = "minutes"
    else period = "";
    debugPrint(star+date+star+time+star+getSymbol()+" Bar "+getCurrentBarIndex()+colon
    +" Avg Periodic Range for "+getSymbol()+" for chart interval "+getInterval()+blank+period+" = "+avg+" points\n")
return avg;
} 

[JayF]

George,

Instead of using the Compute on Close, I would suggest implementing the tip that Doji3333 referred to. It should clear up that necessity of using Compute on Close.

[wombat953]

Jay - I may have to pursue that suggestion.
But what if an EFS does require Compute on CLose?

I must say that it is not clear to me why this should impact the functioning of the Alert methods. Certainly, it does not appear to be documented anywhere (in fact, I am not sure there is any documentation regarding the functioning of the Alert methods). I am not sure if this is a problem with core JavaScript, or the implemetation of IDC's EFS extensions to it.
Thanks
George

[wombat953]

Jay/Brad - I am unclear about this, esp the initialization.
Where does the var nLastAlertTime = 0 go? It cannot be in the called function (else will always be zero), and note that there is no "main" since I am calling callable functions and have no interest in any main.
Thanks
George

[gspiker]

Hi,

A comment on one thing you said:

and note that there is no "main" since I am calling callable functions and have no interest in any main.

Just because a function is callable doesn't mean it can't have a main. In fact often having a main and being able to load an EFS function into an chart by itself is the easiest way to debug them.

Garth

[wombat953]

Garth - exactly right, but I don't require one in this case, where I might want to initialize a variable (nLastAlertTime = 0) only once, and not for each iteration of main, let alone each tick.
In any case, I am completely stumped, once again, for the time being...
Regards
George

[wombat953]

So guys, where do I place the AlertInitialization variable?
i.e the statement that initializes it to zero, such that this won't happen every time
Thks
George

[eSignal_JasonK]

Hello George,

Let's start over with a fresh solution.

First, here are a couple of clarifications. You have the correct understanding of the Alert object not working when SetComputeOnClose is true. The Alert object only works on bar index of 0. It has been suggested to our development team to allow the Alert object to operate when SetComputeOnClose is true, but it has not been implemented yet. The other problem you are experiencing has to do with how the advanced chart works with the setBarBgColor() function. When you call that function the background color will be changed. However, on the next iteration of main(), if you do not have a routine that sets the background color, that bar will return to it's default color. You have a couple solutions for this.

First of all, don't use setComputeOnClose(), let the formula compute tick-by-tick. Now, if you use setDefaultBarBgColor() vs setBarBgColor(), then the color will remain. If you take this route, then you'll need to check for the instance of a new bar and set the default bar background color back to your neutral color.

The other solution is outlined in the code examples below. This example uses setBarBgColor(). The trick here is to set a variable equal to the color in your FunctionLib.efs function, return that variable to your formula and call setBarBgColor() on each tick until the condition becomes false or a new bar arrives. Again, you'll need to check for the instance of the new bar and reset the color variable to null. The other item I've added to this example is a flag that controls the execution of your callFunction() statement. In this example, the flag only allows the callFunction block to execute once per bar. You could use a similar process to simulate the compute on close feature by using a flag or by checking for the instance of a new bar to check conditions that occurred on bar -1, or the bar that just closed. Let me know if this will work for you or if you have any questions.

test1.efs:

var vFlag = false;
var vColor = null;

function main() {
    if (getBarState() == BARSTATE_NEWBAR) {
        vColor = null; 
        vFlag = false;
    }
    
    if (getCurrentBarIndex() == 0 && vFlag == false) {
        var Buy_Mess = " Buy it ";
        vColor = callFunction("FunctionLib.efs","BuyMessage",Buy_Mess);
        vFlag = true;
    }
    
    if (vColor != null) setBarBgColor(vColor);
} 

FunctionLib.efs

function BuyMessage(Buy_Mess){
    setBarFgColor(Color.black,0);setBarFgColor(Color.black,1);
    setBarThickness(2,0);setBarThickness(2,1);
    var vColor = Color.green;
    debugPrintln(Buy_Mess);
    Alert.addToList(getSymbol(),Buy_Mess, Color.green, Color.black );

    /*Alert.playSound("cashreg.wav");
    Alert.email(Buy_Mess)*/
    return vColor; 
} 

[wombat953]

Jason - thanks for the detailed reply. My "coloring" is actually working properly, and is "cut" when the BUY or SELL signal, as appropriate, is true, and the BUY and SELL functions are invoked (which then invoke their respective message handlers). Green background for buy and red for sell (as well as thicker lines for my variables %K and %D). If the signal is not present for the next bar, yes, you are right, the background color reverts to its default (white), which is what I want. If the signal is in in effect for the next bar, it will be green/red, again, as appropriate.

Does this change your approach at all?

I am monitoring several futures index contracts with this "system", and desperately need the alert to function, so I know when to take a position. This is the only part that is not functioning correctly, and as I mentioned earlier, if I disable setCompute, I am flooded with Alerts (and ditto to the Formula Output window, which I am now using as a "proxy" for the Alert List, since the debugPrint does work as documented).

Thanks
George