Converting Visual Basic Code to Metatrader 4: A Comprehensive Guide with Examples

Introduction:

Visual Basic (VB) is a popular programming language used for creating Windows applications. On the other hand, Metatrader 4 (MT4) is a widely used platform for online trading, which allows users to create custom trading algorithms using its proprietary language, MQL4. If you're a trader who has developed strategies using Visual Basic, you may want to convert your code to run on the Metatrader 4 platform. In this blog post, we will guide you through the Visual Basic code to MQL4 with detailed examples.


Step by step:

Step 1: Understand the differences between Visual Basic and MQL4


Before diving into the conversion process, it's crucial to understand the fundamental differences between Visual Basic and MQL4.


1. Syntax: Though both languages are relatively easy to learn, their syntax is quite different. Visual Basic uses English-like syntax, while MQL4 is more similar to the C++ programming language.


2. Platform-specific functions: While Visual Basic has a wide range of functions for Windows application development, MQL4 has a specific set of functions tailored for financial market analysis and trading.


3. Object-oriented programming (OOP): Visual Basic supports OOP, while MQL4 is a procedural language with limited support for OOP concepts.


Step 2: Create a new MQL4 script


To start the conversion process, open the Metatrader 4 platform, and create a new MQL4 script by navigating to File > New > Script. Name your script and save it in the 'Scripts' folder, which you'll find in the 'MQL4' directory of your MT4 installation.


Step 3: Convert the code


Now that you have a new MQL4 script, you can begin converting your Visual Basic code. Here's an example to demonstrate the conversion process:


Visual Basic Code:


```vb

Dim movingAverage As Double

Dim price As Double


price = 1.2

movingAverage = (price + price * 0.9) / 2


Console.WriteLine("The moving average is: " & movingAverage)

```


MQL4 Code:


```mql4

double movingAverage;

double price;


price = 1.2;

movingAverage = (price + price * 0.9) / 2;


Print("The moving average is: ", movingAverage);

```


As you can see, the main differences in this example are the variable declaration and the print function. In MQL4, you must declare variables with their data type (e.g., `double`). Additionally, the `Print()` function is used instead of `Console.WriteLine()`.


Step 4: Test your MQL4 script


After converting your Visual Basic code to MQL4, test your script by attaching it to a chart in the MT4 platform. This will allow you to see the script's output and ensure that it's functioning correctly.


Conclusion:

Converting Visual Basic code to MQL4 can be a straightforward process if you understand the core differences between the two languages. By following this guide and using the provided example, you can begin converting your Visual Basic strategies to run on the Metatrader 4 platform. However, keep in mind that more complex code may require a deeper understanding of MQL4 and additional modifications to ensure accurate functionality. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Optimizely Content Graph: minimal setup for testing

Image
 1. Create a test page: [ContentType(DisplayName = "Test Page", GUID = "462d1812-7385-42c3-8073-c1b7481e7b21", Description = "TestPage", AvailableInEditMode = true, GroupName = GroupNames.Content)] public class TestPage : PageData { [CultureSpecific] [UIHint(UIHint.Textarea)] [Display(Name = "Test", GroupName = SystemTabNames.Content, Order = 1)] public virtual string Test { get; set; } } 2. Add this in Startup services.AddContentGraph(configureOptions: options => { options.SynchronizationEnabled = false; options.Include.ContentTypes = new string[] { typeof(TestPage).Name, }; options.OnlySyncContentTypesInWhitelistToSchema = true; options.ContentVersionSyncMode = Optimizely.ContentGraph.Cms.Configuration.ContentVersionSyncMode.PublishedOnly; }); 3. Create a test page in UI    4. Run the index job again {      "took": 0,  ...
Read more

Episerver ServiceAPI: Example of how-to properly call the media upload

Image
For the example of how-to properly call the media upload, you can refer to my Postman collection: https://github.com/KhanhPham2411/EpiserverAPI_PostmanCollection/blob/main/ServiceAPI/ServiceAPI_Collections.json   For the detail steps: Copy the raw content to Postman: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/KhanhPham2411/EpiserverAPI_PostmanCollection/main/ServiceAPI/ServiceAPI_Collections.json   2. Get ServiceAPI NetCore Token   3. Post to Assets/Import Example media file: https://github.com/KhanhPham2411/EpiserverAPI_PostmanCollection/blob/main/ServiceAPI/01-CreateMediaWithBlob.zip 4. To verify your import is working, use that task id to get task log:      
Read more

SameSite Cookie login troubleshooting

Image
  We will use network tab to capture redirect request when logging in to found the root cause F12 to open developer console and switch to Network tab Login to the Commerce Manger site => We would focus on the request that has Status 302 and Initiator CommerceManager.aspx Click on that request and switch to Cookies tab => Response Cookie is  yellow  mean it has been blocked and that is why it keep showing you the login page 🙂 Obviously, as it's blocked, no cookies have been used for the next request So how do we resolve it, we saw 2 exclamation mark in columns Secure and SamesSite, just  hover  on it and there will be a  hint  to solve :v When hover on SameSite exclamation mark, there will be a message "This Set-Cookie didn't specify a "SameSite" attribute and was defaulted to "SameSite=Lax", and was blocked because it came from a cross-site response which was not the response to top-level navigation. The Set-Cookie had to have been set with ...
Read more