Why MQL4 OrderModify() will not modify the order when backtesting? - algorithmic-trading

Question

I'm trying to ADD a stop loss to my open market orders in MetaTrader 4 when a position gets 100 pips "to the good" which is to be equal to the Order Open Price;
OrderStopLoss() == OrderOpenPrice()
But this isn't happening.
I've added Print() & GetLastError() functions and nothing is coming up in the journal, so it must be something in my coding - but cannot see what would be wrong.
OK this is what I have so far, one for loop for the buy, one for the sell. I've also Normalized the "doubles" as I have been advised to do & have also declared the BuyMod & SellMod to "true" at the very top. This should ensure that the default won't resort to false. I also thought it might be helpful if I told you I have the MetaEditor version 5 build 1241:)
The following code I have is the following;
/*Breakeven Order Modification*/
bool BuyMod = true;
bool SellMod = true;
for(int b = OrdersTotal()-1;b>=0;b--)
{
if(OrderSelect(b,SELECT_BY_POS,MODE_TRADES))
{
double aBidPrice = MarketInfo(Symbol(),MODE_BID);
double anOpenPrice = OrderOpenPrice();
double aNewTpPrice = OrderTakeProfit();
double aCurrentSL = OrderStopLoss();
double aNewSLPrice = anOpenPrice;
double pnlPoints = (aBidPrice - anOpenPrice)/_Point;
double stopPoints = (aBidPrice - aNewSLPrice)/_Point;
int stopLevel = int(MarketInfo(Symbol(),MODE_STOPLEVEL));
int aTicket = OrderTicket();
if(OrderType() == OP_BUY)
if(stopPoints >= stopLevel)
if(aTicket > 0)
if(pnlPoints >= breakeven)
if(aNewSLPrice != aCurrentSL)
{
BuyMod = OrderModify(OrderTicket(),OrderOpenPrice(),NormalizeDouble(aNewSLPrice,Digits),NormalizeDouble(aNewTpPrice,Digits),0,buycolor);
SendMail("Notification of Order Modification for Ticket#"+IntegerToString(OrderTicket(),10),"Good news! Order Ticket#"+IntegerToString(OrderTicket(),10)+"has been changed to breakeven");
}
}
}
for(int s = OrdersTotal()-1; s>=0; s--)
{
if(OrderSelect(s,SELECT_BY_POS,MODE_TRADES))
{
double anAskPrice = MarketInfo(Symbol(),MODE_ASK);
double anOpenPrice = OrderOpenPrice();
double aNewTpPrice = OrderTakeProfit();
double aCurrentSL = OrderStopLoss();
double aNewSLPrice = anOpenPrice;
double pnlPoints = (anOpenPrice - anAskPrice)/_Point;
double stopPoints = (aNewSLPrice - anAskPrice)/_Point;
int stopLevel = int(MarketInfo(Symbol(),MODE_STOPLEVEL));
int aTicket = OrderTicket();
if(OrderType()== OP_SELL)
if(stopPoints >= stopLevel)
if(pnlPoints >= breakeven)
if(aNewSLPrice != aCurrentSL)
if(aTicket > 0)
{
SellMod = OrderModify(OrderTicket(),OrderOpenPrice(),NormalizeDouble(aNewSLPrice,Digits),NormalizeDouble(aNewTpPrice,Digits),0,sellcolor);
SendMail("Notification of Order Modification for Ticket#"+IntegerToString(OrderTicket(),10),"Good news! Order Ticket#"+IntegerToString(OrderTicket(),10)+"has been changed to breakeven");
}
}
}
trading algorithmic-trading mql4 metatrader4
shareeditdeleteflag
edited just now
asked 2 days ago
Todd Gilbey
264
You might want to know, StackOverflow does not promote duplicate questions. ( see the

Answer 1

Besides meeting an MQL4 syntax-rules,there are more conditions:
A first hidden trouble is in number rounding issues.
MetaQuotes, Inc., recommends wherever possible, to normalise float values into a proper price-representation.
Thus,wherever a price goes into a server-side instruction { OrderSend(), OrderModify(), ... } one shall always prepare such aPriceDOMAIN valueby a call to NormalizeDouble( ... , _Digits ), before a normalised price hits any server-side instruction call.
May sound rather naive, but this saves you issues with server-side rejections.
Add NormalizeDouble() calls into your code on a regular base as your life-saving vest.
A second, even a better hidden trouble is in STOP_ZONE-s and FREEZE_ZONE-s
While not visible directly, any Broker set's in their respective Terms & Conditions these parameters.
In practice,this means, if you instruct { OrderSend() | OrderModify() } to set / move aPriceDOMAIN level to be setup too close to current actual Ask/Bid ( violating a Broker-forbidden STOP_ZONE )orto delete / modify aPriceDOMAIN level of TP or SL, that are already set and is right now, within a Broker-forbidden FREEZE_ZONE distance from actual Ask/Bid,such instruction will not be successfully accepted and executed.
So besides calls to the NormalizeDouble(), always wait a bit longer as the price moves "far" enough and regularly check for not violating forbidden STOP_ + FREEZE_ zones before ordering any modifications in your order-management part of your algotrading projects.
Anyway, Welcome to Wild Worlds of MQL4
Update: while StackOverflow is not a Do-a-Homework site, let me propose a few directions for the solution:
for ( int b = OrdersTotal() - 1; b >= 0; b-- ) // ________________________ // I AM NOT A FAN OF db.Pool-looping, but will keep original approach for context purposes
{ if ( ( OrderSelect( b, SELECT_BY_POS, MODE_TRADES ) ) == true )
{ // YES, HAVE TO OPEN A CODE-BLOCK FOR if()-POSITIVE CASE:
// ------------------------------------------------------
double aBidPRICE = MarketInfo( Symbol(), MODE_BID ); // .UPD
double anOpenPRICE = OrderOpenPrice(); // .SET FROM a db.Pool Current Record
double aNewTpPRICE = OrderTakeProfit(); // .SET FROM a db.Pool Current Record
double aCurrentSlPRICE = OrderStopLoss(); // .SET FROM a db.Pool Current Record
double aNewSlPRICE = anOpenPRICE; // .SET
double pnlPOINTs = ( aBidPRICE - anOpenPRICE )/_Point; // .SET
double stopPOINTs = ( aBidPRICE - aNewSlPRICE )/_Point; // .SET
// ------------------------------------------------------------ // .TEST
if ( OP_BUY == OrderType() )
if ( Period() == OrderMagicNumber() )
if ( stopPOINTa > stopLevel )
if ( pnlPOINTs >= breakeven )
if ( aNewSlPRICE != aCurrentSlPRICE )
{ // YES, HAVE TO OPEN A BLOCK {...}-CODE-BLOCK FOR THE if()if()if()if()-chain's-POSITIVE CASE:
// -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
int aBuyMOD = OrderModify( OrderTicket(),
OrderOpenPrice(),
NormalizeDouble( aNewSlPRICE, Digits ),
NormalizeDouble( aNewTpPRICE, Digits ),
0,
buycolor
);
switch( aBuyMOD )
{ case ( NULL ): { ...; break; } // FAIL ( ANALYSE ERROR )
default: { ...; break; } // PASS OrderModify()
}
}
}

Answer 2

The problem is in your call to a built-in OrderModify() function.
OrderStopLoss() == OrderModify() will evaluate as false which in turn will evaluate as 0 since == is a comparison operator.
An OrderStopLoss() is a call to another built-in function (not a variable), you can't save anything to it so OrderStopLoss() = 4 wouldn't work either.
From the MQL4 documentation:
bool OrderModify( int ticket, // ticket
double price, // price
double stoploss, // stop loss
double takeprofit, // take profit
datetime expiration, // expiration
color arrow_color // color
);
In your case that would be the following, assuming ModBuy is already defined somewhere in the code:
ModBuy = OrderModify( OrderTicket(), // <-ticket from record OrderSelect()'d
OrderOpenPrice(), // <-price from current record
OrderOpenPrice(), // <-price from current record
OrderTakeProfit(), // <-TP from current record
0, // ( cannot set P/O expiration for M/O )
buycolor // ( set a color for a GUI marker )
);
Or you could just use any other valid value instead of the second OrderOpenPrice() to set a new stoploss.

Answer 3

I'm really sorry, I'm new to Stackoverflow, this is the revised code I now have based on everyone's comments & recommendation's below
**Local Declarations**
pnlPoints = 0;
point = MarketInfo(Symbol(),MODE_POINT);
stopLevel = int(MarketInfo(Symbol(),MODE_STOPLEVEL)+MarketInfo (Symbol(),MODE_SPREAD));
sl = NormalizeDouble(OrderStopLoss(),Digits);
tp = OrderTakeProfit();
cmd = OrderType();
breakeven = 100;
**Global Variables**
double pnlPoints;
double price,sl,tp;
double point;
int stopLevel;
int cmd;
int breakeven;
double newSL;
for(int b = OrdersTotal()-1; b>=0; b--)
{
if((OrderSelect(b,SELECT_BY_POS,MODE_TRADES))==true)
price = MarketInfo(Symbol(),MODE_BID);
newSL = NormalizeDouble(OrderOpenPrice(),Digits);
pnlPoints = (price - OrderOpenPrice())/point;
{
if(OrderType()==OP_BUY)
if(OrderMagicNumber() == Period())
if((price-newSL)/point>=stopLevel)
if(pnlPoints>=breakeven)
if(sl!=newSL)
ModBuy = OrderModify(OrderTicket(),OrderOpenPrice(),newSL,tp,buycolor);
else if(ModBuy == false)
{
Print("OrderModify failed with error #",GetLastError());
}
}
}