Sierra Chart ACSIL for Beginners.

December 8th, 2020, 05:18 PM

Hi guys been busy on a project so had to let this slide for a while.

mosalem2003

How to import SC studies to be used in a trading system code ?
Should I import the whole code of that study in the new trading system code to use it?

I assume it is part of the SC library and we have the two lines at the front of the code to import it but it seems this is only working for ACSIL interface members that can be called by using sc.membername

Is there any sample code for importing studies?
The only examples in the ACS source is only for using sc.movingavg which is a member function of ACSIL and not a study ..

If I would like to import SCSFExport scsf_HighLowForTimePeriodExtendedLines(SCStudyInterfaceRef sc how to do this.

I'll put up another example later today/tomorrow to show this but if you cannot wait you use one of these ACSIL functions to reference the array/s in a study on the same chart (scGetStudyArray) and/or different chart(scGetStudyArrayFromChart) and place the array/s you want to use in a SCFloatArray or Subgraph in your new Study.

sc.GetStudyArraysFromChart()

sc.GetStudyArraysFromChartUsingID()

EDIT (sorry about the lack of hyperlink this forum is dropping the end tag off the links??!!)

December 8th, 2020, 06:15 PM

Thanks a lot for your prompt response Trembling Hand... I will stay tuned for your detailed example and thanks a lot for the thread... Kindly keep it alive here as it is my first day to find it and it has a lot of invaluable information...

December 9th, 2020, 09:56 PM

Ok here is a quick and dirty example of using the arrays and input settings in a study to use as triggers for events in another study. This could be used for a trading system or another study. Using the requested scsf_HighLowForTimePeriodExtendedLines study it gets the two H/L arrays for the set time period from that study and puts them in local array SCFloatArray and it also gets the end time input for that study to check if that time has passed.

I've just used simple logic to print to the log but it would be the same to trigger for a trade. Basically it checks if the current bar start time is > or = to the ending time set in the HighLowForTimePeriod. Then checks once per bar if the close one bar ago is higher or lower than the H/L in the first study. If so prints out to the log the result.

Code

SCSFExport scsf_Study_Reference(SCStudyInterfaceRef sc)
{

    SCInputRef Input_StudySubgraph1 = sc.Input[0];
    SCInputRef Input_StudySubgraph2 = sc.Input[1];


    // Set configuration variables

    if (sc.SetDefaults)
    {
        sc.GraphName = "Study Reference";

        Input_StudySubgraph1.Name = "Input Study 1";
        Input_StudySubgraph1.SetStudySubgraphValues(0, 0);

        Input_StudySubgraph2.Name = "Input Study 2";
        Input_StudySubgraph2.SetStudySubgraphValues(0, 0);


        sc.CalculationPrecedence = VERY_LOW_PREC_LEVEL;

        sc.AutoLoop = 1;

        return;
    }


    // Get the array for the specified Input Data from the specified studies
    SCFloatArray HighforTimePeriodArray;
    sc.GetStudyArrayUsingID(Input_StudySubgraph1.GetStudyID(), Input_StudySubgraph1.GetSubgraphIndex(), HighforTimePeriodArray);

    SCFloatArray LowforTimePeriodArray;
    sc.GetStudyArrayUsingID(Input_StudySubgraph2.GetStudyID(), Input_StudySubgraph2.GetSubgraphIndex(), LowforTimePeriodArray);

    // Get the end Time for H/L study
    int EndTimeInput;
    sc.GetChartStudyInputInt(sc.ChartNumber, Input_StudySubgraph1.GetStudyID(), 1, EndTimeInput);

    // Get the time of the bar at the current index
    int CurrentBarTime = sc.BaseDateTimeIn[sc.Index].GetTimeInSeconds();


    // Process once per bar
    int& LastBarIndexProcessed = sc.GetPersistentInt(11);
    if (sc.Index == 0)
        LastBarIndexProcessed = -1;
    if (sc.Index == LastBarIndexProcessed)
        return;
    LastBarIndexProcessed = sc.Index;

    // Logic for signal

    // Declare a new SCString
    SCString SignalString;

    if (CurrentBarTime >= EndTimeInput) {

        // Long signal logic
        if (sc.Close[sc.Index - 1] > HighforTimePeriodArray[sc.Index - 1])
        {
            SignalString.Format("Long Signal! Close: %.2f > HighforTimePeriod: %.2f ", sc.Close[sc.Index - 1], HighforTimePeriodArray[sc.Index - 1]);
        }
        // short signal logic
        else if (sc.Close[sc.Index - 1] < LowforTimePeriodArray[sc.Index - 1])
        {
            SignalString.Format("Short Signal!  Close: %.2f < LowforTimePeriod: %.2f", sc.Close[sc.Index - 1], LowforTimePeriodArray[sc.Index - 1]);
        }
        // no trigger logic
        else
        {
            SignalString.Format("No Signal", EndTimeInput, CurrentBarTime);
        }
    }
    // before H/L for time period has ended
    else {
        SignalString.Format("CurrentBarTime %d < EndTime %d",  CurrentBarTime , EndTimeInput);
    }

    // Finally print our SignalString to Sierra Charts Log
    sc.AddMessageToLog(SignalString, 0);

}

Things to note.
Of course for this to work you need the scsf_HighLowForTimePeriodExtendedLines study on a chart and reference it as per the screen shot.
When referencing other studies you should set the sc.CalculationPrecedence to LOW_PREC_LEVEL or VERY_LOW_PREC_LEVEL to ensure that the first study has finished doing its calculations before using the values. Also note the logic that makes this study calculate just ONCE per new bar.

December 10th, 2020, 11:17 AM

No rush at all... Just to let you know , I am patiently looking forward for your follow-up examples regarding importing an on chart-studies data to the trading system... Thanks a lot in advance and have a nice day ...

December 10th, 2020, 05:23 PM

mosalem2003

No rush at all... Just to let you know , I am patiently looking forward for your follow-up examples regarding importing an on chart-studies data to the trading system... Thanks a lot in advance and have a nice day ...

Hey? Isn't that what the above example is? Its importing data from one study into another and using it.

December 10th, 2020, 11:56 PM

Thanks a lot for the comprehensive example. sorry, I am new to the forum and for some reason I didn't get a notification update by email. I will study the example, and post questions if any... Once again, thanks a lot for your prompt support and efforts. Highly appreciated indeed!

December 11th, 2020, 12:41 AM

Very few minor questions as I am new to c++ , thanks for your answer in advance ...

Code

 int EndTimeInput;
 sc.GetChartStudyInputInt(sc.ChartNumber, Input_StudySubgraph1.GetStudyID(), 1, EndTimeInput);

Should we change the input index to 2 as End time is In:2 for the HighLowforTmePeriod-Extended study ?

/

Code

/ Process once per bar
    int& LastBarIndexProcessed = sc.GetPersistentInt(11);

///Q**: Why there is a "&" appended to int ?
 --- why 11 is the index for GetPersistentInt ? 
does this mean this variable will remain 
unchanged for the program all time of execution ?

    if (sc.Index == 0)
        LastBarIndexProcessed = -1;
//Q** Does this mean when we reach the last bar, you set the integer to -1 
    if (sc.Index == LastBarIndexProcessed)

//Q*** then if we reach "after" the last bar the index will be -1 "
--can this happen-- I assumed the index is from 0 to n - index can be negative? "
,  and then we exit the whole chart bars initial calculations
 and we only work again if there is a new bar ?

        return;
    LastBarIndexProcessed = sc.Index;

Code

  sc.AutoLoop = 1;

Should we set it =0 when we finish the development
as I noticed if it is 1 the performance is too slow in general ?

December 11th, 2020, 01:22 AM

mosalem2003

Should we change the input index to 2 as End time is In:2 for the HighLowforTmePeriod-Extended study ?

No have a look at the docs for that function and familiarise yourself with what zero indexing is.
"InputIndex: The zero-based index of the Input to get the value for. The Input index values + 1 are displayed in the Inputs list on the Study Settings window for the study. Example: (In:1)."

mosalem2003

Code

  sc.AutoLoop = 1;

Should we set it =0 when we finish the development
as I noticed if it is 1 the performance is too slow in general ?

Again No. Have a look at what auto looping does in the docs. I covered it in post #8 of this thread but have a look in the docs. Its very important that you understand this - without auto looping you have to programmatically control the array indexes.

December 15th, 2020, 07:03 PM

Code

 int CurrentBarTime = sc.BaseDateTimeIn[sc.Index].GetTimeInSeconds();

Code

                  if (Result > 0) //If there has been a successful order entry, then draw an arrow at the low of the bar.
		   {
			Subgraph_BuyEntry[sc.Index-1] = sc.Low[sc.Index-1];
		    SignalString.Format("Buy Limit 1: %.2f & Buy Target1: %.2f & CurrentBarTime: %d", NewOrder.Price1, NewOrder.Price1+ NewOrder.Target1Offset, CurrentBarTime);
			sc.AddMessageToLog(SignalString, 0);
			
		   }

This is a sample of what is printed in the message log:

<< Sell Limit 3 : 3611.00 & Sell Target3: 3606.00 & CurrentBarTime: 50640 | 2020-12-15 18:38:25.489>>

How to print the CurrentBarTime to the Message log in <<Date, HH, MM, SS>> format -- I have coded it as above and it prints the time of the bar in numerical value of seconds which is not readable ?

December 15th, 2020, 07:48 PM

mosalem2003

This is a sample of what is printed in the message log:

<< Sell Limit 3 : 3611.00 & Sell Target3: 3606.00 & CurrentBarTime: 50640 | 2020-12-15 18:38:25.489>>

How to print the CurrentBarTime to the Message log in <<Date, HH, MM, SS>> format -- I have coded it as above and it prints the time of the bar in numerical value of seconds which is not readable ?

https://www.sierrachart.com/index.php?page=doc/SCDateTime.html

#SCDateTimeMember_GetDateTimeYMDHMS

Code

int Year, Month, Day, Hour, Minute, Second;

SCDateTimeVariable.GetDateTimeYMDHMS(Year, Month, Day, Hour, Minute, Second);

Sierra Chart ACSIL for Beginners.

Discussion in Sierra Chart

Sierra Chart ACSIL for Beginners.