Hello Support,


Could you tell me please, is there any way to group my orders by magic number, comment or anything similar to this?

Having several manual strategies, each of them requires different settings for trailing stop for instance. I need to separate my orders somehow as it is possible on MT4.

Any suggestion on that?


Thank you.

Arthur

IOrder has a label property.

This internal label property is displayed by the JForex platform as "External ID".

Normally your "magic number" is embedded within a string assigned to the label.
(All active labels must be a unique string, so some sequence number is used as well.)

Any order you create or manage must be checked to contain your "magic number".

See my screenshot for an example of live orders using a magic number (in this case 78).

Note that this label property is different from the numeric order id. In fact, for the most part, your code does not care much about the numeric order id, just your assigned label.

Any label containing your magic number within the string is managed, and any other orders are specifically coded to be ignored by your Strategy instance. Of course, you supply a magic number unique to each strategy instance, usually at startup, etc. The rest is "coding"

HyperScalper

This is just a code snippet to show how you would filter your order labels.
It won't compile because certain functions are undefined.

This code shows how to filter individual orders by "magic" label, and
then close each one, skipping any unrecognized order labels. (This is
only an example, and there may be more efficient ways to do this.)

// this code must be invoked using IContext.executeTask(callable)
   final public class CloseAllOrdersTask implements Callable<Void> {
      IEngine _engine = null;
      Instrument _instrument = null;
      public CloseAllOrdersTask(final IEngine engineArg, final Instrument instrumentArg) {
         _engine = engineArg;
         _instrument = instrumentArg;
      }
      public Void call() throws Exception {
         checkThread(this);
         try {
            ArrayList<IOrder> orderList = (ArrayList<IOrder>)_engine.getOrders();
            Instrument inst = null;
            IOrder order = null;
            IOrder.State state;
            double bidPrice;
            double askPrice;
            synchronized(spreadMutex) {
               bidPrice = instantaneousLastBidPricePrivate; //lastBidPricePrivate;
               askPrice = instantaneousLastAskPricePrivate; //lastAskPricePrivate;
            }
            for (int i=0; i<orderList.size(); i++) {
               order = orderList.get(i);
               if (order!=null && isMyOrder(order)) { // recognize MY orders
                  inst = order.getInstrument();
                  if (inst==null || !inst.equals(_instrument)) {
                     continue; // skip
                  }
                  state = order.getState();
                  if ( !state.equals(IOrder.State.FILLED)){
                     continue; // skip
                  }
                  boolean isLong = order.isLong();
                  double closePrice = isLong?(bidPrice-(PIP*2.0d)):(askPrice+(PIP*2.0d));
                  // this is a FILLED order, so close it
                  // specify slippage, etc for more reliable close
                  order.close(0, closePrice, SLIPPAGE_PIPS);
                  /*
                  if (WAIT_AFTER_CLOSE) {
                     order.waitForUpdate(1000, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
                  }
                  */
                  { //else {
                     myYield(100);
                  }
               }
            }
         }
         catch(Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
            throw e;
         }
         return null;
      }
   }
   

Example of forming a prefix string containing instrument, magic number, etc.......

The following code returns the unique PREFIX of an order LABEL, which includes
our magic number, and which removes an illegal character from the
Instrument.toString(). Any order with this PREFIX string is one which
the code will manage, otherwise it will be ignored.

   final public String SOH() { // return our unique prefix, including Instrument
      if (magicNumber<1 || magicNumber>99) magicNumber=99; // 1..99
      String sohInvalid = ("SOH"+magicNumber+selectedInstrument.toString());
// NOTE: toString contains invalid slash character which we remove
      String soh = sohInvalid.replaceAll("/", ""); // illegal character EUR/USD -> EURUSD
// MUST remove the illegal slash character from the string !!!
      return soh;
   }
   

Hyperscalper-


Thank you for your reply.

I believe there will be no problems to make the strategy able to define those orders since they are separated by groups.

But I still cannot get how the orders will be marked like I want to.


Look:

3 different strategies, single currency pair. All orders are pending and flow in a random sequence.

External ID has no constant number in itself. If I understood correctly, the code you provided add this constant number to all orders of a particular currency pair.

How I can label the orders of 3 different strategies then?



Thank you,

Arthur

Thank you!


So the only way is to type each unique order ID manually?

If I got 3 different strategies - I have to run 3 TS instances with different settings then? Following this, each trailing stop instance I believe should have at least 5 fields where to type these order IDs..

How can I shorten my order IDs in order to type just last 3 digits of it in terms of code?

Does it all sounds as a best solution or you can suggest how to do it somehow in the other way?


Thanks,

Arthur

YES, YOU CAN ALSO MAINTAIN A LOCAL LIST IN EACH
STRATEGY AND MAINTAIN THAT LIST OR SET OF ORDERS.
ISSUES OF LIST MAINTENANCE APPLY TO THAT SOLUTION.

But, using the "concatenated unique key" approach I suggest:
It's simple, I think:

1) You have a FIXED magic number which a strategy instance uses, which
is entered at Strategy startup.
2) Each instance can achieve uniqueness by incrementing an integer starting with 1
for each label String created.
3) You form a String by concatenation of these elements, such that
the magic number is recognizable by parsing/matching within the label String.

// just typed free form, may be syntax errors !!
public int magicNumber = 33; // CONFIGURED differently at Strategy start !!
int nextOrderId = 1; // increment each time it is used
// make a unique label according to this scheme
// THIS IS THE LABEL YOU WILL PROVIDE WHEN ORDER IS CREATED
String newLabel(Instrument instrument) {
   String instrumentInvalid = instrument.toString();
   String instrumentValid = instrumentInvalid.replaceAll("/",""); // strip out the slash
   String labelKey = "ORD_"+magicNumber+"_"+  // <-- all orders start with this
                          (nextOrderId++) + "_" + instrumentValid;
   return labelKey;
}

// recognize my magicNumber order
if (order.getLabel().startsWith("ORD_"+magicNumber) {
    // then this is an order I want to process
   // if you are using multiple instruments, then
   // you'll also check that it ends with e.g. EURUSD
   // or the specific instrument string you want.
   // NOTE: EUR/USD would be illegal, but EURUSD is OK
}

Sample order labels:
Strategy 1 (magic number 33):
ORD_33_1 (or the expanded form ORD_33_1_EURUSD)
ORD_33_2
ORD_33_3
...
Strategy 2 (magic number 55):
ORD_55_1
ORD_55_2
ORD_55_3
...

Strategy 1 (magic number 77):
ORD_77_1
ORD_77_2
ORD_77_3
...

IF you also need uniqueness across Instruments, then you could append
the Instrument "EURUSD" for example, but see my previous code example
as you need to strip out the slash in "EUR/USD" to produce "EURUSD".
Then just append something like "_EURUSD" to make the key longer
and thus unique to a given currency pair (aka instrument).


Other Strategies which are working with the same Instrument form their
label strings in the same way, but using their specific Magic Number values.

Thus, each Strategy is able to recognize Orders with a matching Magic Number
and does not operate on any other orders, nor perform any Mass Closure statements
which would affect orders "belonging" to the other Strategies'.

HyperScalper

Hyperscalper-


Thank you for another explanation.

So, let say I run 3 strategy instances (trailing stops) with predefined settings to recognise orders by ORD_33, ORD_55 and ORD_77.

Then, I drop pending orders manually. Do I have to change the magic number value at all times before I submitted an order at strategy start up below (if the new order applies to another strategy)?

Do I understand correctly?


// just typed free form, may be syntax errors !!
public int magicNumber = 33; // CONFIGURED differently at Strategy start !!
int nextOrderId = 1; // increment each time it is used
// make a unique label according to this scheme
// THIS IS THE LABEL YOU WILL PROVIDE WHEN ORDER IS CREATED
String newLabel(Instrument instrument) {
String instrumentInvalid = instrument.toString();
String instrumentValid = instrumentInvalid.replaceAll("/",""); // strip out the slash
String labelKey = "ORD_"+magicNumber+"_"+ // <-- all orders start with this
(nextOrderId++) + "_" + instrumentValid;
return labelKey;
}


Thank you,

Arthur

What is the meaning of "I drop pending orders manually"?

Do you mean "cancel" or what is your definition of "drop"?

All orders must be created by the Strategy instance, in order to be managed by that instance.
If you created an order with the JForex platform, its "label" field would not conform to the
convention, and so it would not be recognized by any of the Strategies, since it would not
contain the "magic number" label naming convention.

HyperScalper

Hyperscalper-


That is why I was confused from the very beginning! The only strategy I meant was trailing stop, which should manage my manually entered positions with different settings according to each strategy.

Sorry for my improper clarification of that.

It seems there is no way to do it the way I want to.

This is the only thing where MT4 platform with its mini-terminal steps ahead. There, I enter the market by clicking on my saved template (which includes this magic number already). Quick and convenient. It should be an important future request to make JForex truly superior platform.


Thank you anyway,
Arthur

This is software design and development. Generally there is a way to achieve
what you want, provided you state clearly what you want.

An interactive Strategy instance could easily be developed to "take control of"
and manage orders which you have entered manually.

You seem to be requesting some kind of "programmable or flexible" Trailing
Stop feature in the JForex platform. Whether a generic mechanism would help
you depends what you want, but the Strategy mechanism could give you
exactly what you need. That's why it's available: to bridge the gap between
"generic" platform features, and very specific needs of traders.

I requested an enhancement, such that IOrder.setLabel(...) could change the
label of an existing order. This was implemented in the API.

Using this mechanism, your Strategy module
could be shown the (manually entered) order you wish it to manage, (perhaps
presented in a list) and then it could (optionally) change the label of that order
and "take control" of that order according to some management Strategy.

Like I said, this is software, and if you know what you're doing, you can
accomplish just about anything. Short of that, you have to EXPLAIN exactly
what you need so that we can help you

The best thing you could do is to establish a relationship with a software
developer who could help you achieve your goals, and splash out a little
money to compensate him/her

The only real purpose of a "magic number" in MetaTrader is to "tag" orders
as unique and "owned" by an instance of an Expert Advisor (aka EA). Otherwise
it has no particular purpose.

HyperScalper

Hyperscalper-


Yes, I agree that it would be the easiest way to complete my query. I've contacted someone already

Sure, I need it to have exactly for the same purpose.

Thank you.


Regards,
Arthur