Hans_Indicator
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This tool is designed for traders who use a breakout strategy, specifically focusing on the EUR/USD and GBP/USD currency pairs. Its primary purpose is to visually identify specific price "zones" on your trading chart based on historical price action during the early hours of the day.
Core Logic and Functionality
The script operates by analyzing specific time windows every day to determine the high and low price points reached during those periods. Instead of looking at the entire day's movement, it focuses on two distinct "breakout zones."
1. Time Zone Awareness The tool is built with flexible time zone settings. It allows you to input your local time and a destination time (such as the market's primary trading time). It automatically calculates the difference between these zones so that the price ranges are calculated accurately regardless of where your account server is located.
2. The Period Analysis The script divides the trading day into specific blocks:
- Zone 1: Analyzes the early morning price action (between 04:00 and 08:00).
- Zone 2: Analyzes the subsequent mid-morning movement (between 08:00 and 12:00).
- The Remainder: It tracks the rest of the day to ensure the calculations stay separated.
3. Automated Range Detection As the market moves through these time slots, the script automatically identifies the highest price reached and the lowest price reached within those specific windows.
Once a period is completed, the script "carries forward" those boundaries onto your chart. It places a visual range on the screen that represents these highs and lows. To give traders a bit of "breathing room," the script adds a small buffer (a user-definable number of pips) above the high and below the low.
4. Visual Representation
- Dynamic Lines: The tool draws horizontal levels on your chart representing the boundaries of these two zones. These lines help you see exactly where the price "broke out" from the early morning session.
- Visual Signals: It provides a visual marker (an arrow) to help identify specific breakout events on the chart.
How it helps the trader
Instead of manually looking back at old charts to find out where the price was at 4:00 AM or 8:00 AM, this script does that math for you automatically. It creates a clear "map" of the day’s boundaries, allowing you to see at a glance whether the current price has moved outside of the established early-session ranges, which is a key signal for many breakout trading strategies.
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
//| TZ-Breaktout.mq4 |
//| Shimodax |
//| |
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
#property copyright "Copyright Shimodax"
#property link "http://www.strategybuilderfx.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15439"
/*
Introduction:
Draw ranges for "Simple Combined Breakout System for EUR/USD and GBP/USD" thread
(see http://www.strategybuilderfx.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15439)
LocalTimeZone: TimeZone for which MT4 shows your local time,
e.g. 1 or 2 for Europe (GMT+1 or GMT+2 (daylight
savings time). Use zero for no adjustment.
The MetaQuotes demo server uses GMT +2.
Enjoy :-)
Markus
*/
#property indicator_chart_window
#property indicator_buffers 5
#property indicator_color1 Red
#property indicator_color2 Red
#property indicator_color3 LightGray
#property indicator_color4 LightGray
#property indicator_color5 Blue
//----
extern int LocalTimeZone= 2;
extern int DestTimeZone= 6;
extern int PipsForEntry= 5;
//----
double Zone1Upper[];
double Zone2Upper[];
double Zone1Lower[];
double Zone2Lower[];
double SignalsBuffer[];
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
//| Custom indicator initialization function |
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
int init()
{
SetIndexStyle(0,DRAW_LINE);
SetIndexBuffer(0,Zone1Upper);
SetIndexEmptyValue(0, 0.0);
SetIndexStyle(1,DRAW_LINE);
SetIndexBuffer(1,Zone1Lower);
SetIndexEmptyValue(1, 0.0);
SetIndexStyle(2,DRAW_NONE);
SetIndexBuffer(2,Zone2Upper);
SetIndexEmptyValue(2, 0.0);
SetIndexStyle(3,DRAW_NONE);
SetIndexBuffer(3,Zone2Lower);
SetIndexEmptyValue(3, 0.0);
SetIndexStyle(4,DRAW_ARROW);
SetIndexArrow(4, 156);
SetIndexBuffer(4, SignalsBuffer);
return(0);
}
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
//| |
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
int deinit()
{
return(0);
}
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
//| Custom indicator iteration function |
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
int start()
{
int counted_bars= IndicatorCounted(),
lastbar, result;
//----
if (Bars<=100)
return(0);
if (counted_bars>0)
counted_bars--;
//----
lastbar= Bars - counted_bars;
//----
BreakoutRanges(0, lastbar, LocalTimeZone, DestTimeZone);
return(0);
}
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
//| Compute index of first/last bar of yesterday and today |
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
int BreakoutRanges(int offset, int lastbar, int tzlocal, int tzdest)
{
int i, j, k,
tzdiff= tzlocal - tzdest,
tzdiffsec= tzdiff*3600,
tidxstart[2]= { 0, 0},
tidxend[2]= { 0, 0 };
double thigh[2]= { 0.0, 0.0 },
tlow[2]= { 99999.9, 99999.9 };
string tfrom[3]= { "04:00", "08:00" , /*rest of day: */ "12:00"},
tto[3]= { "08:00", "12:00", /*rest of day: */ "24:00" },
tday;
bool inperiod= -1;
datetime timet;
// search back for the beginning of the day
tday= TimeToStr(Time[lastbar]-tzdiffsec, TIME_DATE);
for( ;lastbar<Bars; lastbar++)
{
if (TimeToStr(Time[lastbar] - tzdiffsec, TIME_DATE)!=tday)
{
lastbar--;
break;
}
}
// find the high/low for the two periods and carry them forward through the day
tday= "XXX";
for(i= lastbar; i>=offset; i--)
{
timet= Time[i] - tzdiffsec; // time of this bar
//----
string timestr= TimeToStr(timet, TIME_MINUTES), // current time HH:MM
thisday= TimeToStr(timet, TIME_DATE); // current date
// for all three periods (first period, second period, rest of day)
for(j= 0; j<3; j++)
{
if (tfrom[j]<=timestr && timestr<tto[j])
{ // Bar[i] in this period
if (inperiod!=j)
{ // entered new period, so last one is completed
if (j>0)
{ // now draw high/low back over the recently completed period
for(k= tidxstart[j-1]; k>=tidxend[j-1]; k--)
{
if (j-1==0)
{
Zone1Upper[k]= thigh[j-1];
Zone1Lower[k]= tlow[j-1];
}
if (j-1==1)
{
Zone2Upper[k]= thigh[j-1];
Zone2Lower[k]= tlow[j-1];
}
}
}
inperiod= j; // remember current period
}
if (inperiod==2) // inperiod==2 (end of day) is just to check completion of zone 2
break;
// for the current period find idxstart, idxend and compute high/low
if (tidxstart[j]==0)
{
tidxstart[j]= i;
tday= thisday;
}
tidxend[j]= i;
//----
thigh[j]= MathMax(thigh[j], High[i]);
tlow[j]= MathMin(tlow[j], Low[i]);
}
}
// carry forward the periods for which we have definite high/lows
if (inperiod>=1 && tday==thisday)
{ // first time period completed
Zone1Upper[i]= thigh[0] + PipsForEntry*Point;
Zone1Lower[i]= tlow[0] - PipsForEntry*Point;
//----
if (inperiod>=2)
{ // second period completed
Zone2Upper[i]= thigh[1] + PipsForEntry*Point;
Zone2Lower[i]= tlow[1] - PipsForEntry*Point;
}
}
else
{ // none yet to carry forward (zero to clear old values, e.g. from switching timeframe)
Zone1Upper[i]= 0;
Zone1Lower[i]= 0;
Zone2Upper[i]= 0;
Zone2Lower[i]= 0;
}
// at the beginning of a new day reset everything
if (tday!="XXX" && tday!=thisday)
{
Print("#", i, "new day ", thisday, "/", tday);
//----
tday= "XXX";
//----
inperiod= -1;
//----
for(j= 0; j<2; j++)
{
tidxstart[j]= 0;
tidxend[j]= 0;
thigh[j]= 0;
tlow[j]= 99999;
}
}
}
return(0);
}
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
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