This script is designed to act as a sophisticated "warning system" for traders who want to avoid trading during high-impact economic news. It works by cross-referencing your current trading activity against an external schedule of global economic events.
Core Functionality
The primary purpose of this tool is to determine if the market is currently experiencing—or about to experience—significant news events that could cause high volatility. Instead of making trading decisions itself, it provides a "Yes" or "No" answer to the following question: Is there a major news event happening for the currency I am currently trading within my specified safety window?
How It Works
The logic follows a three-step process to ensure efficiency and accuracy:
1. Data Retrieval and Management The script relies on an external file (a CSV list) that contains scheduled news announcements, including titles, dates, currencies involved, and time zones. To keep the trading platform running smoothly, the script is programmed to be efficient; it doesn't constantly re-read this file every second. Instead, it intelligently refreshes the data only once per hour, ensuring your trading performance remains fast and responsive.
2. Currency Filtering The script identifies which currency pair you are currently watching (for example, GBP/USD). It automatically breaks down the pair into its individual components (the British Pound and the US Dollar). It then scans the news list to see if any upcoming announcements specifically involve either of those two currencies. This prevents the system from giving you "false alarms" for news that has no impact on your current trade.
3. The Safety Window You can define a custom "buffer zone" around a news event. You provide two variables:
- Prior: How many minutes before the news the system should consider it "active."
- After: How many minutes after the news the system should still consider it "active."
The logic converts these minutes into seconds and compares them against the real-time clock. If the current time falls within that window, the script signals that it is a "News Time," allowing your trading software to take protective action (such as pausing trades or closing positions).
Error Handling
In addition to its main logic, the script includes a comprehensive "dictionary" of system messages. This allows the tool to translate technical computer errors into plain-English descriptions, making it much easier for a user to understand what might be going wrong with a file or a connection without needing to know how to read computer code.
Miscellaneous
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LibNewsTimes_v02
/*-----------------------------+
| |
| Shared by www.Aptrafx.com |
| |
+------------------------------*/
//=============================================================================
// LibNewsTimes_v02.mq4
// Copyright © 2006, Derk Wehler
// 10 Dec, 2006
// This lib serves one main function:
//
// To inform the calling EA whether it is currently close to news times,
// as reported by ForexFactory.com. It is to be used in conjunction with
// the GetNewsFF indicator, which reads the ForexFactory site once per hour
// and outputs a CSV file containing info on announcements.
//
// The method os use is to call: IsNewsTime(prior, after, currency);
// where "prior" is the number of minutes before the annoucement and
// "after" is the number of minutes after the announcement, and "currency"
// is the currency pair (defaults to current symbol if you send NULL).
// So if you call:
//
// bool newsTime = IsNewsTime(15, 30, "GBPUSD");
//
// ...and there is an announcement for then it will return true fifteen
// minutes before and 30 minutes after any announcement that involves the
// GBP or the USD.
//
// Version 02:
// 14 Dec, 2006 - Changed IsNewsTime() to only read the .csv file once
// per hour, to save time, because it seemed that the
// EA running this was very slow. Also because it is
// just more efficient to avoid opening, reading, and
// closing the file every tick.
//
//=============================================================================
#property copyright "Copyright © 2006, Derk Wehler"
#property link ""
#property library
int DebugOn = 0;
static bool Initialized = false;
static int NewsCount = 0;
static string Title[100];
static string Currency[100];
static string Date[100];
static string TimeZone[100];
static string Importance[100];
bool IsNewsTime(int prior, int after, string currency)
{
// Convert minutes to seconds
prior *= 60;
after *= 60;
int handle, err;
// Set the currency variable, pair
string pair = currency;
if (currency == "")
pair = Symbol();
// Break the currency pair string into 2 separate currencies
string curr1 = StringSubstr(pair, 0, 3);
string curr2 = StringSubstr(pair, 3, 3);
if (DebugOn > 2)
{
Print("Curr1 calculated: ", curr1);
Print("Curr2 calculated: ", curr2);
}
// Read in the .csv file only initially and once per hour
if (!Initialized || Minute() == 5)
{
Initialized = true;
handle = FileOpen("NewsItems.csv", FILE_READ|FILE_CSV);
if (handle < 0)
{
err = GetLastError();
if (DebugOn > 0)
Print("IsNewsTime: FileOpen error(",err,"): ", ErrDescription(err));
return(0);
}
// Get past (read) the header line of the input file
string line = "";
string Header = FileReadString(handle);
if (DebugOn > 2)
Print("String read: ", Header);
// Now loop through and read each line, breaking it up into separate strings
line = FileReadString(handle);
NewsCount = 0;
while (line != "")
{
if (DebugOn > 2)
Print("WHOLE LINE = ", line);
int idxComma = 0;
int idxPrevComma = 0;
idxComma = StringFind(line, ",", idxComma);
Title[NewsCount] = StringSubstr(line, idxPrevComma, idxComma - idxPrevComma);
if (DebugOn > 2)
Print("String read: ", Title[NewsCount]);
idxComma++;
idxPrevComma = idxComma;
idxComma = StringFind(line, ",", idxComma);
Currency[NewsCount] = StringSubstr(line, idxPrevComma, idxComma - idxPrevComma);
if (DebugOn > 2)
Print("String read: ", Currency[NewsCount]);
idxComma++;
idxPrevComma = idxComma;
idxComma = StringFind(line, ",", idxComma);
Date[NewsCount] = StringSubstr(line, idxPrevComma, idxComma - idxPrevComma);
if (DebugOn > 2)
Print("String read: ", Date[NewsCount]);
idxComma++;
idxPrevComma = idxComma;
idxComma = StringFind(line, ",", idxComma);
TimeZone[NewsCount] = StringSubstr(line, idxPrevComma, idxComma - idxPrevComma);
if (DebugOn > 2)
Print("String read: ", TimeZone[NewsCount]);
idxComma++;
idxPrevComma = idxComma;
idxComma = StringFind(line, ",", idxComma);
Importance[NewsCount] = StringSubstr(line, idxPrevComma, idxComma - idxPrevComma);
if (DebugOn > 2)
Print("String read: ", Importance[NewsCount]);
idxComma++;
idxPrevComma = idxComma;
NewsCount++;
line = FileReadString(handle);
}
FileClose(handle);
}
else
{
if (DebugOn > 2)
Print("LibNewsTimes_v02 - Did NOT read file: Date[0] = ", Date[0]);
}
// We now have all the info from the news file in our arrays.
// Determine if we are "near" news times
bool isNewsTime = false;
for (int j=0; j < NewsCount; j++)
{
// If this news does not concern the Currency being traded, skip it
if (Currency[j] != curr1 && Currency[j] != curr2)
continue;
datetime newsTime = StrToTime(Date[j]);
datetime beginTime = newsTime - prior;
datetime endTime = newsTime + after;
if (DebugOn > 1)
{
Print("News: ", Date[j]);
Print(" Secs Prior:", beginTime);
Print(" Secs News:", newsTime);
Print(" Secs After:", endTime);
Print(" ");
Print(" Secs NOW:", CurTime());
Print(" ");
Print(" ");
Print(" ");
}
// Now we just need to decipher the time and
// see if it matches the current local time
if (CurTime() >= beginTime && CurTime() <= endTime)
{
isNewsTime = true;
break;
}
}
if (DebugOn > 0 && isNewsTime)
Print("!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LibNewsTime: Is News Time !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!");
else if (DebugOn > 0)
Print("!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LibNewsTime: NOT News Time !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!");
return (isNewsTime);
}
//=============================================================================
// return error description
//=============================================================================
string ErrDescription(int error_code)
{
string error_string;
switch (error_code)
{
//---- codes returned from trade server
case 0:
case 1: error_string = "no error"; break;
case 2: error_string = "common error"; break;
case 3: error_string = "invalid trade parameters"; break;
case 4: error_string = "trade server is busy"; break;
case 5: error_string = "old version of the client terminal"; break;
case 6: error_string = "no connection with trade server"; break;
case 7: error_string = "not enough rights"; break;
case 8: error_string = "too frequent requests"; break;
case 9: error_string = "malfunctional trade operation"; break;
case 64: error_string = "account disabled"; break;
case 65: error_string = "invalid account"; break;
case 128: error_string = "trade timeout"; break;
case 129: error_string = "invalid price"; break;
case 130: error_string = "invalid stops"; break;
case 131: error_string = "invalid trade volume"; break;
case 132: error_string = "market is closed"; break;
case 133: error_string = "trade is disabled"; break;
case 134: error_string = "not enough money"; break;
case 135: error_string = "price changed"; break;
case 136: error_string = "off quotes"; break;
case 137: error_string = "broker is busy"; break;
case 138: error_string = "requote"; break;
case 139: error_string = "order is locked"; break;
case 140: error_string = "long positions only allowed"; break;
case 141: error_string = "too many requests"; break;
case 145: error_string = "modification denied because order too close to market"; break;
case 146: error_string = "trade context is busy"; break;
//---- mql4 errors
case 4000: error_string = "no error"; break;
case 4001: error_string = "wrong function pointer"; break;
case 4002: error_string = "array index is out of range"; break;
case 4003: error_string = "no memory for function call stack"; break;
case 4004: error_string = "recursive stack overflow"; break;
case 4005: error_string = "not enough stack for parameter"; break;
case 4006: error_string = "no memory for parameter string"; break;
case 4007: error_string = "no memory for temp string"; break;
case 4008: error_string = "not initialized string"; break;
case 4009: error_string = "not initialized string in array"; break;
case 4010: error_string = "no memory for array\' string"; break;
case 4011: error_string = "too long string"; break;
case 4012: error_string = "remainder from zero divide"; break;
case 4013: error_string = "zero divide"; break;
case 4014: error_string = "unknown command"; break;
case 4015: error_string = "wrong jump (never generated error)"; break;
case 4016: error_string = "not initialized array"; break;
case 4017: error_string = "dll calls are not allowed"; break;
case 4018: error_string = "cannot load library"; break;
case 4019: error_string = "cannot call function"; break;
case 4020: error_string = "expert function calls are not allowed"; break;
case 4021: error_string = "not enough memory for temp string returned from function"; break;
case 4022: error_string = "system is busy (never generated error)"; break;
case 4050: error_string = "invalid function parameters count"; break;
case 4051: error_string = "invalid function parameter value"; break;
case 4052: error_string = "string function internal error"; break;
case 4053: error_string = "some array error"; break;
case 4054: error_string = "incorrect series array using"; break;
case 4055: error_string = "custom indicator error"; break;
case 4056: error_string = "arrays are incompatible"; break;
case 4057: error_string = "global variables processing error"; break;
case 4058: error_string = "global variable not found"; break;
case 4059: error_string = "function is not allowed in testing mode"; break;
case 4060: error_string = "function is not confirmed"; break;
case 4061: error_string = "send mail error"; break;
case 4062: error_string = "string parameter expected"; break;
case 4063: error_string = "integer parameter expected"; break;
case 4064: error_string = "double parameter expected"; break;
case 4065: error_string = "array as parameter expected"; break;
case 4066: error_string = "requested history data in update state"; break;
case 4099: error_string = "end of file"; break;
case 4100: error_string = "some file error"; break;
case 4101: error_string = "wrong file name"; break;
case 4102: error_string = "too many opened files"; break;
case 4103: error_string = "cannot open file"; break;
case 4104: error_string = "incompatible access to a file"; break;
case 4105: error_string = "no order selected"; break;
case 4106: error_string = "unknown symbol"; break;
case 4107: error_string = "invalid price parameter for trade function"; break;
case 4108: error_string = "invalid ticket"; break;
case 4109: error_string = "trade is not allowed"; break;
case 4110: error_string = "longs are not allowed"; break;
case 4111: error_string = "shorts are not allowed"; break;
case 4200: error_string = "object is already exist"; break;
case 4201: error_string = "unknown object property"; break;
case 4202: error_string = "object is not exist"; break;
case 4203: error_string = "unknown object type"; break;
case 4204: error_string = "no object name"; break;
case 4205: error_string = "object coordinates error"; break;
case 4206: error_string = "no specified subwindow"; break;
default: error_string = "unknown error";
}
return(error_string);
}
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