What's wrong with this MQL4 code? - mql4

Question

I wanted to make a generic code, where I could set a pricepoint and have the program buy and sell on my demo account.
{
double pricepoint = 1.36900;
if ( Bid < pricepoint )
{
int ticket;
ticket = OrderSend( "EURUSD", OP_BUY, 1.0, Ask, 0, 0, 0, "My 1st Order!" );
}
else if ( ticket != -1 ) & ( Ask > pricepoint )
{
OrderClose( ticket, 1.0, Bid, 0 );;
}

Answer 1

As others mentioned, first you need to declare ticket outside the if() statement. If you want to close the order later, when it's in profit, you can't do it straight inside the else{...} block - the price cannot be lower than pricepoint and higher than pricepoint at the same time.
Since your EA will run with each tick, the variable ticket will contain your new ticket number only for one cycle. If that's what you want your code would look like this:
double pricepoint = 1.36900;
int ticket = -1;
// buy condition is met
if (Bid < pricepoint)
{
// you should consider using Symbol() to get the chart symbol
ticket = OrderSend("EURUSD", OP_BUY, 0.01, Ask, 0, 0, 0, "My 1st Order!");
if (ticket < 0)
{
Print("OrderSend failed with error #", GetLastError());
}
else
Print("OrderSend placed successfully");
}
// ... later in code
// if you want to close specifically the ticket that was opened in the same tick cycle
if (ticket > 0)
{
if (OrderSelect(ticket, SELECT_BY_TICKET) == true)
{
// use OrderTicket(), OrderLots() and other Order functions to get the ticket properties
OrderClose(OrderTicket(), OrderLots(), Bid, 0, clrNONE);
}
else
Print("OrderSelect returned the error of ",GetLastError());
}
I don't recommend working with tickets this way though. It will take some time before your orders are in profit (if ever). You can loop through all open tickets and close those that are in profit like this:
for (int i = 0; i < OrdersTotal(); i++)
{
if (OrderSelect(i, SELECT_BY_POS) == true)
{
// we only care about opened market orders, not pendings
if (OrderType() > OP_SELL)
continue;
// we only want to close orders that are in profit
if (OrderProfit() < 0)
continue;
if (OrderClose(OrderTicket(), OrderLots(), OrderClosePrice(), 0, clrNONE) == false)
Print("OrderClose returned the error of ",GetLastError());
// we need to adjust the control variable for the order we just closed
else
i--;
}
else
Print("OrderSelect returned the error of ",GetLastError());
}

Answer 2

The variable ticket needs to be declared ( and obtain a value )outside of the if(){...}else{...} block,and where does the Ask variable come from?

Answer 3

A: a commented inventory of errors for [ What's wrong with this code ]:
While MQL4 code is syntactically trivial, some care has to be taken for details:
{ // -<BegOfBlock>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
double pricepoint = 1.36900; // =OK: .DEFs a variable visible/known till the <EndOfBlock> "}"
if ( Bid < pricepoint ) // ERR: <pricepoint> refers to something not known yet, the compiler will object ( <Bid> is a known system-state variable of the code-execution platform [ MetaTrader Terminal 4] )
{ // -<BegOfBlock>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
int ticket; // =OK: .DEFs a variable visible/known till the <EndOfBlock> "}" with an implicit value assignment of 0
ticket = OrderSend( "EURUSD",
OP_BUY,
1.0,
Ask,
0,
0,
0,
"My 1st Order!"
); // =OK: .SET a value { -1 onFailure | <aTicketNUMBER> onSuccess }
}
// ^------<EndOfBlock>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
// INF: ##<EndOfBlock> .UNDEF: <ticket>
//
else
if ( ticket != -1 ) & ( Ask > pricepoint )
// ^--------------|------------------------------ ERR: <ticket> refers to something not known here, the compiler will object
// ^------------------------------ ERR: "&" operator does not conform to syntax-rules, use "&&" and/or "||" for { .AND. | .OR. } boolean-constructions
{ // -<BegOfBlock>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
OrderClose( ticket, 1.0, Bid, 0 );;
// ^---------------------^--------------ERR: <ticket> refers to something not known here, the compiler will object
// ^--------------ERR: remove the 2nd ";"
}
// ^------<EndOfBlock>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
// ^------<EndOfBlock>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
// ERR: an<EndOfBlock> "}" missing
// INF: ##<EndOfBlock> .UNDEF: <pricepoint>