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Tutorial 115 | Two ways to create an alarm

Two different approaches to create an alarm in TradeStation

This tutorial show how to set up an alarm using TradeStation’s Alarm class. Since the Alarm class in only accurate to the minute, I also used the Timer class to setup an additional alarm that occurs a specific number of seconds after the first.

A video demonstration is included below.

The 'timer alarm'applied to a 15 second chart. The alarm was set for 9/28/2016 2:40:45 PM and then every 60 seconds thereafter
The ‘timer alarm’applied to a 15 second chart. The alarm was set for 9/28/2016 2:40:45 PM and then every 60 seconds thereafter

At the time of making this tutorial (September 2016) using TradeStation 9.5, release 15, there appears to be some unexpected behavior when using the Alarm class. for example, the alarm is sometimes fired additional times after the first trigger. In addition, when applying programs containing alarms to several charts on a workspace, some alarms did not fire at all. Hopefully, these issues will be fixed by TradeStation in due course.

An example of tutorial 115 EasyLanguage code
An example of tutorial 115 EasyLanguage code

Consequently I created another alarm that solely used the Timer class. This appears to be more reliable. I demonstrate the ‘timer alarm’ in the second video below.

The programs are available for download for a small fee or for FREE to Gold Pass members.

TradeStation EasyLanguage coding lessons

In the tutorial videos and the program comments you will learn:

  • How to create Alarm and Timer objects
  • How to copy toolbox generated code into the main program
  • Working with DateTime objects
  • Finding the number of milliseconds in a timespan
  • Specifying and using time to seconds accuracy
  • Setting up recurring alarms with the timer
  • The use of a namespace so that classes, methods, properties, and events can be referenced  without the namespace.name as an explicit qualifier

Please see the video below for more information.

This tutorial was developed using TradeStation 9.5
Version: 9.5 (Update 15). There are major problems with update 14 running under Windows 10 (totally unrelated to this tutorial), with TradeStation continually crashing whenever I tried to open a workspace or to create a chart.

Inputs for _Tutorial115-TimerDev

Input: String AlarmDT( “9/27/2016 3:35:45 PM” );

Code for Gold Pass members

Gold Pass members may copy and paste the following code:
This content is for members only.

Tutorial 115 download

Tutorial 115 is available for IMMEDIATE download for $9.95 by clicking the ‘add to cart’ button. After download the programs can be opened, you will be able to see the program code and modify it if you wish. After purchase you will be redirected to a download page, so don’t close the browser.

The download ELD includes:

  • _Tutorial115dev an EasyLanguage show me study.
  • _Tutorial115-timerdev an EasyLanguage show me study.

Note: The program name begin with an underscore, so it will be towards the start of the list if you sort alphabetically.

Tutorial 115 was developed for TradeStation 9.5 (update 15) and, unfortunately, will not work with MultiCharts.

Video demonstration of tutorial 115 Part 1

Video demonstration of tutorial 115 Part 2

If you notice any errors or have comments or questions about the tutorial, please email me.

THESE INDICATORS, SHOW ME STUDIES, STRATEGIES AND OTHER PROGRAMS HAVE BEEN INCLUDED SOLELY FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES.

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