If statement and comparing double equality

[Taddypole]

I have an "if" statement that looks for doubles being equal:

if(Low[1] == LowPivotOne)

where: LowPivotOne is a double

LowPivotOne is set via: LowPivotOne = Low[1];

Essentially this is checking to see if the current Low[1] is equal to the previous low pivot.

Problem is, this method is random. Sometimes it works and other times it doesn't. I've searched on this problem and learned that comparing doubles for equality is problematic. This is because doubles are not stored as precise numbers and will have small offsets.

I've tried Convert.To.Decimal but that started getting out of hand. I had to continually convert more and more variables and it just didn't seem the most elegant solution.

Is there a fairly simple way to compare two doubles for equality in an If statement?

regards,
taddypole...

[Taddypole]

More research and found the :

double1.Equals(double2));

trying that....see if that works....

[Taddypole]

if((High[1] - (1 * TickSize)).Equals(HighPivotSeven))
{
DrawDiamond("MyDiamondHighPvtSevenOneTickStopOut" + CurrentBar, true, 1, High[1] + 1 * TickSize, Color.Gold);
}


Print("");
Print(" All Pivots");
Print(" Time[1] = " + Time[1]);
Print(" CurrentBar - 1 = " + (CurrentBar - 1) + " *** aaaTrgKeltIndyTwo");
Print(" High[1] = " + High[1].ToString("00.00000000"));
Print(" High[1] - (1 * TickSize) = " + (High[1] - (1 * TickSize)).ToString("00.00000000"));
Print(" HighPivotOne = " + HighPivotOne.ToString("00.000000000"));
Print(" HighPivotTwo = " + HighPivotTwo.ToString("00.000000000"));
Print(" HighPivotThree = " + HighPivotThree.ToString("00.000000000"));
Print(" HighPivotFour = " + HighPivotFour.ToString("00.000000000"));
Print(" HighPivotFIve = " + HighPivotFive.ToString("00.000000000"));
Print(" HighPivotSix = " + HighPivotSix.ToString("00.000000000"));
Print(" HighPivotSeven = " + HighPivotSeven.ToString("00.000000000"));
Print(" TickSize = " + TickSize.ToString("00.000000000"));
Print("");

I'm using the double1.Equals(double2) method in the code above and it still doesn't work. In the above code I print out the values and it says it should have fired but it doesn't draw my Diamond.

[Taddypole]

if(High[1].Equals(HighPivotSeven))
{
DrawDot("MyDotHighTouchSeven" + CurrentBar, true, 1, High[1] + 1 * TickSize, Color.Magenta);
}

What's weird is in code above that doesn't look for a one tick offset, it seems to work fine. It's just when I use the one tick offset that It becomes random, working some times and not others.

Regards,
taddypole...

[Taddypole]

Attached is a output window showing some that worked and one that didn't.

Any ideas anyone?

[marty087]

I had the same issue ages ago and was trying to find the code that I ended up solving this with. No doubt there is a more elegant solution however, I am pretty sure I ended up rounding both doubles before comparing them and this worked.

Try making a simple bool func that rounds the 2 vals before comparing.

eg.

		bool isSame(double val1, double val2)
		{
			int decPlaces = 9; //I have a func that auto finds my dec places 
			
			val1 = Math.Round(val1 , decPlaces, MidpointRounding.ToEven);
			val2 = Math.Round(val2 , decPlaces, MidpointRounding.ToEven);
			
			if (val1 == val2) return(true);
			return(false);
		}

[NinjaTrader_JessicaP]

Hello Taddypole, and thank you for your question.

The traditional software engineering solution to this problem is to assign a fault tolerance range. I can give an example.

double pi = 3.1415926;
double reallyPi = 4 * Math.Atan(1.0);
if (Math.Abs(pi - reallyPi) < 0.000001)
{
    Print("Pi is " + pi);
}

A good rule of thumb is to use 1 less significant figure than your least precise measurement. In the example above, there were 7 numbers after the decimal point, and so I checked for a difference 6 numbers after the decimal point.

Please let us know if there are any other ways we can help.

[Taddypole]

oneTickLowerHigh = High[1] - 1 * TickSize;

// One Tick Stop Out
if(Math.Abs(oneTickLowerHigh - HighPivotTwo) < tolerance)
{
DrawDiamond("MyDiamondHighPvtTwoOneTickStopOut" + CurrentBar, true, 1, High[1] + offSetTrendDn * TickSize, Color.Gold);

Print("");
Print(" DiamondHighPvtTwoOneTickStopOut");
Print(" Time[1] = " + Time[1] + " CurrentBar - 1 = " + (CurrentBar - 1) + " *** aaaTrgKeltIndyTwo");
Print(" High[1] = " + High[1].ToString("00.0000000000") + " HighPivotTwo = " + HighPivotTwo.ToString("00.0000000000"));
Print(" oneTickLowerHigh = " + oneTickLowerHigh.ToString("00.0000000000"));
Print(" Math.Abs(oneTickLowerHigh-HighPivotTwo) = " + Math.Abs(oneTickLowerHigh - HighPivotTwo).ToString("00.0000000000") + " < " + " tolerance = " + tolerance);
Print("");
}

Jessica,

I tried your Math.Abs method but now I get too many passing through the "If" statement.
Why is that?

regards,
taddypole...

[Taddypole]

I had the same issue ages ago and was trying to find the code that I ended up solving this with. No doubt there is a more elegant solution however, I am pretty sure I ended up rounding both doubles before comparing them and this worked.

Try making a simple bool func that rounds the 2 vals before comparing.

eg.

		bool isSame(double val1, double val2)
		{
			int decPlaces = 9; //I have a func that auto finds my dec places 
			
			val1 = Math.Round(val1 , decPlaces, MidpointRounding.ToEven);
			val2 = Math.Round(val2 , decPlaces, MidpointRounding.ToEven);
			
			if (val1 == val2) return(true);
			return(false);
		}

Thank you marty087

Not being a programmer by profession can you tell me where that code goes?
I understand how to use it but by just inserting the code into my code, I get programming errors.
sorry... no formal coding education...

regards,
taddypole...

[NinjaTrader_JessicaP]

I am having some trouble reproducing what you are seeing on my end. Would it be possible for you to replace

Math.Abs(oneTickLowerHigh - HighPivotTwo).ToString("00.0000000000")

by

String.Format("{0:C}", Math.Abs(oneTickLowerHigh - HighPivotTwo))

in your code, and send me those results?

[Taddypole]

Jessica,

Here's how I entered your suggestions in the Print statement:

Print("String.Format('{0:C}}', Math.Abs(oneTickLowerHigh-HighPivotTwo) = " + String.Format("{0:C}}",Math.Abs(oneTickLowerHigh - HighPivotTwo)) + " < " + " tolerance = " + tolerance);

and here are the results:

Error on calling 'OnBarUpdate' method for indicator 'aaaTriggerandKeltnerIndTwoA' on bar 416: Input string was not in a correct format.

What does this mean?

regards,
taddypole...

[NinjaTrader_JessicaP]

It looks like your format string has one more } than mine does.

My format string : "{0:C}"

The format string you are using : "{0:C}}"

[Taddypole]

Thanks Jessica,

Just had cataract surgery on one eye... and still adjusting.

I used the "C" for currency and also tried the "e" for scientific.

The results are in the attachment.

regards,

[NinjaTrader_JessicaP]

Thank you Taddypole. This appears to be a bug. Would it be possible to provide us with a stripped down version of your complete source so we can investigate this further? With this type of bug, the code you wrote in the immediate area is likely not responsible for the behavior you are observing.

[Taddypole]

Jessica,

Attached are the stripped down indicator and a picture of the chart showing an example of the multiple cases where many comparisons got through. These are the obvious ones. There are many others when you look closely.

Regards,
taddypole...