Accessing user defined method from custom indicator

[newuser]

I have a user defined method that I can access from any strategy, but I cannot access that same user defined method from a custom indicator that I have created. For context the method I've coded up is streamwriter, with parameters for the file name and input string (both type string). Note that I have created the user defined method exactly as per the NT7 manual:

https://ninjatrader.com/support/helpGuides/nt7/?user_defined_methods.htm

and as I say it works perfectly with any strategy (both live strategies or backtesting strategies).

When I first tried to call the method in my indicator it failed to compile with the error message 'name does not exist in the current context.' Next I tried:

NinjaTrader.Strategy.Strategy.MyMethod(myfile,mystring);

but that failed to compile with 'an object reference is required for the non-static field, method or property.' So that led me to try creating a variable sw as follows:

NinjaTrader.Strategy.Strategy.StrmWrt<string,string> sw = new NinjaTrader.Strategy.Strategy.MyMethod<string,string>();

but that failed to compile with '...is a method but is used like a type.'

Help much appreciated. Thanks.

[NinjaTrader_Jesse]

Hello newuser,

Yes that is correct, a UserDefinedMethod is just a C# partial class of the specific type (Indicator/Strategy). You can research partial classes in MSDN documentation if you wanted to learn more on that subject.

The fastest solution here is to just copy your custom code in the same fashion into a UserDefinedMethod file for the indicator as well. You would have to update both Strategy/Indicator UserDefinedMethod files if that code needed changes but overall that's the simplest/fastest fix. You could do other more complex C# items like creating a custom C# class in a custom namespace to contain your methods and then from either partial class create a instances of your custom class to use when needed. For sake of simplicity I won't provide a sample of that but you can research C# classes in MSDN or other public C# resources for some examples on making objects in C#.

Keep in mind the UserDefinedMethod file can be considered a sample file, that exists on each installation. If you plan to export your scripts it would not be suggested to use that file for that use case. You can instead copy your code into each strategy/indicator directly so UserDefinedMethod is not something which needs included with your export. If you import and replace UserDefinedMethods on another machine which is using that it may cause errors.

[newuser]

Thanks for the reply. I realized my mistake...can't believe I didn't see it (clearly I glossed over the manual) but for some reason I hadn't registered that there's a separate 'user defined methods' file in the indicators folder specifically for custom indicators. Copied my streamwriter method across and it's working just fine thanks.