Reload Script within Program

[lee612801]

I was looking for a way to have my script reload at the beginning of the day and found this post by koganam under Indicator Development.

http://ninjatrader.com/support/forum/showthread.php?t=37514&highlight=refresh

I thought this would be exactly what I was looking for, but it does not seem to be working for me when testing in Market Replay. I have a Strategy using daily bars with COBC = true. When I try adding the code in the link, it still does not reload. I have tried with COBC = false, and that does not work either. I am using a multiple bars script, so I don't know if that matters. A couple questions:

1) Does this only work during RT data and not during Replay?

2) If it sends an F5 key command to reload, do you still then have to select YES in the window for it to actually reload? When I manually do it, a window pops up asking to verify you want to stop running and reload the script. I don't know if the SendKeys command automatically chooses yes for this so that it would be truly automated.


My code looks like this:

#region Variables
private bool boolAlreadyRefreshed = false;


protected override void OnBarUpdate ()
{

if(BarsInProgress != 0) return;

if (!this.boolAlreadyRefreshed && !Historical && FirstTickOfBar)
{
this.boolAlreadyRefreshed = true;
System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys.Send("{F5}");
}

Code XXX....
}


I know that NT does not support this (maybe NT 8?). But considering a multitude of other issues I am having, this seems like the simplest solution to achieve the goal of consistent results. Any insight or recommendations is appreciated, as well as suggestions on other options.

Thanks,

Lee

[molecool]

I can help you with closing the panel.

1. Download AutoHotKey (free)
2. Create a new file with an *.ahk extension - let's call it 'closeninjanag.ahk.
3. Paste the following into that file and save it:

#NoEnv  ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
; #Warn  ; Enable warnings to assist with detecting common errors.
SendMode Input  ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%  ; Ensures a consistent starting directory.

#Persistent
SetTimer, ClosePopup, 250
return

ClosePopup:
WinClose, Reload NinjaScript
return

'Reload NinjaScript' is the name of the popup to be closed. So if yours has a different title then you must change that.

You can even compile it with AutoHotKey and use that binary on other systems (without installing AutoHotKey).

Be aware that this script will close ALL Ninja popups, so be careful. If you hear the voice alert you should always check the log to verify what you missed.

Hope this sorts you out

[lee612801]

Hi molecool,

Thank you for the response. Just to clarify, this will only close the popup window, correct? Will it close other ninjatrader windows like the output window or Market Analyzer window?

Thanks,

Lee

[lee612801]

Hi molecool,

I downloaded AutoHotKey and created the file (script) incorporating the code you provided with a .ahk extension. I ran the script, and I can see the icon in the lower right taskbar. But when I hit the F5 key to bring up the Reload popup in NT, nothing happens.

Is this code suppose to close it, or actually select the "Yes" option in the popup to close it? For the Reload to work, the "Yes" button needs to be selected. This is my first experience with AHK, so any advice is welcome.

Thanks,

Lee

[molecool]

First question: It will only close that particular type of popup - remember it's title specific.

Second question: Yes, I realized that this could be a problem. The key lies in writing the proper script to select either Yes or No. The current script expects only an okay response. Shouldn't be too hard - just dig around the AHK documentation. 20 seconds of googling revealed this:

http://www.autohotkey.com/board/topic/62758-autoclick-yes-in-confirmation-message-box/

Just replace the button name with Yes and you're good to go

[lee612801]

Hi Guys,

So I'm still looking for some help on Reloading the script with code. I started with this from the following post:

http://ninjatrader.com/support/forum...hlight=refresh

#region Variables
private bool boolAlreadyRefreshed = false;

protected override void OnBarUpdate ()
{

if(BarsInProgress != 0) return;

if (!this.boolAlreadyRefreshed && !Historical && FirstTickOfBar)
{
this.boolAlreadyRefreshed = true;
System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys.Send("{F5}");
}

But this did not reload the script during replay. If I remove the !Historical, then the script will reload, but goes into a loop where it keeps asking to reload until you specify No. So I changed it to the following in attempt to fix this loop.

protected override void OnBarUpdate ()
{

if(BarsInProgress != 0) return;

if (Time[0].DayOfWeek != Time[1].DayOfWeek && FirstTickOfBar)
{
this.boolAlreadyRefreshed = false;
}

if (!this.boolAlreadyRefreshed && FirstTickOfBar)
{
this.boolAlreadyRefreshed = true;
System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys.Send("{F5}");
}

But once again, the script will reload at the first tick of bar, but goes into a loop continually asking to reload.

So what am I doing wrong? Why does it not reload at all when !Historical is included? According to the post I previously listed, this is the way to reload the script using code. But it seems like it's ignoring the bool that should stop it from reloading.

Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks again,

Lee

[NinjaTrader_MichaelM]

Hello Lee,

Since you are using FirstTickOfBar could you please confirm that you are also using CalculateOnBarClose = false in your Initialize method per: http://ninjatrader.com/support/helpG...firsttickofbar

Thank you in advance.

[lee612801]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the response. I'm using COBC = True with FirstTickOfBar. So that could be the problem. If I remove FirstTickOfBar, should it then work with COBC = True using daily bars? I believe I tried that and it still did not work...

I will give it a try with COBC = False and FirstTickOfBar and see what happens.

Thanks again,

Lee

[NinjaTrader_MichaelM]

Hello Lee,

Could you please confirm that this issue is specific to the market replay connection? I would also like to confirm whether your script is a multi instrument script. If so, could you please make sure that you have market replay for all the instruments being loaded?

Thank you in advance.

[koganam]

Try using SendWait() instead of Send().

[lee612801]

Hi Mike,

Yes, my script is a multi instrument script. So I made sure I had all the instruments loaded (I loaded them on a separate chart, as well as the same chart.) and had COBC = false. After testing in replay, I got it to work a few times, but it was inconsistent. I tried many variations, including different time periods, closing all other windows, refresh before starting replay, etc... I could not find any rhyme or reason behind why it worked sometimes and not others.

I planned to test it this morning during real time, but not surprising, I had a different issue. So I will have to give the real time test another try tomorrow. I can't say it is specific to replay at this time, but for me, it was inconsistent at best.

koganam,

Thank you for the suggestion, I will give that a try tonight as well

Thanks again,

Lee

[NinjaTrader_MichaelM]

Hello Lee,

Please let me know if the issue persists after changing to SendWait as using Send has been known to cause issues in the past.

Thank you in advance.

[lee612801]

Hi Guys,

So the SendWait worked great! I ran it in both Replay and tested it this morning during RT, and it worked as advertised.

So here is a summary of what I have for anyone interested:

COBC = false

#region Variables
private bool boolAlreadyRefreshed = false;

protected override void OnBarUpdate ()
{

if (Time[0].DayOfWeek != Time[1].DayOfWeek && FirstTickOfBar)
{
this.boolAlreadyRefreshed = false;
}

if (!this.boolAlreadyRefreshed && FirstTickOfBar)
{
this.boolAlreadyRefreshed = true;
System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys.SendWait("{F5}");
}


And the AutoHotKey code to close the window:

WinWait, Reload NinjaScript
ControlClick, &Yes, Reload NinjaScript

This will close the popup one time then exit the script.

If you want the AHK script to run continuously, add the Loop command.

Loop
{
WinWait, Reload NinjaScript
ControlClick, &Yes, Reload NinjaScript
}

Thanks again guys!

Lee

[molecool]

Nice work

Glad you figured it all out - quite a hack! :-)