Bars and Rates Information Utility, displays how many bars there are in all timeframes for any user selected symbol, and shows the 'Copy Rates' information availablity for any bar
This is a powerful addition to your MetaTrader 5 toolkit designed to optimize market analysis and performance. This technical indicator acts as a specialized analysis tool designed to visualize market data. It helps traders identify emerging trends, momentum shifts, and key support or resistance levels by plotting statistical calculations directly onto price charts.
How to Setup and Use Bars and Rates Information Utility, displays how many bars there are in all timeframes for any user selected symbol, and shows the 'Copy Rates' information availablity for any bar
1. Installation: Place your file in the MQL/Indicators folder via "Open Data Folder" and restart your terminal.
2. Loading: Find the indicator in the Navigator, drag it onto your chart, and configure the input parameters in the popup window.
3. Customization: Press Ctrl+I to open the indicator list, select your tool, and click "Properties" to change colors, levels, or visual styles.
4. Updating: Replace the old file in the Indicators folder with the new version and restart the platform to apply changes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why is my indicator not showing? A: Verify the file is in the MQL/Indicators folder, or try right-clicking the "Indicators" tree in the Navigator and clicking "Refresh."
Q: Do custom indicators slow down the platform? A: Too many complex indicators can impact performance; remove unused ones via the "Indicator List" (Ctrl+I).
Q: Can I use MT4 indicators on MT5? A: No, MQL4 and MQL5 are distinct languages; ensure the indicator is compiled specifically for your platform version.
Description & Settings
This utility is not a trading information utility. It will only have value for those getting bar information using the Bars (or iBars, as they are near equivalent) and the CopyRates functions over multiple timeframes. Testing was mostly done using the "Basket Viewer" utility and clicking on each of the symbols in it's list to switch the chart symbols and see what was displayed.
The utility allows the user to use the current chart symbol (default) or input any symbol in their market watch, and view the number of Bars reported for each chart timeframe by the Bars Function, and it shows the results of the CopyRates function for any valid Bar number input by the user. The utility defaults to displaying the CopyRates information for the oldest bar in each timeframe.
The below picture shows the typical startup of the indicator, a chart with many 4401 'Terminal Data not Available" errors, followed shortly by a display with fewer errors as the terminal initializes the data. Scroll below to see a description of what the numbered controls do:
The Controls:
1) "Rates and Bar" - Select and drag to move the display to a different location on the chart.
2) This is the Bar Number input Box. Enter a bar number to see if CopyRates information is available for that bar.
3) "Symbol" - Click to toggle the Bar Number to the 'Oldest' default, or the last entered bar number.
4) This is the Symbol input Box. Input any symbol in your Market Watch to display for that symbol.
5) Click the MN1 CopyRates information to toggle writing logs on and off. When on, errors returned from Bars and CopyRates will be written to the logs.
During my testing, Bars would report values greater than 100,000, but CopyRates never appears to get data for bar numbers greater than 99,999. The below picture shows the CopyRates 4401 error for bar 100,0000, and the success for bar 99,9999:
