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Version: 2.0

System

Folder path and data organization

The Custom Expert Advisor manages its file and folder inputs within two distinct folders: the live folder for the live variant and the tester folder for the tester variant. You can access these folders via the Windows start menu or through a shortcut configured on your Windows desktop, as shown in the image below.

File Input, System, Application folder on desktop and start menu.png

Please refer to the appropriate input folder corresponding to your variant.

Tester variant

You'll encounter the system text file as you navigate further down the file structure in the tester folder. This file allows you to specify which trading modules SET files are registered and executed by the Custom Expert Advisor Tester. Each SET file in the configuration folder defines an independent trading module. The entire folder tree, starting from the tester folder, is depicted below.

File Input, System, Folder path and data organization for tester variant.png

Alternatively, you can access the tester System input folder by inputting the designated path into your Windows folder browser.

%AppData%\MetaQuotes\Terminal\Common\Files\FEA Trading Tester Data\Custom Expert Advisor Tester 2.0\default\System

Live variant

You'll encounter the system text file as you navigate further down the file structure in the live folder. This file allows you to specify which trading modules SET files are registered and executed by the Custom Expert Advisor Live. Each SET file in the configuration folder defines an independent trading module. The entire folder tree, starting from the live folder, is depicted below.

File Input, System, Folder path and data organization for live variant.png

Alternatively, you can access the live System input folder by inputting the designated path into your Windows folder browser.

%AppData%\MetaQuotes\Terminal\Common\Files\FEA Trading Live Data\<META_TRADER_INSTANCE_NAME>\Custom Expert Advisor Live 2.0\default\System

<META_TRADER_INSTANCE_NAME> shall be your MetaTrader instance name, for example, MetaTrader 4 IC Markets.

Usage

The system text file is mandatory in each profile folder. It has to contain a list with the SET file names, which is used to define the executed trading system. The SET files are located in the configuration folder. The following code block shows an example of a simple system text file that defines a trading system with two trading modules. Note that the first line of the file must be left unchanged, and the file extension for the SET files is not required. The SET file names must start from the second line.

/<Input folder>/<System>/System.txt
Please ensure data is in format <MODULE_NAME>.
EAM_I1
EAM_I2

You can modify the system text file while executing the Custom Expert Advisor. This allows you to register and deregister trading modules as needed dynamically. For example, if you want to add two more trading modules named EAM_I3.set and EAM_I4.set, you can append them to the list in the system text file and save it with any text editor. The Custom Expert Advisor will detect the changes and register the new trading modules shortly after.

/<Input folder>/<System>/System.txt
Please ensure data is in format <MODULE_NAME>.
EAM_I1
EAM_I2
EAM_I3
EAM_I4

To remove a trading module, delete the corresponding line from the system text file and save it again. The Custom Expert Advisor will then deregister the trading module.

/<Input folder>/<System>/System.txt
Please ensure data is in format <MODULE_NAME>.
EAM_I3
EAM_I4

The Custom Expert Advisor can optimize the trading system's performance by sharing resources among them. For example, if two trading modules use the same indicators, the indicators will be calculated only once. The Custom Expert Advisor automatically finds these synergies when registering or deregistering trading modules using the system text file.