Free Tools

Intro:

Boston Technologies prides itself by adopting the motto, "we don't take no for an answer." This mindset allows us to approach any type of request or problem with an open mind. Given the variety of requests which come our way and the innovative spirit of our thinking, we often take the initiative by developing, designing, and creating our own specialized products. While BT is naturally a business, we don’t believe every piece of software we develop must come with a price tag attached to it. To the contrary we feel that the free software features we offer allow potential customers to sample our technology, innovation, and creativity first hand. Enjoy browsing through these free tools and should you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us.

Quote Flow Monitoring:

Many MetaTrader 4 brokerages are experiencing problems because they are unable to find out when quotes have stopped flowing on a symbol. When this happens, ill-intended traders take advantage of a frozen feed with old quotes to place trades off-market which are always 100% winners.

To prevent this unpleasant situation Boston Technologies created an Expert Advisor that anybody can run in their MetaTrader 4 Client Terminal.

This Expert Advisor detects frozen quote feeds and informs the user with both a visual alarm and a sound alarm that quotes were not received on a given symbol.

Installation

Please download the file for free : quotes_flow__monitor2.ex4.
Please copy or download the file in the experts directory of your MetaTrader 4 client terminal. This directory changes with the white label client terminal you have. For example for the default version downloaded from the MetaQuotes website : C:/Program Files/MetaTrade4/Experts/
For the FXDD white label in : C:/Program Files/FXDD - MetaTrader 4.
Then open the client terminal (or restart it if it was open).
Make sure that the Enable Expert Advisor button is pushed in :
Then open the Navigator window (if closed go to View , chose Navigator, or pushed CTRL+N).
In the Navigator Window, under Expert Advisors, in alphabetical order, you will find the program called quotes_flow_monitor2:
Drag and drop the quotes_flow_monitor2 on an open chart that has moving quotes. If you don't have any, open one. If no quotes are flowing that is a sign that you have a quote flow problem and you don't need this EA.

How to use it

Once dragged the following window will appear:
In Inputs :
alarmtime: number of seconds after which a frozen flow alarm will sound. It is the same time for all the symbols below. If no quotes appears for a symbols in the list for more then , in this case, 60 seconds, a visual and a sounds alarm will sound.
symbol1,symbol2...symbol6: list of symbols to be monitored. Make sure that these symbols exist.
In common use the following configuration:
This window will appear:

If you want to receive alerts by email go to the Tools menu. Choose Options, and setup an Email configuration and test it.
Testing it is very important to make sure it was setup right.
Click on OK in all cases. If you didn't configure it you will NOT receive email alerts but it will still work fine. If you DID configure it you will receive alerts if the emails do not go to the SPAM box.
Then monitoring is going on ( go to the Experts tab to verify the functioning:
If a feed is stuck the following alarm window will open AND a sounds will ring:

Click on OK to stop the alarm for now.
Any feedback is highly appreciated.

F.A.Q.

Will you offer support for this quote flow monitoring EA?
No, we do not offer support for free products.

Can you modify this monitoring EA?
Yes, of course. If you would need it modified and adapted to your needs please contact us with your request and we can modify it to your needs for a cost.

How much will it cost to modify this EA?
We will charge a minimum of $250 for any modification. Therefore we strongly encourage our partners to use the free version. However if you really need modifications our prices are reasonable.

Can you write for us ANY EAs?
Yes, please contact us.

Will you release the source code for this EA?
No, please use it as is.

Is this EA guaranteed to work 100% of the time?
No, nothing is guaranteed 100% of the time. However in all our tests this EA worked very well and we think it will help most of our customers with their support needs.

Why are you giving away this EA for free?
While BT is naturally a business, we don’t believe every piece of software we develop must come with a price tag attached to it. To the contrary we feel that the free software features we offer allow potential customers to sample our technology, innovation, and creativity first hand.

Spread Calculator

This EA puts all ticks inside a MYSQL Database where you can do any calculations you want on the ticks.

Executive Summary

Boston Technologies has made available to everybody a FREE Expert Advisor (EA) that will run on a chart, and will store all the ticks (time, bid, ask and symbol name) in a database. You can then calculate different statistics on the tick data:

The average spread of a feed
The largest spread
The smallest spread
The average spread during a daily time period
And any other statistics one wants to calculate
One can also use this EA to store ticks so that you can do proper back testing

What does it mean for you?

This means that you can do your own calculations instead of trusting what other information people are providing to you. For example if somebody says that Broker A’s EURUSD feed is 0.5 pip spread on average. You can store ALL the ticks from Broker A’s EURUSD feed and calculate the average yourself to check.

How to install?

The installation takes 10-15 minutes if you click on next everywhere and read only the information in red.

To use this EA you need to do next steps:

You need to install MYSQL on your computer and start it.
You need to install MYSQL Query Browser so that you can work on the date in the MYSQL database and do queries and calculations on the data.
You need to install the EA and launch it on one or more charts of interest to you.

Download MYSQL from here (pick the closest location to you) :
http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mirror.php?id=382190#mirrors
- You should receive a file called mysql-essential-win32.msi. The version number might increase as new versions are releases. Save and double click on this file to launch the installer.
- Chose the following options:
  - Typical and click next.
  - Install wait for it to install.
- Now we will configure it:
  - Click on next.
  - Next again.
  - Leave Configure MYSQL server now ( you can disable the register the MYSQL server now, it will save you time).
  - Click on Finish.
  - Click on Next.
  - Select Standard Configuration. Click on next.
  - Leave Install as Windows Service checks only. Leave Launch the MYSQL server automatically checked. No need to check the include Bin option. Leave service name MYSQL (good practice).
  - Leave Modify Security Settings. In New root password type abc123.
  - In confirm also type abc123.
  - If you type another password (for advanced users) make sure you type the right password below in point C.g.
  - Do not check anything else.
  - Click Execute.
  - Click Finish.
  - The MYSQL server is installed.
Now download the MYSQL Browser from here (be sure to register on the site, this link is not an automatic download):
http://dev.mysql.com/get/Downloads/MySQLGUITools/mysql-gui-tools-5.0-r17-win32.msi/from/pick#mirrors

MYSQL Browser is a graphical user interface that will allow you to actually work with MYSQL without needing to know very much MYSQL at all.
- Execute the file.
- Select Run.
- Select Next.
- Say Next to everything.
- Check Accept. Click on Next.
- Next.
- Next (leave default option checked).
- Install
- This is required to configure the MYSQL DB you need to start the MYSQL Browser from the Start menu.
  
  Login using:
  - Stored connection: leave empty (do not put anything).
  - Server host: localhost
  - Username: root
  - Password: abc123
  - Default Schema: bt
  - Port: 3306
  If you change the Schema you need to type it in in point C.g.
  It will ask you Do you want to create the schema now? And YES.
EA installation , this is the same installation as any other EA.
Download it from here: www.bostontechnologies.com/downloads/EA/TicksInMySQL.ex4.
Save this file in the Expert subdirectory of your Client Terminal.
- If you use our Client Terminal from here www.bostontechnologies.com/downloads/lc4setup.exe then this is in: C:/Program Files/Liquidity Connection/experts.
- For Citi Bank: C:/Program Files/Citi FX MT4 powered by BT/experts.
- And so on.
Download the following DLL library in your library folder: www.bostontechnologies.com/downloads/EA/libmysql.dll.
Put it in the libraries subdirectory of the expert directory.
- For example, in : C:/Program Files/Liquidity Connection/experts/libraries.
- For Citi Bank: C:/Program Files/Citi FX MT4 powered by BT/experts/libraries.
- And so on.
Then restart the client terminal.
When it opens you should see a new EA installed called: TicksInMySQL
Make sure that EAs are enabled.
Drag drop this EA on the chart of your choice.
Click OK
Ticks should be appearing in MYSQL Browser

How do I do math on the ticks after the EA is storing them in MYSQL?

Open MYSQL browser
Login using:
- Stored connection: leave empty (do not put anything)
- Server host: localhost
- Username: root
- Password: abc123
- Default Schema: bt
- Port: 3306
In the MYSQL browser text window type for example:
- To calculate average spread on EURUSD on all stored ticks:
```
SELECT avg(ask-bid)*10000 FROM eurusd e;
```
- To calculate average spread on GBPUSD on all stored ticks:
```
SELECT avg(ask-bid)*10000 FROM gbpusd e;
```

It will look like this:
Calculator

Then click on the green flash, the red arrow points to it, to execute each line, each request.

Example of useful MYSQL:


SELECT * FROM eurusd; 
SELECT avg(ask-bid)*10000 FROM gbpusd e; 
SELECT avg(ask-bid)*10000 FROM gbpusd e WHERE 
SELECT avg(ask-bid)*10000 FROM gbpusd e WHERE date > '2010-02-04 00:00'
AND date < ;'2010-02-05 00:00'; 
SELECT avg(ask) FROM eurusd WHERE date > '2010-02-04 00:00' AND date < '2010-02-05 00:00';

Feel free to email us your useful MYSQL command and we will post them here.

F.A.Q.

Do you offer support for this EA?
We do not offer support for FREE products.

What can I do with this EA?
This EA allow you to store ticks (time, bid, ask , symbol) in a MYSQL database. 1 symbol per table. This then allows you to calculate any statistics you wish on this list of ticks like for example the minimum spread or the average spread. It also allows you to store the tick values for any other usage like to use in your back testing.

How do I do calculations on the ticks this EA stores?
You do so by actually typing MYSQL commands. You can find out more on MYSQL commands here: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/index.html.

Is it really free?
Yes. Totally free.

Can I use it with any broker?
Yes, any broker, any symbol.

Can I use it on CFDs also?
Yes.

Why are you doing this?
Because we believe that information is the key. We also believe that an informed is a trader that will make money. With BT products we only make money on STP if traders make money. If they lose their money we lose a client. We want to make sure you stay trading as long as possible.

Which broker do you recommend?
Boston Technologies encourages you to select your own broker.

Can you modify this EA for me?
Yes. The minimum fee to modify this EA is $250.