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March 8, 2008

Command Buttons (Trigger type)

This series of posts is actually written while the functions are being developed. It is for this reason that the
functions and Include file may change with each next post. Hopefully they will be better with each revision. Please
always use the latest versions.

There have been many requests for on-chart custom Command Buttons. Command Buttons are mouse-click
sensitive buttons or menu-items that, when clicked on, will execute a specific section of AFL code. This post
introduces Command Buttons of the Trigger-type that respond to Left-Button clicks. This Trigger Button can be
used in the same way you would use the ParamTrigger() function. Note that the first button does not respond to
mouse-clicks; it is not a trigger button. The TextCell was designed to display text only, for example to display
status information for your trading system. Here is an example of a simple horizontal layout:

To display the buttons horizontally lengthens the code a little because the code is optimized for vertical button
columns. Here is the code that places the above button array on your chart:

1 #include <ControlPanelInclude-001.afl>
2
3 global ColNumber;
4 RequestTimedRefresh(1);
5 CellHeight = Param("Cell Height",20,5,200,1);
6 CellWidth = Param("Cell Width",120,5,200,1);
7 PanelYoffset = Param("Cell Row Offset (px)",10,0,Status("pxheight"),1);
8 PanelXoffset = Param("Cell Column Offset (px)",10,0,Status("pxwidth"),1);
9 FontRatio = Param("Font: CellHeight ratio",2,1,20,0.1);
10
11 Column_Begin( "1" );
12 TextCell( "AUTO-TRADING", colorRed, colorBlack);
13 Column_End( );
14
15 Column_Begin( "2" );
16 Reset = TriggerCell( "START SESSION", colorBrightGreen, colorRed, colorBlack);
17 Column_End( );
18
19 Column_Begin( "3" );
20 CancelAll = TriggerCell( "CANCEL ALL", colorBrightGreen, colorRed, colorBlack);
21 Column_End( );
22
23 Column_Begin( "4" );
24 CloseAll = TriggerCell( "CLOSE ALL", colorBrightGreen, colorRed, colorBlack);
25 Column_End( );
26
27 Column_Begin( "5");
28 EndSession = TriggerCell( "END SESSION", colorBrightGreen, colorRed, colorBlack);
29 Column_End( );
30
31 ClickCoordinates = Nz(StaticVarGet("ClickCoordinates"));
32 switch( ClickCoordinates )
33 {
34 case 201:

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35 Say( "201");
36 break;
37 case 301:
38 Say( "301");
39 break;
40 case 401:
41 Say( "401");
42 break;
43 case 501:
44 Say( "501");
45 break;
46 }
47
48 Plot(C,"",1,128);
49
50 Title = "CLICK COORDINATES: "+ClickCoordinates;

The Trigger function returns a trigger, i.e., a True state that lasts only for the current refresh and that returns False
at the next pass through the code. A Triggername is assigned to each button and is used to key the static
variables. Backcolor1 is the normal color of the button. Backcolor2 is the color the button takes on when it is
clicked on; this gives a visual confirmation that the click was registered. If a button is clicked on, the button
coordinates (vertical position, horizontal position) are returned in compressed for as
ColNumber*100+RowNumber.

Trigger action can be invoked in two ways: by checking the value returned by the trigger functions, and by
processing the click-coordinates in a Switch() statement. Each method may have advantages depending on the
application.

Below a listing of the revised Include file, please copy to your default include folder.

1 // ControlPanelInclude-001.afl
2 procedure kStaticVarSet( SName, SValue )
3 {
4 ChartID = GetChartID();
5 InIndicator = Status("Action") == 1;
6 if( InIndicator ) StaticVarSet(Sname+ChartID, Svalue);
7 }
8
9 function kStaticVarGet( SName )
10 {
11 ChartID = GetChartID();
12 Var = StaticVarGet(Sname+ChartID);
13 return Var;
14 }
15
16 procedure kStaticVarSetText( SName, SValue )
17 {
18 ChartID = GetChartID();
19 InIndicator = Status("Action") == 1;
20 if( InIndicator ) StaticVarSetText(Sname+ChartID, Svalue);
21 }
22
23 function kStaticVarGetText( SName )
24 {
25 ChartID = GetChartID();
26 return StaticVarGetText(Sname+ChartID);
27 }
28
29 function Column_Begin( ColName )
30 {
31 global FontRatio, ColName, ColNumber, CellHeight, CellWidth, PanelXoffset, PanelYoffset;
32 ColNumber = VarGet("ColNumber");
33 if( IsEmpty( ColNumber ) )
34 {
35 VarSet("ColNumber",1);
36 StaticVarSet("ClickCoordinates",0);
37 }
38 else VarSet("ColNumber", ++ColNumber);
39 ColName = ColName+GetChartID();
40 GfxSetOverlayMode( 0 );
41 GfxSelectFont( "Tahoma", CellHeight/FontRatio, 800 );
42 GfxSelectPen( colorBlack );
43 GfxSetBkMode( 1 );

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44 kStaticVarSet("RowNumber"+ColName, 0);
45 VarSetText("ColName",ColName);
46 return ColNumber;
47 }
48
49 function Column_End( )
50 {
51 global CellHeight, CellWidth, PanelYoffset, PanelXoffset, ColNumber, RowNumber;
52 ChartIDStr = NumToStr(GetChartID(),1.0,False);
53 ColName = VarGetText("ColName");
54 ULCellX = PanelXoffset + (ColNumber-1) * CellWidth;
55 LRCellX = ULCellX + CellWidth;
56 for( Row = 1; Row <= RowNumber; Row++ )
57 {
58 ULCellY = (Row-1) * CellHeight + PanelYoffset;
59 LRCellY = ULCellY + CellHeight;
60 TextCell = kStaticVarGetText("TextCell"+ColName+Row);
61 TextColor = Nz(kStaticVarGet("TextColor"+ColName+Row));
62 BackColor = Nz(kStaticVarGet("BackColor"+ColName+Row));
63 GfxSelectSolidBrush( BackColor);
64 GfxRectangle( ULCellX, ULCellY, LRCellX, LRCellY );
65 GfxSetBkColor( BackColor);
66 GfxSetTextColor( TextColor );
67 GfxDrawText( TextCell, ULCellX, ULCellY, LRCellX, LRCellY, 32 | 1 | 4);
68 }
69 }
70
71 function TextCell( TextCell, backColor, TextColor)
72 {
73 global ColNumber, RowNumber;;
74 ColName = VarGetText("ColName");
75 RowNumber = Nz(kStaticVarGet("RowNumber"+ColName))+1;
76 kStaticVarSet("RowNumber"+ColName, RowNumber);
77 kStaticVarSetText("TextCell"+ColName+RowNumber, TextCell);
78 kStaticVarSet("TextColor"+ColName+RowNumber, TextColor);
79 kStaticVarSet("BackColor"+ColName+RowNumber, backColor);
80 }
81
82 function NewColumn()
83 {
84 VarSet("ColNumber", 0);
85 }
86
87 function CheckMouseClick( ColNumber, RowNumber )
88 {
89 global PanelYoffset, PanelXoffset, CellHeight, CellWidth;
90 LButtonDown = GetCursorMouseButtons() == 9;
91 Click = 0;
92 if( LButtonDown )
93 {
94 ULCellX = PanelXoffset + (ColNumber-1) * CellWidth;
95 LRCellX = ULCellX + CellWidth;
96 ULCellY = (RowNumber -1) * CellHeight + PanelYoffset;
97 LRCellY = ULCellY + CellHeight;
98 MouseCoord = Nz(StaticVarGet("ClickCoordinates"));
99 if( MouseCoord == 0 AND LButtonDown )
100 {
101 MousePx = GetCursorXPosition( 1 );
102 MousePy = GetCursorYPosition( 1 );
103 if( MousePx > ULCellX AND MousePx < LRCellX AND MousePy > ULCellY AND MousePy < LRCellY )
104 {
105 StaticVarSet("ClickCoordinates",ColNumber*100+RowNumber);
106 Click = 1;
107 }
108 }
109 }
110 return Click;
111 }
112
113 function TriggerCell( Label, backColor1, BackColor2, TextColor)
114 {
115 global ColNumber, RowNumber;;
116 ColName = VarGetText("ColName");
117 RowNumber = Nz(kStaticVarGet("RowNumber"+ColName))+1;
118 kStaticVarSet("RowNumber"+ColName, RowNumber);
119 Trigger = CheckMouseClick( ColNumber, RowNumber );
120 if( Trigger ) BackColor = backColor2; else BackColor = backColor1;
121 kStaticVarSetText("TextCell"+ColName+RowNumber, Label);

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122 kStaticVarSet("TextColor"+ColName+RowNumber, TextColor);
123 kStaticVarSet("BackColor"+ColName+RowNumber, backColor);
124 return Trigger;
125 }

Filed by Herman at 11:50 am under Real-Time Control-Panels

(4 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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3 Responses to “Command Buttons (Trigger type)”

1. Bruce Hawkins
March 10th, 2008 | 2:48 pm

Excellent job Herman, looking forward to testing it out.

2. Tomasz Janeczko
March 10th, 2008 | 6:01 pm

Nice post. If only image posted was narrower it would be much better. You may consider scaling it down.

3. Herman
March 10th, 2008 | 6:37 pm

Done. Thanks for the comment!

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