Hi Gabriele,
Just to add to Experienced_tester's helpful response, please note that if you prematurely stop an export then Tickstory does not have the opportunity to fully complete the process - this means it will not mark the data as read-only, nor will the exported data be complete/usable.
Regarding your question about why data is deleted, just a bit of background for you: MT4 does not natively support the use of tick data. Whenever you do a back-test, the first thing it does is delete the existing FXT files and freshly generates it from the historical data center. Unfortunately the most granular data stored in the historical data center is 1-minute data. This is where the Tickstory export and launcher comes in: When you generate the tick data in Tickstory, it creates FXT files with accurate tick data. The launcher then prevents MT4 from deleting these files. If you don't start MT4 via the launcher and the files are not marked as 'read-only', then the FXT files will be deleted.
Hope this helps.
MT4/tickstory/TDS
Re: MT4/tickstory/TDS
Dear Exp_tester and Tickstory,
thank you both for your response and willingness to help, this is much appreciated.
Following your responses I have done the following:
1) Downloaded a month worth of data of a pair I never used before.
On my tickstory the option make FXT read only was ticked.
The only box that is un-ticked is filter duplicate ticks. I did tick the later as well, before the export to MT4
2) checked that FXT were downloaded as "read only". They were not!
3) changed the attribute of 1 of the 8 downloaded files to "read only" and left 7 untouched.
4) started MT4 without launching it from Ticksory .
5) checked my history folder and all the 8 (7+1) files were there
6) removed the attribute of read only from the 1 file, so to have 8 normal files, and rebooted my pc
7) started again MT4 from the alpari shortcut, checked my history folder to find the the files are still there.
So here I have an issue on exporting the files, as they are not saved, or at least they were not in this last attempt, as "read only".
The above can be easily solved by manually changing the attributes following a new download.
However I was not able to replicate this:
"The launcher then prevents MT4 from deleting these files. If you don't start MT4 via the launcher and the files are not marked as 'read-only', then the FXT files will be deleted."
Again for the sake of safety, I can remove the alpari shortcut and always open MT4 from tickstory, whether or not I am using MT4 for back testing.
Still any of the above "safety measures" can't explain why 100 GB of data was lost and what caused it.
Please bear in mind that when I copied the files from my C directory to my external HD the files were automatically saved as "read only", which point (although not in an exclusive way) to the fact that the source (the files on my C drive) were also originally saved as read only and this attribute was transferred across .
kind regards,
Gabriele
thank you both for your response and willingness to help, this is much appreciated.
Following your responses I have done the following:
1) Downloaded a month worth of data of a pair I never used before.
On my tickstory the option make FXT read only was ticked.
The only box that is un-ticked is filter duplicate ticks. I did tick the later as well, before the export to MT4
2) checked that FXT were downloaded as "read only". They were not!
3) changed the attribute of 1 of the 8 downloaded files to "read only" and left 7 untouched.
4) started MT4 without launching it from Ticksory .
5) checked my history folder and all the 8 (7+1) files were there
6) removed the attribute of read only from the 1 file, so to have 8 normal files, and rebooted my pc
7) started again MT4 from the alpari shortcut, checked my history folder to find the the files are still there.
So here I have an issue on exporting the files, as they are not saved, or at least they were not in this last attempt, as "read only".
The above can be easily solved by manually changing the attributes following a new download.
However I was not able to replicate this:
"The launcher then prevents MT4 from deleting these files. If you don't start MT4 via the launcher and the files are not marked as 'read-only', then the FXT files will be deleted."
Again for the sake of safety, I can remove the alpari shortcut and always open MT4 from tickstory, whether or not I am using MT4 for back testing.
Still any of the above "safety measures" can't explain why 100 GB of data was lost and what caused it.
Please bear in mind that when I copied the files from my C directory to my external HD the files were automatically saved as "read only", which point (although not in an exclusive way) to the fact that the source (the files on my C drive) were also originally saved as read only and this attribute was transferred across .
kind regards,
Gabriele
-
experienced_tester
- Posts: 18
- Joined: Wed Jul 03, 2013 12:38 pm
Re: MT4/tickstory/TDS
Hi Gabriele
1. So I take it the FXT files still remain Read-only after you manually switched the properties. Then they are suitable for use.
2. It is easier for you to use this particular mt4 terminal for backtesting only. Remember there's no need to be a good broker cause you will feed perfect tick data anyway. So use a broker you won't ever need to run forward. It is preferable that the broker's time to be GMT time.
3. The backtesting terminal will always be started ONLY through Tickstory launcher.
4. You can copy 1-2 files to that HDD again. A movie or a song, it doesn't matter. Make sure they are not read-only. Then check their copies on that HDD: it is possible for them to be read-only.
Good luck, kind regards
1. So I take it the FXT files still remain Read-only after you manually switched the properties. Then they are suitable for use.
2. It is easier for you to use this particular mt4 terminal for backtesting only. Remember there's no need to be a good broker cause you will feed perfect tick data anyway. So use a broker you won't ever need to run forward. It is preferable that the broker's time to be GMT time.
3. The backtesting terminal will always be started ONLY through Tickstory launcher.
4. You can copy 1-2 files to that HDD again. A movie or a song, it doesn't matter. Make sure they are not read-only. Then check their copies on that HDD: it is possible for them to be read-only.
Good luck, kind regards
Re: MT4/tickstory/TDS
Hi Gabriele,
After Step 7) I believe if you had attempted to press the back-test button on a particular symbol that did not have its FXT marked as 'read-only', this file would have been deleted by MT4 as part of its normal back-testing process (which is to clear the FXT files and regenerate them).
We unfortunately have not been able to reproduce the scenario where the FXT are not marked as read-only when the corresponding option has been selected. If you must, ensure the files are always marked as read-only before commencing any back-testing.
Hope this helps.
After Step 7) I believe if you had attempted to press the back-test button on a particular symbol that did not have its FXT marked as 'read-only', this file would have been deleted by MT4 as part of its normal back-testing process (which is to clear the FXT files and regenerate them).
We unfortunately have not been able to reproduce the scenario where the FXT are not marked as read-only when the corresponding option has been selected. If you must, ensure the files are always marked as read-only before commencing any back-testing.
Hope this helps.