Backtesting issues, mainly Modelling Quality n/a

[armnic1]

Hi,

Before posting this topic I did my search on the forums, found some answers to some of the issues, some tips but I'm still not getting the Modelling Quality of 99.9%. Hopefully I'll get a solution to this problem.

I'm running Tickstory Lite v.1.5.1.0 on MT4 Build 670 (could this be the problem?, that this Build is not yet supported by the Launcher) . I became a member of this forum almost a year ago (during the MT4 Build 509), used Tickstory for a bit, stayed away a bit and now I'm back.

1) When launching MT4 from Tickstory the first window I get is the "MT4 Launcher" window with the message "Note: No official support is available for this feature and it could stop working with future versions of MT4." I read in one of the threads that this was for informational purposes and doesn't affect the behavior of the launcher. So I'm assuming that this is not a biggie.

2) The second window that it is shown is the "MT4 Launch Issue" window with the message:
"A suitable launcher could not be found for your MetaTrader version.
Launcher tried.
- Birt's Tick Data Suite
- Tickstory Launcher for Build 432 (Prevent FXT Overwrite and Fixed Spread)
- ...." (all the other MT4 builds 445 to 600+).

I read in one of the threads that this is related to the liking of Tickstory on Facebook. As a matter of fact, my only contribution/posting on these forums (about a year ago) is related to this issue. I clicked the "Like" button at that time, got my golden star at the top right corner of Tickstory's window and this issue was solved. But now the star went back to gray; I checked your page on Facebook and I'm still as "Liked" on your page. So why did the star go back to gray? I tried to click the "Like" button again but it does not do anything. Is this the reason for the showing of the "MT4 Launch Issue" window? and does it have any effect on the Modelling Quality n/a due to improper launching of MT4? It seems that this is not a biggie.

3) Anyway, MT4 was launched directly through Tickstory (even though the showing of the window mentioned in No. 2 above) and I could run some backtesting on EURUSD from Jan 6, 2014 to July 15, 2014 on M1, M5, M15, M30, H1 and H4 using the MACD Sample EA that comes with MT4. All of the results indicated a Modelling Quality n/a even though the Colored band right under the Modelling Quality line was total green.

I verified that the *.FXT files were at the right location (using the MT4 Build 600+ new "Open Data Folder"), that the files had "Read Only" status, that the size of the files was less than 4GB (they were 417,814 KB).

Looking through the Journal report I noticed the following error messages: OrderModify Error 130 and OrderModify Error1, with error 130 being more predominantly that error 1. I searched for the meaning of those messages in these forums and on the MT4 forums but could not get any information. Could the reason for the Modelling Quality n/a be related to these error messages?

Well, this is my situation. Any help on getting the Modelling Quality to 99.9% would be really appreciated.
Thanks,

Armando

I

[EternalLines]

Hi, sorry I could not help because of limited knowledge.. But can you tell me how you specified the location for MT4 installation?
As I know indicators etc in MT4 build 670 has been moved to another location, might be only accessible by "Open Data Folder", which I cant locate it through tickstory window..

[armnic1]

Hi EternalLines,

The MT4 installation is at the same location; it has not changed. In my case, it is under C:\Program Files (x86)\<Your MT4>. In Tickstory, click on "File", then "Settings", then "MT4 Settings" and then click the "Select" button on the "MT4 Installation" line to select which MT4 platform you'll be using for backtesting; this is the point where you need to navigate to your MT4 platform to let Tickstory knows where it is located. I have several MT4 platforms from different brokers (all under the Program Files (x86) folder) but I downloaded one directly from MetaQuotes.com exclusively for backtesting. After you select your MT4 platform, Tickstory assigns directly the "MT4 Data Folder" and "Server Name" fields.
Hope this help you!

[tickstory]

Hi Armnic,

Thank you for your detailed post. The problem seems to relate to the launcher and the fact that in step 2 you are getting the launcher error (there is no need to have pressed the 'Like' button). We have tried downloading a fresh copy of Metatrader from Metaquotes.net with Build 670 and have no issues. Can you please try to see what happens if you press 'launch' again after MT4 has been started? If you see the title of the MT4 window change to indicate "Tickstory Launcher" was successful, then your back-testing should yield you 99.9%.

I'm assuming that you are using Windows 7+?

Thanks.

[Josip]

Hi, I confirm the same bug with MT4 (v4,670) when using it with Tickstory
FXT-file over 4GB: I have a 8GB EURUSD file from
20070101-20140719. The backtest was broken at 20110429. I started
again with the same file but from 20110401 TO 20110429. The result was the same: broke down
at 20110429. I started again with the same file but only for one day: from 20110428-20110429 also with same result.
There have been no error messages, but the last open positions have
been closed by the message “close at stop”.

Then I exported ticksotry data to MT4 from 20110101 to 20140719 (only
4GB file) and backtests from 20110101 to 20140719 worked well. Hence definitely the error is in the data,
not EA. And the error is in the FXT-file, or MT4 or Tickstory, but
definitely not in win 8.1 (which is used by me) because they use NTFS with a file limit
of 25 TerraByte! Please repair this bug as soon as possible. The above
discribed solution to test first time period and than seconed takes toomuch time, because if test in two or thre parts, it can be,
that the settings of the EA for first part of test are working well
but for the seconed or third time-area the EA can lose 100%.

Thanks!
Best regards

[tickstory]

Hi Josip,

The problem you describe appears to be different to that of Armnic - the original post seems to suggest that the launcher is not working resulting in a "n/a" modelling quality. In your case, however, you are suggesting that a particular date is causing your back-test to stop. As you are aware, having an FXT file larger than 4GB will cause the back-test to stop whenever MT4 finally can't handle the amount of data. As per your suggestion, we have tried to export a specific date range to try replicate your problem:

- Using MT4 Build 670 (downloaded from Metaquotes.net)
- Exported EURUSD from 1st April 2014 to 1st May 2014 with default settings (timezone, etc).
- Launched MT4 via Tickstory.
- Back-tested EURUSD with the standard "MACD Sample" EA in "Every tick" mode, M15 period.

The results yielded the expected 99.9% quality and the back-test did not stop until the end of the period (trades were taken up to the 30th April 2014). There was no "close at stop" at the end of the period.

Do note that depending on when you start your back-test, your EA could be the culprit if the draw-down during the start period is too much. The "close on stop" problem usually indicates that the back-tester needs to close your trades for some reason - typically blown account. Looking at the 15-minute chart for the 29th April, there was a major dip in price.
If you still believe it is the data causing the issue, you can check the MT4 Historical Data center for any anomalies. Generally speaking, however, if you are able to run the MACD Sample EA across the data with no problem, it wont be the data causing your issue.

Hope this helps.

P.S. Please note we may split this thread to ensure there is no confusion between this issue and that of the original poster.

[armnic1]

Hi,
Thanks for your quick reply! I have good and bad news to report. By the way, I'm using Windows 7 Home Premium, version 6.1 (Build 7601:Service Pack 1) on my 3+ years old laptop.

First the bad news. I tried your recommendation of pressing "launch" (MT4) again after MT4 has been started but nothing new happens. The same thing happens as reported above, that is, MT4 is launched, I could perform backtesting on the pairs that I have exported data to MT4, etc. but Modelling Quality is still n/a. Something that I did not mention on my initial posting is that between the "MT4 Launcher" window (No. 1 in initial posting) and "MT4 Launch Issue" window (No. 2 in initial posting), I receive an "User Account Control" window with the message "Do you want to allow the following program to make changes to your computer? Program Name: Client Terminal, Verified Publisher: MetaQuotes Software Corp., File Origin: Hard Drive on this computer" with the options of Yes and No. If I reply No, MT4 is not launched; I have to reply Yes in order to launch MT4. Maybe the reason I did not mention this condition in my initial posting is because when I start my other MT4 accounts (live and demo) in a normal way (not through Tickstory) the same window shows up but in those instances I can reply either Yes or No and MT4 starts successfully. I have been trying to figure out why this 'User Account Control' shows up when trying to open any MT4 platform but I have not been able to figure it out yet. I even thought if something on my computer (adware, malware,etc) could be trying to do their things, so I did a full scan of my computer with Kaspersky (my anti-virus software) but things continue to be the same after the scanning/cleaning. Any new ideas to solve this problem?

Now the good news. I installed Tickstory Lite v 1.5.1.0, MT4 Build 670 on my wife's laptop which is almost brand new (a couple of months old), exported the same currency pair (EURUSD) on the same time period as in mine laptop and performed the same backtesting (same EA, same timeframes, etc.). I got Modelling Quality of 99.9% in all runs. I just receive the 'MT4 Launcher' window as in No,1 of my initial posting. Something that I noticed is that the title of the MT4 window does not show the "Tickstory Launcher" just the regular 'Login No.:MetaTrader4 - (Currency Pair, Time Frame)'. Something to be worried about by not showing the 'Tickstory Launcher' on the title of the window?

Regards,

Armando

[tickstory]

Hi Armnic,

Thanks for your update. It seems that you might need to resolve the access prompt you are getting before things work correctly. What might possibly work is to wait until MT4 has been launched and then press F8/Launch again in Tickstory.

The changing of the title bar is not a biggie as long as you're getting 99.9% modelling quality. Sometimes MT4 will refresh the title bar when charts are opened/closed.

Hope this helps.

[London]

I have same issues as Armnic1

I use FxPro MT4.

How do I solve the issue?

[tickstory]

Hi London,

Have you tried the suggestion above? Press the 'launch' button again once MT4 has fully loaded.

Regards.