Tickstory

I'm not sure whether there is a bug, or it is my ignorance. I have been busy for 4 hours now... Time for help.

To make it easier I have clean system, it has nothing on it, as this is a new box reserved just for testing. And a fresh copy of Windows 8.1.

Here is what I do.

1) Logon to Roboforex, Create a demo account, Download MT4, Install and Log in. Everything good. Build is 840
2) Install TickStory Lite V1.6.
3) A bit of pre-analysis

C:\Program Files (x86)\MetaTrader 4 - RoboForex\history\default has the following files (EURUSD240.hst (also GBPUSD, USDCHF, and USDJPY), and it has a symbols, symbols.sel and a symgroups file).

The journal in Metatrader says

2015.06.22 12:59:30.232 Data Folder: C:\Users\dadmin\AppData\Roaming\MetaQuotes\Terminal\33330570BE8B72268A299E98A69330FE

There are no files under tester directory.

4) Run TickStory

File -> Settings -> MT4 Settings

And I select C:\Program Files (x86)\MetaTrader 4 - RoboForex for the MT4 installation and it auto-populates the rest

MT4 Installation: C:\Program Files (x86)\MetaTrader 4 - RoboForex
MT4 Data Folder: C:\Users\dadmin\AppData\Roaming\MetaQuotes\Terminal\33330570BE8B72268A299E98A69330FE
Server Name: RoboForex-Demo

It all looks good to me...

5) I select EURUSD, Right Click "Export to MT4"
On the first tab I leave everything as is, except I select the last 1 Year
On the second tab, all I change is the "Map to" field and enter EURUSD.m

I also note the HST directory is prefilled with
C:\Users\dadmin\AppData\Roaming\MetaQuotes\Terminal\33330570BE8B72268A299E98A69330FE\history\RoboForex-Demo
and FXT directory is prefilled with
C:\Users\dadmin\AppData\Roaming\MetaQuotes\Terminal\33330570BE8B72268A299E98A69330FE\tester\history

... and we start generating... wait a while...

6) Now I note that no HST files have been copied, which might be because the RoboForex-Demo directory does not exist. Instead under the history folder, there is a default directory instead.
When I check for FXT files, they have all been copied.

So somehow here is a problem, which I think can be fixed by changing the HST path, which I now change to C:\Users\dadmin\AppData\Roaming\MetaQuotes\Terminal\33330570BE8B72268A299E98A69330FE\history\default and I regenerate.

But I still have problems, when I Start the Test Agent, select All Ticks, 15 min, the month of Feb in 2015, and just the Sample MACD EA, I get the following behaviour

The Strategy Tester log shows

2015.06.22 13:46:54.130 TestGenerator: file "C:\Users\dadmin\AppData\Roaming\MetaQuotes\Terminal\33330570BE8B72268A299E98A69330FE\tester\history\EURUSD.m15_0.fxt" is read-only


the next line in the journal entry

2015.06.22 13:46:54.130 TestGenerator: server "Tickstory-Demo" differs from "RoboForex-Demo" terminal connected to

The TestAgent runs OK, and gives me a nice green Completion Bar with Test Accuracy of "NA"

Could someone shed some light here, I appear to be going round in circles. This is my 4th attempt today.

Thanks in advance

I have just learnt that the History/Default directory become redundant after you install another Account. I added a RoboForex-ECN account, and now I have both a RoboForex-Demo and a RoboForex-ECN directory. Now when I rerun both HST and FXT files go the right spot.

But the other errors still remain.

Hi Duker,

Thanks very much for the details - it really helps. From what I can see, you haven't selected the "Launch MT4" button in Tickstory which is a necessary step to ensure the exported data can be used.
Can you please do this and try back-testing again? I can't see any other issues with the steps you've taken. The messages you mention are only warnings and do not stop your back-test.

If you haven't already, you might want to check out our 'Getting Started' video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-rMOen4UHg

Regards.

I watched the video. Must say I missed the fact that you had to Launch MT4 from Tickstory Lite. However this button does not work. See image.

I have the latest version 1.6.0.0

Hi Duker - please ensure you have applied your license by going to Help->License code and entering the license code you were emailed. Then try the launcher again.

Regards.

OK. Now I feel like a right numbskull, because with starting MT4 from TickStory solved the problem.

In my defense though - a note for future development, maybe force the license code to be entered (if it hasn't already) when this error occurs. The software never asked for a license key, and several hours in it was the last thing I was thinking off.

But. It works fine now. Thank You Support.

Thanks for the suggestion, Duker. We did note it in the email you received, but understand that it can be missed. Most importantly, glad to hear you've resolved the issue!

Regards.

Hello,

I've the same problem with [2024.09.28 06:39:18.793 TestGenerator: server "" differs from "Swissquote-Live6" terminal connected to].

I tryed to lunch MT4 from Tickstory but nothing...

In C:\Users\user-\AppData\Roaming\MetaQuotes\Terminal\DF69970FA966231DB03F484E0981643C\tester\history folder there is AUDCAD15_0.fxt but tester doesn't run even in M15 of course...

There are also other two errors:
2024.09.28 06:39:18.809 TestGenerator: invalid file for 'AUDCAD15'
2024.09.28 06:39:18.809 Moving Average: no data for testing

I've lite version and don't received any license number....

Hi Nicholas,

If you are getting an "invalid file" error, it could mean that either the file has not fully been exported (due to out of disk space, for example) and/or that Tickstory is still in the middle of the export when you tried to begin your test.

Please check both before continuing.

Thanks.