Creating and Working with Projects

MetaEditor provides many useful features for working with projects. It allows you to organize files into a single structure, manage project settings, and collaborate via MQL5 Algo Forge with version control.

What is a Project?

A project is an MQPROJ file that stores settings, parameters, and any information needed to compile an MQL5 application.

Double-clicking an MQPROJ file opens the "Project" tab, a separate workspace for conveniently working with projects within Navigator. All the project files and folders are arranged into categories on this tab.

Creating a Project #

In the top menu, click "File" > "New project" or press Ctrl + Shift + N. Choose your desired program type and continue in the MQL5 Wizard.

Enter a name and other details, add parameters, and choose event handlers.

The wizard also supports the creation of empty projects to house file structures incompatible with default templates. An empty project contains a blank MQPROJ file and requires you to create source code files manually.

Creating a Project Based on an MQ5 File #

Right-click the MQ5 file, then select "New Project from Source".

A new MQPROJ project file with the same name will appear in the directory. The main program properties specified in the source code via #property will be automatically added to the project, including the name, copyright, version, link to the developer's site, and program description. All files included in the source code via the #include directive will be added to the "Dependencies" section of the project.

Project Properties #

You can access a project's settings from a separate dialog box and not have to edit the MQ5 file source code. Simply double-click the MQPROJ file on the "Project" tab.

The following project settings are available:

• Platform – the platform version for which the project is developed, i.e. MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5.
• Program type – Expert Advisor, Indicator, Script or Library.
• Copyright – copyright information similar to "#property copyright ..." in the source code.
• Link – the link to a developer's site similar to "#property link ..." in the source code.
• Version – the version of the program similar to "#property version ..." in the source code.
• Icon – the icon of the program similar to "#property icon ..." in the source code.
• Description – program description similar to "#property description ..." in the source code.
• CPU – optimize compilation for specific processor instruction sets: X64 Regular, AVX, AVX2 + FMA3, AVX512 + FMA3.
• Maximum optimization – applications with this option enabled execute faster.
• Check floating point dividers – applications with this option disabled work a little faster, because the zero divide error is not checked during code execution.
• Use tester optimization cache – during optimization, the strategy tester saves results of all performed passes in cache. Results are saved for each set of inputs. This allows the use of ready results during re-optimization with the same parameters, without spending time on recalculation.
  But in some tasks (for example, in math calculations), it may be necessary to carry out calculations regardless of the availability of previous results. In this case you should disable the "Use optimization cache option" in the project. All test results will still be saved in the cache and thus you can view data on performed passes in the strategy tester report.
• Calculate indicator on every tick in tester – this option is only available for indicator projects. It forcibly enables indicator calculation at each tick when running in the strategy tester. The option only applies to the operation in the Strategy Tester. In the platform, indicators are always calculated at each incoming tick.
  When you test Expert Advisors using indicators, the Strategy Tester calculates indicator values only when their data are accessed, i.e. when indicator buffer values are requested. This provides significant acceleration during testing and optimization, if the Expert Advisor does not need indicator values at each tick. Enable this option, if the indicator needs to be calculated at each tick.
  Also, indicators in the Strategy Tester are calculated at each tick in the following cases:

• when testing in the visual mode
• if the indicator contains functions EventChartCustom, OnChartEvent, OnTimer
• if the indicator was created using the compiler build below 1916

• Display a confirmation window before running the script – prevents accidental execution of a script.
• Display a window with properties before running the script – allows you to review and modify input parameters before running a script.

Adding and Removing Files from a Project #

All files used in the source code are added to the project navigator automatically. For example, if you add a new MQH file using the #include directive, it will automatically appear in the "Dependencies" section of Navigator. Used header files are added to the "Headers" section; images, sounds and other MQL programs used in the project as resources (via the #resource directive) are added to the "Resources" section.

MQL5 files with the source code are displayed in the "Sources" section. Other files, such as set files for testing and chart templates, can be added to the "Settings and files" section.

You can use context menu commands to add existing files to a project or delete files from it. Be careful when deleting files, since you can remove a file from the project (remove the binding) or completely delete it from the disk.

The "Add existing folder" command enables batch addition of all supported files from the selected directory into the project.

Compiling a Project #

To get the EX5 executable file for a project, open the project or the main MQ5 file of the program, then run the compile command (F7). The file will be created in the directory containing the MQPROJ project file.

Shared Projects #

Shared Projects is a dedicated section for collaborative projects. Any project you create inside this section will automatically be pushed to the online storage.

To create a new shared project, right-click "Shared Projects" and choose "New Project".

Then complete standard steps in the MQL5 Wizard: set the type, name, and properties of the desired program. For collaborative projects, you should use clear and understandable names, which enables other participants to easily find them. Only Latin letters and numbers without spaces can be used in project names.

When you finish creating the shared project, it will appear on MQL5 Algo Forge website as a private repository under your name.

Changing Visibility of Shared Projects #

You can choose to make the repository public or grant access to select users. Right-click the project folder, then select "Shared Project Settings".

Change "Sharing" from "Private project" to a new option:

• Private project: Only the author can access the project.
• Free-to-join project: Anyone can join the project.
• Join-by-request project: Users can request to join the project, and the author can approve or reject each request.

You can grant access to a specific user. Click "add new user", then enter the user's MQL5.community login. Clicking the "Permission" drop down reveals the available privileges you can grant to the user:

• Read: The user can see and download the project files.
• Read and Write: The user can see, download, and make changes to the project files.
• Administrator: The user can do everything from Read and Write as well as control the list of participants.

Public Projects #

A public project is a repository whose visibility setting is set to public. Any MQL5 user can download a public project's files, fork it to create their own copy, collaborate with its owner or maintainers, and propose code changes.

The "Public Projects" tab in MetaEditor is under development. Instead, you can explore available public projects on MQL5 Algo Forge website, which is like GitHub for the algorithm trading community.

After you fork a public project, your forked copy will appear as a public repository under your name on the website. After you clone the forked copy in MetaEditor, it will appear under Shared Projects.

Changing Visibility of Projects

If you want your existing project to become a public project, set its visibility to public. Perform this action in MetaEditor or follow these instructions to do it on the MQL5 Algo Forge website:

Open your repository page, then click "Settings" in the top-right area.

Deselect the "Make repository private" option, then click "Save settings".