MQL4 COURSE

By Coders g u ru
w w w . f orex -t sd. c om

-3DATA TYPES
--------------------

Welcome to my

thi rd lesson i n my M Q L 4 cou rse.

I hop e y ou enj oy ed the SY N T A X lesson, w hi ch tri ed to g i ve y ou the a nsw ers f or:

W ha t f orma t y ou ca n u se to w ri te M Q L 4 cod e?
H ow to ma k e the w orld better by commenti ng y ou r cod e?
W ha t the Id enti f i ers a re, a nd w ha t a re the ru les of choosi ng them?
W ha t a re the M Q L 4 R eserved w ord s?
If y ou d i d n t rea d the SY N T A X lesson p lea se d ow nloa d i t f rom here:
http :/ / f orex -tsd .com/ a tta chment.p hp ? a tta chmenti d = 39 9
A nd y ou ca n d ow nloa d the W elcome lesson f rom here:
http :/ / f orex -tsd .com/ a tta chment.p hp ? a tta chmenti d = 37 2
Dont f or g e t to l og i n f i r s t.
N ow , let s enjoy the D A T A T Y P E S.
W h a t s t h e D a t a t yp e m ea n?
A ny p rog ra mmi ng la ng u a g e ha s a set of na mes of the memory rep resenta ti on of the d a ta .
F or ex a mp le i f the memory hold s nu mbers betw een -214 7 4 8 36 4 8 to 214 7 4 8 36 4 7 , the
most of the p rog ra mmi ng la ng u a g es w i ll na me thi s d a ta a s I nt eg er d a ta ty p e.
V a r i a b l es ?
V a ri a bles a re the na mes tha t ref er to secti ons of memory i nto w hi ch d a ta ca n be stored .
T o help y ou thi nk of thi s a s a p i ctu re, i ma g i ne tha t memory i s a seri es of d i f f erent si z e
box es. T he box si z e i s memory stora g e a rea req u i red i n by tes.

In ord er to u se a box to store d a ta , the box mu st be g i ven a na me; thi s p rocess i s

k now n a s d ec l a r a t i on.
In the d ecla ra ti on p rocess y ou u se a w ord tell the comp u ter w ha t s the k i nd a nd
si z e of the box y ou w a nt to u se, thi s w ord k now n a s k eyw or d .

It help s i f y ou g i ve a box a mea ni ng f u l na me tha t rela tes to the ty p e of

i nf orma ti on w hi ch ma k e i t ea si er to f i nd the d a ta , thi s na me i s the v a r i a b l e
c ons t a nt .
D a ta i s p la ced i nto a box by a s s i g ni ng the d a ta to the box .
W hen w e set the va lu e of the box y ou ha ve crea ted i n the sa me li ne y ou d ecla red
the va ri a ble; thi s p rocess i s k now n a s i ni t i a l i z a t i on.

W hen w e crea te a va ri a ble w e a re telli ng the comp u ter tha t w e w a nt hi m to a ssi g n a

sp eci f i ed memory leng th (i n by tes) to ou r va ri a ble, si nce stori ng a si mp le nu mber, a letter
or a la rg e nu mber i s not g oi ng to occu p y the sa me sp a ce i n memory , so the comp u ter w i ll
a sk u s w ha t s the k i nd of d a ta a nd how mu ch the leng th of the d a ta ? T ha t i s the D a ta ty p e
f or.
F or ex a mp le i f w e sa i d thi s li ne of cod e to the comp u ter:
i nt M y V a ra i ble= 0 ;
T ha t s mea n w e a re a sk i ng the comp u ter to set a block of 4 by tes leng th to ou r va ri a ble
na med M y V a ra i a ble .
In the p revi ou s ex a mp le w e ha ve u sed :
i nt
Key w ord
i nt
Integ er d a ta ty p e.
i nt
D ecla ra ti on
M yV a r a i b l e
V a ri a ble s consta nt.
= 0
Ini ti a li z a ti on
W e w i ll k now more a bou t va ri a bles i n a comi ng lesson.
In M Q L 4 , these a re the k i nd s of D a ta ty p es:

Integ er (i nt)
B oolea n (bool)
C ha ra cter (cha r)
Stri ng (stri ng )
F loa ti ng -p oi nt nu mber (d ou ble)
C olor (color)
D a teti me (d a teti me)

1- I n t e g e r
A n i nteg er, i s a nu mber tha t ca n sta rt w i th a + or a - si g n a nd i s ma d e of d i g i ts. A nd
i ts ra ng e va lu e i s betw een -214 7 4 8 36 4 8 to 214 7 4 8 36 4 7 .
M Q L 4 p resents the i nteg er i n d eci ma l or hex a d eci ma l f orma t.

F or ex a mp le the nex t nu mbers a re Integ ers:

12, 3, 2134 , 0 , -230
0 x 0 A , 0 x 12, 0 X 12, 0 x 2f , 0 x A 3, 0 X a 3, 0 X 7 C 7
W e u se the k ey w ord i nt to crea te a n i nteg er va ri a ble.
F or ex a mp le:
i nt i ntInteg er = 0 ;
i nt i ntA notherIntg er = -10 0 ;
i nt i ntH ex Intg er= 0 x 12;
De c i m a l a nd H e x a d e c i m a l :
De c i m a l
3 , 4 , 5 , 6
d e c im a l
s y m b ol s

nota ti on i s
, 7 , 8 a nd 9
p oi nt w h i c h
+ ( p l u s ) or

th e w r i ti ng of nu
) to r e p r e s e nt nu
i nd i c a te s th e s ta
( m i nu s ) to i nd

m b e r s i n th e b a s e of 1 0, a nd u s e s d i g i ts ( 0, 1 , 2 ,
m b e r s . T h e s e d i g i ts a r e f r e q u e ntl y u s e d w i th a
r t of a f r a c ti ona l p a r t, a nd w i th one of th e s i g n
i c a te s i g n.

H e x a d e c i m a l i s a nu m e r a l s y s te m w i th a b a s e of 1 6 u s u a l l y w r i tte n u s i ng th e s y m b ol s
09 a nd A F or a f .
F or e x a m p l e , th e d e c i m a l nu m e r a l 7 9 c a n b e w r i tte n a s 4 F i n h e x a d e c i m a l .

2- B o o l e a n
B oolea n va ri a ble i s a d a ta ty p e w hi ch ca n hold only tw o va lu es, tru e a nd f a lse (or
thei r nu meri c rep resenta ti on, 0 a nd 1). A nd i t occu p i es 1 bi t of the memory .
In M Q L 4 , f a lse,F A L SE ,F a lse,tru e,T R U E a nd T ru e a re eq u a ls.
B ool e a n na m e d l i k e th i s i n th e h onor of th e g r e a t m a th e m a ti c i a n B ool e G e or g e .
W e u se the k ey w ord b ool to crea te a boolea n va ri a ble.
F or ex a mp le:
bool I = tru e;
bool bF la g = 1;
bool bB ool= F A L SE ;

3- Ch a r a c t e r
M Q L 4 na m e s th i s Da ta ty p e L i te r a l .
A cha ra cter i s one of 256 d ef i ned a lp ha beti c, nu meri c, a nd sp eci a l k ey elements
d ef i ned i n the A SC II (A meri ca n Sta nd a rd C od e f or Inf orma ti on Intercha ng e) set.
C ha ra cters ha ve i nteg er va lu es corresp ond i ng to loca ti on i n the A SC II set.
Y ou w ri te the cha ra cter consta nt by u si ng si ng le q u otes (') su rrou nd i ng the cha ra cter.
F or ex a mp le:
'a ' , '$ ' , 'Z '
W e u se the k ey w ord i nt to crea te a cha ra cter va ri a ble.
F or ex a mp le:
i nt chrA = 'A ';
i nt chrB = '$ ';
Some cha ra cters ca lled Sp eci a l C ha ra cters ca n t p resent d i rectly i nsi d e the si ng le
q u otes beca u se they ha ve a reserved mea ni ng s i n M Q L 4 la ng u a g e.
H ere w e u se somethi ng ca lled E s c a p e S eq u enc e to p resent those sp eci a l cha ra cters,
A nd tha t by p ref i x i ng the cha ra cter w i th the ba ck sla sh cha ra cter (\).
F or ex a mp le:
i nt chrA = '\\';
i nt chrB = '\n';

/ / sla sh cha ra cter

/ / new li ne

T hi s i s the li st of E sca p e Seq u ence cha ra cters u sed i n M Q L 4 .

ca rri a g e retu rn
new li ne
hori z onta l ta b
reverse sla sh
si ng le q u ote
d ou ble q u ote
hex a d eci ma l A SC II-cod e

\r
\n
\t
\\
\'
\"
\x hh

ASCI I t a b l e
Char Dec Oct Hex | Char Dec Oct Hex | Char Dec Oct Hex | Char Dec Oct
Hex
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(nul)
0 0000 0x00 | (sp)
32 0040 0x20 | @
64 0100 0x40 | `
96 0140 0x60
(soh)
1 0001 0x01 | !
33 0041 0x21 | A
65 0101 0x41 | a
97 0141 0x61
(stx)
2 0002 0x02 | "
34 0042 0x22 | B
66 0102 0x42 | b
98 0142 0x62
(etx)
3 0003 0x03 | #
35 0043 0x23 | C
67 0103 0x43 | c
99 0143 0x63
(eot)
4 0004 0x04 | $
36 0044 0x24 | D
68 0104 0x44 | d
100 0144 0x64
(enq)
5 0005 0x05 | %
37 0045 0x25 | E
69 0105 0x45 | e
101 0145 0x65
(ack)
6 0006 0x06 | &
38 0046 0x26 | F
70 0106 0x46 | f
102 0146 0x66
(bel)
7 0007 0x07 | '
39 0047 0x27 | G
71 0107 0x47 | g
103 0147 0x67
(bs)
8 0010 0x08 | (
40 0050 0x28 | H
72 0110 0x48 | h
104 0150 0x68
(ht)
9 0011 0x09 | )
41 0051 0x29 | I
73 0111 0x49 | i
105 0151 0x69
(nl)
10 0012 0x0a | *
42 0052 0x2a | J
74 0112 0x4a | j
106 0152 0x6a
(vt)
11 0013 0x0b | +
43 0053 0x2b | K
75 0113 0x4b | k
107 0153 0x6b
(np)
12 0014 0x0c | ,
44 0054 0x2c | L
76 0114 0x4c | l
108 0154 0x6c
(cr)
13 0015 0x0d | 45 0055 0x2d | M
77 0115 0x4d | m
109 0155 0x6d
(so)
14 0016 0x0e | .
46 0056 0x2e | N
78 0116 0x4e | n
110 0156 0x6e
(si)
15 0017 0x0f | /
47 0057 0x2f | O
79 0117 0x4f | o
111 0157 0x6f
(dle) 16 0020 0x10 | 0
48 0060 0x30 | P
80 0120 0x50 | p
112 0160 0x70
(dc1) 17 0021 0x11 | 1
49 0061 0x31 | Q
81 0121 0x51 | q
113 0161 0x71
(dc2) 18 0022 0x12 | 2
50 0062 0x32 | R
82 0122 0x52 | r
114 0162 0x72
(dc3) 19 0023 0x13 | 3
51 0063 0x33 | S
83 0123 0x53 | s
115 0163 0x73
(dc4) 20 0024 0x14 | 4
52 0064 0x34 | T
84 0124 0x54 | t
116 0164 0x74
(nak) 21 0025 0x15 | 5
53 0065 0x35 | U
85 0125 0x55 | u
117 0165 0x75
(syn) 22 0026 0x16 | 6
54 0066 0x36 | V
86 0126 0x56 | v
118 0166 0x76
(etb) 23 0027 0x17 | 7
55 0067 0x37 | W
87 0127 0x57 | w
119 0167 0x77
(can) 24 0030 0x18 | 8
56 0070 0x38 | X
88 0130 0x58 | x
120 0170 0x78
(em)
25 0031 0x19 | 9
57 0071 0x39 | Y
89 0131 0x59 | y
121 0171 0x79
(sub) 26 0032 0x1a | :
58 0072 0x3a | Z
90 0132 0x5a | z
122 0172 0x7a
(esc) 27 0033 0x1b | ;
59 0073 0x3b | [
91 0133 0x5b | {
123 0173 0x7b
(fs)
28 0034 0x1c | <
60 0074 0x3c | \
92 0134 0x5c | |
124 0174 0x7c
(gs)
29 0035 0x1d | =
61 0075 0x3d | ]
93 0135 0x5d | }
125 0175 0x7d
(rs)
30 0036 0x1e | >
62 0076 0x3e | ^
94 0136 0x5e | ~
126 0176 0x7e
(us)
31 0037 0x1f | ?
63 0077 0x3f | _
95 0137 0x5f | (del) 127 0177 0x7f

4- St r i n g
T he stri ng d a ta ty p e i s a n a rra y of cha ra cters enclosed i n d ou ble q u ote (").
T he a rra y of cha ra cters i s a n a rra y w hi ch hold s one cha ra cter a f ter a nother, sta rti ng a t
i nd ex 0 . A f ter the la st cha ra cter of d a ta , a N U L L cha ra cter i s p la ced i n the nex t a rra y
loca ti on. It d oes not ma tter i f there a re u nu sed a rra y loca ti ons a f ter tha t.
A N U L L cha ra cter i s a sp eci a l cha ra cter (rep resented by the A SC II cod e 0 ) u sed to
ma rk the end of thi s ty p e of stri ng .
See f i g u re 1 f or a si mp le rep resenta ti on of the stri ng consta nt hello i n the cha ra cters
a rra y .

F i g u r e 1 Ch a r a c t e r s a r r a y
M Q L 4 li mi ts the si z e of the stri ng va ri a ble to 255 cha ra cters a nd a ny cha ra cter a bove
255 cha ra cters w i ll g enera te thi s error: (too l ong s tr i ng ( 2 5 5 c h a r a c te r s m a x i m u m ) ).
Y ou ca n u se a ny sp eci a l cha ra cter -menti oned a bove- i n y ou r stri ng consta nt by
p ref i x i ng i t w i th the ba ck sla sh (\).
W e u se the k ey w ord s t r i ng to crea te a stri ng va ri a ble.
F or ex a mp le:
stri ng str1 = "H ello w orld 1, w i th y ou cod ers g u ru ;
stri ng str2 = "C op y ri g ht 20 0 5, \"F orex -tsd f oru m\"."; / / N oti ce the u se of (") cha ra cter.
stri ng str3 = "1234 56 7 8 9 0 ";

5- F l o a t i n g -p o i n t n u m b e r ( d o u b l e )
F loa ti ng p oi nt nu mber i s the R ea l N u mber (tha t i s, a nu mber tha t ca n conta i n a
f ra cti ona l p a rt besi d e the i nteg er p a rt sep a ra ted w i th (.) d ot).E x : 3.0 ,-115.5, 15 a nd
0 .0 0 0 1.
A nd i ts ra ng e va lu e i s betw een 2.2e-30 8 to 1.8 e30 8 .
W e u se the k ey w ord d ou b l e to crea te a f loa ti ng -p oi nt va ri a ble.
F or ex a mp le:
d ou ble d blN u mber1 = 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ;
d ou ble d blN u mber3 = 1/ 4 ;
d ou ble d blN u mber3 = 5.7 5;

6- Co l o r
C olor d a ta ty p e i s a sp eci a l M Q L 4 d a ta ty p e, w hi ch hold s a color a p p ea rs on the
M eta T ra d er cha rt w hen y ou crea te y ou r ow n E x p ert A d vi sor or C u stom Ind i ctor a nd
the u ser ca n cha ng e i t f rom the p rop erty ta b of y ou r E x p ert A d vi sor or C u stom
Ind i ctor.
Y ou ca n set the C olor va ri a ble consta nt i n three w a y s:
1- B y t h e c ol or na m e: F or the w ell k now colors (ca lled W eb C olors Set) y ou ca n
a ssi g n the na me of the color to the color va ri a ble, see the li st of the W eb C olors Set.
2- B y C h a r a c t er r ep r es ent a t i on (M Q L 4 na med i t thi s na me): In thi s method y ou u se
the k ey w ord (C ) f ollow ed by tw o si g na l q u ota ti ons ('). B etw een the tw o si g na l
q u ota ti ons y ou set the va lu e of the red , g reen a nd blu e (k now a s R G B va lu e of the
color). T hese va lu es ha ve to be betw een: 0 to 255. A nd y ou ca n w ri te these va lu es i n
d eci ma l or hex a d eci ma l f orma t.
3- B y t h e i nt eg er v a l u e: E very color i n the W eb C olors Set ha s i ts i nteg er va lu e
w hi ch y ou ca n w ri te i t i n d eci ma l or hex a d eci ma l f orma t. A nd y ou ca n a ssi g n the
Integ er va lu e of the color to the color va ri a ble. T he hex a d eci ma l color f orma t look s
li k e thi s: 0 x B B G G R R w here B B i s the blu e va lu e, G G i s g reen va lu e a nd R R i s the
red va lu e.
F or ex a mp le:
/ / sy mbol consta nts
C '128 ,128 ,128 ' / / g ra y
C '0 x 0 0 ,0 x 0 0 ,0 x F F ' / / blu e
/ / na med color
R ed
Y ellow
B la ck
/ / i nteg er-va lu ed rep resenta ti on
0 x F F F F F F
/ / w hi te
16 7 7 7 215
/ / w hi te
0 x 0 0 8 0 0 0
/ / g reen
327 6 8
/ / g reen
W e u se the k ey w ord c ol or to crea te a color va ri a ble.
F or ex a mp le:
color clr1= R ed ;
color clr1= C '128 ,128 ,128 ' ;

color clr1= 327 6 8 ;

W e b Co l o r s Se t
Black

D ar kG r e e n

D ar kS lat e G r ay

S e aG r e e n

D ar kG o ld e n r o d

D ar kS lat e Blu e

G o ld e n r o d

M e d iu m S p r in g G r e e n

L aw n G r e e n

M ar o o n

I n d ig o

L i g h t S e aG r e e n
D ar kO r an g e

D ar kV i o le t
O r an g e

D e e p S ky Blu e

L i g h t S lat e G r ay

Blu e

K h aki

P ale G r e e n

M e d i u m S e aG r e e n

C h o co lat e

G o ld

Y e llo w

C h ar t r e u s e

M ag e n t a

G r e e n Y e llo w
H o t P in k

L ig h t G r e e n

P o w d e r Blu e

Be i g e

A n t iq u e W h it e

M i n t C r e am

S n o w

L ig h t P in k

L av e n d e r

M is t y R o s e

L av e n d e r Blu s h

M e d i u m V i o le t R e d

T h i s t le

M o ccas i n

L e m o n C h if f o n

F i r e Br i ck

C o r al

Bu r ly W o o d

P lu m

S ad d le Br o w n

P ale V i o le t R e d

D ar kS alm o n

T e al

D ar kO li v e G r e e n

M e d iu m T u r q u o is e

M e d i u m O r ch i d

G re e n

D ar kBlu e

D e e p P in k

I n d i an R e d

M e d i u m P u r p le

O li v e

M i d n i g h t Blu e

G ai n s b o r o
O ld L ace

S ie n n a

C ad e t Blu e
R e d

D o d g e r Blu e

M e d i u m Blu e
D ar kO r ch i d

P ap ay aW h i p

W h i t e S m o ke
W h it e

L im e G r e e n

O r an g e R e d

S lat e Blu e

D ar kK h aki

D ar kG r ay

S an d y Br o w n

M e d i u m S lat e Blu e

T an

S i lv e r

L i g h t S ky Blu e

L i g h t S t e e lBlu e

P in k

Bi s q u e

L i g h t G o ld e n R o d

Blan ch e d A lm o n d

Iv o r y

H o n e y d e w

A li ce Blu e

P ale T u r q u o i s e
C o r n s i lk

S e as h e ll

S lat e G r ay
T o m at o

L i g h t C o r al
L ig h t G r e y

L i g h t Y e llo w

P e r u

R o s y Br o w n

' / / N ew Y ea r
:27 '
:27 '
/ / eq u a l to D '19 8 0 .0 7 .19 12:0 0 :0 0 '
/ / eq u a l to D '0 1.0 1.20 0 4 0 0 :0 0 :0 0 '

W e u se the k ey w ord d a t et i m e to crea te a d a teti me va ri a ble.

Blu e V i o le t
O r ch i d

L i g h t S alm o n

W h e at

N av aj o W h i t e

L i g h t C y an

D a teti me d a ta ty p e i s a sp eci a l M Q L 4 d a ta ty p e, w hi ch hold s a d a te a nd ti me d a ta .

Y ou set the D a teti me va ri a ble by u si ng the k ey w ord (D ) f ollow ed by tw o si g na l
q u ota ti ons ('). B etw een the tw o si g na l q u ota ti ons y ou w ri te a cha ra cter li ne consi sti ng
of 6 p a rts f or va lu e of y ea r, month, d a te, hou r, mi nu tes, a nd second s. D a teti me
consta nt ca n va ry f rom J a n 1, 19 7 0 to D ec 31, 20 37 .
F or ex a mp le:

A q u a

S ky Blu e

7- Da t e t i m e

D '20 0 4 .0 1.0 1 0 0 :0 0
D '19 8 0 .0 7 .19 12:30
D '19 .0 7 .19 8 0 12:30
D '19 .0 7 .19 8 0 12'
D '0 1.0 1.20 0 4 '

D i m G r ay

R o y alBlu e

G r ay

V i o le t

P e ach P u f f

S t e e lBlu e

T u r q u o is e

S alm o n

P ale G o ld e n r o d

C r im s o n

D ar kT u r q u o i s e

S p r in g G r e e n

D ar kS e aG r e e n

A q u am ar i n e

Y e llo w G r e e n

P u r p le

O li v e D r ab

L im e

M e d i u m A q u am ar i n e
C o r n f lo w e r Blu e

Br o w n

N av y

F o re s tG re e n

L i g h t Blu e

L in e n

F or ex a mp le:
d a teti me d tM y B i rthD a y = D '19 7 2.10 .19 12:0 0 :0 0 ';
d a teti me d t1= D '20 0 5.10 .22 0 4 :30 :0 0 ';

I hop e y ou enj oy ed the lesson.

T he nex t lesson w i ll be a bou t the O p era ti ons &

E x p ressi ons .

I w elcome very mu ch the q u esti ons a nd the su g g esti ons.

See y ou
C od er s G u r u
22-10 -20 0 5