Plotting the VMA difference

[pandyav]

I have a simple indicator by which I am trying to plot the difference between two VMAs. It compiles perfectly well, but I do not see anything on the chart. I have checked and re-checked the code, but have no clue what is wrong here. Can someone help please?

All I want to do is to backcolor the chart when the differences between two VMAs is greater than 2.

protected override void OnBarUpdate()
{VmaDifference.Set(VMA(34,34)[0]-VMA(500,14)[0]);
if (VmaDifference[1]<2
&& VmaDifference[0]>=2)
{
BackColorAll = Color.Green;
}
else if
(VmaDifference[1]>-2
&& VmaDifference[0]<=-2)
{
BackColorAll = Color.Green;
}
else
{
BackColorAll = Color.Blue;
}

[Harry]

To identify the problem, you would need to post the entire code.

One possible explanation for the bug is that you try to access VMADifference[1] for the first bar, which is CurrentBar == 0. For this bar VMADifference[1] is not yet defined. You would need to change the code to

protected override void OnBarUpdate()
        {VmaDifference.Set(VMA(34,34)[0]-VMA(500,14)[0]);
if (CurrentBar < 1)  // line added
   return;   // line added
if        (VmaDifference[1]<2
                && VmaDifference[0]>=2)
            {
                BackColorAll = Color.Green;
             }
            else if                 
                (VmaDifference[1]>-2
                && VmaDifference[0]<=-2)
            {        
                BackColorAll = Color.Green;
            }
            else 
            {
               BackColorAll = Color.Blue;
            }
}

Also you should not compare the VMADifference to an absolute value such as 2. Such a value maybe correct for a specific instrument and a specific timeframe. But you would need to recode your indicator for use with every different instrument or timeframe. Best compare the VMADifference with the multiple of the average true range.

[NinjaTrader_Bertrand]

pandyav, were you able to resolve with Harry's kind pointer?

[pandyav]

Yes, I was. Thank you for checking in.