using 3rd party indicators in strategies

[rcollen]

I would like to use a 3rd party indicator in my strategy. It is available in Strategy Wizard's choice of indicators and offers me the variables to change signal length, slow and fast periods, bars ago, offset, and plot on chart. When used as an indicator, it plots a signal on the chart to go long or short. What is the proper condition set to use in the Condition Builder to employ this indicator? When I select Plot on chart = true, = = Misc (True), I do not get "True" in the second column. Thank you.

[NinjaTrader_DaveI]

Hello,

The Plot on Chart function does not actually need anything on the other side of the Condition Builder. Rather, you would set this to true in the process of comparing the indicator to something else.

If you do not have anything to compare it to, you could set up the same indicator on both sides of the equation, with the exact same settings, and use "==" as the operator. So you would essentially be saying "if this indicator value is the same as itself," which should always evaluate to True and not get in the way, while still allowing you to use the "Plot on Chart" setting.

[rcollen]

OK. Thank you. So if I set on both sides with ==, how do I distinguish from these available indicator settings whether to go long or short at the time the indicator plots a signal on the chart?

[NinjaTrader_DaveI]

Unfortunately, there may not be a way to do that. Your indicator is most likely using drawing objects on the chart, which you cannot detect with the Strategy Wizard.

If your indicator does not have a plot that you can test (for example.. if Plot A is greater than 50, enter long), then the best way to time your strategy's entries would be to test the same logic that the indicator is testing to draw the markers. In other words, if you know when and why the indicator draws the markers, then you can base your entries on the same conditions.

As a simple example, let's say your indicator draws the markers whenever a slow SMA crosses above a fast EMA. Rather than detecting when the indicator draws the markers, you could just test for that crossover condition (or whatever condition the indicator is actually using).

You may find that you need to unlock the code and work with NinjaScript to accomplish this, depending on how complex it is. If the indicator includes a plot that you can access in the Strategy Wizard, and if you know how it is testing that plot, then you can base your entries off the same condition of that plot.