account.CreateOrder() returns error: object reference not set to instance

[xxzbill]

Ninjascript Output:
MES 12/14/2021 1:48:50 PM bid<=enprice
MES 12/14/2021 1:48:50 PM activeAcc is S1Dec6729606
Indicator 'aaBarBO': Error on calling 'OnBarUpdate' method on bar 80: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

Code producing above output:
Order createEntry_S(double enPrice, double bid, string orderName)
{
Print(sym + " " + Time[0].ToString() + " bid<=enprice");
Print(sym + " " + Time[0].ToString() + " activeAcc is " + activeAcc.Name);
return activeAcc.CreateOrder(
Instrument,
OrderAction.Sell,
OrderType.Limit,
OrderEntry.Manual,
TimeInForce.Day,
input_qty,
enPrice,
enPrice,
"",
orderName + DateTime.Now.ToString(),
DateTime.MaxValue,
null);
}

The code executes with no error on Sim101 account. But it cannot execute with the other account S1Dec6729606, which is a Topsteptrader-Ninjatrader account.

Thank you for any help.

[NinjaTrader_Jesse]

Hello xxzbill,

object reference not set to instance means an object being used was null, from the given details that would likely be the account variable.

Please make sure that you checked that the account name you are using to find the account is correct.

You can verify if the account is null like the following:

if(account == null) Print("Account is null");

[xxzbill]

Thanks for the reply.
I thought that was what I was doing with this line: Print(sym + " " + Time[0].ToString() + " activeAcc is " + activeAcc.Name);
If it can print activeAcc.Name then activeAcc is not null, right? From the output it shows that the error happens right after checking activeAcc is not null.

[xxzbill]

added your code

Order createEntry_S(double enPrice, double bid, string orderName)
{
Print(sym + " " + Time[0].ToString() + " bid<=enprice");
Print(sym + " " + Time[0].ToString() + " activeAcc is " + activeAcc.Name);

if (activeAcc == null) Print(sym + " " + Time[0].ToString() + " activeAcc is null");

return activeAcc.CreateOrder(
Instrument,
OrderAction.Sell,
OrderType.Limit,
OrderEntry.Manual,
TimeInForce.Day,
input_qty,
enPrice,
enPrice,
"",
orderName + DateTime.Now.ToString(),
DateTime.MaxValue,
null);
}

The output is the same:

MES 12/14/2021 6:20:12 PM bid>enprice
MES 12/14/2021 6:20:12 PM activeAcc is S1Dec6729606
Indicator 'aaBarBO': Error on calling 'OnBarUpdate' method on bar 4587: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

So activeAcc is not null.

Also the Print right after returning from createEntry_S() is not executed:
en1 = createEntry_S(enPrice, GetCurrentBid(), "en1_SHORT");
Print(sym + " " + Time[0].ToString()+" activeAcc.Submit(new[] {en1});");

So the error is from activeAcc.CreateOrder(). But activeAcc is not null, what else could be the problem?

Also this issue never occurs on Sim101 account with exactly the same code.

[NinjaTrader_Jesse]

Hello xxzbill,

From the error something is still null, you would need to check the other variables that you have used here to make sure that none of them are null. You are returning an object from your method so that would also be an area to confirm the en1 variable is not null.

[xxzbill]

As you suggested, I added a Print after accout.CreateOrder() to isolate the error:

{
Print(sym + " " + Time[0].ToString() + " bid>enprice");
Print(sym + " " + Time[0].ToString() + " activeAcc is " + activeAcc.Name);// == null ? "null" : "not null");
if (activeAcc == null) Print(sym + " " + Time[0].ToString() + " activeAcc is null");

Order returnOrder= activeAcc.CreateOrder(
Instrument,
OrderAction.Sell,
OrderType.StopMarket,
OrderEntry.Manual,
TimeInForce.Day,
input_qty,
enPrice,
enPrice,
"",
orderName + DateTime.Now.ToString(),
DateTime.MaxValue,
null);

if (returnOrder == null) Print("returnOrder==null");

return returnOrder;
}

Here is the output

MES 12/15/2021 12:06:30 PM bid>enprice
MES 12/15/2021 12:06:30 PM activeAcc is S1Dec6729606
Indicator 'aaBarBO': Error on calling 'OnBarUpdate' method on bar 2298: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

The Print("returnOrder==null") does not execute. So the issue is in account.CreateOrder(). Here I commented on the variables in account.CreateOrder():

Order returnOrder= activeAcc.CreateOrder(
Instrument, // this is native to the base code and global. it should never be null
OrderAction.Sell, //constants
OrderType.StopMarket,
OrderEntry.Manual,
TimeInForce.Day,
input_qty, // this is an integer
enPrice, // this is a double
enPrice,
"",
orderName + DateTime.Now.ToString(), // orderName is string, DateTime.Now is from base C# and should never be null
DateTime.MaxValue, // a constant
null);

[NinjaTrader_Jesse]

Hello xxzbill,

The next step would be to print the variables you used in CreateOrder to see which part is not correct. If the CreateOrder is failing that would indicate that part of the variables used were not correct. You may need to use OrderEntry.Automated if this is being used in a strategy.

Another way to test this would be to manually fill in the values like the help guide sample to verify that works.