Attempted to divide by zero

[AgriTrdr]

Hi,

I received an error when loading strategy saying Attempted to divide by zero when I had the following in my script:

upPercentage = ((upBar)/(upBar + dnBar))*100;

dnPercentage = ((dnBar)/(upBar + dnBar))*100;

How do I resolve this?

Thanks

[NinjaTrader_Gaby]

Hello AgriTrdr,

Thank you for your post.

You will need to debug the script to find where in the logic it is attempting to divide by zero and why.

Below is a support article on debugging using prints.

https://support.ninjatrader.com/s/article/Developer-Guide-Debugging-using-Print-and-TraceOrders

[eDanny]

Check (upBar + dnBar) > 0 before dividing.

[AgriTrdr]

Thank you eDanny.

[AgriTrdr]

Hi,

I did the following and it removed the error, but I'm still getting 0% majority of the time. I did use Print to verify that my upBar and dnBar are working correctly and they are which leads me to believe there is an issue with how I'm checking to see the upBar > 0 and dnBar > 0

if (upBar > 0)
{
upPercentage = ((upBar)/(upBar + dnBar))*100;
Print(Times[0][0] + "|" + Instrument.FullName + "|" + "UP%" + "|" + upPercentage);
}

if (dnBar > 0)
{
dnPercentage = ((dnBar)/(upBar + dnBar))*100;
Print(Times[0][0] + "|" + Instrument.FullName + "|" + "DN%" + "|" + dnPercentage);
}

[rockmanx00]

What are your values for upBar and dnBar? Is dnBar producing a negative number cancelling out upBar? What type of value is upPercentage? Int? Double?

[AgriTrdr]

Hi,

Here's the entire logic. upBar and dnBar are private int. upPercentage and dnPercentage are private double. I was able to solve the Attempted to divide by zero error by changing upBar = 1 and dnBar = 1;

But the percentage is still showing up as 0.

if ((Bars.IsFirstBarOfSession) || (SRLine[0] != SRLine[1]))
{
upBar = 1;
dnBar = 1;
}
else if (Closes[0][0] > Opens[0][0])
{
upBar += 1;
}
else if (Closes[0][0] < Opens[0][0])
{
dnBar += 1;
}
​
upPercentage = ((upBar)/(upBar + dnBar))*100;
dnPercentage = ((dnBar)/(upBar + dnBar))*100;

Print(Times[0][0] + "|" + Instrument.FullName + "|" + upPercentage + "|" + dnPercentage);
​

if ((upPercentage-dnPercentage) > Percentage)
{
BarBrushes[0] = buyCandle;
}
else if ((dnPercentage-upPercentage) > Percentage)
{
BarBrushes[0] = sellCandle;
}
else
{
BarBrushes[0] = BarBrushes[1];
}

[rockmanx00]

It's because you are using int. I just tested it on MYM. Notice how I used Prints to debug?

Print("upBar: " + upBar);
Print("dnBar: " + dnBar);
Print("upBar + dnBar: " + (upBar + dnBar));
Print("(upBar / (upBar + dnBar)): " + ((double)upBar / ((double)upBar + (double)dnBar)));
upPercentage = ((double)upBar / ((double)upBar + (double)dnBar)) * 100;
dnPercentage = ((double)upBar / ((double)upBar + (double)dnBar)) * 100;
Print("upPercentage: " + upPercentage);
Print("dnPercentage: " + dnPercentage);

Output:
upBar: 151
dnBar: 185
upBar + dnBar: 336
(upBar / (upBar + dnBar)): 0.449404761904762
upPercentage: 44.9404761904762
dnPercentage: 44.9404761904762
3/12/2025 10:55:45 AM|MYM 03-25|44.9404761904762|44.9404761904762

Because you are adding both bars and using that to divide, that number you get is under 0. Int is essentially cutting off anything after the decimal. I even tried to hard code upBar to 300. Even when the combination of both hits 500, I still get 0, which means it's cutting off and not rounding, which is normal behavior for Int. You don't need to change upBar and dnBar from int to double, but you would at least need to convert them to double before it divides so you can get a number other than zero.

[AgriTrdr]

Thank you! That works great.