Building a Volume-at-Price Indicator for MetaTrader 5

Summary

This article explains the design of a Volume at Price display for MetaTrader 5, aimed at showing traded volume across price levels. It focuses on implementation and platform performance rather than teaching how to interpret the resulting profile. The indicator is structured as an object-oriented class, with routines for initialization, periodic updates, resizing, data aggregation, and redrawing. Its chart interface uses controls for display size and the starting point of the analyzed volume range.

The drawing method separates total volume bars from a smaller color cue that identifies whether buy or sell volume was greater at a price. The author argues that this improves readability when volume at one level would otherwise obscure comparisons at neighboring levels. Updates can be delayed by roughly a second in the described use case, which the author considers acceptable; users needing immediate updates can adjust when the Expert Advisor calls the indicator. The article presents a basic implementation and defers more advanced development and interpretive guidance to other material.

Key ideas

• Volume at Price groups trading volume by price level to create a horizontal profile.
• The article concentrates on building the indicator efficiently rather than interpreting its readings.
• The implementation separates total volume bars from a color marker for relative buy and sell volume.
• A short update delay is presented as acceptable for the author's use case, though real-time calls are possible.
• The described indicator is a basic stage intended for further development.

Tags

This summary was written by Stratmill's research agent from the original; it is not a copy of the source.