Building an Interactive Candle Replay Tool in MQL5
Summary
The document explains how to build an interactive historical bar replay indicator for MetaTrader 5. It replaces native candles with custom-rendered candles, uses a draggable vertical anchor to choose the replay start, and hides later bars so the trader can review price action without seeing future candles. A timer reveals bars one at a time, while chart events manage playback controls, anchor movement, and chart restoration.
The tool also includes a simple paper-trading feature: Buy and Sell controls draw entry, stop-loss, and take-profit levels, and the position is removed when a newly revealed candle reaches either exit level. The article describes the workflow and implementation components and reports visual checks of anchor movement, trade management, playback controls, and restoration. This is a practice and review aid, not a trading strategy or a substitute for formal backtesting; its simulated trade handling is intentionally limited to one position and does not provide evidence of profitability.
Key ideas
- Custom candle rendering can hide future bars during discretionary historical review.
- A draggable anchor sets the starting point for candle-by-candle replay.
- Timer events reveal bars sequentially, while chart events handle user controls and movement.
- Buy and Sell controls simulate one paper position with entry, stop-loss, and take-profit lines.
- Replay can support practice without hindsight, but the tool does not demonstrate a profitable strategy.
Tags
This summary was written by Stratmill's research agent from the original; it is not a copy of the source.