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151 lines
No EOL
6.8 KiB
Markdown
# Article-24683-Creating-Custom-Indicators-MQL5-Volume-Profile-Heatmap
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This repository is an article-derived reference project based on the original MQL5 article. It does not claim to reproduce the full original source code unless files are explicitly attached.
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## Overview
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This repository is derived from the MQL5 article about building a custom MetaTrader 5 indicator that maps liquidity using a volume profile heatmap. The article explains how to bin volume by price across a rolling window, render the result as heat-colored cells behind candles, and expose computed levels such as point of control and value area through indicator buffers.
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The project serves as a reference for developers who want to study chart-side volume-at-price visualization, canvas-based rendering in MQL5, and the design of custom indicators that combine computation, overlays, alerts, and reusable output buffers.
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## Original Article
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- **Article ID:** 24683
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- **Title:** Creating Custom Indicators in MQL5 (Part 12): Mapping Liquidity with a Volume Profile Heatmap
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- **Author:** Allan Munene Mutiiria
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- **Publication date:** Not available
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- **Categories:** Indicators, Examples Indicators
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- **Article URL:** https://www.mql5.com/en/articles/24683
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- **Author URL:** https://www.mql5.com/en/users/29210372
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## Repository Purpose
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This repository exists to preserve and organize the technical ideas presented in the source article in a repository-friendly form.
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A reader can use it to:
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- understand how a volume profile heatmap indicator can be structured in MQL5
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- learn how rolling window volume-at-price aggregation works
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- study point of control and value area extraction from binned volume
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- examine canvas-based rendering patterns for custom chart overlays
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- reuse the article as a design reference for related custom indicators or trading tools
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Because the repository is article-derived, its completeness depends on the files actually attached by the article author and the processed input available here.
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## Key Concepts
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- Indicators
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- Example Indicators
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- Volume Profile
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- Liquidity Mapping
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- Volume at Price
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- Point of Control
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- Value Area
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- Canvas Rendering
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- Indicator Buffers
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- Tick Volume and Real Volume
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## Algorithm / Architecture Summary
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The article describes a custom indicator architecture with both analytical and rendering components.
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1. **Define indicator structure**
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- The indicator works in the chart window.
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- It uses six buffers to publish derived values for other programs.
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- It includes a canvas-based drawing layer for custom rendering.
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2. **Choose volume source and visual settings**
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- The indicator can use either tick volume or real volume.
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- Inputs control profile depth, bin count, value area percentage, heat opacity, side profile placement, level visibility, and alerts.
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3. **Build a rolling volume profile**
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- For each processed bar, the indicator looks back over a configured rolling window.
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- It finds the high and low of that window.
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- The full price range is divided into horizontal bins.
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4. **Distribute volume into bins**
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- In the main mode, each bar’s volume is spread across the bins touched by its high-low range, proportionally to overlap.
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- An alternative mode places volume around the close rather than fully across the range.
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5. **Find the point of control**
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- After all bars in the window contribute to the profile, the indicator identifies the bin with the highest accumulated volume.
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- This bin becomes the point of control.
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6. **Compute the value area**
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- Starting from the point of control, the indicator expands upward or downward by choosing the larger neighboring bin each step.
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- Expansion continues until the configured share of total volume is covered.
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7. **Split liquidity above and below price**
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- The profile is divided relative to a reference price, typically the bar close.
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- This produces above/below liquidity percentages and an imbalance value.
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8. **Store historical heat columns**
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- Closed bars are reduced to precomputed cell colors and stored in a ring buffer.
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- This limits memory growth and speeds up redraws.
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9. **Render the heatmap**
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- Historical columns are painted behind visible candles.
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- Cell color depends on relative volume strength, side of current price, and candle visibility rules.
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10. **Render live overlays**
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- A live side profile is drawn to the right of the current bar.
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- Point of control and value area lines are shown with tags.
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- Readouts display liquidity above/below current price and imbalance.
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11. **Optimize redraw behavior**
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- A cached base layer stores the expensive historical heatmap.
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- Overlay-only redraws are used when only live elements change.
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- Full redraws occur when chart scaling, scrolling, or sizing changes.
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12. **Publish outputs and alerts**
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- Buffers expose point of control, value area high/low, liquidity below, liquidity above, and imbalance.
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- Optional alerts trigger when a close enters the point-of-control bin.
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## Mentioned or Attached Files
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### Explicitly attached files
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- An attached ZIP archive is available: https://www.mql5.com/en/articles/download/24683_275964.zip?s=ec3545da496794b81a3ce7fda38f52c6c9a1eb17a51f806f8da9c60ee09a86b7&t=1792497555
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- The processed input does not provide the internal file list of the ZIP archive.
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### Files mentioned in the article text
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- `Volume Profile Heatmap.mq5`
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- `Canvas/Canvas.mqh`
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## Statistics
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- **Word count:** Not available
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- **Reading time:** Not available
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- **Image count:** Not available
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- **Code block count:** Not available
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- **File count:** Not available
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## Tags
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- mql5
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- metatrader-5
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- indicators
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- examples-indicators
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- difficulty-advanced
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## Difficulty
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**Advanced**
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Reason: the article combines nontrivial volume-at-price aggregation, value area logic, ring-buffer state management, custom canvas rendering, alpha blending, redraw optimization, and full event-driven indicator lifecycle handling in MQL5.
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## Limitations
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- The repository is derived from article content and may not represent the full original project unless the attached ZIP contents are present and extracted.
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- The processed input confirms that a ZIP archive exists, but its internal file list was not provided here.
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- Implementation completeness depends on files actually attached or supplied by the article author.
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- This should be treated as a technical reference or reconstruction project unless verified source files are included in the repository.
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- The article describes rendering behavior and architecture in detail, but production readiness should not be assumed from the article alone.
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## Reference
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- Original article: https://www.mql5.com/en/articles/24683
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- Author profile: https://www.mql5.com/en/users/29210372 |