| # ICT Macros (MetaTrader 5)
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| `ICTMacros.mq5` is a MetaTrader 5 chart indicator that draws **ICT macro windows**
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| for the **Asia**, **London** and **New York** sessions directly on the price chart.
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| Each macro window is drawn as a rectangle covering the high/low range of the bars
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| inside the window, with an optional 50% midline, start/end vertical lines and a
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| text label. Everything is a normal chart object, so the zones stay on the chart,
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| can be styled by the indicator inputs, and are removed automatically when the
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| indicator is deleted.
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| The indicator is a **visualisation tool only**: it draws no signals, exposes no
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| buffers, and never places or manages trades.
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| ---
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| ## Files
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| | File | Description |
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| | --- | --- |
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| | `ICTMacros/ICTMacros.mq5` | Indicator source code (MQL5, MetaTrader 5 build 3400+). |
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| | `ICTMacros/README.md` | This document. |
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| The compiled `ICTMacros.ex5` is build output and is intentionally not committed (see `.gitignore`).
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| ---
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| ## What is an ICT macro window?
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| ICT macro windows are short time slices inside a trading session where
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| institutional order flow is often expected (for example the London open macro,
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| or the New York AM session macros). This indicator converts the windows from
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| **New York local time** into broker server time and highlights them per day.
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| Default windows (New York local time):
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| | Session | Default windows |
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| | --- | --- |
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| | London | `02:33-03:00;04:03-04:30` |
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| | New York | `08:50-09:10;09:50-10:10;10:50-11:10;11:50-12:10;13:10-13:40;15:15-15:45` |
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| | Asia | *(empty by default)* |
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| The Asia list is empty on purpose: paste your own Asia windows into
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| `InpAsiaMacros` and the Asia toggle starts working immediately.
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| ---
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| ## Installation
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| 1. Copy `ICTMacros/ICTMacros.mq5` into `MQL5/Indicators/` of your MetaTrader 5 data folder
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| (MetaEditor: **File → Open Data Folder**).
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| 2. Compile it in MetaEditor (**F7**), or copy a prebuilt `ICTMacros.ex5`.
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| 3. In MetaTrader 5 open **Navigator → Indicators → ICTMacros** and attach it to a
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| chart (M1 to M15 is recommended).
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| No DLLs, no external files and no network access are used.
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| ---
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| ## Inputs
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| ### Sessions
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| | Input | Default | Description |
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| | --- | --- | --- |
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| | `InpShowAsia` | `true` | Draw Asia macros. |
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| | `InpShowLondon` | `true` | Draw London macros. |
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| | `InpShowNewYork` | `true` | Draw New York macros. |
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| ### Macro windows (New York local time, format `HH:MM-HH:MM;...`)
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| | Input | Default | Description |
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| | --- | --- | --- |
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| | `InpAsiaMacros` | *(empty)* | Asia window list. |
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| | `InpLondonMacros` | `02:33-03:00;04:03-04:30` | London window list. |
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| | `InpNYMacros` | `08:50-09:10;09:50-10:10;10:50-11:10;11:50-12:10;13:10-13:40;15:15-15:45` | New York window list. |
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| A window whose end time is not later than its start time is treated as
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| **crossing midnight** (for example `23:30-00:15`).
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| ### Time base
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| | Input | Default | Description |
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| | --- | --- | --- |
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| | `InpTimeBase` | `ICT_TB_NEWYORK` | Reference zone of the window lists: New York local, broker server, or GMT. |
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| | `InpServerOffsetMode` | `ICT_SRV_AUTO` | Detect the broker server offset automatically, or use the manual value. |
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| | `InpManualServerGmtOffset` | `0.0` | Server GMT offset in hours, used when the manual mode is selected. |
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| ### Display
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| | Input | Default | Description |
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| | --- | --- | --- |
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| | `InpDrawBox` | `true` | Draw the macro box. |
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| | `InpFillBox` | `false` | Fill the box (opaque, drawn behind the bars). |
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| | `InpMidline` | `false` | Draw the 50% midline of the window. |
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| | `InpVerticalLines` | `true` | Draw vertical lines at window start and end. |
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| | `InpShowLabels` | `true` | Draw the window label. |
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| | `InpLabelFontSize` | `8` | Label font size. |
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| | `InpAsiaColor` | `clrKhaki` | Asia colour. |
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| | `InpLondonColor` | `clrSteelBlue` | London colour. |
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| | `InpNewYorkColor` | `clrTomato` | New York colour. |
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| | `InpLiveBox` | `true` | Refresh the window that is currently open. |
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| ### History / limits
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| | Input | Default | Description |
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| | --- | --- | --- |
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| | `InpHistoryDays` | `20` | Past days to draw (`0` = current day only, capped at 200). |
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| | `InpMaxObjects` | `2000` | Safety cap on objects created per rebuild. |
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| | `InpCleanStaleObjects` | `true` | Remove leftover `ICTMacros_` objects from former runs. |
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| ### Diagnostics
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| | Input | Default | Description |
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| | --- | --- | --- |
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| | `InpVerboseLog` | `true` | Print time base, offset and object diagnostics to the Experts log. |
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| ---
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| ## Time handling
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| * Chart bars are in **broker server time**; the configured windows are converted
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| **New York local → UTC → server time**.
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| * **US DST rules are implemented inside the indicator** (second Sunday of March
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| → first Sunday of November), so EST/EDT is handled without external data.
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| * The server/UTC offset is auto-detected as
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| `TimeTradeServer() - TimeGMT()` rounded to 5 minutes, or taken from
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| `InpManualServerGmtOffset` when `ICT_SRV_MANUAL` is selected.
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| * `TimeGMT()` depends on the accuracy of the local PC clock. If that clock is not
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| reliable, switch `InpServerOffsetMode` to `ICT_SRV_MANUAL`.
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| * The detected offset is re-checked on every new bar, so broker DST switches are
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| picked up without reloading the indicator.
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| ---
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| ## Behaviour and object naming
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| * Object prefix: `ICTMacros_`. Names follow
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| `ICTMacros_<Session>_<index>_<YYYYMMDD>` with `_mid`, `_S`, `_E` and `_L`
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| suffixes for the midline, start line, end line and label.
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| * Only objects created by this program are ever deleted; foreign objects are
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| left untouched.
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| * Boxes are rebuilt on `OnInit` and on every **new bar**; only the currently open
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| window is refreshed intrabar (`InpLiveBox`), so closed windows never move.
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| * A window is skipped when no bars exist for it (weekend, holiday, data gap), and
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| a later window of the day appears once its first bar has formed.
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| * The rectangle top/bottom are the high/low of the bars inside the window;
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| `tEnd` is clamped to the window end.
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| ---
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| ## Limitations
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| * Chart objects only — there are no indicator buffers, so nothing is available to
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| `iCustom()` or to an Expert Advisor.
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| * MT5 chart objects have no alpha transparency: a filled box is opaque (it is
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| drawn behind the bars). Outline-only is the default, and is the recommended
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| setting on busy charts.
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| * Best on M1–M15. On coarse timeframes a window can cover 0 or 1 bar, and the
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| indicator logs a warning when the period is above 30 minutes.
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| * The object count grows with `InpHistoryDays`; watch `InpMaxObjects` on long
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| histories.
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| * Window definitions are plain text inputs, so a typo silently drops only the
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| malformed entry — check the Experts log (`InpVerboseLog = true` prints the
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| parsed window count per session).
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| ---
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| ## Requirements
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| * MetaTrader 5 (MQL5), compiled with a recent MetaEditor build.
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| * Any symbol and timeframe; no additional files required.
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| ---
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| ## Disclaimer
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| This indicator is provided for educational and analytical purposes. It draws
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| time-based zones only, produces no trading signals, and does not trade. Nothing
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| in this repository is financial advice, and past behaviour of any market window
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| does not guarantee future results.
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