{"id":5454,"date":"2024-07-23T13:05:36","date_gmt":"2024-07-23T12:05:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pjsmith.me.uk\/?post_type=docs&p=5454"},"modified":"2026-05-16T10:19:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T09:19:12","slug":"algo-bars","status":"publish","type":"docs","link":"https:\/\/pjsmith.me.uk\/index.php\/docs\/pjsprofilebars\/general-feature-notes\/algo-bars\/","title":{"rendered":"Algo bars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Algo bars are an innovative feature that allows you to write your own alerts and signals, without coding, compiling, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below, you can see one set of example conditions for a signal<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Enable<\/strong>
Globally enables or disables the signal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chart marker option places the text in the Signal name field onto the chart as a native NinjaTrader text object (for interaction with third-party tools), above or below the bar, as set in the options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Condition #x<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Conditions are the criteria you want to match for the signal to be generated. All signals must be true for the event to trigger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comparison conditions typically consist of 3 or more parts (depending on the comparison): a variable name or value, a comparison operator, and another variable name or value. There must be one or more spaces between each part. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comparison operators<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The full list of supported comparison operators is: ><\/code>, <<\/code>, >=<\/code>, <=<\/code>, ==<\/code>, !=<\/code>, and ~~<\/code>. The ~~<\/code> operator means “close enough” \u2014 it performs an approximate rather than exact match (within 20% of the right-hand value).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Logical operators<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The &&<\/code> (AND) and ||<\/code> (OR) logical comparators are supported to combine multiple conditions. With &&<\/code>, all joined conditions must be true. With ||<\/code>, at least one of the joined conditions must be true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arithmetic operations<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The ’26 release added support for simple arithmetic: +<\/code>, -<\/code>, *<\/code>, and \/<\/code>. These follow standard order-of-operations rules (multiplication and division before addition and subtraction). For example, CLOSE > OPEN + 5<\/code> evaluates as CLOSE > (OPEN + 5)<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parentheses for evaluation order<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Parentheses can be used to force a specific evaluation order or simply for clarity:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Important notes on expression parsing<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The expression evaluator processes parenthesised sub-expressions before<\/em> evaluating comparisons. Within parentheses, the content is evaluated as arithmetic (not a comparison). Outside parentheses, comparisons and logical operators work normally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mixed expressions caveat<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The parser handles either pure arithmetic or pure comparisons within any given expression segment. An expression like CLOSE > OPEN - 100<\/code> may not evaluate as expected because the parser does not handle interleaved comparison and arithmetic operators in a single flat expression. To be safe, always use parentheses around each logical sub-expression:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Formula examples<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Below are practical formula patterns you can copy directly into your conditions. Each example includes an explanation of what it detects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trend direction<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

CLOSE > OPEN<\/code>
 \u2014 Up bar \u2014 closes above open (bullish candle)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Down bar detection<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

CLOSE < OPEN<\/code>
 \u2014 Down bar \u2014 closes below open (bearish candle)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strong body relative range<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

(CLOSE - OPEN) \/ (HIGH - LOW) > 0.8<\/code>
 \u2014 Bar body is more than 80% of total range (strong directional move, low wicks)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Close near high<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

CLOSE > HIGH * 0.995<\/code>
 \u2014 Closes within 0.5% of the bar high (near-top close = bullish strength)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volume spike vs average<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

VOLUME > VOLUMEB0 * 3<\/code>
 \u2014 Current volume is more than 3x bucket-0 reference volume<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delta dominance<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

DELTA \/ VOLUME > 0.5<\/code>
 \u2014 Net delta exceeds half the bar’s total volume (aggressive one-sided flow)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Profile level breach \u2014 above VAH<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

CLOSE > SESSIONVAH<\/code>
 \u2014 Price closed above session Value Area High (breakout from value range)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Profile level breach \u2014 below VAL<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

CLOSE < SESSIONVAL<\/code>
 \u2014 Price closed below session Value Area Low (breakdown from value range)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Typical price vs VWAP<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

(HIGH + LOW + CLOSE) \/ 3 > VWAP<\/code>
 \u2014 Bar’s typical price above VWAP (bullish relative to fair value)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wick rejection at high<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

CLOSE - OPEN < (HIGH - CLOSE) * 2<\/code>
 \u2014 Long upper wick on up bar \u2014 possible rejection of higher prices<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multiple condition with AND<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

(CLOSE > OPEN) && VOLUME > 500<\/code>
 \u2014 Up bar AND volume above 500 (both must be true for signal to fire)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OR logic \u2014 either side<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

(CLOSE > OPEN) || HASBULLISHSWEEP<\/code>
 \u2014 Either an up bar OR a bullish sweep occurred (one must be true)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Combined trend + volume confirmation<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

(CLOSE > OPEN) && VOLUME > DELTACUM * 0.1<\/code>
 \u2014 Up bar AND volume exceeds 10% of cumulative delta (trend with flow backing it)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Approximate match with ~~<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

CLOSE ~~ VWAPAVG<\/code>
 \u2014 Close is within ~20% of average VWAP (close enough to fair value zone)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bar range expansion<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

(HIGH - LOW) > ((HIGH[1] + LOW[1]) \/ 2 - (LOW[1])) * 1.5<\/code>
 \u2014 Current bar’s high-low is larger than 1.5x previous typical range (expansion day)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bracketing POC with volume filter<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

(CLOSE > VPOC || CLOSE < VPOC) && HASBULLISHALGOBARS == 0<\/code>
 \u2014 Price not at POC AND no bullish algo bar present \u2014 avoids false signals at equilibrium<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Variable names \u2014 quick-scan list<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A complete alphabetical reference below. Hover or click the categories at the end of this page for more detailed descriptions grouped by topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ALGOBARSCUSTOMVALUE1 \u2014 Custom value configurable via the AlgoBars UI

COTDELTAHIGH \u2014 Commitment of Traders delta high reference level

COTDELTALOW \u2014 Commitment of Traders delta low reference level

CLOSE \u2014 Current bar close price

DACLASSIFIERCUSTOMMATCH0 \u2014 Custom classifier match score (DA only)

DAEOC0 \u2014 Expected outcome current value

DAEOC1 \u2014 Smoothed expected outcome score

DAEOCF \u2014 Far-future expected outcome score

DAMARKETBIAS \u2014 Market bias from ML analysis (DA only)

DATRADEBIAS \u2014 Trade bias: 0 = neutral, positive\/negative for directional lean (DA only)

DATRADEBIASCONFIDENCE \u2014 Confidence level of the trade bias prediction as a percentage, 0 to 100 (DA only)

DARRLONG \u2014 ML long classification score (DA only)

DARRSHORT \u2014 ML short classification score (DA only)

DELTAB0 \u2014 Delta for volume bucket 0 (requires bucketing enabled)

DELTAB1 \u2014 Delta for volume bucket 1 (requires bucketing enabled)

DELTAB2 \u2014 Delta for volume bucket 2 (requires bucketing enabled)

DELTAB3 \u2014 Delta for volume bucket 3 (requires bucketing enabled)

DELTAB4 \u2014 Delta for volume bucket 4 (requires bucketing enabled)

DELTACUM \u2014 Cumulative delta across multiple bars (if multibar mode is enabled, otherwise 0)

DELTADIVATHIGHLOW \u2014 Delta divergence detected at bar high or low

DELTAIMBALANCEPERCENT \u2014 Combined imbalance delta percentage

DELTA \u2014 Current bar delta

DELTAPERCENT \u2014 Delta as a percentage of total bar volume

DELTARANK \u2014 Delta rank percentile

DPOC \u2014 Delta at the bar’s POC (Point of Control)

DURATIONMS \u2014 Bar duration in milliseconds

DURATIONS \u2014 Bar duration in seconds

HASBEARISHABSORPTION \u2014 Bearish absorption detected on this bar

HASBEARISHALGOBARS \u2014 Bearish algo bar detected on this bar

HASBEARISHABOVEBELOWPOC \u2014 Above\/below POC signal (bearish)

HASBEARISHDELTACHANGE \u2014 Delta change signal (bearish)

HASBEARISHDELTADIVATHIGHLOW \u2014 Delta divergence at bar high\/low (bearish)

HASBEARISHDELTADIV \u2014 Bearish delta divergence detected on this bar

HASBEARISHENSDA \u2014 ENS DA signal (bearish, requires Data Analytics setup)

HASBEARISHFADINGDELTAMOMENTUM \u2014 Bearish fading delta momentum detected

HASBEARISHHIGHPROBABILITYDA \u2014 High probability DA setup (bearish, requires Data Analytics setup)

HASBEARISHMULTIPLEIMBALANCE \u2014 Multiple imbalance on the bearish side

HASBEARISHPORTFOLIO \u2014 Bearish portfolio signal detected (requires Data Analytics setup)

HASBEARISHPROFILEPATTERN \u2014 Original profile pattern sell signal

HASBEARISHRISINGDELTAMOMENTUM \u2014 Rising delta momentum (bearish)

HASBEARISHSTACKEDIMBALANCE \u2014 Stacked imbalance on the bearish side

HASBEARISHSWEEP \u2014 Bearish sweep detected on this bar

HASBEARISHVOLUMESEQUENCING \u2014 Bearish volume sequencing detected

HASBULLISHABSORPTION \u2014 Bullish absorption detected on this bar

HASBULLISHALGOBARS \u2014 Bullish algo bar detected on this bar

HASBULLISHABOVEBELOWPOC \u2014 Above\/below POC signal (bullish)

HASBULLISHDELTACHANGE \u2014 Delta change signal (bullish)

HASBULLISHDELTADIVATHIGHLOW \u2014 Delta divergence at bar high\/low (bullish)

HASBULLISHDELTADIV \u2014 Bullish delta divergence detected on this bar

HASBULLISHENSDA \u2014 ENS DA signal (bullish, requires Data Analytics setup)

HASBULLISHFADINGDELTAMOMENTUM \u2014 Bullish fading delta momentum detected

HASBULLISHHIGHPROBABILITYDA \u2014 High probability DA setup (bullish, requires Data Analytics setup)

HASBULLISHMULTIPLEIMBALANCE \u2014 Multiple imbalance on the bullish side

HASBULLISHPORTFOLIO \u2014 Bullish portfolio signal detected (requires Data Analytics setup)

HASBULLISHPROFILEPATTERN \u2014 Original profile pattern buy signal

HASBULLISHRISINGDELTAMOMENTUM \u2014 Rising delta momentum (bullish)

HASBULLISHSTACKEDIMBALANCE \u2014 Stacked imbalance on the bullish side

HASBULLISHSWEEP \u2014 Bullish sweep detected on this bar

HASBULLISHVOLUMESEQUENCING \u2014 Bullish volume sequencing detected

HASIMBALANCEDN \u2014 Downward imbalance present (returns 1 or 0)

HASIMBALANCEUP \u2014 Upward imbalance present (returns 1 or 0)

HIGH \u2014 Current bar high price

IMBALANCEDNPERCENT \u2014 Downward imbalance as a percentage of total volume

IMBALANCEDNVOLUME \u2014 Total downward imbalance volume on the bar

IMBALANCEUPPERCENT \u2014 Upward imbalance as a percentage of total volume

IMBALANCEUPVOLUME \u2014 Total upward imbalance volume on the bar<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HASTRAPPEDSELLERS \u2014 Algo detected trapped sellers within the lookback period<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HASTRAPPEDBUYERS \u2014 Algo detected trapped buyers within the lookback period

LOW \u2014 Current bar low price

MAXDELTAATPRICE \u2014 The maximum delta at any single price within this bar

OBV \u2014 On-Balance Volume for this bar (bar-level OBV minus its average)

OPEN \u2014 Current bar open price

SIGNALSUM \u2014 Sum of signals triggered on this bar. Bearish = -1, bullish = +1

TAILSIZE \u2014 Size of the bar tail in points (low wick on up-close bars, high wick on down-close bars)

TRMODE \u2014 Trend mode: 1 = trend, 0 = regression

TREND1 \u2014 Slope value from the trend indicator (requires enabled)

TREND2 \u2014 Second slope value from the trend indicator (requires enabled)

TREND3 \u2014 Third slope value from the trend indicator (requires enabled)

VAH \u2014 Bar’s Value Area High

VAL \u2014 Bar’s Value Area Low

VOLUME \u2014 Current bar volume

VOLUMEB0 \u2014 Volume for bucket 0 (requires bucketing enabled)

VOLUMEB1 \u2014 Volume for bucket 1 (requires bucketing enabled)

VOLUMEB2 \u2014 Volume for bucket 2 (requires bucketing enabled)

VOLUMEB3 \u2014 Volume for bucket 3 (requires bucketing enabled)

VOLUMEB4 \u2014 Volume for bucket 4 (requires bucketing enabled)

VPOC \u2014 Bar’s POC (Point of Control)

VWAP \u2014 Bar’s VWAP value

VWAPAVG \u2014 Average VWAP across bars<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Variable names by category<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For reference, variables are also grouped below. The quick-scan list above has everything in one place; the categories here provide optional additional context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Price and Volume Data<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

CLOSE \u2014 Current bar close price\nHIGH \u2014 Current bar high price\nLOW \u2014 Current bar low price\nOPEN \u2014 Current bar open price\nVOLUME \u2014 Current bar volume\nVWAP \u2014 Bar’s VWAP value\nVWAPAVG \u2014 Average VWAP across bars<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delta and Order Flow<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

DELTA \u2014 Current bar delta\nDELTACUM \u2014 Cumulative delta across multiple bars (if multibar mode is enabled, otherwise 0)\nDELTAB0 through DELTAB4 \u2014 Delta values for each of the 5 volume buckets (requires bucketing to be enabled)\nDELTARANK \u2014 Delta rank percentile\nDELTAPERCENT \u2014 Delta as a percentage of total bar volume\nDELTAIMBALANCEPERCENT \u2014 Combined imbalance delta percentage<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volume Buckets<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

VOLUMEB0 through VOLUMEB4 \u2014 Volume for each of the 5 buckets (requires bucketing to be enabled)\nIMBALANCEUPVOLUME \u2014 Total upward imbalance volume on the bar\nIMBALANCEDNVOLUME \u2014 Total downward imbalance volume on the bar\nIMBALANCEUPPERCENT \u2014 Upward imbalance as a percentage of total volume\nIMBALANCEDNPERCENT \u2014 Downward imbalance as a percentage of total volume<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Session and Profile Levels<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

SESSIONPOC \u2014 Session Point of Control\nSESSIONVAH \u2014 Session Value Area High\nSESSIONVAL \u2014 Session Value Area Low\nSESSIONVWAP \u2014 Session VWAP\nVPOC \u2014 Bar’s POC (Point of Control)\nVAH \u2014 Bar’s Value Area High\nVAL \u2014 Bar’s Value Area Low\nDPOC \u2014 Delta at the bar’s POC<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other Market Data<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

TAILSIZE \u2014 Size of the bar tail in points (low wick on up-close bars, high wick on down-close bars)\nSIGNALSUM \u2014 Sum of signals triggered on this bar. Bearish signals have a value of -1, bullish +1\nCOTDELTAHIGH \u2014 Commitment of Traders delta high reference level\nCOTDELTALOW \u2014 Commitment of Traders delta low reference level\nDURATIONS \u2014 Bar duration in seconds\nDURATIONMS \u2014 Bar duration in milliseconds\nOBV \u2014 On-Balance Volume for the current bar (bar-level OBV minus its average)\nTRMODE \u2014 Trend mode setting: 1 = trend, 0 = regression\nALGOBARSCUSTOMVALUE1 \u2014 Custom value configurable via the AlgoBars UI<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trend and ML Indicators<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

TREND1 through TREND3 \u2014 Slope values from the trend indicator (requires enabled)\nDARRLONG \u2014 Machine learning long score\nDARRSHORT \u2014 Machine learning short score<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indexed variables (historical bar lookup)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The following variables support historical lookup using [x]<\/code> notation, where x is bars ago. For example, HIGH[2] returns the high price two bars back:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HIGH[x], LOW[x], OPEN[x], CLOSE[x] — OHLC prices VOLUME[x] — Volume DELTA[x] — Delta OBV[x] — On-Balance Volume DELTARANK[x] — Delta rank VOLRANK[x] — Volume rank VPOC[x] — Point of Control PLOT[plotname[index]] — See below — DELTAIMBALANCEPERCENT[x] — Delta imbalance percent<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PLOT[plotname[index]] \u2014 Third-party indicator values<\/h3>\n\n\n

The PLOT[name[barsAgo]]<\/code> syntax allows you to query the value of any exposed plot from any other indicator on the same chart. This is useful for comparing your profile bars data against moving averages, oscillators, or custom indicators.
\nSyntax: PLOT[plotname[barsAgo]]where:<\/p>\n