Table of Contents

Getting started using VS Code

Follow these steps to create your first custom indicator for Tickblaze using VS Code.

Prerequisites

1. Create a New Class Library

Create a new class class library targeting .NET 9.0:

dotnet new classlib -n CustomIndicator -f net9.0

And navigate to its directory:

cd CustomIndicator

2. Add the Tickblaze.Scripts NuGet Package

Add the Tickblaze.Scripts.Api NuGet package to your project:

dotnet add package Tickblaze.Scripts.Api --version *

The --version * ensures you always get the latest version.

3. Create Your Indicator

Open the Class1.cs file in your project, and replace its contents with the following code:

namespace CustomIndicator;

/// <summary>
/// A custom indicator that calculates the typical price for a bar.
/// </summary>
public partial class TypicalPrice : Indicator
{
    [Plot("Result")]
    public PlotSeries Result { get; set; } = new(Color.Blue, LineStyle.Solid, 1);

    public TypicalPrice()
    {
        Name = "Typical Price";
        IsOverlay = true;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Calculates the typical price for the given bar.
    /// </summary>
    protected override void Calculate(int index)
    {
        var bar = Bars[index];

        Result[index] = (bar.High + bar.Low + bar.Close) / 3;
    }
}

This code defines a new indicator called Typical Price that calculates the average of a bar's high, low, and close prices.

4. Build Your Project

Build your project to compile the indicator:

dotnet build

This will generate the necessary output files and prepare your indicator for use in Tickblaze.

5. Run the Indicator in Tickblaze

After building your project, the indicator should be automatically imported into Tickblaze. To use it:

  1. Right-click on the chart in Tickblaze.
  2. Select Indicators and click Add / Edit Settings.
  3. From the dropdown menu, select Typical Price.
  4. Click the down arrow to add it to the chart.
  5. Click the OK button.

6. Debug the Indicator

Start Debugging

  1. Run Tickblaze as usual if not running yet.
  2. Attach your debugger to the Tickblaze.View.exe process:
    • Open the Run and Debug view in VS Code (Ctrl+Shift+D)
    • Click Create a launch.json file if prompted, and configure it ot attach to an existing .NET process.
    • In the launch.json file and add the following configuration: 
      {
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "name": "Tickblaze Attach",
      "type": "coreclr",
      "request": "attach",
      "processName": "Tickblaze.View.exe"
    }
  ]
}
    • Click the green play button to attach the debugger.

Debugging Steps

  1. Set breakpoints in your TypicalPrice.cs file by clicking to the left of the line numbers.
  2. Trigger the indicator in Tickblaze by adding it to a chart.
  3. Use the debugger controls in Visual Studio Code to step through your code, inspect variables, and analyze execution.

Stop Debugging

When you’re done, stop debugging by clicking the Stop button in Visual Studio Code or by pressing Shift+F5.

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