Hey there, fellow traders! Have you ever found yourself needing to copy and paste graphical objects between different charts? If so, you're not alone! Unfortunately, MetaTrader doesn't offer a straightforward "Copy & Paste" feature for these objects. The closest solution is using templates (tpl-files), but they save the entire chart state—indicators, settings, and all that extra fluff—which is often more than you need.
That's where my handy indicator, ChartObjectsCopyPaste.mq5, comes into play. This tool allows you to select and copy graphical objects directly to your clipboard, making it a breeze to paste them onto other charts—no strings attached!
This indicator is built on the foundation of another one you might know from the algotrading book: ObjectGroupEdit.mq5. If you're curious about the underlying classes like ObjectMonitor and MapArray, feel free to check them out!
To get started, you’ll want to attach the indicator to at least two charts: the source chart where you want to copy objects from, and the target chart where you plan to paste them. While it’s running, the indicator keeps an eye on existing graphical objects and tracks which ones you’ve selected for copying.
As with any good copy-and-paste operation, you’ll need to remember a couple of hotkeys:
- Press Ctrl+Q to copy all selected objects to your Windows clipboard as text. You can open this clipboard content in any text editor—an example is shared below.
- On your target chart, hit Ctrl+J to paste the objects you've copied.
Now, you might be wondering why I chose Ctrl+Q and Ctrl+J. Well, unfortunately, MetaTrader intercepts many common hotkeys, so these two were some of the few available options. Standard hotkeys like Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V just don’t work in this context.
If you’re a bit tech-savvy, the source code is available for you to tweak those hotkeys to something else if you prefer!
Since this indicator uses system DLLs to access the Windows clipboard, you’ll need to allow DLL imports in the Properties dialog, specifically under the Dependencies tab.
Just a heads up: because the Codebase doesn’t allow DLL imports, the clipboard-related code is wrapped in a conditional preprocessor directive. Be sure to uncomment the line:
#define DLL_LINK
before you compile it. Otherwise, you’ll get alerts when you try to use the hotkeys, but nothing will actually happen!
Here are the inputs you can work with:
- MakeAllSelectable: A flag to make all objects selectable (normally false for objects created programmatically).
- LogDetails: A flag to output all properties of transferred objects to the log.
Keep in mind, the indicator doesn’t verify if the pasted objects match the target chart’s specifications, like symbol, price range, or number of subwindows—that’s up to you!
Here’s an example of what the clipboard text looks like with two objects:
OBJ_VLINE H1 Vertical Line 5578 0 0enumENUM_OBJECT_PROPERTY_INTEGER0 OBJPROP_COLOR 552951 OBJPROP_STYLE 22 OBJPROP_WIDTH 13 OBJPROP_BACK 04 OBJPROP_SELECTED 17 OBJPROP_TYPE 08 OBJPROP_TIME 172673994010 OBJPROP_SELECTABLE 111 OBJPROP_CREATETIME 172684700912 OBJPROP_TIMEFRAMES 2097151200 OBJPROP_LEVELS 0207 OBJPROP_ZORDER 0208 OBJPROP_HIDDEN 01032 OBJPROP_RAY 1enumENUM_OBJECT_PROPERTY_DOUBLE9 OBJPROP_PRICE 1.11449enumENUM_OBJECT_PROPERTY_STRING5 OBJPROP_NAME H1 Vertical Line 55786 OBJPROP_TEXT 206 OBJPROP_TOOLTIPOBJ_CHANNEL H1 Equidistant Channel 40885 5 1enumENUM_OBJECT_PROPERTY_INTEGER0 OBJPROP_COLOR 2551 OBJPROP_STYLE 02 OBJPROP_WIDTH 13 OBJPROP_BACK 04 OBJPROP_SELECTED 17 OBJPROP_TYPE 58 OBJPROP_TIME 17267580008 OBJPROP_TIME.1 17267976008 OBJPROP_TIME.2 172675800010 OBJPROP_SELECTABLE 111 OBJPROP_CREATETIME 172684788312 OBJPROP_TIMEFRAMES 2097151200 OBJPROP_LEVELS 0207 OBJPROP_ZORDER 0208 OBJPROP_HIDDEN 01003 OBJPROP_RAY_LEFT 01004 OBJPROP_RAY_RIGHT 01031 OBJPROP_FILL 0enumENUM_OBJECT_PROPERTY_DOUBLE9 OBJPROP_PRICE -28.1138790035587159 OBJPROP_PRICE.1 -21.7081850533807779 OBJPROP_PRICE.2 -48.04270462633452enumENUM_OBJECT_PROPERTY_STRING5 OBJPROP_NAME H1 Equidistant Channel 408856 OBJPROP_TEXT 206 OBJPROP_TOOLTIP
And here’s what those objects look like once pasted onto the chart:
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