Visual

Note

It is a color decomposer: it converts a hex color's alpha (opacity) byte to the 0-1 scale (e.g. 0x80 → 0.502). Where red/green/blue give channels, alpha gives opacity.

When to use

To numerically read how transparent a color is: to preserve/change opacity when rebuilding with rgb, or to make a decision against a threshold.

Not for

Not for the red/green/blue components — use red/green/blue. To produce a color use rgb.

Note

The color can be a series; with iff each candle takes its own color by condition. barcolor colors INSTANTANEOUSLY — each bar's color depends only on that bar's condition. To color a region continuously until the signal changes, use colorBySignal.

When to use

To show a condition directly on price by coloring the candles: up/down, above/below a trend filter, a volume threshold breach. It carries the signal into the candle color without opening a separate panel.

Not for

Not for holding the color across the whole region between signals — that forward-fill is colorBySignal. To color by strategy position (long/short/flat) use colorByPosition. To shade the background (not the candle) use bgcolor.

Note

The color can be a series; with iff you give a different color per bar by condition (or na → no shading). bgcolor paints the entire vertical bar stripe — it is independent of price level. Passing na in the second iff branch shades only the bars that meet the condition — keeping the chart free of needless color.

When to use

To highlight market state and condition regions: overbought/oversold windows, trend direction, session hours, or bars where a filter is active. It shades the background without touching price.

Not for

Not for a single horizontal level (hline), not for shading BETWEEN two series (fill), not for coloring the candles themselves (barcolor). Prefer translucency; an opaque color hides the candles.

Tip

Passing na in the second iff branch shades only the bars that meet the condition — keeping the chart free of needless color.

Note

It is a color decomposer: it extracts the blue component from a hex color. Together with red/green/alpha it is used to take a color apart and rebuild it with rgb.

When to use

To process a color channel by channel: to change opacity and reassemble, to compute a gradient between two colors, or to adjust a shade conditionally.

Not for

Not for producing a color (rgb). To read opacity use alpha.

Note

It requires a strategy (a position must be opened with enterLong/enterShort). Colors are applied after the backtest runs, by looking at each bar's position: long>0 → long color, short<0 → short color, otherwise flat. The actual position state, not a condition, decides.

When to use

To see directly in the candle color when the strategy is in the market (long/short) and when it is flat. It is the fastest way to visually audit the positions the backtest held.

Not for

It does nothing without a strategy (positions) — to just color a condition use barcolor/colorBySignal. For signal-based region coloring (without opening positions) use colorBySignal.

Note

It takes two signals and holds STATE: on longSignal the region turns green and stays so until shortSignal arrives; on shortSignal it turns red. Before the first signal it uses the flat color. Where barcolor(iff(...)) colors each bar instantaneously and looks speckled, this produces continuous green/red blocks.

When to use

To show a buy/sell signal pair as uninterrupted regions: it colors not just the signal bar but every bar after it in that direction. More readable than barcolor for seeing trend and market state blocks cleanly.

Not for

Not for instantaneous (signal-bar-only) coloring — that is barcolor. To color by strategy position (actual long/short) use colorByPosition; colorBySignal works from raw signals without opening positions.

Note

Both edges may be series; a constant or an hline() becomes a fixed horizontal level on every bar. A fill between two hline()s (fill(hline(30), hline(70),...)) shades fixed regions like an overbought/oversold band. The fill covers the vertical gap between a and b; the area is shaded correctly even where the edges cross. You usually plot/hline both edges as well to make the band visible. Add alpha to the color (e.g. #2196f322 — the trailing 22 is opacity) so the candles under the fill stay visible.

When to use

To highlight the space between two lines: the inside of an envelope/channel, the gap between two moving averages, or the body of a band (upper/lower). It visually emphasizes the trend widening and narrowing.

Not for

Not for drawing a single line — use plot. If you want to color the bar background (the whole vertical stripe, independent of price) use bgcolor; fill only shades BETWEEN two series.

Tip

Add alpha to the color (e.g. #2196f322 — the trailing 22 is opacity) so the candles under the fill stay visible.

Note

It is a color decomposer: it extracts the green component from a hex color. Together with red/blue/alpha it is used to take a color apart and rebuild it with rgb.

When to use

To process a color channel by channel: to change opacity and reassemble, to compute a gradient between two colors, or to adjust a shade conditionally.

Not for

Not for producing a color (rgb). To read opacity use alpha.

Note

The level is a single constant number — it does not change bar to bar. If you pass an indicator series (e.g. sma(close,50)) only its last-bar value is used to draw a flat line at that height; for a moving line use plot. For multiple thresholds on the same chart call hline several times (e.g. 70 and 30); each becomes an independent level.

When to use

To mark fixed support/resistance, targets, stops, or threshold levels like 70/30. Ideal for showing overbought/oversold bands.

Not for

Not for drawing a value that moves bar to bar (a moving average, a band) — use plot for that. If you want to shade a background region instead of a price level, use bgcolor.

Tip

For multiple thresholds on the same chart call hline several times (e.g. 70 and 30); each becomes an independent level.

Note

condition is a series; one mark is drawn per true bar. It is a compact helper for quickly flagging signals — location and size are adjustable, but it lacks the finer controls (offset/textcolor) of plotshape.

When to use

To quickly flag buy/sell bars or bars where a condition fires. It is the first choice when you want signal points visible with minimal code.

Not for

Not for long/free text or a boxed label — use label. If you need to fine-tune the exact position (offset) or text color separately, prefer plotshape/plotchar. Do not tie it to a condition true on every bar; the marks pile up.

Note

Colors are hex codes; see the Colors section for ready-made options.

When to use

Use plot for a continuous line. To mark only the signal bars, write plot(iff(signal, price, na),...) — na bars are skipped, leaving gaps between the drawn points. When you need a discrete shape or arrow, prefer plotshape/plotchar/plotarrow.

Limits

Drawing many separate lines clutters the chart and makes it harder to read. Plotting a series on a very different scale from price (say RSI) on the price panel can flatten the candles; such series read better in a separate lower panel.

Not for

If you only want a discrete mark on certain bars, plot is the wrong tool — reach for plotshape, plotchar or plotarrow instead. For a fixed summary in the corner use tableNew, and for free text tied to a bar use label. If you are computing a value you never intend to draw, do not call plot at all; keep the value in a variable.

Note

The arrow height is proportional to |value| (clipped to minheight..maxheight); it visualizes the magnitude.

When to use

To show not just direction but the strength or magnitude of a signal (momentum, a histogram). Use plotshape for a fixed-size mark.

Limits

Only the sign sets the direction (up/down); the absolute size of the value is reflected in the arrow's height. Bars with 0 or na are left empty.

Not for

Not for a fixed-size mark — use plotshape. For a plain on/off state the varying height of plotarrow adds nothing; plotshape or plotchar is clearer. Use label for free text and tableNew for a fixed summary.

Note

Unlike plotcandle: there is NO body (filled rectangle) — just a vertical high-low line with a short tick on the left for open and on the right for close. The whole bar is a SINGLE color (no separate body/wick/border colors like plotcandle).

Not for

If you want a filled candle body, use plotcandle instead. For a single continuous line series, plot is enough.

Note

For drawing your own OHLC (e.g. Heikin-Ashi, rescaled) or conditionally colored candles. The color can be conditioned on a series.

When to use

For a derived or conditionally colored candle view (barcolor only tints one color, whereas plotcandle draws the whole OHLC body).

Limits

All four OHLC series are required; no candle is drawn on bars with na. It overlays the main price candles.

Not for

If coloring the candles a single color is enough, plotcandle is overkill — use barcolor. For one line use plot, and for a discrete mark plotshape fits better. You cannot draw a candle without all four OHLC series; do not call it when data is missing.

Note

Like plotshape, but instead of a fixed shape it draws the character/glyph you choose. The collision-avoidance rule in text works the same as plotshape.

When to use

When you need a symbol plotshape does not include (such as ▲ ✓ ✗ $). Use label for free multi-character text.

Limits

A single character or glyph; not suited to long text (use label). It gets just as crowded as plotshape when overused.

Not for

Not for long or multi-word text; it draws a single character or glyph, so use label for anything more than one letter. For a fixed summary panel prefer tableNew. If you need to show a value's magnitude, plotchar does not vary in size — switch to plotarrow.

Note

series is a boolean/series; a shape is drawn on every true bar. location positions the shape relative to the bar. Adding in text (at the END of the text for abovebar, at the START for belowbar) pushes the label away from the bar — use this to avoid overlapping another label on the same bar (e.g. the automatic buy/sell marker). If you need several marks on the same bar, use different location values (abovebar/belowbar) to keep them from overlapping.

When to use

For discrete buy/sell or condition marks. Use label for free text, plotchar for a single symbol or glyph, and plotarrow to show magnitude.

Limits

Only the supported shape names work; you cannot load a custom icon. If the condition is true too often the chart gets crowded — reserve the mark for infrequent conditions.

Not for

Not for showing free-form or long text — use label for that. If you need a symbol plotshape does not offer (▲ ✓ ✗ $), reach for plotchar, and to convey a signal's magnitude as height use plotarrow. Do not tie it to a condition that is true on every bar; the shapes pile up and the chart becomes unreadable.

Tip

If you need several marks on the same bar, use different location values (abovebar/belowbar) to keep them from overlapping.

Note

It is a color decomposer: it extracts the red component from a hex color. Together with green/blue/alpha it is used to take a color apart and rebuild it with rgb.

When to use

To process a color channel by channel: to change its opacity and reassemble, to compute a transition (gradient) between two colors, or to adjust a shade conditionally.

Not for

Not for producing a color (that is rgb's job). To read a color's opacity use alpha.

Note

It is a color builder: it assembles one hex color from three channels + opacity. opaklik is on a 0-1 scale and is rounded to a 0-255 alpha byte (e.g. 0.15 → 0x26). You can feed the result anywhere a color is expected — plot/barcolor/bgcolor/fill.

When to use

To build a color numerically instead of writing a fixed hex: to set opacity programmatically, to decompose with red/green/blue and reassemble, or to compute a color from a value.

Not for

Not needed for a fixed known color — just write the hex ("#26a69a"). If you only want to add opacity, color(hex, alpha) is shorter.

Note

colorR/colorG/colorB split a color into its channels; rgb(r,g,b,opacity) rebuilds it. Typical use: reproduce the same hue at a different opacity.

When to use

When you want to keep the user-picked color but change only its transparency.

Note

Our opacity scale is 0-1 (consistent with rgb()/color()). colorToInt/colorFromInt round-trip exactly; use them to store or compare colors numerically.

When to use

When generating colors programmatically (hue shifting) or storing them numerically.

Note

Our opacity scale is 0-1 (consistent with rgb()/color()). colorToInt/colorFromInt round-trip exactly; use them to store or compare colors numerically.

When to use

When generating colors programmatically (hue shifting) or storing them numerically.

Note

colorR/colorG/colorB split a color into its channels; rgb(r,g,b,opacity) rebuilds it. Typical use: reproduce the same hue at a different opacity.

When to use

When you want to keep the user-picked color but change only its transparency.

Note

The most used helper for fills and zones. Without transparency the color stays opaque and hides the candles behind the box — the usual cause of 'I drew a zone but the candles vanished'.

Note

colorR/colorG/colorB split a color into its channels; rgb(r,g,b,opacity) rebuilds it. Typical use: reproduce the same hue at a different opacity.

When to use

When you want to keep the user-picked color but change only its transparency.

Note

The transparency scale is 0-100, whereas rgb() uses a 0-1 opacity scale - do not mix them. Use it with colorR/colorG/colorB to split a color and rebuild it at a different transparency.

When to use

When computing box/label fill transparency programmatically.

Note

Reads back the transparency set with `color.new`.

Note

Our opacity scale is 0-1 (consistent with rgb()/color()). colorToInt/colorFromInt round-trip exactly; use them to store or compare colors numerically.

When to use

When generating colors programmatically (hue shifting) or storing them numerically.