Data
Check the period and available history. Real-tick and generated-tick modes do not represent identical testing conditions.
ONYX / DEMO EVALUATION GUIDE
Your EA demo opens in Strategy Tester. What next?
That is expected for an MQL5 Market demo. Use this short workflow to turn a download into a useful evaluation — including when the test places no trades.
Follow the four steps01 / MT5 STRATEGY TESTER
Inspect behaviour, not just a final number.
This is a testing workflow, not a trade record, terminal screenshot or ONYX performance result.
- 01
Open
Where does the demo run?Download the demo from its MQL5 Market listing and choose Test in MetaTrader 5. A Market EA demo runs in Strategy Tester, not on a regular account chart — even if that account is a demo account.
- 02
Record
What conditions are you testing?Note the product version, broker symbol, date range, modelling mode, deposit, leverage and Inputs. Read the product's account and symbol requirements before comparing reports.
- 03
Inspect
What happened to each order?Review the Journal, Orders, Deals and report. Include spread, commission, swap, drawdown and losing periods. A pending order may expire or be cancelled without becoming a trade.
- 04
Diagnose
Why are there no trades?Check the Journal first. Then examine history availability, symbol specification, margin and volume rules, selected dates, trading hours and the product's entry conditions. No trade can also be a valid outcome of those rules.
02 / ZERO-TRADE RUN
Find the stage where the chain stopped.
No trades alone prove neither a defect nor a sound strategy. Check the chain in order: run → signal → order → fill.
- 01 / RUN
Did the test actually run?
Start with the Strategy Tester Journal. Check that the intended EA and version loaded, the selected symbol and date range have history, and the run reached its end.
A loading or history error is a test-environment problem. Fix it before judging the entry rules.
- 02 / SIGNAL
Was an entry allowed?
Read the product's Inputs and listing. Compare its module timeframes, enabled modes, entry hours, spread and market-condition rules with the period you tested.
If the rules did not permit a setup, zero trades may be expected. Do not raise risk just to force activity.
- 03 / ORDER
Was an order attempted or rejected?
Look for EA messages and trade errors in the Journal, then inspect Orders. Check broker volume step and minimum, stop distances, deposit, leverage and available margin.
A signal is not an accepted broker order. Change only the constraint you have identified, then rerun under recorded conditions.
- 04 / FILL
Did a pending order become a deal?
Compare Orders with Deals and History. A pending order can expire or be cancelled without a fill; a filled deal should appear separately.
An order count is not a trade count. Keep the order and deal records when comparing settings.
If the cause remains unclear, save the EA version, symbol, dates, Inputs and Journal messages, then ask in the product's MQL5 comments. Do not post account numbers, passwords or licence keys.
03 / WHAT A TEST CAN SHOW
Historical behaviour is not a live forecast.
Costs
Commission, swaps, spread and slippage affect outcomes. Deposit and leverage settings affect volume eligibility and margin.
Limits
The tester helps explain the algorithm on selected history. It cannot prove future profit or identical execution across brokers.
04 / CONTINUE LEARNING
Keep the test reproducible.
Compare one settings change at a time and save the report with the EA version and test conditions. If there are no trades, do not raise risk just to populate a report.
For a specific breakout-EA evaluation example, read the separate ONYX method. Our four published products are listed in the catalog; purchases and rentals take place only in MQL5 Market.
Automated trading can result in loss. Historical tests do not guarantee future results or replace evaluation under your broker's conditions.