Turn a condition into a signal

You will add a Cross marker beneath the candle where price crosses above your EMA. Then you will check why some candles above the line have no marker.

Continue on the BITSTAMP:BTCUSD, 1-minute candlestick chart from lesson 1. You should already see the blue EMA line. If you do not, finish that chart check first. This lesson draws markers; it does not create alerts or place trades.

Add the conditions to your EMA

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Return to your saved script

In TradingView, click Pine on the right-hand toolbar. Continue in the same saved script, My EMA practice.

Another script is open? Open Pine Editor’s script menu and select your saved My EMA practice before replacing code.

What you should see

Pine Editor shows My EMA practice and the short EMA script from lesson 1.

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Click Pine in the far-right toolbar. This opens the code editor; it does not create a trade.

Click Pine in the far-right toolbar. This opens the code editor; it does not create a trade.

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Copy the complete version with markers

Click Copy on the code block below, on this lesson page. This version keeps your EMA and adds the calculations and drawing instructions for the markers. The screenshots show what to look for in TradingView; click them to enlarge them.

Complete EMA indicator with crossover markersPine v6

TradingView → Pine Editor Pine Script

//@version=6
indicator("Pine practice: signals", overlay = true)

int length = input.int(20, "EMA length", minval = 1)
float ema = ta.ema(close, length)

// A state can stay true for several bars.
bool aboveEma = close > ema
// A crossover compares this bar with the previous bar.
bool crossedUp = ta.crossover(close, ema)
bool confirmedCross = crossedUp and barstate.isconfirmed

plot(ema, title = "EMA", color = color.blue, linewidth = 2)
bgcolor(aboveEma and barstate.isconfirmed ? color.new(color.blue, 90) : na)
plotshape(confirmedCross, title = "Cross above EMA", style = shape.triangleup,
     location = location.belowbar, color = color.blue, size = size.small, text = "Cross")

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Replace the code in My EMA practice

Switch to TradingView and click inside the code. Press Cmd+A, then Cmd+V on Mac. On Windows, press Ctrl+A, then Ctrl+V.

Parts of the old script remain? Select all inside the editor again and paste the complete example. Do not add this underneath the old code.

What you should see

The editor starts with //@version=6 and includes the lines crossedUp and confirmedCross. There is one complete script.

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After pasting the complete lesson-2 script, check aboveEma, crossedUp and confirmedCross. Long drawing lines may extend across the editor.

After pasting the complete lesson-2 script, check aboveEma, crossedUp and confirmedCross. Long drawing lines may extend across the editor.

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3

Save and update your chart

Click the cloud-shaped Save control, or press Cmd+S or Ctrl+S. If Update on chart appears, click it. Use the triangle-shaped Add to chart button only if the practice indicator is not already on the chart.

The saved name remains My EMA practice. The chart label changes because this version has a different name inside indicator(…).

What you should see

The chart label changes to Pine practice: signals. The blue EMA remains, with shaded bars and Cross markers where the conditions match.

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Your chart now shows three things: the blue EMA, light-blue shading on qualifying closed candles, and Cross markers at confirmed upward crossings.

Your chart now shows three things: the blue EMA, light-blue shading on qualifying closed candles, and Cross markers at confirmed upward crossings.

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Still says Pine practice: EMA? Confirm the new code is saved and the chart instance has updated. Two practice indicators? Remove the older chart entry so only the current practice script is shown.

No recent Cross marker? That is possible. Look back through earlier candles. A marker appears only where the rule matches; adding the script does not make a new crossover happen.

Check the rule on your chart

4

Find a Cross marker

Look for a blue triangle with Cross beneath it. Compare the marked candle’s closing price with the blue line. Then inspect the candle immediately to its left.

The screenshot highlights both candles so you can see the change in their relationship to the line.

What you should see

The marked candle closed above its EMA. The previous candle closed at or below its own EMA.

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1: the previous candle is below its EMA. 2: the next candle closes above its EMA. 3: the Cross marker appears beneath that confirmed crossing.

1: the previous candle is below its EMA. 2: the next candle closes above its EMA. 3: the Cross marker appears beneath that confirmed crossing.

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5

Find a shaded candle without a marker

Look at the candles after a Cross marker. Find a candle with a faint blue background and no new triangle beneath it.

This is an expected result. Shading and markers answer different questions.

What you should see

The candle is above its EMA, but it has not made a new upward cross from the previous candle.

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This later closed candle stays above the EMA, so it is shaded. The empty area beneath it is expected: staying above is not another upward crossing.

This later closed candle stays above the EMA, so it is shaded. The empty area beneath it is expected: staying above is not another upward crossing.

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Compare a condition and an event

You have now seen both cases on a chart:

What you see	The question being answered
Faint blue background	Did this candle close above its EMA?
A Cross marker	Did it move from at or below its EMA on the previous candle to above it on this candle?

Price can stay above an EMA for several candles. Each of those candles can be shaded. They do not all represent a new cross.

Try the comparison: move through the example below. Predict whether the next candle will match the above rule, the crosses above rule, both, or neither.

Try the ideaAbove is a state. Crossing is a change.

Move through eight candle closes. Compare both rules against the same fixed line at 100.

Selected candleReference 100

10410096

Candle 1 of 8Close 98 · Previous 97

Above 100No match

98 > 100 is false

0sample messages so far

Crosses above 100No match

98 > 100 and 97 ≤ 100 is false

0sample messages so far

Close is below 100. Neither rule matches this candle.

Illustration only. We count one sample message at each candle close when its rule is true. The reference stays at 100 to isolate the comparison. No real alerts are created or sent.

Read the complete example

The fixed reference is 100; the close before candle 1 is 97. “Above” means the current close is greater than 100. “Crosses above” also requires the previous close to have been at or below 100.

Candle	Close	Above 100?	Crosses above?
1	98	No	No
2	101	Yes	Yes
3	103	Yes	No
4	102	Yes	No
5	100	No	No
6	99	No	No
7	101	Yes	Yes
8	102	Yes	No

If each rule produced one sample message per matching candle at close, “above” would produce 5 messages, on candles 2, 3, 4, 7 and 8. “Crosses above” would produce 2, on candles 2 and 7. Candle 5 closes exactly at 100, so neither rule matches it. These are illustrative counts, not historical alerts from a running script.

When comparing with a moving EMA, compare the current close with the current EMA and the previous close with the previous EMA. The reference in this exercise is fixed only to make that distinction easier to see.

The illustration uses a fixed line at 100 to make the comparison easier to see. Your working script uses a moving EMA: each candle is compared with that candle’s own EMA value.

Find those rules in the code

Return to Pine Editor and find these lines. You do not need to change them.

The conditions you have already seen on the chartExcerpt from the complete script above.

Read within My EMA practice in Pine Editor Pine Script

// A state can stay true for several bars.
bool aboveEma = close > ema
// A crossover compares this bar with the previous bar.
bool crossedUp = ta.crossover(close, ema)
bool confirmedCross = crossedUp and barstate.isconfirmed

• aboveEma checks whether the closing price is greater than the EMA.
• crossedUp compares this candle with the previous one to detect an upward cross.
• confirmedCross also requires the candle to have closed.

bool means the answer is true or false. and means both requirements must be true. The drawing lines at the bottom turn those answers into the background shading and Cross markers you saw.

Wait for the candle to close

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Watch the rightmost candle

Return to the chart and look at the candle on the far right. While it is still forming, its latest price can move above and below the EMA.

A brief move above the line is not enough. For a marker, the crossover condition must still be true when the candle closes.

What you should see

The current candle can change as prices arrive. This script waits for its close before showing that candle's confirmed marker.

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The rightmost candle is still forming. Its countdown has time remaining, so the script has not yet confirmed that candle.

The rightmost candle is still forming. Its countdown has time remaining, so the script has not yet confirmed that candle.

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Price went above the line, then closed below it. Is a missing marker an error? No. This version deliberately waits for the close. barstate.isconfirmed is the part of the code that adds that requirement.

Waiting changes the signal’s timing. It does not solve every form of repainting in other scripts. These examples use the current chart’s prices; scripts that use other timeframes need additional checks. More detail: TradingView’s execution model, bar states and repainting.

Try the opposite direction

You can keep the upward-cross version for lesson 3. For a short check of your understanding, answer this before editing anything:

Would changing the word Cross in the marker make it detect a downward cross? No. The label describes the result; it does not define the condition. A downward-cross condition would use ta.crossunder(...), and its marker should be labelled to match.

Your check before lesson 3

Find a shaded candle with no Cross marker and explain why it is correct. If an alert used the above rule once per closed candle, could it send on several consecutive candles? Yes. The rule can stay true even though there is no new cross.

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