Hotkey Cheat Sheet Overlay
A trader running several EAs, scripts and utility indicators together often ends up with a scattered set of single-key shortcuts - one tool's panic-close key, another's focus-mode toggle, another's order-ticket hotkey - with no single place listing them all. This indicator is that place: it reads a plain text file of "KEY = action" lines and displays it as an overlay panel on the chart, shown and hidden with its own dedicated key. The list intentionally lives in a text file rather than a fixed set of input parameters, because a hardcoded "InpKey1..InpKeyN" list would cap the number of entries and require a recompile every time a binding changes. A text file can be edited in Notepad while MetaTrader stays open, and a dedicated reload key picks up the change immediately without detaching and reattaching the indicator. Lines starting with # are treated as comments and skipped, so the same file can be lightly organised into labelled sections without extra parsing logic. Notes and limitations This tool only displays text - it does not read, register or intercept any other tool's actual hotkey. It is documentation you maintain yourself, not a live hotkey registry; if a binding changes in the EA that actually owns it, this file must be updated to match by hand. Up to 60 lines are displayed (MAX_LINES); a longer file is truncated silently rather than overflowing the fixed display array. 60 lines comfortably covers a realistic hotkey list. The file is read with FILE_ANSI, so non-Latin characters in binding descriptions may not display correctly - keep entries in plain ASCII for reliable rendering. If the file does not exist, the panel shows a single "(file not found)" line rather than failing silently, so a missing or misnamed file is obvious the first time the panel is opened.
Indicator · MT4 · v1.0 · Free
About Hotkey Cheat Sheet Overlay
Hotkey Cheat Sheet Overlay is an indicator for MetaTrader 4. It has 10 settings, such as File name, Use common file and Toggle key. MQL source code included.
Files in the download: HotkeyCheatSheet.ex4, HotkeyCheatSheet.mq4, HotkeyCheatSheet.txt.
Settings
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| File name | HotkeyCheatSheet.txt | File in MQL4\Files (or MQL4\Files\Common) listing "KEY = action" lines |
| Use common file | false | Read from the shared Common\Files folder instead of the terminal's own |
| Toggle key | 'H' | Key that shows/hides the cheat sheet |
| Reload key | 'R' | Key that reloads the file from disk while the sheet is visible |
| Panel x | 20 | Panel X offset, pixels |
| Panel y | 30 | Panel Y offset, pixels |
| Line height | 16 | Pixel height per line |
| Text colour | clrWhite | Text colour |
| Title colour | clrGold | Title / header colour |
| Back colour | clrDarkSlateGray | Panel background colour |
How to install
- Download the ZIP from your PolyMaria library and unzip it.
- In MetaTrader 4 open File → Open Data Folder, then go to MQL4 → Indicators.
- Copy the .mq4 file(s) there. Put any .mqh files in MQL4 → Include.
- Open the .mq4 file in MetaEditor and press Compile (F7) if MetaTrader does not show it.
- Drag the indicator from the Navigator onto a chart and adjust the settings.
Tags: MT4 Indicator · MQL4 Source Code