Guide · cTrader
What we need from cTrader
We have already audited a real cBot, so we know exactly which files work and what can be got out of each one. What we do not have yet is the step-by-step with screenshots.
This guide is deliberately incomplete. We would rather tell you which file to look for and have you ask us, than invent a menu path that might not match your version. Write to us and we’ll walk you through it live — and you’ll help us finish this page while we’re at it.
The two files that count
The backtest report (level 1)
cTrader exports the backtest result as JSON, and on this it is richer than MetaTrader: it carries the account bar by bar, not just the balance after each close. That lets us measure the real drawdown including what open positions were worth at the time, which is almost always a good deal worse than what the balance shows.
The optimisation file (level 2)
It is called .optres and the platform generates it itself when you optimise. It is plain JSON, so it is easy to read.
It carries the maximum drawdown and the number of trades for each pass and — this is unusual — it declares the costs it assumed: spread and commission. With that we can check whether the backtest used realistic costs or fantasy ones.
It does not carry the parameter values of each pass, unlike MetaTrader. That is a limitation of the platform, not of you, and the report declares it.
Compared with MetaTrader
| MetaTrader 5 | cTrader | |
|---|---|---|
| Backtest report | HTML | JSON, with the account bar by bar |
| Optimisation file | .opt (binary) | .optres (plain JSON) |
| Parameters of each pass | Yes | No |
| Drawdown and trade count per pass | No | Yes |
| Declares the costs assumed | No | Yes |
Neither of them carries everything. The report always says what could be measured with what was there, and what could not.