Settings files vs hardcoded inputs: managing EA parameters across accounts

[Fairman]

Naming set files clearly saves a lot of confusion. Including the EA name, the symbol, the account type and the date in the file name means you can tell at a glance which settings are which. Something like EA_EURUSD_raw_2026-10.set is much better than settings_final_v2.set. When you have several accounts and several versions, a good naming convention is the difference between loading the right file and loading last month's test settings onto a live account by mistake. That mistake is surprisingly easy to make on a busy morning. A short readme next to the set files, saying which account uses which, helps too.

[Fairman]

A useful habit is having the EA print all its input values to the log when it starts. That way, if you're not sure which settings are running on a given account, you can check the log and see exactly what was loaded. It also helps when comparing live results with a backtest, since you can confirm that the live settings actually match the ones you tested. It's a few lines of code, and it removes a lot of guessing when something behaves differently from what you expected. The log also gives you a record of when settings were changed, which is handy later.