💰 Get Account Balance (GetBalance)

Sugar method: Returns current account balance in one line.

API Information:

• Method: sugar.GetBalance()
• Timeout: 3 seconds
• Returns: Current balance as float64

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📋 Method Signature

func (s *MT5Sugar) GetBalance() (float64, error)

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🔽 Input / ⬆️ Output

Input	Type	Description
None	-	No parameters required

Output	Type	Description
balance	float64	Current account balance
error	error	Error if query fails

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💬 Just the Essentials

• What it is: Gets your account balance - the money you have before considering open positions.
• Why you need it: Check available funds, calculate risk amounts, validate before trading.
• Sanity check: Balance ≤ Equity (equity includes floating P/L).

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🎯 When to Use

✅ Before trading - Check if you have enough funds

✅ Risk calculation - Calculate position size based on balance

✅ Monitoring - Track account value

✅ Reporting - Generate account reports

✅ Validation - Ensure sufficient funds for trading

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🔗 Usage Examples

1) Basic usage

balance, err := sugar.GetBalance()
if err != nil {
    fmt.Printf("Error: %v\n", err)
    return
}

fmt.Printf("Balance: %.2f\n", balance)
// Output: Balance: 10000.00

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2) Check before trading

balance, _ := sugar.GetBalance()

if balance < 1000 {
    fmt.Println("❌ Insufficient balance for trading")
    return
}

fmt.Println("✅ Balance sufficient - proceeding with trade")

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3) Calculate risk amount

balance, _ := sugar.GetBalance()
riskPercent := 2.0

riskAmount := balance * riskPercent / 100.0

fmt.Printf("Balance:     $%.2f\n", balance)
fmt.Printf("Risk (2%%):   $%.2f\n", riskAmount)

// Better: use CalculatePositionSize()
lotSize, _ := sugar.CalculatePositionSize("EURUSD", riskPercent, 50)
fmt.Printf("Lot size:    %.2f\n", lotSize)

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4) Track balance changes

initialBalance, _ := sugar.GetBalance()
fmt.Printf("Starting balance: $%.2f\n", initialBalance)

// ... Trading operations ...
time.Sleep(1 * time.Hour)

currentBalance, _ := sugar.GetBalance()
change := currentBalance - initialBalance
changePercent := (change / initialBalance) * 100

fmt.Printf("\nFinal balance: $%.2f\n", currentBalance)
fmt.Printf("Change:        $%.2f (%.2f%%)\n", change, changePercent)

// Output:
// Starting balance: $10000.00
// Final balance: $10250.00
// Change:        $250.00 (2.50%)

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5) Account dashboard

balance, _ := sugar.GetBalance()
equity, _ := sugar.GetEquity()
margin, _ := sugar.GetMargin()
freeMargin, _ := sugar.GetFreeMargin()
profit, _ := sugar.GetProfit()

fmt.Println("╔═══════════════════════════════════════╗")
fmt.Println("║       ACCOUNT DASHBOARD               ║")
fmt.Println("╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝")
fmt.Printf("Balance:       $%.2f\n", balance)
fmt.Printf("Equity:        $%.2f\n", equity)
fmt.Printf("Profit/Loss:   $%.2f\n", profit)
fmt.Printf("Margin Used:   $%.2f\n", margin)
fmt.Printf("Free Margin:   $%.2f\n", freeMargin)

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6) Validate minimum balance

func ValidateMinimumBalance(sugar *mt5.MT5Sugar, minBalance float64) error {
    balance, err := sugar.GetBalance()
    if err != nil {
        return fmt.Errorf("failed to get balance: %w", err)
    }

    if balance < minBalance {
        return fmt.Errorf("balance $%.2f below minimum $%.2f", balance, minBalance)
    }

    return nil
}

// Usage:
err := ValidateMinimumBalance(sugar, 1000.0)
if err != nil {
    fmt.Printf("❌ %v\n", err)
    return
}

fmt.Println("✅ Balance check passed")

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🔗 Related Methods

🍬 Other balance methods:

• GetEquity() - Balance + floating P/L
• GetMargin() - Used margin
• GetFreeMargin() - Available margin for trading
• GetProfit() - Current floating profit/loss
• GetAccountInfo() - Get all account data at once

💡 Recommended pattern:

// Instead of calling GetBalance, GetEquity, etc separately:
accountInfo, _ := sugar.GetAccountInfo()
// Now you have: Balance, Equity, Margin, FreeMargin, Profit, etc.

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⚠️ Common Pitfalls

1) Confusing Balance vs Equity

// ❌ WRONG - using Balance when you need Equity
balance, _ := sugar.GetBalance() // Doesn't include open positions!

// ✅ CORRECT - use Equity for total account value
equity, _ := sugar.GetEquity() // Includes floating P/L

2) Not checking for errors

// ❌ WRONG - ignoring errors
balance, _ := sugar.GetBalance()
fmt.Printf("Balance: $%.2f\n", balance) // Might be 0 if error!

// ✅ CORRECT - check errors
balance, err := sugar.GetBalance()
if err != nil {
    fmt.Printf("Error: %v\n", err)
    return
}
fmt.Printf("Balance: $%.2f\n", balance)

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💎 Pro Tips

1. Use GetAccountInfo() - More efficient than calling multiple methods

2. Balance for risk calculation - Use balance (not equity) for position sizing

3. Check before trading - Always verify sufficient balance

4. Track changes - Monitor balance to measure performance

5. Equity is reality - Balance is historical, Equity is current

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See also: GetEquity.md, GetAccountInfo.md