TradingView Pinescript, why isn't the ternary operator working in this plot example?

Question

I have a very simple strategy in pinescript.

//@version=4
strategy("My Strategy", overlay=true)

longCondition = crossover(sma(close, 14), sma(close, 28))
if (longCondition)
    strategy.entry("My Long Entry Id", strategy.long)

shortCondition = crossunder(sma(close, 14), sma(close, 28))
if (shortCondition)
    strategy.entry("My Short Entry Id", strategy.short)
    
...

And I'd like to plot a line at value 0 or 1 depending on whether the position size is 0 or not.

...
x = strategy.position_size == 0 ? 0 : 1
plot(x)

However the result of plotting x is a line that is only at value 1. On the chart it's clearly displaying that at some points no positions are open. Therefore the variable position_size should be 0 at certain points but it appears its only 1. Why is this the case?

Answer 1

Your strategy flip from long to short and constantly is in a position after the first trade. See the attached screenshot.

You should use strategy.exit or strategy.close functions to exit the position before the opposite direction signal occurs.

Example:

// Exit long after 2 candles from the entry
exitLong = nz(longCondition[2])
if exitLong
    strategy.close("My Long Entry Id", exitLong)