Vistasource RTW is an add-in for Microsoft Excel that enables you to obtain, manipulate and publish real-time financial data using multiple data sources.

Currently supported data sources include:

• Reuters RMDS (vsRMDS - SFC or vsRMDS2 – RFA engines)
• Bloomberg (axbloom engine)
• Marketfeed (vsnf engine)
• Web-Based data, e.g. Yahoo! (rthttp engine)
• Pre-recorded data for Playback engine (mktdemo, for testing)
• Any data source that provides a C or C++ API and for which a custom engine can be built using the Vistasource RTW Toolkit.

For more information regarding the RTW Toolkit, please contact Vistasource at rtwsales@vistasource.com.

RTW can also integrate directly with custom COM-aware applications written in Visual Basic, C++, Java, etc. For more information about the RTW COM Interface, see the Vistasource RTW COM Interface Guide.

For news and information about Vistasource Inc. and its line of products, visit our website at http://www.vistasource.com You can also subscribe to our newsletter from this site.

This manual provides information about the installation, setup and configuration as well as the functionalities of Vistasource RTW and the Vistasource RTW RMDS (SFC) engine.

Please consult the Release Notes for a list of new features, fixed and known issues. The Release Notes can be found in the installation directory or by clicking on the button Release Notes in the About Vistasource RTW dialog box.

The following typeface conventions and symbols are used throughout this manual:

The following typeface conventions and symbol are used throughout this manual:

This manual contains cross-references to chapters and sections that can be accessed with a single click on the referenced chapter and section titles.

For demonstration purposes, this guide assumes an installation of Windows XP and Microsoft Excel 2007.

The following conventions are used to illustrate navigation in the RTW interface: Select [tab] → [group] → [option, command, button]

For instance, to display the About dialog box with its version number and contact information, select Vistasource → Help → About.

For users of Microsoft Excel 2002 and 2003, the navigation paths are very similar; however, some very minor differences exist. For instance, to access the About dialog box in Microsoft Excel 2003, you need to select: Vistasource → About RTW.

This section provides information about how to get started with RTW and the RTW RMDS SFC engine. It covers the following topics:

System requirements
Installing
Uninstalling
Licensing

RTW requires Microsoft Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7, and Microsoft Excel 2002 or higher. If using Microsoft Excel 2007, SP2 must be installed. If using Microsoft Excel 2003, SP3 must be installed.

The installation of RTW and the RTW RMDS (SFC) engine requires approximately 30 MB of disk space.

The RTW installation program places all product files in the installation directory, makes some Registry entries, and places a few ActiveX controls in the system directory %SYSTEMROOT%\system32.

User files such as the personal favorites list will be stored in %USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Vistasource\RTW or C:\ if the Application Data directory does not exist.

This section describes the installation of the product on Windows XP.

By default, the product can be downloaded as an .exe file. The .exe file is a self-extracting package. After downloading the .exe file, simply run the executable. Select Yes to continue.

1. The InstallShield Wizard dialog will appear with a Welcome screen, click Next to continue.
2. Read the License Agreement, select Yes to continue.
3. Select a destination location for the software. By default the destination folder will be:
   C:\Program Files\Vistasource\RTW\4.3
4. Click Next to continue.
5. On the Select Components screen, choose to install Vistasource RTW and the samples as well as the RTW RMDS (SFC) engine for your installation. Click Next to continue.
6. The installer will install the necessary files according to your choices in step 5 and then display a final screen. This screen will provide the option to review the product release notes.
7. Click Finish to complete the installation.

1. If you download the .zip file, unzip the archive file and save its content to a user-defined directory.
2. Browse to the directory where the archive files were extracted and select SETUP.EXE.
3. The InstallShield Wizard dialog will appear with a Welcome screen, click Next to continue.
4. Read the License agreement, select Yes to continue.
5. Select a destination location for the software. By default the destination folder will be:
   C:\Program Files\Vistasource\RTW\4.3
   Click Next to continue.
6. On the Select Components screen, choose to install Vistasource RTW and the samples as well as the RTW RMDS (SFC) engine for your installation. Click Next to continue.
7. The installer will install the necessary files according to your choices in step 6 and then display a final screen. This screen will provide the option to review the product release notes.
8. Click Finish to complete the installation.

To remove the product, run the Windows XP program removal utility.

Files that are not installed by the RTW installer will not be removed by it. If such files exist, they will require manual removal from the application directory.

1. Select Start → Control Panel from the Windows taskbar.
2. Double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon.
3. The Add/Remove Program Properties dialog box appears.
4. Click the Change or Remove Programs tab.
5. Select RTW.
6. Click Change/Remove.
7. Windows prompts you to confirm the removal of this program.
8. Click Yes.

1. Select Start → Run from the Windows taskbar.
2. The Run dialog box appears.
3. Browse to the directory where the archive file was extracted and select SETUP.EXE.
4. Click Open.
5. Select the Remove option in the dialog box that appears and click Next. A dialog box appears requiring the confirmation of the uninstall process. After confirming the option, the uninstall process continues until the program is uninstalled.

RTW, the RTW engines and the RTW COM Interface are licensed products of Vistasource, Inc. Please refer to license agreement.

For detailed information about setting up licensing, see the Licensing HowTo document.

To purchase licenses, contact your local Vistasource Office or email rtwsales@vistasource.com for more information.

Select Vistasource → Help → About to display the About dialog box for the RTW version number and Vistasource contact information.

Select Vistasource → License Management to display the LMTools by Macrovision Corporation dialog box. This tabbed dialog box provides details about your license setup including options to stop and restart the license server. More information on using this tool can be found in the Licensing HowTo document.

The RTW RMDS (SFC) engine is based on Reuters’s System Foundation Class API (SFC) and can be used to consume and provide Reuters market data information. Some initial configuration of SFC related files may be required depending on your Thomson Reuters Installation. This chapter provides information regarding the following topics:

• Quick Setup
• RMDS (SFC) Tab – Rtconfig Editor
• SFC Configuration
• SFC Setup Examples
• Generic Configuration Options
• Manually Editing the rtconfig File

Before starting, make a list of items that depend on your real-time data environment. For example: the data server, server port, available services, RMDS implementation (TIB, SSL, or both). These values are needed before installing:

This section provides information about editing the RTW RMDS (SFC) engine configuration options using the RTW rtconfig Editor. The options are located under the RMDS (SFC) Tab of the Rtconfig Editor dialog, and correspond to those found in the rtconfig file located in the installation directory.

To manually edit the RTW RMDS (SFC) engine configuration options in the rtconfig file, see Manually Editing the rtconfig File.

To edit the RTW RMDS (SFC) rtconfig settings, select Vistasource → Settings → Rtconfig Editor and then select the RMDS (SFC) tab.

After setting the configuration options, click Save to File to save your settings in the rtconfig file. To close the dialog box without making any changes, click Close. If you made changes and click Close without first saving to file, a caution window opens to prevent an unintentional discarding of unsaved changes.

The following options are available on this tab:

Refers to the rtconfig file option “rmds_Implementation”, which specifies the default implementation the SFC API will use to connect to your infrastructure. It is part of the default transport (connection), which is specified by Implementation, Services, and the appropriate SFC configuration parameters.

Select one of the following:

• SSL, if your infrastructure is Triarch or RMDS (P2PS).
• TIB, if your infrastructure is TIC/SASS2, TIC/SASS3, or RMDS (RTIC). The default is TIB.

To use both TIB and SSL infrastructures, additional connections can be specified. See section Connections below for more information.

Refers to the rtconfig file option “rmds_Services”, and is used to specify a list of services to display in the RMDS (SFC) dialog boxes for subscribing. This comma-separated list refers to the services in the default transport (Connection). The service list will vary depending on your setup.

If TIC/SASS3 or RTIC has been configured to not dynamically discover services (see section SFC Configuration below), you must list your services here to add them manually.

Refers to the rtconfig file option “rmds_Config”, which is use to set the location of the SFC configuration file. Vistasource provides a sample sfcapi.conf in the installation directory. This file contains various settings for the RMDS SSL and TIB infrastructures. Depending on your specific configuration, you may need to merge this sfcapi.conf file with an already existing file on your system.

Type a file name or click on the Browse button to specify the file. If no file is specified here, the RMDS engine will look for a file in the following locations (based on the Reuters SSL library):

1. In the local directory, in which case it must be named sslapi.cnf (.\sslapi.cnf)
2. If a file is not found in the local directory, \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Reuters\SSL\SSLAPI_CONFIG registry entry
3. SSLAPI_CONFIG environment variable.

To edit the selected file, click on the Edit button.

Refers to the rtconfig file option “rmds_KeepStaleData”. When this option is checked on, RTD cells will retain their values even though the RTW RMDS (SFC) engine has been notified that they are no longer valid (that is, they have become stale). The “data stale” message will still be displayed in the status window. When this option is off (the default), cells referring to stale data will display N/A.

Refers to the rtconfig file option “rmds_UseFourPartSubjects”. When using a TIB implementation, the default behavior for subscribe is to accept 2-part subject names, for example: MSFT.O (the SFC API automatically maps RICs into 4-part Rendezvous subject names using an internal mapping algorithm).

Select this option, if you want to use 4-part subject names (and do not want to rely on the API's algorithm).

Refers to the rtconfig file option “rmds_logger”, which turns on the SFC API logging mechanism. Select this option if you want the API to log according to the logging settings in the sfcapi.conf file. By default, this option is turned off. For more information on the SFC API logging, see SFC Configuration below.

The fields in this panel refer to the section in the rtconfig file used to set up multiple connections (rmds_transport settings).

For instance, when working in an infrastructure that supports both RMDS SSL and TIB, two connections have to be created, one for each implementation. The creation order is irrelevant. See also the example Simple RMDS (SFC) Installation for both SSL and TIB under SFC Setup Examples later in this chapter.

To create an SSL connection, in the Connections panel:

1. Choose SSL for the Implementation
2. Enter a new name for the new connection, e.g. conn1.
3. Enter the services using a comma-separated list, e.g. IDN_SELECTFEED, DTS
4. Click Save Connection.

To create a TIB Connection, in the Connections panel:

1. Choose TIB for the Implementation
2. Enter a new name for the new connection, e.g. conn2.
3. Enter the Rendezvous Service, e.g. 7500.
4. Enter the Rendezvous network interface, e.g. 10.100.1.92
5. Enter the Rendezvous daemon e.g. tcp:10.100.1.92:7500.
6. Enter the protocol, e.g. SASS2 or SASS3
7. Enter the services using a comma-separated list. The Services are used for the Excel User Interface, e.g. RSF, SH.
8. Click Save Connection.

To remove a previously saved connection, select the connection in the Name pull-down menu and click Remove Connection.

The SFC configuration file contains various settings for the RMDS SSL and TIB infrastructures. Vistasource provides a sample configuration file in the installation directory called sfcapi.conf. Depending on your configuration, you may need to merge this sfcapi.conf file with an already existing file on your system.

A few of the parameters are highlighted in this section. For further information regarding all the parameters available, see the Reuters SFC Documentation.

Entitlements are on by default. If you do not have access to the DACS permissioning system, the entitlements setting must be set to FALSE. Change the following line:

#*enableEntitlements: FALSE

to

*enableEntitlements: FALSE

SFC logging can be controlled using several parameters. If you need to debug and turn on logging, several logging severity levels are available. The list is from lowest to highest: Debug, Info, Notice, Warning, Error, Critical, Alert, Emergency. Events are logged at the specified severity level AND HIGHER. For instance, if Info is specified, all events except Debug are logged. The default is Info.

*logger*selector: *.debug

Tracing provides a way to log extra debug messages. The specified value is an integer bitmask of various levels. In other words, valid values can be created by adding the desired levels.

1 = service level tracing
2 = basic item level tracing
4 = full item level tracing
8 = item image/update data tracing

For example, to turn on service level and full item level tracing, the following value would be used:

*traceLevel: 5

The default is 0, i.e. no tracing.

Choose the file to log to. The default is log.out:

*vsRMDS*logger*file: c:/temp/vsrmds.log

This section contains several examples for basic SFC setup.

1. Define your RMDS implementation and services:
   1. In Excel, select Vistasource → Settings → Rtconfig Editor to launch the rtconfig editor.
   2. Select the RMDS (SFC) tab.
   3. Select SSL under Implementation.
   4. Enter a comma-separated list of services in the Service field, e.g. DTS,IDN_SELECTFEED
   5. Click OK.
2. The *ipcRoute parameter is required in the SFC Configuration file. This parameter has the following syntax: *ipcRoute: ipcService [hostname…]
   For example: *ipcRoute: triarch_sink p2ps_host
   The SFC API will look for the SFC Configuration file in the following locations:
   1. In the local directory, in which case it must be named sslapi.cnf (.\sslapi.cnf)
   2. If the file is not found in the local directory, \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Reuters\SSL\SSLAPI_CONFIG registry entry.
   3. SSLAPI_CONFIG environment variable.
      NOTE: Since the SFC Configuration file takes priority over the legacy ipcroute file, Reuters recommends using the ipcroute parameter instead of the ipcroute file to avoid confusion.
3. By default, Data Dictionary files will be downloaded from the network. If local Data Dictionary files are preferred, verify the location of the local data dictionary files. By default, the RTW RMDS (SFC) engine looks in C:\var\triarch. To create the local data dictionary in the default directory:
   1. Verify the directory C:\var\triarch exists.
   2. Browse to C:\Program Files\Vistasource\RTW\4.3\ and copy the files appendix_a and enumtype.def.
   3. Paste the files into C:\var\triarch.

1. Define your RMDS TIB implementation and services, and location of SFC configuration file:
   1. In Excel, select Vistasource → Settings → Rtconfig Editor to launch the rtconfig editor.
   2. Select the RMDS (SFC) tab.
   3. Select TIB under Implementation.
   4. Enter a comma-separated list of services in the Service field. The service list will vary depending on your Reuters installation, e.g. RSF,IDN_RDF.
   5. Browse to the SFC API Config file. Vistasource provides a sample file called sfcapi.conf in the installation directory. Select this file (you will edit it in the next step).
   6. Click OK.
2. Edit the SFC API Configuration file:
   1. While in the Rtconfig Editor, click the Edit button next to SFC API Config to edit the sfcapi.conf file.
   2. Enter your values for protocol, service, network and daemon according to the values collected before getting started.
   3. Additionally, the entitlements settings may require changes depending on your setup. Entitlements are on by default. If you do not have access to the DACS permissioning system, set this value to FALSE by uncommenting the *enableEntitlements: FALSE line.
   4. Save the sfcapi.conf file.
3. By default, Data Dictionary files will be downloaded from the network. If local Data Dictionary files are preferred, verify the location of the local data dictionary files. By default, the RTW RMDS (SFC) engine looks in C:\var\triarch. To create the local data dictionary in the default directory:
   1. Verify the directory C:\var\triarch exists.
   2. Browse to C:\Program Files\Vistasource\RTW\4.3\ and copy the files appendix_a and enumtype.def.
   3. Paste the files into C:\var\triarch.

To use both SSL and TIB implementations, two connections need to be set up. This can be accomplished in two ways:

1. Setting up a default connection on the left side of the RMDS (SFC) tab and then adding an additional connection via the Connections panel on the right side (see Example 1 below)
2. Setting up both connections via the Connection panel on the right side (see Example 2 below).

Example 1 – Using a Default Connection and then Additional Transport Connections

1. Define your default RMDS implementation and services, e.g. SSL:
   1. In Excel, select Vistasource → Settings → Rtconfig Editor to launch the rtconfig editor
   2. Select the RMDS (SFC) tab
   3. Select SSL under Implementation
   4. Enter a comma-separated list of services in the Service field, e.g.:
   5. DTS,IDN_SELECTFEED
   6. Click OK.
2. Define your additional connection, e.g. TIB:
   1. In the Connection panel, define the following:
      • Enter a new name for the new connection, e.g. conn2.
      • Select TIB under Implementation.
      • Enter the Rendezvous Service, e.g. 7500.
      • Enter the Rendezvous network interface, i.e. 10.100.1.92
      • Enter the Rendezvous daemon, i.e. tcp:10.100.1.92:7500.
      • Enter the protocol, e.g. SASS2 or SASS3.
      • Enter the services. The Services are used for the Excel User Interface, e.g. RSF, SH.
   2. Save the new connection.
3. Click Save to File to save your selections in the rtconfig file and close the RTW rtconfig Editor.
4. The *ipcRoute parameter is required in the SFC Configuration file. This parameter has the following syntax:
   
   *ipcRoute: ipcService [hostname…]
   
   For example:
   
   *ipcRoute: triarch_sink p2ps_host
   
   The SFC API will look for the SFC Configuration file in the following locations:
   
   
   1. In the local directory, in which case it must be named sslapi.cnf (.\sslapi.cnf)
   2. If the file is not found in the local directory,
      \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Reuters\SSL\SSLAPI_CONFIG registry entry
   3. SSLAPI_CONFIG environment variable
      
      Note: Since the SFC Configuration file takes priority over the legacy ipcroute file, Reuters recommends using the ipcroute parameter instead of the ipcroute file to avoid confusion.
      
      
5. By default, Data Dictionary files will be downloaded from the network. If local Data Dictionary files are preferred, verify the location of the local data dictionary files. By default, the RTW RMDS (SFC) engine looks in C:\var\triarch. To create the local data dictionary in the default directory:
   1. Verify the directory C:\var\triarch exists.
   2. Browse to C:\Program Files\Vistasource\RTW\4.3\ and copy the files appendix_a and enumtype.def.
   3. Paste the files into C:\var\triarch.

Example 2 - Using rmds_transport for all Connections

1. Remove any rmds_Implementation and rmds_Service settings.
   By default, implementation and services are not set. However, Vistasource strongly recommends verify these settings in the rtconfig file
   1. Browse to C:\Program Files\Vistasource\RTW\4.3\rtconfig and open file in a text editor.
   2. Scroll to rmds_Implementation and rmds_Services in the section “vsRMDS RT Engine Settings” and verify that both parameters are commented out.
   3. If you made changes, save the file and close.
2. Define your SSL Connection:
   1. In Excel, select Vistasource → Settings → Rtconfig Editor to launch the rtconfig editor.
   2. Select the RMDS (SFC) tab.
   3. In the Connection panel, on the right side, define the following:
      • Enter a new name for the new connection, e.g. conn1.
      • Select SSL under Implementation
      • Enter the services, e.g. IDN_SELECTFEED, DTS
      • Save the connection by clicking Save to File.
3. Define your TIB Connection:
   1. In the Connection panel, define the following:
      • Enter a new name for the new connection, e.g. conn2.
      • Select TIB under Implementation.
      • Enter the Rendezvous Service, e.g. 7500.
      • Enter the Rendezvous network interface, i.e. 10.100.1.92
      • Enter the Rendezvous daemon, i.e. tcp:10.100.1.92:7500.
      • Enter the protocol, e.g. SASS2 or SASS3.
      • Enter the services. The Services are used for the Excel User Interface, e.g. RSF, SH.
      • Save the new connection by clicking Save to File.
4. Click Save to File to save your selections in the rtconfig file and close the RTW rtconfig Editor.
5. The *ipcRoute parameter is required in the SFC Configuration file. This parameter has the following syntax:
   
   *ipcRoute: ipcService [hostname…]
   
   For example:
   
   *ipcRoute: triarch_sink p2ps_host
   
   The SFC API will look for the SFC Configuration file in the following locations:
   
   1. In the local directory, in which case it must be named sslapi.cnf (.\sslapi.cnf)
   2. If the file is not found in the local directory,
      \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Reuters\SSL\SSLAPI_CONFIG registry entry
   3. SSLAPI_CONFIG environment variable
      
      Note: Since the SFC Configuration file takes priority over the legacy ipcroute file, Reuters recommends using the ipcroute parameter instead of the ipcroute file to avoid confusion.
      
      
6. By default, Data Dictionary files will be downloaded from the network. If local Data Dictionary files are preferred, verify the location of the local data dictionary files. By default, the RTW RMDS (SFC) engine looks in C:\var\triarch. To create the local data dictionary in the default directory:
   1. Verify the directory C:\var\triarch exists.
   2. Browse to C:\Program Files\Vistasource\RTW\4.3\ and copy the files appendix_a and enumtype.def.
   3. Paste the files into C:\var\triarch.

In addition to the engine-specific RTW RMDS (SFC) settings, some generic RTW and general RTW engine settings can be customized according to your work environment. These configuration options are located on the Generic tab of the RTW rtconfig Editor dialog, and correspond to those found in the rtconfig file, which is located in the installation directory.

When editing configuration options, changes to the RTW Engine settings require a restart of the RTW engine. Changes to the generic RTW options require a restart of Excel.

To manually edit the generic RTW and general RTW engine configuration options in the rtconfig file, see section Manually Editing the rtconfig File.

Select Vistasource → Settings- > Rtconfig Editor to open the RTW rtconfig Editor dialog box.

The Generic tab refers to the sections“Generic RT Engine Settings” and “RTW Settings” in the rtconfig file.

After setting the configuration options, click Save to File to save your settings in the rtconfig file. To close the dialog box without making any changes, click Close. If you made changes and click Close without first saving to file, a caution window opens to prevent an unintentional discarding of unsaved changes.

The Generic tab contains the following fields and controls for editing RTW and generic RTW engine configuration options:

Refers to the rtconfig file option “Trace”. Tracing collects a detailed log of engine initialization, all transactions between engine and data distribution system as well as general information. It is typically used to debug network or connection problems. In order to obtain tracing information, select Trace. This option is turned off by default.

To collect more detailed information, select Verbose (in addition to Trace).

The trace information is written to a file. Enter the name and directory location of this file in the field Trace File. You can browse for an existing trace file or create a new one.

Refers to the rtconfig file option “rtFlushInterval”. Setting a specific value (in seconds) defines the interval by which the engine sends updates to RTW. The default value is 0 seconds and implies that the engine should send data as soon as it is available.

Refers to the rtconfig file option “rePublishStaleDataInterval”, which sets the interval after which the engine will republish each field value. Intervals between 1-3600 seconds (1 sec to 1 hour) are permissible. If no new value is received within the specified interval, the current value is published again. By default, this option turned off.

Refers to the rtconfig file option “rtInsertValueEcho”. When set, the published value from a successful publish displays in the formula cell instead of the string OK. By default, this option is turned off, and OK will be returned.

Refers to the rtconfig file option “rtDateTimeAsString”, which specifies how date and time fields are handled when subscribing and publishing.

If checked, date and time fields are treated as strings. This option is checked by default.

If unchecked, date and time fields are treated as spreadsheet date and time values.

Refers to the rtconfig file option “no_excel_events”, which specifies whether RTW listens to certain Excel events. If you add RTW to an installation that also includes other add-ins listening to Excel events, these add-ins may not receive the events that they are waiting for if they are loaded after the RTW add-in is loaded.

If checked, RTW is no longer listening to Microsoft Excel events, thereby allowing other add-ins to properly trap the events. By default, this option is turned off.

In addition, the following functionalities are affected if this option is selected:

With the No Excel Events option selected, the RTW wrapper functions no longer automatically calculate when the file is opened, but require a manual calculation to start them. See RTW Functions for more information regarding the wrapper functions.

The WorkbookBeforeClose event is used to prevent the RTW Add-ins from being unloaded when the user exits a work book, but then chooses to cancel the operation. With the No Excel Events option selected, this functionality is no longer available.

The WorkbookBeforeSave event is used to maintain any RTW settings that are saved with a workbook. With the No Excel Events option selected, this functionality is no longer available.

Refers to the Generic RT Engine setting “suppress_rt_status”, and the RTW Settings “rtexcel:SWOption”, “rtexcel:SWDir” and “rtexcel:SWPromote”. These settings control what information is logged to the status window and when the status window should be displayed.

The following options apply to the rtconfig file options “rtexcel:SWOption” and “rtexcel:SWDir”.

Logs engine start, warnings, errors, other status information and debugging information, and generates two files: xll.log and rts.log. By default, these files are created in the default installation directory. You can browse to change the log directory.

Logs engine start, warnings and errors. The log file rts.log will only be created if a log directory is specified.

Logs errors only. The log file rts.log will only be created if a log directory is specified.

Status Window is never displayed. If selected, the menu option Vistasource → Info → Show/Hide Status Window is disabled. However, the log file rts.log will still be created if a log directory is defined.

If Full Debug Mode is turned on, two log files are created; xll.log and rts.log. If no log directory is specified, the files are created in the RTW installation directory. To use a different log directory, specify one here.

If Information Mode, Errors Only Mode or Hidden mode is selected, and a log directory is specified, then the log file rts.log will be created.

To specify a directory, enter a directory in the Log Directory field or browse to a directory of your choice.

The following options refer to the “suppress_rt_status” and “rtexcel:SWpromote” rtconfig settings, which define when the status window is displayed. The default is Show Always.

The status windows displays the first time a real-time request is made.

The status window is not displayed, except when Vistasource → Info → Show/Hide Status Window is selected.

The status window only displays when an error occurs.

The status window is promoted to the foreground when an error is encountered.

The RTW and RTW engine configuration options are saved in the rtconfig file located in the installation directory. The RTW rtconfig Editor edits this file. Alternatively, the rtconfig file can be manually edited using any text editor such as Notepad or Wordpad.

The options in the rtconfig file can appear in any order; however, the configuration options are grouped into logical sections for ease of use. Each option is commented in detail in the file, explaining the different settings and their actions. For editing RTW and RTW RMDS (SFC) engine options, look for the following sections:

• Generic RT Engine settings
• RTW settings
• vsRMDS RT Engine Settings (RMDS SFC)

The other sections in the rtconfig file are not relevant to your installation as they apply to other Vistasource RTW engines. Any line beginning with a pound symbol (#) is interpreted as a comment line. Active options must not be preceded by this symbol. In most cases, editing a configuration option requires modifying pre-defined options.

This chapter provides information about working with the RTW RMDS (SFC) engine. It covers the following topics:

• Subscribe
• Publish
• RTW Functions
• Favorites
• Status Messages
• Interface Preferences
• Stop/Restart Engines
• Pause/Resume Data
• Updates
• Monitor Watch List
• Record Info

To subscribe and publish data in Microsoft Excel, RTW provides a COM Server (rts.exe) that works in conjunction with Microsoft Excel’s RTD function (available only in Excel 2002 and higher; see the Microsoft Excel Help for more information on RTD and COM automation). The RTW COM Server can also be used with custom stand-alone applications. For more information about the RTW COM Server and the RTW COM Interface, see the Vistasource RTW COM Interface Guide.

RTW offers three menu options that facilitate building an RTD formula for subscribing to data. These options are:

• Quote Wizard – Steps through the process of building an RTD formula
• Quote Table – Creates a table of RTD formulas referencing record and field names in a spreadsheet
• Quick Quote – Provides an easy way to automatically build a RTD formula

For more details regarding these options, see sections Quote Wizard, Quick Quote and Quote Table below.

The generic syntax for Microsoft Excel RTD is as follows:

=RTD(ProgID, server, topic1, [topic2], …) 

When using RTW to subscribe to data, the RTD function uses the following arguments:

=RTD(ProgId, server, command, engine, servicename, recordname, fieldname1, […, fieldnameN]) 

The arguments have the following meaning:

Example of an RTD function for subscribing

The following formula subscribes to the Microsoft ASK price via the RTW RMDS (SFC) engine with the IDN service:

=RTD("Vistasource.RtdServer",,"rt","vsRMDS","IDN","MSFT.O", "ASK")

Example of an RTD function for subscribing to multiple fields

To retrieve multiple field values with one formula, the RTD function would need to return an array of data. However, RTD does not support this functionality (see Microsoft KB article 286258). To work around this limitation, the RTW wrapper function PARSE_DATA can be used. This function “parses” the string array of incoming data. The Quote dialogs will automatically use the PARSE_DATA function when creating array formulas. See section RTW Functions later in this chapter for more information about PARSE_DATA and other wrapper functions.

The following formula subscribes to the Microsoft ASK and BID prices in real-time via the RTW RMDS (SFC) engine with the IDN service:

=PARSE_DATA(RTD("vistasource.rtdserver",,"rt","vsRMDS","IDN","MSFT.O","ASK","BID"))

The Quote Wizard steps through the process of building an RTD formula and subscribing to data provided by the data distribution system.

Select Vistasource → RMDS (SFC) → Quote Wizard to start the Quote Wizard.

The Quote Wizard consists of a total of five screens. Each screen details the steps of building a formula, displaying the status of the formula as you build it.

By choosing multiple record and field names, the Quote Wizard also allows you to create, format, and determine the layout of a “quote table.”

This option provides an easy way to automatically build an RTD formula which subscribes to fields of a single record.

Select Vistasource → RMDS (SFC) → Quick Quote to create a subscribe quote. The Quick Quote dialog box provides an easy way to automatically build a RTD formula which subscribes to fields of a single record.

The RTW RMDS (SFC) Quick Quote dialog box contains the following options:

Click OK to insert the formula in your workbook.

This option allows you to create a table of RTD formulas which reference record and field names in a spreadsheet.

Organize your spreadsheet with record names in a column and field names in an adjacent row. Select Vistasource → RMDS (SFC) → Quote Table to display the RTW RMDS (SFC) Quote Table dialog box.

The RTW RMDS (SFC) Quote Table dialog box contains the following options:

Click OK to insert the RTD formulas in your workbook.

The RTW RMDS (SFC) Chain dialog box allows you to subscribe to groups of records of related data. Records linked within the chain are placed in consecutive cells with RTD formulas. By specifying a chain record root, the name of each record in the chain is returned. For a list of valid chains, please refer to the appropriate Reuters Services guide.

To construct a chain of data select Vistasource → RMDS (SFC) → Chain to display the RTW RMDS (SFC) Chain dialog box.

The RTW RMDS (SFC) Chain dialog box contains the following options:

Click OK to initiate the construction of the chain.

Vistasource RTW offers the ability to publish and contribute market data using the RTW RMDS (SFC) engine.

The Microsoft Excel RTD function is used to publish data. The RTD publish formula will execute when there is any change to the data that it references. If the publish is successful, the cell containing the RTD formula displays OK. If it is unsuccessful, the cell containing the RTD formula displays #VALUE.

The generic syntax for the Microsoft Excel RTD function is as follows:

=RTD(ProgID, server, topic1, [topic2], ...)  - etc…….

When using RTW to publish, the RTD function takes the following arguments:

=RTD(ProgId, server, command, dataRange, engine, servicename, recordname, fieldname1, […, fieldnameN]) 

The arguments have the following meaning:

RTW offers a publish dialog that facilitates building an RTD publishing formula.

Select Vistasource → RMDS (SFC) → Publish to display the RTW RMDS (SFC) Publish dialog box.

The RTW RMDS (SFC) Publish dialog box contains the following fields:

Click OK in the RTW RMDS (SFC) Publish dialog box to insert the publish formula in your workbook.

Example of an RTD function for contributing with a two-part subject name

The following formula contributes the value in cell C15 as the BID of MyRec.O via the RTW RMDS (SFC) engine to the DTS service.

=RTD("Vistasource.RtdServer",,"rtinsert",C15,"vsRMDS","DTS","MyRec.O"," BID")

Example of an RTD function for publishing with a four-part subject name

The following formula publishes the value in cell C15 as the BID of SH.ANY.MyRec.NaE via the RTW RMDS (SFC) engine to the SH service.

=RTD("Vistasource.RtdServer",,"rtinsert",C15,"vsRMDS","SH","SH.ANY.MyRec.NaE"," BID")

Example of an RTD function for publishing multiple fields
To publish multiple field values with one formula, the RTD function would need to receive an array of data. However, RTD does not support this functionality (see Microsoft KB article 286258). To work around this limitation, the RTW wrapper function PACKAGE_DATA can be used. This function “packages” the range of values to publish as a string. The Publish dialogs will automatically use the PACKAGE_DATA function when publishing a range of fields. See RTW Functions for more information about PACKAGE_DATA and other wrapper functions.

The following formula publishes the values in cells D3 and D4 to the fields BID and ASK in record SH.ANY.MyRec.NaE via the RTW RMDS (SFC) engine using the PACKAGE_DATA function:

=RTD("vistasource.rtdserver",,"rtinsert",PACKAGE_DATA(D3:D4),"vsRMDS","DTS"," SH.ANY.MyRec.NaE","BID","ASK")

where DTS (Data Transformation System) is the name of the service to which you are publishing.

The PACKAGE_DATA function can also be used to package a range of field names. For example,:

=RTD("vistasource.rtdserver",,"rtinsert",PACKAGE_DATA(D3:D4),"vsRMDS","DTS","SH.ANY.MyRec.NaE",PACKAGE_DATA(C3:C4)) 

in which case BID would be in C3 and ASK would be in C4, and DTS (Data Transformation System) is the name of the service to which you are publishing.

RTW specific functions are added to Microsoft Excel upon installation. They can be accessed by selecting Formulas → Insert Functions → Select a Category → Vistasource RTW.

In versions prior to Microsoft Excel 2007, select Insert → Function in the menu bar to display the “Insert Function” dialog box. Select the Vistasource RTW category to display the RTW functions.

The following functions call the RTD function with the required default arguments, plus the given arguments. In this way, redundant arguments are hidden, exposing only the data that is important to you.

=RTS("vsRMDS","IDN", "MSFT.O", "ASK")

=RTS_SFC("IDN", "MSFT.O", "ASK")

=RTINSERT(C15,"vsRMDS","DTS", "MYREC", "BID")

=RTINSERT_SFC(C15, "DTS", "MYREC", "BID")

The functions PARSE_DATA and PACKAGE_DATA facilitate some of the limitations of RTD when subscribing and publishing multiple fields in the same RTD formula (see Microsoft KB article 286258)

{=PARSE_DATA(RTS_SFC("IDN","MSFT.O", "BID", "ASK"))}

=RTINSERT_SFC(PACKAGE_DATA(D3:D4), "DTS","MYREC","BID","ASK")

The RTW RMDS (SFC) Records – Favorites List dialog box allows you to manage your favorites list.

This list displays previously added selections of records and fields. To delete a selection, mark the item and click Delete.

To modify an item, click Modify List to access the RTW RMDS (SFC) Favorites List dialog box.

The RTW RMDS (SFC) Favorites List dialog box allows you to add, delete, and update your list of favorite records or pages. To access this list, click View Favorites in the Quick Quote or Publish dialog boxes, or select the dialog box launcher in the Vistasource → RMDS (SFC) group.

The RTW RMDS (SFC) Favorites List dialog box contains the following fields:

The RTW status window displays information such as the version numbers for RTW and its engines, network status messages, status messages from the data distribution system, as well as other relevant status messages. Any invalid field or record names encountered by the service will also cause a message to be posted to the status window. If you are not receiving the expected real-time data in Microsoft Excel, check the status window for relevant messages.

When information about a real-time value is not available, the cell displays #N/A. When an Excel spreadsheet file containing RTD formulas is opened, all real-time values display as #N/A until the data distribution system delivers the initial value and the cells are updated.

Similarly, when editing, copying or cutting/pasting a real-time formula, the cell displays #N/A until the value of the cell changes and the cell is updated. A cell which references a cell with a #N/A status message also displays #N/A.

If a cell displays #VALUE!, the formula is incorrect. For instance, if an invalid field name is entered, the cell displays #VALUE! and the status window displays information from the data distribution system about the incorrect field name. A cell also displays #VALUE! if it references another cell which contains #VALUE! or #N/A or no data.

You can show or hide the RTW Status Window by selecting Vistasource → Info → Show/Hide Status Window.

By default, the status window first appears when a real-time RTW request is made. Real-time requests are made with the “rt” and “rtinsert” commands in the RTD function or in the RTW COM server.

The debug level and display rules for the RTW Status Window can be changed in the Status Window section of the Generic tab of the Rtconfig Editor. See section Generic Configuration Options in Configuration for detailed information about the different methods of editing the RTW configuration options.

The Interface Preferences are used to customize the behavior of the RTW user interface as well as setting default values for the RTW RMDS (RFA) engine dialog boxes.

Select Vistasource → Settings → Interface Preferences to display the RTW Preferences dialog box.

This dialog box contains a generic preference and a RMDS (SFC) tab. On these tabs, defaults can be selected for the user interface dialogs such as Quick Quote.

On the Generic tab, you can select the options Build Formulas as Arrays and Don’t show splash screen on startup.

When this option is on, all Quote dialog boxes will create array formulas by default.

Turn this option on to suppress the Vistasource RTW splash screen when you launch Microsoft Excel. The option is off by default.

The RMDS (SFC) tab contains the option Default Service.

Set the default subscribe and publish services for the RTW RMDS (SFC) engine. The selected subscribe service will automatically be the default service in the Quote dialog boxes. The selected publish service will automatically be the default service in the Publish dialog box.

Select Vistasource → Stop/Restart Engines to close the connection to the data distribution system without exiting your spreadsheet. If you choose to stop an engine while the spreadsheet contains active real-time cells, the engine will restart automatically. You can choose to stop and restart a specific engine or all real-time engines.

Select the RTW Pause Data button to pause the flow of real-time data. You cannot manually update real-time values in this mode. This option lets you work in your spreadsheet without interruption from data updates. When Pause Data is selected, the menu option Refresh Data Now, which initiates a manual update, is not available and the Updates submenu is disabled (grayed out).

Select the RTW Resume Data button to resume the flow of real-time data.

Select Vistasource → Updates to display the various update options which let you alter the flow of real-time data without closing the engine. You can pause and resume your data flow, and set the update rate according to your needs. You can choose to have the data updated as it changes, manually update your data, or select various intervals including custom intervals for automatic updates. Internally, this sets the Excel application option RTD.ThrottleInterval.

Select Vistasource → Updates → Manual Updates Only to suspend automatic updates of data. Any cells containing real-time formulas display the value that was current when you chose this option, but the values no longer continue to update automatically. If you want to restart automatic updates, choose one of the other update rate options such as As Data Changes.

By selecting Vistasource → Refresh Data Now you initiate a manual update of the real-time cells.

Select Vistasource → Refresh Data Now to force a manual update when Vistasource → Updates → Manual Updates Only is selected, or when the Update Rate is 5 seconds or more. Otherwise, the option is unavailable (grayed out).

When data is paused by selecting Vistasource → Pause Data, the option Refresh Data Now is not available. Select Vistasource → Resume Data to resume the flow of real-time data once paused.

This option allows the setting of the rate in which data gets updated. It contains the following settings:

Select Vistasource → Updates → Rate → As Data Changes to have the engine update your data as the values change.

Select Vistasource → Updates → Rate → n Second Interval to update real-time values at preset intervals. n represents the number of seconds between updates. Available settings are 1, 5, 10, 30, 60 seconds.

Select Vistasource → Updates → Rate → Custom Interval to define a custom interval between updates. Custom intervals are measured in seconds.

Select Vistasource → Info → Monitor Watch List to display the RTW Monitor Watch List dialog box. This dialog shows the records and fields you are currently subscribed to.

The RTW Monitor Watch List dialog box contains the following fields:

Select Close to return to the work sheet.

Items from the Watch List will automatically unsubscribe when you remove the RTD formula. To flush all records, select Vistasource → Stop/Restart Engines.

Select Vistasource → Info → Record Info to view the current values of all valid fields (FIDs) for a given record (RIC) from any available DDS (Data Distribution Server) such as RMDS. In case several engines are installed, you can access all available engines from a single Record Information dialog box.

The RTW Record Information dialog box contains the following fields:

Select Close to return to the work sheet.