10. Using Excel > Important Considerations

Introduction

The following section outlines important Notes/Considerations to be taken into account when using sfExcel.

•	Although sfExcel is designed to facilitate automated order entry, no system should be left totally unattended and Estuary Solutions takes no responsibility for errors or losses incurred through the use of sfExcel. It is always advisable to have adequate precautions in place to prevent errors.

•	The standard configuration of sfExcel allows only one bid and one offer on a particular instrument at a time. A second bid or offer on an instrument will cause the system to cancel the existing bid or offer before submitting the new one.

•	sfExcel is limited to 30 messages per minute. For high-frequency trading / market-making where a higher message rate is required, contact Estuary Solutions for pricing.

•	The ‘Allow user interaction…’ and ‘Allow order submission….’ check boxes on the dialog box when opening sfExcel save their settings when Swordfish is closed, so if both boxes are checked and Swordfish is closed, the next time sfExcel is opened, both boxes will be checked.

•	The checkbox settings for Allow user interaction, Allow order submission and Allow price updates - check boxes are saved when Swordfish is closed. If all three boxes are checked and Swordfish is closed, the next time sfExcel is opened, all three boxes will be checked.

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When sfExcel is running and linked to Swordfish, manual editing of the spreadsheet by a user, may have unforeseen consequences. Ideally, the system should be developed and tested. Any major changes to the sheet should be done ‘offline’ and saved so that once the system is up and running, minimal to zero user intervention should be required. sfExcel can handle manual editing however, the user must be aware that both the price feed and the order entry system will be disabled/interrupted while the editing takes place.

•	For the current version of Excel Links it is advisable to uncheck ‘Allow price updates’ for the best stability when doing order entry, due to the nature of Excel’s shared operations (InterOp).

•	Order Ref Codes are unique only during a single Swordfish session and are reset on application close.

a.	Overlapping Ref Code sequences can cause unexpected values in the Orders sheet and should be avoided by manually setting the Ref Code in Environment Options to the highest one last recorded in a trade, if multiple Swordfish sessions are used during a day.

b.	Avoid changing the Ref Code value in Environment Options during operation to avoid compromising uniqueness, which could cause unexpected behaviour including order rejection and incorrect values.

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For troubleshooting, first look at the ‘Messages’ window in Swordfish and also at the Swordfish event log (‘Tools’, ‘Event Log’) as many informational messages from sfExcel are output to these locations. If errors occur, make screen shots, take note of the error message and make a copy of the Swordfish event log (right-click in the event log and select to copy) as these will aid the developers is resolving issues.