Some technical questions

[avalsecchi]

Dear sirs,
we are integrating the eSignal desktop API in a client application. Our goal is to be able to receive and elaborate order commands by the eSignal platform.
We have some questions concerning the use of the ActiveX. First of all, we would like to know if it is possible to have a detailed explanation of the APIs exposed by the ActiveX.
At the moment, we were supplied with the eSignal Developer Reference, but we found a lot of functions in the ActiveX interface that are not discussed in this document.
We are now able to add our own broker to the eSignal platform and to receive order signals. We have a lot of other features to develop for which we haven't found a solution yet:

We would like to delete all the references to the eSignal Paper Trading (Is it possible? How?).
We would like to eliminate the possibility of submitting orders by pressing the F8 and F10 keys (Is it possible? How?).
We would like to know if it is possible to eliminate the possibility of attaching the Order Ticket to eSignal windows (Is it
possible? How?).
And finally we would like to know if in the received order message we have all the needed information to understand how the order has been submitted by the user (by pressing the F8 and F10 keys, by double clicking on the Last Price - or on the Bid/Ask price - of a stock, etc.).

In the eSegnal development reference we found out that an order can have different legs.
We would like to know what is a "leg" for an order and how to place this kind of orders from the eSignal platform.

Thank you very much in advance for your help

Best regards

Flavio Ravotto & Alessandro Valsecchi

Intesatrade Sim spa

[JayF]

Thanks for your post. We are working with our internal resources to get the necessary answers to your questions, and will post back once we have that.

[JayF]

Re: Some technical questions

Originally posted by avalsecchi
We have some questions concerning the use of the ActiveX. First of all, we would like to know if it is possible to have a detailed explanation of the APIs exposed by the ActiveX.
At the moment, we were supplied with the eSignal Developer Reference, but we found a lot of functions in the ActiveX interface that are not discussed in this document.

In the near future, we will be working on revising the current documentation to have a more comprehensive review of all the exposed functions and objects.

We would like to delete all the references to the eSignal Paper Trading (Is it possible? How?).

The eSignal Paper Trade feature will disappear if the OBCSample.dll file is removed from the eSignal\OBC directory.

We would like to eliminate the possibility of submitting orders by pressing the F8 and F10 keys (Is it possible? How?).

The F8 and F10 commands only activate trading actions if you're using windows messaging and if the Default Trade Button Action is set to Direct Access in Trade Preferences under the Trade menu. Since you wish to prevent F8 and F10 from being used, make sure that either Integrated Trading or Web Trading is selected.

We would like to know if it is possible to eliminate the possibility of attaching the Order Ticket to eSignal windows (Is it
possible? How?).

It is not currently possible to disable the order ticket.

And finally we would like to know if in the received order message we have all the needed information to understand how the order has been submitted by the user (by pressing the F8 and F10 keys, by double clicking on the Last Price - or on the Bid/Ask price - of a stock, etc.).

The API does not currently tell how the order was submitted (eg: f8, f10, dbl click). We do define many other things that don't require that info. Ie: If it is a request to buy, sell, short, cover, buy @ open, join the bid, join the ask. One thing to keep in mind is if the user clicks on bid, ask or last, the "LimitPrice" will be set to that value.

In the eSegnal development reference we found out that an order can have different legs. We would like to know what is a "leg" for an order and how to place this kind of orders from the eSignal platform.

A "leg" of an order is one component of a complex order, usually used in options trading, such as butterfly spreads and so on. It is believed that it is not currently possible for one to submit a multileg order from eSignal.


If you have any further questions or comments, please let us know.