Excel add in - MyDesk DDE Server

The MyDesk DDE Server allows dynamic live price links (eg LME Copper Official Ask) to be setup in Microsoft Excel. When the prices change it is automatically updated in Excel. You can also view a limited amount of historical data that will also update automatically in Excel.

How to download the DDE Server

Download the DDE Server via Windows Installer or a zip file from http://www.fastmarkets.com/DDE

Downloading the Windows Installer will save the DDE Server to the correct location on your computer and create a shortcut for you.

Alternatively, to install the DDE server from the zip file, unzip and extract to c:\windows\system32. It is very important to save it to this location, since to run effectively the DDE server must be located on your system path.

Along with .exe there is also an INI file which contains settings to enable the .exe to function. These settings can be modified using the Settings window in the DDE Server.

Create a shortcut to the .exe on your desktop : right mouse click on the desktop, choose New then Shortcut :

The location of the item for the shortcut should be c:\windows\system32\fmdata.exe

Press the next button

Press the Finish button to create the shortcut on your desktop. You may choose to drag this shortcut to your Windows start menu, or Windows task bar.

The FastMarkets DDE Server is now installed

How to launch the DDE Server

To launch the DDE Server click on the shortcut you just created above, or if you do not want to create a shortcut, you can access the DDE server from your system in tray. To do this, click on the chevron near the PC clock and this will display the applications that are open on your PC. From here, you can right click over the Fastmarkets icon and click open. This will open the DDE Server login page.

You should log into the DDE Server using your Fastmarkets MyDesk username and password.

Searching for data in DDE Server

Once you have logged in, the DDE Server wizard interface will appear. The instruments available for the DDE Server are displayed in a collapsible tree structure, organised by the type of instrument. The grouping of instruments follows the same convention as used in the FastMarkets Mydesk website product. The following types are available dependant on your subscription level.

By double clicking each group you can expand it to show the contents of the group

Once you have found the instrument you require, select it by clicking on it, and the fields available for DDE link are shown on the right hand side

To create the DDE link select the field (e.g. Bid) and drag it with you mouse and drop it into a cell on your Excel spreadsheet. Examining the contents of the cell will reveal a formula such as =FMData|DDEData!XCUFD30_B which is the DDE link.

After a short delay (1 or 2 seconds) the data for that field for the instrument requested will be downloaded from the DDE server to the cell in Excel.

If you setup a DDE link for a time field (Bid Time, Ask Time, Last Time) you will need to change the format of the cell to display the data correctly as a date. To do this right click on the cell and choose format cells from the popup menu and change the format for the cell.

If you experience difficulties dragging and dropping the field into Excel there is an alternative method to setup the DDE link. Select the field you require, and then use the Copy button on the DDE server. This copies the DDE link to the Windows clipboard, you can then paste it into a cell on your Excel spreadsheet.

Historical DDE Server data

To create historical DDE links, go to the Historic Data section in the wizard menu. Once you have found the instrument you would like history for, select the instrument, select the field and specify the date you want to go back to.

The date will create multiple links for each business day, for the requested instrument, from today back to the historical date selected. There is a set limit of 1 year as the maximum historical data available.

You can select multiple fields using the CTRL or SHIFT keys and drag them into Excel. The DDE Server will create a table of cells in Excel with fields as the columns and a row for each business day back to the historical date selected.

If you only ever want the most recent data, then simply delete all rows except the first.

Historical LME Closing Prices

We have provided a DDE spreadsheet for all the LME Closing Prices in a pre-set template. This allows you to copy and paste the links into your own spreadsheet rather than typing them in manually. This can be downloaded from https://pro.fastmarkets.com/dde/

The file will ask you if you want to trust the links, you should select Update or you wont get the latest LME Closing Prices in the file.

If you find the file does not update, you may need to go into the Microsoft Excel Trust Centre and enable DDE Server as a safe add-in.