Skip to content
Connect > Excel RTD

Excel RTD Server

The Excel RTD Server streams live data from a 3forge Enterprise Center into individual Excel cells, so prices, positions, limits, and status update in place as the data changes. It is a per-user Windows component that Excel drives through its built-in RTD function, and it connects to the Center over mutual TLS.

Overview

Each cell subscribes to a single field of a single row using a dotted RTD topic, table.object_id.field, under a named cluster. The server holds one Center subscription per table and shares it across every cell watching that table, so a sheet with hundreds of live cells does not open a connection for each one: the number of connections depends on neither the number of cells nor the number of tables. It builds on the same Center subscription protocol as the 3forge client libraries (the Python and C++ clients); this section documents only what is specific to Excel, and relies on the client libraries for the underlying protocol, type system, and TLS.

Features

  • Live values in any cell: enter =RTD(...) and the cell shows a Center field that refreshes on its own as the data changes, with no polling and no refresh button.
  • Works inside existing spreadsheets: because each cell is a normal formula, existing models, charts, and controls recalculate in place.
  • Per-user install, no admin rights: the installer registers under the current account and refuses to run elevated.
  • Mutual-TLS security: connects to the Center over the same mutually-authenticated TLS the client libraries use, pinning the client by public key.
  • Shared subscriptions: many cells watching one table share a single Center subscription, keeping the connection count low.
  • Multiple servers and failover: name several clusters and shards in one config, each with an optional failover endpoint.

Where to start

  • Quickstart: install, authorize the client on the Center, point the config at a server, and confirm one live value.
  • Excel RTD Server reference: installation, the ami_rtd_config.json schema, mutual TLS, the query gateway, the RTD topic format, row identity, and the support boundary.
  • Troubleshooting: why a cell stays 0, why a live sheet stops updating, and how to read ami_rtd.log.