"to build a simple Excel spreadsheet that pulls live data from IB"...
I built a TWS quote monitor page utilizing the fields I wished to use in an OpenOffice Calc spreadsheet, and periodically export that data to a .CSV file, for copy/paste into OO_Calc. My "project" -- much as you have described -- is to develop a Java application to print an .XML file in real time, to which OO_Calc can be (easily!!) attached. (I got some very compassionate offers of assistance, but what I thought was a "time-out" to put a little more polish on the spreadsheet ended up to be a real scrub-up/"next level" sort of campaign, with which I'm *only now,* just about, done....!!! Woot! "Phew!")
You could do about the same thing (spreadsheet-with-RTdata-front-end), by running your .CSV-eating spreadsheet through this guy's
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interactive brokers data files
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Preview by Yahoo
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or even his
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Option chains plain text CSV file periodically updated
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Preview by Yahoo
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He gets good reviews (for software and for service) on the IB website and on EliteTrader.com, and (I think) is a regular TWSAPI reader, so he may have responded to you offlist.
But first, I would go with the "Hey! Hit IB's DDE webinar, first!" advice, if you hadn't already. If you *wish* to deal with DDE, it really is a pretty trivial matter for Excel. FWIW, though, I would *not* go with DDE, as its use was limited, and therefore its lifespan will be, too. Not where I'd want to be, when the lights go out.
