Live IG API unavailable this morning

[DavR0s]

Hi, I am unable to access the live API this morning which i use every day.  Am getting the "Unable to get the RTD property of the Worksheetfunction class" error which is the same as earlier this year.  It looks like its a light streamer related issue again as it's the streaming API that I can't access.

Have emailed support but would be helpful to know if others having the same issue or has any more information, thanks

David

[DavR0s]

Now confirmed as a problem by IG that they are working on....

 

[DavR0s]

Further to my posts yesterday  I have had some very confusing responses from different parts of the IG organisation, ranging from:

- its a region/language setting on my PC (this is completely spurious suggestion but I checked and that was the case)

- its not an issue they experienced all of yesterday

- through to, its an issue but only on Demo (well for me the Demo API has been broken since January)

So i am struggling to get IG to recognise that there is a LIVE issue so will phone them up to try and clarify this - wish me luck.

If any of you use the Live API i would encourage you to report it so the message hopefully gets through as I am no longer confident they are working on the issue.

Thanks David

[DavR0s]

Ive now spoken to IG helpdesk and they have spoken to the back office support team who have now acknowledged it's a live issue as well so will go up the priority stack.  They sent me a link to the companion in the meantime but I told them that didn't really help me or suspect others, and that I wouldnt want the technical team seeing this as a workaround.

The helpdesk did indicate that it may have been related to the upgrade at the weekend (which another poster mentioned yesterday) and also there were others reporting it too - so not sure how it being a live issue was being missed.

The person I spoke to is going to give me an update tomorrow morning as my confidence remains low that the left hand is connected to the right hand.

Just wanted others using the API to be aware of what I have been told - but don't rely on my updates incase I havent been given 100% correct information.

David

[charlie303]

Please keep us informed. Some of us are going crazy with Lightstreamer issues.

 

[DavR0s]

Just spoke to the helpdesk - all i can get is "they are working on it" so none the wiser.  Disappointing to have lost a whole week of trasding again.  Whilst i pass the time, has anyone came across any other platforms that offer APIs that support index trading?

 

[Tartempion]

One of the most serious is InteractiveBrokers. The api is very well documented.

Just the fact that they take care to publish this (https://interactivebrokers.github.io/tws-api/guide_updates.html) allows you to form your opinion on the comparison with the api from IG...

Edited May 20, 2022 by Tartempion

[charlieMk6]

You will need to install a fresh, clean copy of Windows 10 and then everything will work again.
Windows 10 has the underlying HTTPS SSL infrastructure needed for your code.
Other apps, like browsers, build their own HTTPS SSL infrastructure.
It is not possible to patch Windows 7, you are forced to upgrade or use a different code paradigm, like Java.
Note, installing Windows 10 over Windows 7 won't work as it keeps a lot of Windows 7 files, has to be a fresh, clean install of WIndows 10.

[DavR0s]

Thanks for the post and suggestion.

I run two HP servers - one is definitely a Win7 upgrade to Win10 and the other had W10 installed when i got it but it was second hand so quite possibly that was also an upgrade.

You sound pretty confident that you know what the issue is - my technical lnowledge isnt that deep in this area.  So tell me:

- have you confirmed that this solution works?

- this would suggest some users would still operational with a full W10 install - can anyone else confirm that they can access the streaming API from a full W10 machine, to give me confidence it is worth going through all the effort of doing this

- there was a prior suggestion that the current issue arose from an upgrade at IGs end.  We had a week outage at the start of the year but cant recall if this was due to an upgrade too.  Is a full W10 install likely to solve all future upgrade issues of this nature?

- I lost access to the Demo API at the start of the year and it has been broken since and i think i saw you posted a similar solution on this thread.  So presumably IG worked around the live issue in January and havent done the Demo side of things.  So the full W10 solution could solve both environments?

The live system has been out of action for nearly 8 days now and I am no wiser as to where IG is with resolving this, so open to trying this.  Id need to get a full W10 disc and probably install to a fresh disc, so just want to guage confidence level from people's experience before embarking on this.

Appreciate the post.

Thanks David

[charlieMk6]

Yes, I am very confident this is the solution.
I was posting previously as charlie303 but I now have a new account under charlieMk6.

I was developing under Windows 7 and just hit a break wall like you. But the exact same code, no modifications, worked perfectly under a fresh install of Windows 10. It's annoying I know, Windows 10 is far from perfect but that's life.

I know a fresh, clean install is required too because initially I updated my Windows 7 to Windows 10 and that did not fix the issue. So, I F9 at BIOS prompt booted into the USB stick install media, wiped my partitions, rebuilt the partition and freshly installed Windows 10. Took less than an hour all up though I know you will have other software to install. My original code worked first time. Many resources to create installation media 
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=create+windows+10+install+media&t=brave&ia=web

As for product keys you can use your WIndows 7 key to Activate Windows 10 - I did. If you search the web there is a command prompt / powershell command that will display this. You can also use Windows 7 drivers for your hardware most of the time. A bit of con in my opinion as Windows 10 is more like Windows 7 Plus rather than a full upgrade. I would of course do a little research of your own to verify what I am saying. Always take a backup. One possible fix to verify what I say would be to spin up a virtual machine with Windows 10 on it and test that way or maybe you have some partition software and could create a dual boot machine?

As for IG's end what did they change? What stack are they running (OS - web server - databases - etc)? Well they are not going to tell the likes of us are they? But I'm guessing if they upgraded the OS of their servers then in the process they upgraded the HTTPS SSL security. HTTPS is that little padlock in the address bar of your browser. Most users just think it is a fixed and done protocol but the encryption methods evolve over time. Microsoft hard code their methods directly into the OS which is why Microsoft code broke because you can't upgrade the protocols in Windows 7. IG must have done this to the DEMO environment in January and after having no major problems (as far as they were concerned) they performed the same update to their LIVE servers last week. Because there has not been an uproar from Windows 10 developers or Linux developers or Java developers (Java uses its own HTTPS SSL stack in its development environment) they assumed all was well. Those who got caught are, a pound to a penny, all running Microsoft development environments on Windows 7. I wouldn't hold your breath expecting much from IG I'm afraid, it's sink or swim time.

I don't know where you are based (I'm in the UK) or if I would get in trouble for handing out my email address but that's my advice. I'm adapting to Windows 10 now, no changes were needed to my code. I'm not wasting your time, good luck. If you do do a fresh install I'm sure we would like to know how it goes.

Charlie

 

[DavR0s]

Thanks Charlie - really appreciate the post.  Think i follow most of it so will give it a go.  Will let you know how i get on!

[DavR0s]

Hi,

So i have managed to create a fresh W10 install today from scratch and not an upgrade.  I use 64bit software.

Loaded MS office also 64bit and then the 64 bit version of the IG software.

I can login via the companion but sadly I am getting the same RTD error when attempting to login via the sample spreadsheet.

I dont believe there are any other steps I need to do.

So doesnt seem to work for me.  Do you have any other thoughts or notice any steps I have missed out?

Thanks David

 

[charlieMk6]

Wow! They stuffed you good mate. I'm sorry I'm completely out of answers. I know my code started working when I did a fresh clean install of Windows 10. I didn't change anything, no flags, no settings, no options, no certificates, nothing, it just worked. 

I am very confident the issue is to do with security - the HTTPS SSL cipher suite. But why doesn't that work for Excel? I don't use Excel myself, I prefer Libre Office so I really don't know. I had a quick search around the internet and the only thing that came up was the File -> Options -> Trust Center -> Trust Center Settings.

I am at a lost. I've included a screen shot of my app, the page that streams market prices. This code hasn't been updated in awhile. I guess you are using a fairly recent version of Excel if it's 64 bit. I wasn't wasting your time, maybe IG have to update the Excel sample.

Sorry
Charlie

 

[DavR0s]

Hi, no need to apologise - it was definitely worth a try.  Just out of interest do you use 32 or 64 bit?

I tried to follow up with IG this afternoon and got no further information.  Someone said they would get back to me and noone did.  That's the3rd time for this issue that has happened so not that impresssed.  Will have to try again in the morning.

Other than that i will have to mothball my IG account and go look at alternatives....

[charlieMk6]

I am all 64 bit now - Win 10 OS and C# code. It doesn't look fancy but it works.

Thanks for being understanding, I really thought that would help.

Good luck with IG support. This whole incident, I was posting on another thread too, has been a bit of a wake up call not to become too dependent on any one platform. There are other APIs out there.

Keep us updated if you have any success.

[andysinclair]

18 hours ago, DavR0s said:

I can login via the companion but sadly I am getting the same RTD error when attempting to login via the sample spreadsheet.

I've built an Excel Add-in which includes access to streaming IG prices. It has been working fine for the past few months, apart for a period in February when there were some problems with the API.

I use it every day on both a Windows 10 and Windows 11 machine, for both my demo and live IG accounts. If your demo account does stop working (which happened to me) then you need to contact IG and they will reset your demo account.

I hope this helps.

[DavR0s]

Hi Andy

Thanks for the post.  Re the demo I contacted them earlier in the year - several times and eventually gave up!  I can live without it.

Interested in your comment re your excel add-in - so you say that is working still for you?  Is that something you would be willing to share on an unsupported/no warranty basis.  It's only the price streaming that isnt working from the IG solution and i only use a couple of indices.

I will try IG once again today as their excel example is still not working for me this morning - day10!  In the meantime i'll start looking at the alternative platform that another poster was kind to post.  I've invested quite a lot of time in the IG API but the lack of response for a llive issue is cause for concern now.

Thanks David

 

[DavR0s]

Hi Andy

Just realised you are from Excel Price Feed.  If you say your streaming is still working ill give the demo a go.

I find with the IG solution that the less you feed the faster and more reliable it is so if I just wanted to stream say the Nasdaq bid price with your solution id experience similar.

Thanks David

 

[andysinclair]

1 hour ago, DavR0s said:

so you say that is working still for you?  Is that something you would be willing to share on an unsupported/no warranty basis.  It's only the price streaming that isnt working from the IG solution and i only use a couple of indices.

It's been working fine for several years now with only a few occasions where there was an issue (usually during times of high market volatility which seems to affect all IG systems).

My Add-in is a paid product, with a free trial period. I do provide full support and have many customers using it for both streaming and non-streaming data.

As for the technical side, it is written in C# and uses the Lightstreamer component: DotNetClient_N2.dll

[blitzjoker]

I have exactly the same problem with the RTD error.  I have been using the IG API for many years, and the problem has cropped up from time to time.

Last time I think downloading a fresh copy of the Excel sample file from IG, and then cut and pasting all my extra code in seemed to work, but it does not seem so in this case.

As noted, the support for the API is terrible; I may also have to look elsewhere for a better system.

[DavR0s]

I spoke to IG yesterday and they tell me that its been escalated now but getting any status or update beyond "we are working on it" is impossible.  I've been promised an update today but then this is the 4th time ive been promised an update and noone ever came back so not holding my breath. Ive asked to speak to someone more senior and noone is available and when I ask them to call me when they are, noone gets back.  Not great.  I am inclined to email the CEO as I have her email address if it keeps going on like this.

Looks like going to lose 2 weeks minimum trading due to this, so pretty poor.

I am playing around with Andy's plugin (see earlier post) that looks like it could work for me - this seems to be streaming prices OK atm.  The IG REST API still works so its a case of turning off all the calls to the IG streaming API and replacing it with this.

 

[DavR0s]

Had a bit of a go at the support team today as Ive had 4 support team staff telling me they'd keep an eye on things over the last 2 week and get back to me and none of them did, plus a lot of nonsense inbetween.

So i got slightly more back as a result of my rant... 

"Our IT support is running the necessary tests, what we have learned is that the issue is not a network issue. So the team is re-investigating to find the cause and remedy the issue as soon as possible."

Im not entirely sure what that means but it suggests they havent made a great deal of progress with it if they are still testing after nearly 2 weeks and haven't identified the cause.  I'm not going to be holding my breath for a solution.

Been with IG 10+ years and invested 2 years working with the API and the lack of responsiveness/urgency is starting to grate now....

Andy's addin could provide a (short term) solution but i think i have to force myself to look at other solutions now as I have lost confidence in IG supporting this effectively - i need a very solid alternative it seems.

If IG read these threads you can see I not a terribly happy customer....

 

 

[DavR0s]

Streaming API still not functional through IGs own demo example.  Cant believe much will happen this week now.  So that is nearly 3 weeks that it's had a problem.  Anyone on IG reading these posts?  I was told this had been escalated as a priority nearly a week ago now and there has been silence since.....

[QTrader]

It is absolutely shameful. I have moved my trading to Saxo, where everything works. If IG is happy about losing trades and customers, good for them. 

Greetings from Italy

[BryanCheng]

I was wondering if my script responded "Access Denied" to me.

Is this the problem of the IG market platform?

My script has been worked well for the past two years.

But suddenly it doesn't work anymore. However, my demo account's script is still running well.

Edited June 17, 2022 by BryanCheng

[DavR0s]

Hi, not sure as dont know anything about your script but the IG lightstreamer login is still erroring after 5 weeks for me.  I have heard nothing from them about 3 weeks (after it had been escalated as a priority - lol) so messaged IG last week and had no further reply.  I can only draw the conclusion that they are not that bothered and don't really care.  Am minded to message the CEO now as have her contact details - maybe that will get some attention as people near the top usually have a more business and customer orientation if they are any good.

btw my demo access to the API stopped working in January - i did chase at the time but never got a solution (or much of a response) - kind of given up with that now as am only prepared to put so much effort into this platform

[BryanCheng]

That means maybe we should give up on this platform?

I've sent an email and got no response either.

I've put pretty much effort on this platform. It's unbelievable  that we run into the ridiculous problem like this...

[BryanCheng]

Actually it's pretty weird that if I use API Companion. The login is functioning.

I didn't change the login function in my script which worked in the past 2 years.

This bug really frustrates me.

[swingwin]

 

@BryanCheng

@DavR0s
Are you running Windows 7 or Windows 10 ?

[DavR0s]

Yeah the companion works for me too - but that is more of a test harness and not usable in the real world.  It seems their Excel demo code which I take as the defintion of whether it is working has a different streaming implementation.  I have a workaround thanks to Andrews excel addin but the lack of responsivness and support from IG is making me think about whether I can afford to commit to IG long term - but I dont have a good alternative atm.

And I am running W10 - have been for several years and the API has been generally fine on a daily basis

 

[DavR0s]

Received this reply from IG yesterday:

" The incident is still sitting with the developer teams and we have not yet received a major progressive update from their end , except for them still working on it. As one of the affected clients who is documented on the ongoing case , we will send an update once the is a resolution. "

So it looks like we are no further forward re a resolution for this.  "Still working on this" seems to be the only status I am ever able to get on a live issue