Products and Functionality (User Manual Links)

some text to introduce the documentation

(1) "Genesis FX" Fx Server <-> Front/Back Office Interfaces
(2) "Genesis Splitter" Deal Server Splitter
(3) "Genesis Mimic" Front/Back Office Interfaces <-> Server Mimic
(4) "Genesis DealProc" DealStore -> Bank
(5) "Genesis Printer" Ticket Printer -> File and/or Database
(6) "Genesis COG" COG -> Bank
(7) "Genesis Script" Scripting System
(8) "Genesis DealVu" Workstation-based Deal Viewer
(9) "IP-Merge" TCP-IP Deal Stream Merge
(10) "Genesis CMH" Critical Message Handler
(11) "Genesis Y2k", "Genesis EMU" Testbeds
(12) "Genesis SFP" Select Feed Plus Handler (SSL or direct TCP-IP)
(13) "Genesis SI" Cognotec SI Reader
(14) "Genesis DealRate" Trader Worklist Handler
(15) "Genesis FOL" Front-Office DataBase Loader
(16) "Genesis Bloomberg" Bloomberg FX Deal Reader
(17) "Genesis TOF TCP-IP" TOF-over-IP Deal Reader Client
(18) "Genesis ASI TCP-IP" EBS ASI-over-IP Deal Reader Client
(19) "Genesis DealDrop" High Efficiency MQ-based Deal Distribution
(20) "Genesis MQ Get" MQ Client, Deal Loader
(21) "Genesis MRM" Cognotec MRM Trader/Currency Tracker
(22) "Genesis HotSpot" HotSpot Deal Reader Client
(23) "Genesis TOF MQ" DDN TOF-over-MQ Deal Reader Client
(24) "Genesis KMBC" KMBC IP Deal Reader Client
(25) "Genesis SMBS" SMBS IP Deal Reader Client

Platforms We Support
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(1) Fx Server <-> Front/Back Office Interfaces "Genesis FX"

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Connects Reuters D2000-x or EBS ASI to any Front or Back Office system that is capable of accepting deal input in any form (even HLLAPI if necessary). We currently support direct database load, direct network "socket", flat-file, serial-line, MQ and HLLAPI. We can add (and have added) many customized proprietary APIs as banks have requested them. Genesis FX has been sucessfully connected to 3rd-party TOF and ASI server mimics including Dene, DDN, and Softek's Genesis Mimic.

(2) Deal Server Splitter "Genesis Splitter"

All the Genesis FX client interfaces above contribute data to softek's internal deal store. This deal store is indexed in real time and is used to drive other Genesis products. The deal store feeds Mimics and Deal Processors and is the basis for our Deal Splitter functionality.

(3) Front/Back Office Interfaces <-> Server Mimic "Genesis Mimic"

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Any of the deal interfaces, in (Genesis FX, product (1) above), may feed any number of server mimics (TOF or ASI) which act identically to either D2000 TOF links or EBS ASI links. Thus other products, that were using the server's dedicated serial port, may be plugged into our serial port instead and not notice that they are not still connected to the original server. This is how we implement (for example) our BART (CityNetworks) deal loader--BART expects to plug into a "real" server.

Using a combination of Genesis FX interfaces and Genesis Mimics is one way to achieve protocol conversion (TOF->ASI and ASI->TOF). This type of protocol conversion is reliable but not speedy (due to the chaining of slow serial lines and multiple-packet-per-deal protocols). A much more speedy solution is to directly connect Genesis FX to the target system even if through a softek splitter. Please see these notes on protocol conversion issues.

(4) DealStore -> Bank "Genesis DealProc"

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Any of the configured interfaces, in product (1) above, may be connected to a Deal Processor that can, using our internal dealstore, simultaneously load multiple back or front offices, or simultaneously load as many mimics (product (3)) with deals as required.

(5) Ticket Printer -> File and/or Database "Genesis Printer"

Connect your Reuters conversation printer or EBS ticket printer, through a hardware splitter (if printed output is still required), to an interface machine's serial port (via a protocol converter). Deals and reports are automatically diverted to different files. Deal conversations (Reuters only) or printed, matched deal output (Reuters or EBS), may be automatically loaded into Front office or Back office systems through our scripting system. Printed output may be redirected to any printer on the connected intranet.

(6) COG -> Bank "Genesis COG"

Customer programable COG interface (Reuters only) is also available. The COG interface responds to all Reuters information-update notifications and connects to our Front/Back office information loading subsystem (see below).

(7) Scripting System "Genesis Script"

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All the above products (except the mimics (product 3), which don't have a deal-loading function) process information through our "information scripting system" which is a user-modifiable language system (looks like a simple autoexec.bat script, or a BASIC program with labels substituted for line numbers). The scripting system's job is to allow data fields to be selected, transformed (if necessary), collected into a record format and then sent down any number of available communication paths or bank APIs. The scripting system can read feedback messages from downstream processing and act accordingly.

(8) "Genesis DealVu" Workstation-based Deal Viewer

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Genesis DEALVU allows deals from the Reuters Dealing 2000 system and EBS Dealing Resources deal matching system to be captured, stored, viewed, printed, archived, and generally managed.

(9) TCP-IP Deal Stream Merge "IP-Merge"

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Deals sent through TCP-IP from several deal servers may be merged into one output stream. Since their output format is the same as their input format, ipmerge processes may be hierarchicalized for network load balancing.

(10) Critical Message Handler "Genesis CMH"

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All the above products integrate with softek's Critical Message Handler (CMH). The CMH processes alert message and redirects them through bank notification systems. The CMH processes 3 categories of messages (1) informational, (2) important, and (3) vital. Messages of type (1) are sent to a logfile. Messages of type (2) are sent to logfile and a notification command (say email). Messages of type (3) are processed similarly to type (2) except that they are also sent to another notification command (say a pager). Category of message is determined by bank-editable tables of softek's error numbers. Notification commands are controlled by program arguments or environment variables.

A companion application std2arg is available which provides abbreviated (error numbers only) information on the argument list to an environment-specified command. Std2arg may be used in place of, or as a message delivery application for, Genesis CMH.

(11) Testbeds "Genesis Y2k", "Genesis EMU"

Using a combination of our Front/Back Office Interfaces (to store actual deals to our internal dealstore), our Server Mimic, some automated date/currency transformations and an optional Splitter, real "Year-2000" and/or EMU deals that are based on actual trades may be fed in real-time to Front-Office and/or Back-Office test systems to verify Year-2000 and/or EMU compliance.

(12) Select Feed Plus Handler "Genesis SFP"

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Reuters Select Feed Plus is handled by this product which connects via a separate NIC to a Reuters Select Feed Plus server or (using SSL) to a Triarch data server. Real time record gathering is supported, along with multiple simultaneous TCP-IP based feeds. Arrival of a message record from the feed triggers script execution which allows for post-processing of Reuters messages (including field transformation and i/o redirection).

(13) Cognotec SI reader "Genesis SI"

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A Cognotec TCP-IP SI reader is available. The reader opens a port to an authorised Cognotec SI server and delivers deals to the Softek script system for distribution directly to any of the bank's deal loading mechanisms. Supported deal loading mechanisms include (but are not limited to) TOF (using Genesis Mimic), Direct Database Table Load (SQL/ODBC/OCI etc.), HLLAPI, Flat File, Structured File, MQ, MFRPC, FIX, TCP-IP socket.

The integration of a Reuters TOF output to the SI protocol is accomplished using softek's Genesis Mimic product. There were several assumptions that had to be made to fit SI features into the TOF-like record structure. These are detailed in this discussion document. The Mimic is connected to a Bank's Front or Back Office system using an RS232 serial cable that conforms to the Reuters specification.

(14) Trader Worklist Manager "Genesis DealRate"

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This manages a pool of deal orders, presenting them to traders who pick the trades they want to fill. The product imports deals from a drop point where have been placed from, say, an internet-based trade order entry system. The deals are presented in a time-ordered list to all the traders in a pool for a deal-rate to be provided. Locking is implemented so only one trader may provide a rate for any one deal (the deal being allocated to the trader who selects a deal from the pool). The trader may provide a rate for the deal or may return the deal to the pool for another trader to pick up. Provision is made for a minimum and maximum rate (usually provided by the system placing deals in the deal-pool); the trader is allowed to override the subsequent "trade-rate not within range" warning. Provision is also made for "end of day" reconciliation reports detailing which traders filled which deals, when, and at what rate.

(15) Front Office Loader "Genesis FOL"

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Those customers which elect to have softek provide them with an intranet-based deal stream, may also elect to have softek provide them with a deal decoder that directly loads deals from this deal stream into their Front or Back Office System. This intranet client has the added bonus of helping to solve any remaining firewall issues, since the protocol is client-server based with the customer side being the client and initiating the connection. A provision is also included to load test deals directly from a local text file.

(16) Bloomberg FX Deal Reader "Genesis Bloomberg"

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A Bloomberg TCP-IP FX deal reader is available. The reader opens a port to an authorised Bloomberg FX deal server and delivers deals to the Softek script system for distribution directly to any of the bank's deal loading mechanisms. Supported deal loading mechanisms include (but are not limited to) TOF (using Genesis Mimic), Direct Database Table Load (SQL/ODBC/OCI etc.), HLLAPI, Flat File, Structured File, MQ, MFRPC, FIX, TCP-IP socket.

Of the many available Front/Back Office deal loading mechanisms, the integration of a Reuters TOF output to the Bloomberg protocol is accomplished using softek's Genesis Mimic product. The Mimic is connected to a Bank's Front or Back Office system using an RS232 serial cable that conforms to the Reuters specification.

(17) "Genesis TOF TCP-IP" TOF-over-IP Deal Reader Client

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A TOF-over-IP deal reader is available. The reader opens a TCP-IP port on an EBS or Reuters deal server, conforms to the full Reuters TOF packet specification and delivers deals to the Softek script system for distribution to any of the bank's deal loading mechanisms. In particular, this TOF reader is easily integrated into Softek's DealDrop mechanism for high-throughput deal loading.

(18) "Genesis ASI TCP-IP" EBS ASI-over-IP Deal Reader Client

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An EBS ASI-over-IP deal reader is available. The reader opens a TCP-IP port on an EBS deal server, conforms to the full EBS ASI packet specification, and delivers deals to the Softek script system for distribution to any of the bank's deal loading mechanisms. In particular, this ASI reader is easily integrated into Softek's DealDrop mechanism for high-throughput deal loading.

(19) "Genesis DealDrop" High Efficiency MQ-based Deal Distribution

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More a collection of modules designed to work closely with each other than a single product, Genesis Dealdrop combines any number of softek deal reader client applications and routes deals to any number of Softek's deal loading products, using an intermediate deal buffer based on IBM's MQ. Individual deals may be placed on several queues for multiple-destination delivery via autonomous deal-loading applications (called "Get" applications). Specialized rule-based deal processing and transformation may be accomplished within the applications that place deals on the MQ bus (called "Put" applications), within the "Get" applications themselves, or within specialized "Transformation" applications whose responsibility it is to transfer deals from one queue to another, performing business transformations (such as Back-to-Back trade generation) along the way. Multiple simultaneous "Get" applications may be employed as necessary to load deals in parallel into the same bank Front or Back Office system.

(20) "Genesis MQ Get" MQ Client, Deal Loader

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Reads records from an MQ Queue. Decoded as deals, these records are delivered to the Softek script system for distribution to any of the bank's deal loading mechanisms. In particular, this MQ record reader is easily integrated into Softek's DealDrop mechanism for high-throughput deal loading.

(21) "Genesis MRM" Cognotec MRM Trader/Currency Tracker

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Reads XML records in real-time from Cognotec's MRM Trader/Currency-Pair queue, decodes the records and stores them in a structured cache. Ten trader transitions per currency pair are stored together with their activation timestamps in GMT. When a new trade arrives the then active trader is associated with the new trade so the deal may be loaded into the correct "book".

(22) "Genesis HotSpot" Hotspot Deal Reader Client

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A Hotspot deal reader client application that reads and acknowledges properly formatted deals from a Hotspot MQ server, processing and responding to heartbeat records as defined by the Hotspot's MQ specification. Deals are delivered to the Softek script system for distribution to any of the bank's deal loading mechanisms. In particular, this Hotspot deal reader is easily integrated into Softek's DealDrop mechanism for high-throughput deal loading.

(23) "Genesis TOF MQ" DDN TOF-over-MQ Deal Reader Client

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A TOF-over-MQ deal reader is available. The reader opens an MQ connection port to a DDN deal server, conforms to the full Reuters TOF packet specification minus the ACK/NACK layer and Packet Headers and delivers deals to the Softek script system for distribution to any of the bank's deal loading mechanisms. In particular, this TOF reader is easily integrated into Softek's DealDrop mechanism for high-throughput deal loading.

(24) "Genesis KMBC" KMBC IP Deal Reader Client

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A TCP-IP deal reader is available. The reader opens a TCP-IP connection to a Korean KMBC deal server, conforms to the full KMBC packet specification and delivers deals to the Softek script system for distribution to any of the bank's deal loading mechanisms. In particular, this deal reader is easily integrated into Softek's DealDrop mechanism for high-throughput deal loading. A heartbeat is implemented to ensure continuous connectivity.

(25) "Genesis SMBS" SMBS IP Deal Reader Client

Click here for User Manual (in progress)

A TCP-IP deal reader is available. The reader opens a TCP-IP connection to a Korean SMBS deal server, conforms to the full SMBS packet specification and delivers deals to the Softek script system for distribution to any of the bank's deal loading mechanisms. In particular, this deal reader is easily integrated into Softek's DealDrop mechanism for high-throughput deal loading. A heartbeat is implemented to ensure continuous connectivity.

Platforms We Support

Our interface products run on anything that supports an ANSI C compiler and have sensible i/o support.

Platform types	Current Operating Systems Supported
Unix	All brands and versions, e.g. Solaris, SunOS, Linux, HP-UX etc.
Intel-based PCs	Any Win32 based OS
Macintosh	Classic MacOS 7.x or later, MacOS X

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Contact Us

We have offices in New York and Boston. Affiliated companies are located in London UK, Sydney Australia and Zurich Swizerland.

What We Do

Softek Partners provides customizable interface products for large corporation and bank customers.

All the applications described here were developed using the ICGS Application Development Environment.

Alen Shapiro: tech at softekpartners dot com, 718-398-1202 (718 is Brooklyn, NY) Page Alen Shapiro with a text message (up to 120 characters) by emailing alen_message at softekpartners dot com

Page Last Updated 06/20/2007