Hello,
I am hoping Comintel, justrading, and cdcaveman are still actively engaged in Hoadley Excel add-in.
I am currently evaluating this software for potential for use as
1) RT multi-broker/account position manager.
2) Volatility Estimator/Scanner. ( Managing a DB is daunting).
3) RT Strategy/Risk tracker
Given my the current techincal skills, I might as well 4) pitch for the Chicago Cubs in World Series. But, I digress..
According to the Hoadley website, they use the newer RTD (already obsolete) instead of DDE.
My take on future proofing and upgrading the utility of this spreadsheet would best lead me to using
1) IB as a permanent data source as opposed to Yahoo which may discontinue service at anytime. Tick by tick on excel probably won't fly.
2) Using C# to build your IB front end instead of Java because it assures interoperability and references on the internet about working with excel/vba and RTD.
3) Asking Hoadley for access to those VBA code for personal use.
Additionally, I found some stylistic queues on how to design the look of the Excel UI/Dashboards from CQG.
Sexy:
http://www.cqg.com/Market-Data/CQG-RTD-Excel.aspx
I think its a marketable product for someone who can architect and build it. Heck, Somebody is making $50 bucks a month for the Stewie Robot from IB trading tools.