MDDL and the Quest for a Market Data Standard

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18 MDDL and the Quest for a Market Data Standard

MDDL opportunities

There are a couple of opportunities that immediately spring to mind, apart from the

creation of a messaging framework based around a Central Repository:

The first is to use MDDL messages in conjunction with XSLT (XML Stylesheet

Language for Transformations) to transform the message into a report such as

a prospectus; with little effort this could take the form of an elaborate looking

document, which can take advantage of the built-in components within Internet

browser. A number of examples are provided later in this book, one of which can be

seen in Chapter 8 in the section ‘Issuance’. XML to HMTL transformation is a fairly

simple exercise; however, transforming MDDL into binary, non-mark-up-based data

is a little trickier. This is even possible in real time by using proprietary or XSL-FO,

an open source initiative which combines XPath+XSLT+XSL-FO all in one. Either

can be used to generate high-quality document presentation such as reports in PDF

(Portable Document Format).

Another possibility is the use of web services for the delivery of information.

Like the layers on an onion, a message can be constructed – an MDDL message

is the payload, and information relating to its delivery would normally be in the

wrapper or wrappers that surround the content. However, there are exceptions to this

rule – when, for example, this data is required by the application, this should be on a

need to know basis. Attempts should be made not to duplicate information whenever

possible. An example where multiple headers may exist is when the decision is made

to use SOAP over an IBM MQ Series transportation layer; here, effectively routing

information is duplicated in the MQ Series header as well as the SOAP header.