ARCHITECTURE

The terminal implements a client-server architecture with the server running on a multiprocessor UNIX platform. The client, used by the end users to interact with the system is a Windows application. End users can also make use of an extra service ("Bloomberg Anywhere ℠") that allows Web access to this Windows application via a Citrix client. There is also a WAP portal, BlackBerry application, Windows Mobile application, and iPhone application to allow mobile access. The server side of the terminal has been developed using mostly the
Fortran and C programming languages. Recent years have seen a shift in focus towardsC++, and embedded Javascript on both client and server side.[citation needed] Each server machine runs multiple instances of the server process.

Using a proprietary form of context switching the servers keep track of the state of each end user, allowing consecutive interactions from a single user to be handled by different server processes. The Graphical User Interface (GUI) code is also proprietary, though some of it is based on GTK+[ This is the original system, consisting typically of 4 windows, each containing a separate instance of the terminal command line. By entering tickers and functions, data can be displayed and programs run to analyze it. This seemingly large number of windows allows users to call up several entirely different sets of data, and compare it quickly; for those users who have more than one computer display, each terminal window can be assigned independently, creating, in effect, four terminals.

Launchpad is a customizable display consisting of a number of smaller windows, called 'components', each of which dedicated to permanently displaying one set of data. A typical user would be a stockbroker who wishes to keep a list of 30 stocks visible at all times: Launchpad creates a small component which will show these prices constantly, saving the broker from having to check each stock independently in the terminal. It can be toggled on or off by hitting the key. Other functions, such as email inboxes, calculation tools and news tickers can be similarly displayed. The Instant Bloomberg messaging/chat tool is a Launchpad component, as are the chat windows it creates.

final level of the Bloomberg system is the ability to export data from the Terminal to 3rd party applications, such as Microsoft Excel. A user might wish to use Bloomberg data from the terminal to create his or her own calculations; by exporting the live data into another program, they can build these formulae. Bloomberg supports this through a range of add-ins which are packaged with the terminal software.