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- Subject: new version of stack manager
- introduction
- in response to feedback received from enron traders worldwide , we have
- upgraded and improved the stack manager to include new functionality which we
- hope will improve its effectiveness and usefulness in the management of your
- products .
- this new release will be automatically installed within the next few days .
- please ensure you log out at night in order to receive the upgrade .
- summary of new features
- multiple children - a " child " product can be the " parent " of another child
- ( multiple links in a chain ) and different types of links can be placed
- against a single parent .
- static product bar prices - when you change a price in the product bar and
- hit the " + " or " - " button , the price stays - it does not reset to the amount
- in product properties until you logout .
- sorting - you can sort by any field on the products tab simply by clicking on
- the title of the field . for multiple sorts , hold down your " shift " key .
- parent products which are at the top of a stack do not have their basis
- relationship identified . ( e . g . the product bar might before have said : " basis
- link - parent " and now would say " stand alone , parent " ) .
- detailed feature descriptions
- multiple children
- the new version of enrononline allows you to link several products together
- in a long chain . for example , child product a can be linked to parent product
- b , which is in turn linked to parent product c .
- warning : although there is no absolute limit to the number of links in a
- chain , system performance is degraded by large chains . this is because when a
- customer attempts a transaction , the database must " lock " each and every
- product in the chain before it can process the transaction request . the
- database must then update the stack for each product before releasing the
- locks . " vertical " chains ( multiple parents and children in one long link ) are
- much slower to process than " flat " chains ( one parent with many children ) .
- large vertical chains should be avoided .
- related to this feature is the ability to have several types of links on the
- same parent . for example , child product a can have a basis link to parent
- product b . at the same time , child product c can have a syncopated basis link
- to the same parent product b . parent b is the parent for both a syncopated
- basis link and a regular basis link .
- static product bar prices
- the new version of enrononline provides for " sticky " product bar price and
- volume changes . when you change a number on the product bar , it does not
- reset to the number contained in the product properties menu until after you
- have logged out . this makes it easier to update prices , volumes , spreads or
- offsets in a changing market without repeated hits to the " + " or " - " buttons .
- one of the benefits of setting these numbers to appropriate levels is that it
- reduces repeated price movements . with the old version of stack manager , if
- the price delta was too small , traders would often repeatedly hit the price
- movement buttons . each of these price changes must be communicated across the
- website to customers and consumes valuable bandwidth . this makes it harder
- for customers to transact with us - each time they try , a new price update
- moves the price , resulting in an increased transaction failure rate . entering
- an appropriate price into the price delta field and then pressing the price
- movement button means that fewer ( but larger ) price movements are necessary ,
- improving overall system response and reducing customer transaction failure
- rate .
- you may also notice a new addition to the product bar prices - a new field
- for offset to last trade . this allows you to update the offset for products
- which have offset to last trade selected from the product properties menu .
- sorting / selecting
- the new version of enrononline provide significant additional sorting
- functionality over the old . you can now choose any field heading ( type ,
- location , reference period , etc . ) and sort by that item . you can do multiple
- sorts by holding down the shift key . example : if you select type and then
- location while holding the shift key , you will see your products sorted first
- by product type and then within each product type , by location ( in
- alphabetical order ) .
- if you right click on the product menu , you can choose from the same sort
- criteria , plus you can select " sort by web order " , which allows you to see
- your products in the same order as they would appear to a customer on the
- website ( note however , that a customer on the website might be also seeing a
- number of products in addition to the ones you are managing ) .
- when you select products , you can drag your mouse while holding down the left
- mouse button as always , but now you can also hold down the key while
- making your selections . this allows you to highlight products which are not
- necessarily adjacent to one another .
- parent products and f / x products
- one of the differences in the way that the new version works is in its
- treatment of how parent products are displayed . the old version showed the
- type of link associated with the parent in the product bar ( to the left of
- the main product bar update buttons above the products tabs ) . the new version
- does not show the type of link . this is because the new version allows for
- more than one type of link on each parent product .
- some traders may notice that their products which have f / x links are now
- identified with a stylised " fx " in the product list . this is to enable easy
- identification of products which are run as a foreign exchange link to the
- parent , rather than managed individually .
- assistance
- as always , if you have any problems with any enrononline functionality ,
- please contact the 24 hour help desk ( houston : 713 853 4357 , london : + 44 ( 0 )
- 20 7783 7783 , australia : + 61 2 9229 2300 ) .
- general feedback
- if you have any comments on the new functionality , or suggestions for further
- functionality , please call david forster on 713 853 1861 . if you had
- previously suggested new functionality which didn ' t make it into this
- release , rest assured that you have not been forgotten - we are working hard
- to improve all elements of enrononline and will try to incorporate your
- requests into the next release of the enrononline stack manager .
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