Technical Guide Phone support: 888.275.2822 Email support: mailto:support@snl. support@snl.com Web site: http://www.snl. www.snl.com SNLi: http://www.snl.com/ www.snl.com/interactive Overview SNLxl is the next generation of SNL s Excel Add-In application. Unlike prior versions of the DataSource and Excel Add-In applications, SNLxl is a Web services application and therefore accesses all of the data real-time over an Internet connection rather than from a localized database. The advantage to our clients is that they are able to access updated information much faster and from wherever an Internet connection is available. It also eliminates the need to perform nightly or periodic updates. System Requirements Important Note: Because the System Requirements have changed for SNLxl version 2.6, please make sure to review the requirements before installing. In addition to confirming that your system meets the System Requirements listed below, please ensure that you have administrative permissions to download/install new software. If you are uncertain, please consult with your IT department. The System Requirements for running SNLxl are as follows: Supported Operating Systems: Windows 2000, XP or Vista MS Office: Microsoft Excel 2000, XP, 2003 or 2007 Additional Microsoft Components: Microsoft.Net Framework version 2.0 Microsoft Web Service Extensions (WSE) 3.0 Access to sc.snl.com, sc.snl.com, sc2.snl.com, scd.snl.com Ports: Port 80 or Port 443 (SSL) Language Requirements: If you are running the English version of Microsoft Excel but your Windows operating system uses non-english regional settings, you will need to install the Microsoft Office language pack for the configured language from Microsoft, which will enable SNLxl to be installed and will also allow it to automate Excel. Please refer to Microsoft s Office Online site, www.office.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx for the latest version of the pack that you may require. Accessing SNLxl To access the installation page, you need to register for SNL Interactive (SNLi). If you have not registered for SNLi, you can do so using the login screen at www. snl.com/interactive.. Returning clients enter email address and password. 2. If you wish to login automatically check Enable Auto-Login and login will not be required the next time you access SNLi. 3. New users Select the Register for Password link to enter your company email address and follow the simple registration procedure. 2 Note: SNLxl users are required to enter their email address and password (SNLi login credentials); access can be performed with or without SSL encryption. All data is accessed over port 80 or port 443 (SSL) depending on whether SSL has been selected. SNLxl detects proxy server information automatically based on current IE settings. Additionally, the proxy server information can be entered directly into the SNLxl configuration file should the automatic mailto:support@snl. detection fail for any reason. Direct questions on SNLxl data access and proxy server issues to SNL Support: 888.275.2822, support@snl.com 3 2008 v.2.6 One SNL Plaza Charlottesville, VA 22902 888.275.2822 http://www.snl. snl.com
Installation Download SNLxl from the SNLxl home page: www.snl.com/interactivex/snlxl.aspx Installation of SNLxl requires local machine administrative rights. If your system meets the minimum requirements and you have local administrative permissions on your PC to install software, you can proceed to install by following the instructions on the SNLxl home page. If administrative rights do not exist, the installation package cannot install SNLxl,.NET or WSE. In this instance, contact your IT help desk to get SNLxl installed. All users of SNLxl will require an installation of the application components. The default installation writes and makes registry entries to C:\ Program Files\SNL Financial\SNLxl. In addition to the SNLxl related files, the user must have Microsoft.Net Framework v2.0 as well as Microsoft Web Service Extensions (WSE) 3.0. Both components are available for download on the SNLxl home page. There are two SNLxl Installation options. 2. Using the Install All Components method (at http://www.snl.com/interactivex/snlxl.aspx) will check for the base requirements of.net 2.0 and WSE 3.0, install whichever one is required, and then install SNLxl. The default install location under this method is C:\Program Files\SNL Financial\SNLxl. These installs are done over the web. Note that at some companies these types of installs over the web are not allowed, and in this case you may see the install hanging. If this occurs, try #2 below. Even though you may have administrative rights to install applications, sometimes the automated Install All Components method may not work due to proxy/internet firewall policies preventing installations from occurring over the internet. The Install Individual Components method allows you to download and save on the user s machine the snlxl.msi (available at the SNLxl download page), then double-click and run the install. Some additional notes in this regard: Check to see if Microsoft.Net 2.0 and Microsoft WSE 3.0 are already installed. Do this by going to Start>Control Panel>Add/ Remove Programs to see if these components are already present on the machine. If they are, just install SNLxl.msi. If they are not, order of install is.net 2.0, then WSE 3.0, then finally SNLxl. Before installing SNLxl, make sure you exit Excel. From the Install Individual Components page, right click and save (on the desktop or some accessible location) the SNLxl.msi file With Excel closed, double-click and run the snlxl.msi file Choose the defaults when installing If you would like to specify an installation location to be other than what the default is, choose the Advanced install option available at the bottom of the SNLxl Setup s LIcence Agreement Screen Before commencing the SNLxl installation, please close all Excel windows and exit Excel completely. If there are install issues, contact SNL Support at 888-275-2822 or email support@snl.com. Packaging SNLxl If Microsoft.Net Framework v2.0 and Microsoft Web Service Extensions (WSE) 3.0 are already a part of your PC build, then all you need to do is package the SNLxl client. The SNLxl installation is distributed as an MSI, so please refer to the installation file for installed components. The SNLxl MSI (as well as the exe s for.net and WSE) can be obtained from the SNLxl Add-In Download Area: sc.snl.com/snldswebservice/download.aspx Once the SNLxl client is installed, SNLxl is available to users in Excel whenever Excel is launched. It loads as an Add-In and provides an SNL Financial menu option, as well as an SNLxl toolbar. A more detailed Application Description document is available at http://sc.snl.com/snldswebservice/docs/snlxl%20application%20 Description.pdf New Versions of SNLxl Periodically, SNL will distribute newer versions of SNLxl in order to provide additional enhancements. Users will be automatically notified that a newer version is available through the product interface, and if applicable, will be prompted to download the newest version. They may also ignore the prompt and continue to work with the version they have installed indefinitely but lacking any of the changes that have been made. SNL highly encourages clients to always have the most recent version of the product installed. In cases where users are not capable of installing software to their machines, SNL recommends that the IT department set aside a monthly time to perform these updates to each affected user. The latest version of the application will always be available on the SNLxl home page: www.snl.com/interactivex/snlxl.aspx
Test Scripts Once installed, an SNL Financial menu option and SNLxl toolbar will appear within Excel. The item SNLxladdin will show up in the Tools>Add-Ins menu, which designates that SNLxl will launch whenever Excel is opened. Note: The DataSource Add-In shows the menu item as SNL rather than SNL Financial and also includes a toolbar. To confirm that an installation (or packaging/rollout) was successful, run through the seven steps described below. Create a sample report Step :. In Excel, with your cursor in cell A, go to SNL Financial>DataWizard. This will prompt you to login. 2. Enter your login credentials and press Sign In. Check the box marked Remember me for SNLxl to remember your login information for future sessions. 3. To entirely bypass the login process in the future, go to SNL Financial>Settings once in Excel and check the box marked Allow auto logon. 2 3
Step 2: The DataWizard will open the Search Criteria tab and will default to Industry: Bank, Operating Status: Operating Companies Only, Exchange: NYSE. Keep these defaults for your test.. Press Next. Step 3: In the Report Builder tab,. Select GAAP Financial from the Available Fields on the left, and open Financial Highlights. 2. Select MstRctQtr as the period, and then 3. Double-click on the first three fields that show in the center box: Total Net Loans Total Deposits. Your newly selected fields will show in the Selected Fields box on the right. 4. Press Next. 3 2 4
Step 4: In the Results tab,. Press Export SNLTable. This will export your report to the Excel sheet in the background with an embedded SNLTable function. Step 5: Minimize the DataWizard and your report will show in Excel.
Step 6: To test the ability to refresh data,. Delete cells C6 to E25. In the next step, we ll repopulate this data automatically using SNLxl. Step 7:. Refresh the data by pressing the <!> button in the SNLxl Toolbar. The data deleted in the prior step will repopulate. If the data refreshed successfully, SNLxl has been properly installed. Congratulations! If any of these steps failed, please contact SNL Support: 888.275.2822, support@snl.com
Best Practices Batch processing of SNLData function: If you have a template utilizing many SNLData functions, consider the alternate method of using a single SNLTable function to retrieve all data on one tab or your workbook, and then use basic Excel references and formulas to pull the data into your template. This generally results in much faster response times. Minimize time spent refreshing data in an SNLxl template: The SNL functions are often linked to data that a user will have to manipulate while building a template. Each time a function parameter is changed, the function will refresh, if Excel preferences are set to: Tools>Options>Calculation = Automatic. If the time spent refreshing is too great, set preferences to: Tools>Options>Calculation = Manual. Or, go to SNL Financial>Settings and uncheck Allow Excel calculation. Cause the template to refresh data. This can be accomplished in the following ways: Choose SNL Financial>Refresh Data from the menu Press the <!> button in the SNLxl Toolbar If the calculation mode, mentioned above, is set to Automatic, adjusting a directly referenced function parameter will cause the data to refresh. Converting Templates from the DataSource Add-In to SNLxl Many SNL users have existing Excel templates built that automatically draw on SNL data. These spreadsheets will reference the DataSource Add-In and will need to be converted to access SNLxl. Before opening any of these old templates in SNLxl it is recommended that users first make a copy in a new location. This will allow users to easily revert back to the DataSource Add-In if desired. Upon opening an old template, one or more dialogues pertaining to updating the link to the source data for SNLxl may open. If the file does not automatically update, you can manually update the links by going to SNL Financial>Sharing>Update References in the Excel menu. The update references action can be replicated by going to Edit>Links in the Excel menu. If SNLAdd-In.xla is noted as a source, the template is referencing the DataSource Add-In links. Select that line and choose Change Source. Browse to C:\Program Files\SNL Financial\SNLxl and choose SNLXLAdd-In.xla from the file menu. Press <Close> and the sheet should update. Saving the sheet after converting will save all links as SNLxl links, so this process only needs to be done once. FAQs Q: I have been prompted to convert my template to SNLxl and hit <Yes>. Why doesn t my template refresh? A: Try refreshing links manually by going to SNL Financial>Sharing>Update References in the Excel menu. Your template may not have updated links properly, causing the links to reference the DataSource Add-In instead of SNLxl. Q: Why is the term KEYERROR showing up in my spreadsheet template? A: KEYERROR is displayed whenever the user employs secondary & tertiary keys incorrectly. Remove any unnecessary secondary and/or tertiary key references, add necessary references, then refresh the template. Q: Why is the term DEFUNCT showing up in my spreadsheet template? A: DEFUNCT populates when the template references a keyfield that is no longer applicable. Use SNL Financial>Field Selector to search for an appropriate replacement keyfield. Q: Is it possible to change the orientation of the SNLTable layout? A: The SNLTable default layout has items (usually companies) down a left-hand column, and fields across a top row. To view other layout orientations, go to SNL Financial>Settings. Q: How do I add an additional company or field to an SNL template? A: To modify a template, either new or existing, you can add/change companies (or other items) or fields by using the DataWizard s Export Fields button in the Report Builder tab, or the Export List button in the Results tab. Before using these options, make sure to put your cursor in the cell where you want the addition to go. To add fields only, use the Field Selector at SNL Financial>Field Selector. Q: How can I bypass the login process in subsequent visits to SNLxl? A: For SNLxl to remember your login credentials (email and password), check the box marked Remember me on the login dialogue. To entirely bypass the login process, go to SNL Financial>Settings once in Excel and check the box marked Allow auto logon.
Appendix SNLxl vs. DataSource Add-In SNLxl is an upgrade to the DataSource Add-In, in most respects. As such, anyone upgrading to SNLxl would not need to access the DataSource version. Both versions require a client install, but here are some important distinctions: SNLxl Uses the same SNL functions as the DataSource Add-In and adds two more: SNLPrice & SNLQuery. Templates built in the DataSource Add-In can be refreshed by SNLxl. Pulls data from SNL s Web servers, which also provide data for SNL Interactive. Additional data fields and data sets, with new content rollouts monthly (monthly rollouts do not require a new installation). Users will see data that is available sooner than in DataSource since data is being pulled from SNL s Web servers, which are being updated throughout the day. Can be accessed from the road (remotely), as long as a client install is on their PC/laptop and user has broadband Internet access; can use SNLxl to build & refresh Excel templates. Does not require access to SNL DataSource. DataSource Add-In Uses SNL functions (SNLTable, SNLData, etc.) to pull data into Excel sheets. Pulls data from your server DataSource installation. Same data fields as in SNL DataSource, with no plans to add additional data fields and data sets. Users will see data based on SNL DataSource nightly updates. Users can access only when in the office or connected to your network. Requires SNL DataSource access and maintenance. Product Training For additional information on using SNLxl, download the SNLxl Product Reference. For a hands-on SNLxl training, download the SNLxl Training Tutorial. To schedule an on-site training visit on SNLxl, contact your Account Manager or SNL Support: 888.275.2822, support@snl.com Spreadsheet Library A detailed SNLxl Training Tutorial, as well as industry specific sample templates for financial institutions, real estate, energy and media & communications companies, is available on SNL Interactive at www.snl.com/interactivex/templatebrowser.aspx. Link to the SNLxl Training Tutorial directly here: SNLxl Training Tutorial Technical Support Phone: 888.275.2822 Email: support@snl.com SNL Support Hours: Monday Friday 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. EST Saturday Sunday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST