Orchid Technology

Development Issues	Data delivery and permissioning
Software licensing	Product Integration

Jigsaw™ Platform is a component-based architecture based on Microsoft® ActiveX® technology. It consists of families of display controls, containers and datafeed management components. The result is a very flexible environment, where the user can combine Jigsaw components with other third party objects or containers.

Clients have asked a variety of questions, in particular relating to exactly what can and cannot be done within the Jigsaw framework.

Here are some of the questions that are most frequently asked. If you cannot find the answer to your question here please email us at:

Development issues / back to top

Q. What exactly is ActiveX?
A. ActiveX controls, formerly known as OLE or OCX controls, are re-usable objects that can be inserted into any application (or ActiveX control) which supports this functionality, such as MS Internet Explorer browser.

Q. Why not use Java applets instead?
A. ActiveX controls have an additional advantage in that they can be used within applications written in a variety of languages, and they can be manipulated using simple scripts, such as those written in VB Script or J Script. This provides the ability to produce highly customised displays within a short period of time.

Q. Is Jigsaw Platform available on UNIX?
A. No. ActiveX technology was developed for the MS Windows environment only, and thus is not supported on UNIX. However, the servers which supply data to the Jigsaw Platform, such as MarketCast server, are designed to run in a “black box” mode on the client LAN, and these are available for both UNIX and Windows environments.

Q. Can Jigsaw Platform be integrated into MS Internet Explorer?
A. Yes, Jigsaw Platform Container services are implemented as ActiveX standard components, which can be loaded and run from within Internet Explorer (version 4.0 or higher) and manipulated by either J Script or VB Script.

Q. Is the Jigsaw Platform interface open?
A. Yes, Jigsaw ActiveX controls implement an additional COM interface, the Jigsaw Interface, to provide additional container services such as linking. This interface is open and documented in the Jigsaw Component Interface Programmer’s Guide and can be used to create additional Jigsaw controls.

Q. Can Jigsaw Platform support any ActiveX control?
A. Yes, Jigsaw Platform will support any well-written, standard ActiveX control. However, in order to access specific Jigsaw Services (such as the proprietary “plugs and sockets” linking), the control will need to have a “Jigsaw Interface”. See Jigsaw Component Interface Programmer’s Guide for details.

Q. Can third parties build Jigsaw Platform ActiveX controls?
A. Yes, Jigsaw Platform and Jigsaw Interface are open and documented, facilitating the creation of additional Jigsaw Controls by anyone.

Q. What software languages can be used with Jigsaw Platform?
A. Jigsaw Platform controls and servers can be written in any language that supports ActiveX. These include Microsoft Visual C++, Microsoft Visual Basic.

Q. What are Jigsaw Services?
A. Jigsaw Services are a set of functions provided by the Jigsaw Interface for example, real-time intra-control links, datafeed links, printing, control dependent menus and tool bars etc. These are fully described in the Jigsaw Component Interface Programmer’s Guide.

Software licensing / back to top

Q. Does Jigsaw Platform have a licensing system?
A. Yes. Jigsaw Platform provides a licensing system that facilitates the licensing of single controls or groups of controls. Licensing can apply to single instances or alternatively to user groups for either definite or indefinite periods of time.

Data delivery and permissioning / back to top

Q. What distribution platforms does Jigsaw Platform support?
A. Jigsaw supports Reuters Triarch™ SSL™, and TIBCO Rendezvous®. Additionally, Jigsaw comes with it’s own network TCP/IP distribution server.

Q. Is Jigsaw Platform restricted to Reuters RMDS and TIBCO Rendezvous® market data distribution architectures?
A. Jigsaw Platform is data distribution independent. This means that Jigsaw can be interfaced to virtually any data distribution environment. The Jigsaw Platform is provided with its own TCP/IP based real-time distribution server that can be accessed from a standard Jigsaw OLE datafeed server and will support multiple sessions per instance.

Q. How about Reuters bond and Securities database access?
A. Reuters 3000 databases are available via an “Open Access” interface that is implemented as an ODBC driver. Therefore an appropriate Jigsaw ActiveX control could be developed to support the display of data from these databases.

Q. Does Jigsaw Platform have support for market data permissioning?
A. Jigsaw relies on the market data permissioning facilities provided by the data distribution architecture. For Triarch, Data Access Permissioning System (DACS) is supported.

Product Integration / back to top

Q. Can Jigsaw Platform reside within Reuters Kobra desktop?
A. Yes, Jigsaw Platform is comprised of standard ActiveX controls and can be loaded and run in any ActiveX container application, including Kobra.

Q. Is it possible to integrate Order Handling controls in Jigsaw Platform?
A. Order handling controls implemented using ActiveX can be integrated in Jigsaw Platform. Orchid has produced a prototype set of order handling controls which will allow an order entry window to be activated from any Jigsaw display control.

Q. Does Jigsaw Platform support drag and drop between applications as well as within the container?
A. Yes. In addition, Jigsaw can export formulas into applications such as Excel, and maintain live links between the applications. Links can also be created using scripting such as VB script.