Bloomberg must be used at the terminal; there is no remote access. You can recognize the terminal by its distinctive hardware: two monitors and a color-coded keyboard.
The Bloomberg Desktop API is a suite of Excel tools that allows you to query Bloomberg's underlying data for further custom analysis. Use the DAPI command to access the API's support documentation, including video tutorials.
Data downloaded using the API should not, under any circumstances, be removed from the Bloomberg terminal (i.e. local PC). Only your analysis of the data can be removed. Review the "Desktop API Guidelines" document (via the DAPI command) to ensure that you are in full compliance with Bloomberg's rules. If these restrictions do not match your use case, you must use another data source such as Datastream or WRDS. If you have questions about whether you are in compliance, please email the Business Library team using our form.
Data accessed through the Bloomberg terminals, including the Excel API, is subject to daily and monthly download limits. The limits are associated with each terminal, not your personal account, and cannot be reset. Be judicious when downloading so as to avoid reaching the limits, especially during busy times of year when Bloomberg assignments are due.
There is no direct way to view how much of the data limit has been used at a terminal. When a terminal's data limit has been reached, you will receive error messages in Excel or no results. In some cases, an API query may come back incomplete. In the terminal software, data in spreadsheets may also not display.
Please email the Business Library team using our form and indicate which terminal is affected. We will place a sign on the terminal.
The daily data limit resets at midnight and the monthly data limit resets at midnight on the last day of the month. These limits are controlled by Bloomberg: library staff cannot reset the limit and Bloomberg staff will not reset the limit under any circumstances.
At Bobst Library in-person terminals, every time a user logs on to Windows they must install the Excel add-in on their account.
To confirm if non-library terminals have the Excel add-in, open Excel. If the add-in is installed, there will be a "Bloomberg" tab.
Use the XLTP command to access hundreds of visually appealing Excel templates that allow you to quickly perform custom analysis. Templates are organized by market sector, role (trader, analyst, broker, etc.), and region. Templates require the Bloomberg Excel API to display and update data.