NOTES

This document outlines most obvious differences between Bloomberg C++ SDK and
this Python SDK.


Different APIs
==============

Below is a list of APIs that have different parameters or enhanced
functionality:

class 'Constant'
----------------

C++: constructor accepts a handle.

Python: constructor accepts a handle and a list of relevant sessions, to make
sure objects of type 'Constant' are destroyed before the relevant sessions.


C++: overloaded methods with name 'getValueAs', together with methods
'getValueAsChar', 'getValueAsInt32', 'getValueAsInt64', 'getValueAsFloat32',
'getValueAsFloat64', 'getValueAsDatetime', 'getValueAsString'.

Python: methods 'getValueAsInteger', 'getValueAsFloat', 'getValueAsDatetime',
'getValueAsString', that return integers, floats, datetime objects, strings,
and method 'getValue' that returns value of the constant as it is stored,
without conversion.


class 'ConstantList'
--------------------

C++: constructor accepts a handle.

Python: constructor accepts a handle and a list of relevant sessions, to make
sure objects of type 'Constant' are destroyed before the relevant sessions.

In addition, in Python, objects of type ConstantList support iterator
interface, to iterate over constants they store.


class 'CorrelationId'
---------------------

C++: method 'swap' that swaps two CorrelationID objects.

Python: none.


C++: method 'valueType'.

Python: method that does the same has different name, 'type'.


class Datetime
--------------

In Python SDK, two methods exist to convert between objects of this type and
standard Python classes from datetime module,
blpapi._DatetimeUtil.convertToNative, and
blpapi._DatetimeUtil.convertToBlpapi. No separate Datetime class is defined.

class 'Element'
---------------

C++: overloaded methods with name 'GetElement' that return an element based on
its name or position for sequences or choices.

Python: two separate methods: 'GetElement' that returns an element by its name
and method 'GetElementAt' that returns an element at the specified position.


C++: overloaded methods with name 'getValueAs', together with methods
'getValueAsBool', 'getValueAsChar', 'getValueAsInt32', 'getValueAsInt64',
'getValueAsFloat32', 'getValueAsFloat64', 'getValueAsDatetime',
'getValueAsString', 'getValueAsElement', 'getValueAsName'.

Python: methods 'getValueAsBool', 'getValueAsInteger', 'getValueAsFloat',
'getValueAsDatetime', 'getValueAsString', 'getValueAsName',
'getValueAsElement' that return value of the element converted to the relevant
data types, and method 'getValue' that returns value of the (sub)element as it
is stored, without conversion.


C++: methods 'getElementAsBool', 'getElementAsChar', 'getElementAsInt32',
'getElementAsInt64', 'getElementAsFloat32', 'getElementAsFloat64',
'getElementAsDatetime', 'getElementAsString', 'getElementAsName'.

Python: methods 'getElementAsBool', 'getElementAsString',
'getElementAsDatetime', 'getElementAsInteger', 'getElementAsFloat',
'getElementAsName' that return a value of the specified subelement converted
to the relevant data types, and method 'getElementValue' that returns the
value without conversion.


C++: overloaded methods 'setElement', 'setValue', 'appendValue' for bool,
char, Int32, Int64, Float32, Float64, Datetime, const char*, Name date types.

Python: methods 'setElement', 'setValue', 'appendValue' that treat bools as
BLPAPI_DATATYPE_BOOL, ints as BLPAPI_DATATYPE_INT32, longs as
BLPAPI_DATATYPE_INT64, floats as BLPAPI_DATATYPE_FLOAT64, Datetimes as
BLPAPI_DATATYPE_DATETIME. Everything else is treated as/converted to
BLPAPI_DATATYPE_STRING.


Also, this class in the Python implementation support methods 'elements' and
'values' to iterate over elements in this object and values stored in it.


class 'Event'
-------------

C++: constructor accepts a handle.

Python: constructor accepts a handle and a list of relevant sessions, to make
sure objects of this type are destroyed before the relevant sessions.


In addition, in Python, objects of this type support iterator interface, to
iterate over messages they store.


class 'EventHandler'
--------------------

Not defined in Python code. Examples of event handlers can be found in
'MktdataPublisher.py' and 'PagePublisherExample.py' files in examples
directory.


class 'Identity'
----------------

C++: constructor accepts a handle

Python: constructor accepts a handle and a list of relevant sessions, to make
sure objects of this type are destroyed before the relevant sessions.


class 'Message'
---------------

C++: methods 'numCorrelationIds', 'correlationId'.

Python: method 'correlationIds', that return a list of correlation IDs.


class 'Name'
------------

C++: class method 'findName' returns 'Name()' when it cannot find the name.

Python: class method 'findName' returns None when it cannot find the name.


class 'Request'
---------------

C++: constructor accepts a handle.

Python: constructor accepts a handle and a list of relevant sessions, to make
sure objects of this type are destroyed before the relevant sessions.


class 'SchemaElementDefinition'
-------------------------------

C++: constructor accepts a handle.

Python: constructor accepts a handle and a list of relevant sessions, to make
sure objects of this type are destroyed before the relevant sessions.


C++: methods 'numAlternateNames', 'getAlternateName'.

Python: method 'alternateNames', that returns a list of Name objects.


class 'SchemaTypeDefinition'
---------------------------

C++: constructor accepts a handle.

Python: constructor accepts a handle and a list of relevant sessions, to make
sure objects of this type are destroyed before the relevant sessions.


class 'Operation'
-----------------

C++: constructor accepts a handle.

Python: constructor accepts a handle and a list of relevant sessions, to make
sure objects of this type are destroyed before the relevant sessions.


C++: method 'responseDefinition'.

Python: method 'getResponseDefinitionAt'.


In addition, in Python, objects of this type support iterator interface, to
iterate over responses they store.


class 'Service'
---------------

C++: constructor accepts a handle.

Python: constructor accepts a handle and a list of relevant sessions, to make
sure objects of this type are destroyed before the relevant sessions.


C++: overloaded methods 'getOperation'.

Python: methods 'getOperation' and 'getOperationAt'.


C++: overloaded method 'getEventDefinition'.

Python: methods 'getEventDefinition' and 'getEventDefinitionAt'.


In addition, in Python, objects of this type support iterator interface.


General notes
-------------

In most cases, where a class defines method print() that sends formatted
output to a stream, a replacement method is defined in the Python SDK,
toString(), that returns a formatted string.