Reuters "Inactive : The record could not be found"

Reuters Inactive - The record could not be found""

When the Reuters adapter generates the message "Inactive : The record could not be found"...

This means that the stock/option symbol (RIC) requested has expired. This happens constantly with expiring options contracts ("RIC^D08" refers to a December-2008 expiring option). This happens less frequently with stock, but there's a constant cycle of new and old symbols. In practice, these messages are harmless in the short term and every quarter, month, week, or even at end of day the symbols that are "Inactive" should be culled from automatic subscription lists. These messages rarely result in operational difficulties, but if an excessive number are being produced, this can impact logging and delay subscription processing for valid instruments.