Imported from previous forum
[ original email was from Brian Driscoll - driscolb@bis.adp.com ]
Is FIX 3.0 Y2K compliant?
The FAQ on the FIX web site says:
Q: Is FIX year-2000 compliant?
A: The FIX Protocol itself won’t be affected come the new millenium. FIX versions 3.0 and later identify dates in a YYYYMMDD format …
However, the FIX 3.0 spec currently posted says the following for SendingDate:
"Date of message transmission in YYMMDD format (always expressed in GMT) …"
The same problem is true for the other date fields FutSettDate, TradeDate.
I’m assuming the 3.0 spec is right and the FAQ is wrong and FIX 3.0 is not Y2K compliant. Is this a correct assumption, or do I somehow have an old FIX 3.0 spec?
[ original email was from sam johnson - sam.johnson@gs.com ]
> Is FIX 3.0 Y2K compliant?
…
> I’m assuming the 3.0 spec is right and the FAQ is wrong and FIX 3.0 is not Y2K compliant. Is this a correct assumption, or do I somehow have an old FIX 3.0 spec?
You and the 3.0 spec are correct; I made a mistake in the FAQ, which I just corrected. Nice catch.
[ original email was from Mark Hinman - mhinman@easetech.com ]
What is the future of FIX 3.0 in light of the Y2K deficiency?
> > Is FIX 3.0 Y2K compliant?
> …
> > I’m assuming the 3.0 spec is right and the FAQ is wrong and FIX 3.0 is not Y2K compliant. Is this a correct assumption, or do I somehow have an old FIX 3.0 spec?
>
> You and the 3.0 spec are correct; I made a mistake in the FAQ, which I just corrected. Nice catch.
>
>
>
It is possible to use YYMMDD (i.e. FIX 3.0) beyond the year 2000 if one implements “windowing” for the century. This is a common technique used in Y2K remediation. That is not a guarantee that your counterparty’s system is handling the 2 digit years properly, though. Expanding the date to YYYYMMDD makes things more explicit but still is not a guarantee that a counterparty’s various systems on the other side can handle the turn of the century properly.
At the Open Technical Committee meetings we have held in the past, we have always stated that we would only address questions and revision suggestions to the current version of the protocol and the prior version. This is because many of the issues have been solved with the latest versions. This does not preclude someone from using FIX 3.0 or an older version, but does mean that it is fading. Since FIX 4.1 and 4.0 have been released, FIX 3.0 is now in that category.
> What is the future of FIX 3.0 in light of the Y2K deficiency?
>
>
> > > Is FIX 3.0 Y2K compliant?
> > …
> > > I’m assuming the 3.0 spec is right and the FAQ is wrong and FIX 3.0 is not Y2K compliant. Is this a correct assumption, or do I somehow have an old FIX 3.0 spec?
> >
> > You and the 3.0 spec are correct; I made a mistake in the FAQ, which I just corrected. Nice catch.
> >
> >
> >
>