Imported from previous forum
[ original email was from Ryan Pierce (FPL Technical Director) - ryan.pierce@fixprotocol.org ]
New messages for Parties Reference Data were first introduced in FIX 5.0 Service Pack 2.
Since their introduction, new business use cases have emerged, and in the ongoing work to extend the messages, we have found a number of simplifications and optimizations that could be made while still retaining all of the original business functionality.
This refactoring of the Parties Reference Data messages was reviewed last week by the Global Exchanges and Markets Committee. At the meeting, it was noted that while these changes are beneficial, they are also substantial, and will be different in structure from what was released in FIX 5.0 SP2.
We would like to know whether firms are already implementing the FIX 5.0 SP2 Parties Reference Data messages, or if they are planning to do so.
FIX 5.0 SP2 cannot be modified except to fix errata items, so FPL cannot change the messages in SP2. But we are considering amending FIX 5.0 SP2 to indicate that we recommend firms not implement these messages, and instead implement the refactored versions which will be released in an upcoming Extension Pack. Before this can happen, we would like to know the impact that this would have on FIX users. And, of course, we would welcome input on the proposed changes.
I am requesting a special meeting of the GTC Governance Board meeting to address the withdrawal of EP96 and the issuance of an errata for FIX.5.0SP2 .
The PartyDetail messages will be changed significantly by EP105. The messages are not backwardly compatible. There was a notice sent out via the discussion forum recommending that the message not be adopted.
The proposed withdrawal would prevent ill advised implementation of hte current SP2 messages on the part of our members and the FIX community overall and will also simplify repository maintenance considerably.
New messages for Parties Reference Data were first introduced in FIX 5.0
Service Pack 2.Since their introduction, new business use cases have emerged, and in
the ongoing work to extend the messages, we have found a number of
simplifications and optimizations that could be made while still
retaining all of the original business functionality.This refactoring of the Parties Reference Data messages was reviewed
last week by the Global Exchanges and Markets Committee. At the meeting,
it was noted that while these changes are beneficial, they are also
substantial, and will be different in structure from what was released
in FIX 5.0 SP2.We would like to know whether firms are already implementing the FIX 5.0
SP2 Parties Reference Data messages, or if they are planning to do so.FIX 5.0 SP2 cannot be modified except to fix errata items, so FPL cannot
change the messages in SP2. But we are considering amending FIX 5.0 SP2
to indicate that we recommend firms not implement these messages, and
instead implement the refactored versions which will be released in an
upcoming Extension Pack. Before this can happen, we would like to know
the impact that this would have on FIX users. And, of course, we would
welcome input on the proposed changes.
[ original email was from Ryan Pierce (FPL Technical Director) - ryan.pierce@fixprotocol.org ]
To clarify these issues further:
EP96 resulted in the introduction of the Parties Reference Data messages. If you are looking at the FIX 5.0 SP2 specification, or FIXimate on the FPL website, you are looking at the EP96 version. This version used one large message to convey lists of parties, their relationships, and risk limits.
After the publication of SP2, new business requirements emerged to extend the Parties messages, and there was a desire to simplify the message structure. The proposal that did this is EP105. It is available here:
EP105 takes a substantially different approach to Parties Reference Data. It splits the single large message into distinct messages for parties and their relationships vs. risk limits. It also reorganizes the repeating group structure, reducing its complexity.
It is important to note that EP105 is a major redesign of the older EP96/SP2 message. It breaks backwards compatibility. FPL felt that since little time had elapsed between the release of SP2 and the proposal of EP105, firms had not yet begun implementing Parties Reference Data, and the benefits of the change justified breaking backwards compatibility.
To that end, on August 16, 2009, I posted this message to the discussion forums polling for any implementers of the older EP96/SP2 Parties Reference Data messages. Nobody responded. The GTC subsequently approved the changes in EP105.
However, as indicated in my post last August, it was anticipated that we would amend SP2 to warn firms not to implement the Parties Reference Data messages appearing in it, and instead instruct them to implement the EP105 version. This never happened.
We are proposing:
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To withdraw virtually all of the changes originally introduced in EP96. (There were some PartyRole values added, which will remain.)
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To issue an errata to FIX 5.0 SP2 that reflects this change, which will eliminate the obsolete Parties Reference Data messages from the SP2 spec and from FIXimate.
The Parties Reference Data messages will then be introduced in their current form in EP105.
As noted, doing this will greatly simplify Repository maintenance, and it will hopefully prevent firms from implementing the obsolete versions of these messages.
Comments are welcome.