The Financial Information Exchange (FIX) Protocol is a message standard developed to facilitate the electronic exchange of information related to securities transactions. It is intended for use between trading partners wishing to automate communications.
It is comprised of one or more FIX Connections, meaning that a FIX Session spans multiple logins.
Session-Initiator establishes the telecommunications link and initiates the session via transmission of the initial Logon message.
Each message within the FIX protocol is comprised of required, optional and conditionally required fields (fields which are required based on the presence or value of other fields). Systems should be designed to operate when only the required and conditionally required fields are present.
Fields in a FIX message that are not expected in accordance with the FIX protocol or its dialect.
These fields are intended to be implemented between consenting trading partners and should be used with caution to avoid conflicts, which will arise as multiple parties begin implementation of the protocol. The tag numbers 5000 to 9999 have been reserved for them. These tags can be registered/reserved via the FIX website.