ProcessCode (FIX tag 81)
ProcessCode (tag 81) is a char field defined in FIX 4.4, FIX 4.2 and FIX 5.0 SP2. It appears in 10 message types, always optionally. It is an enumerated field with 7 defined values.
At a glance
- Tag
- 81
- Name
- ProcessCode
- Datatype
- char
- Dialects
- FIX 4.4, FIX 4.2 and FIX 5.0 SP2
- Messages
- 10
- Valid values
- 7
What the specification says
FIX 4.4
Processing code for sub-account. Absence of this field in AllocAccount (79) / AllocPrice (366) /AllocQty (80) / ProcessCode instance indicates regular trade.
FIX 4.2
Processing code for sub-account. Absence of this field in AllocAccount / AllocPrice/AllocShares / ProcessCode instance indicates regular trade.
FIX 5.0 SP2
Processing code for sub-account. Absence of this field in AllocAccount (79) / AllocPrice (366) /AllocQty (80) / ProcessCode instance indicates regular trade.
Descriptions are quoted from the FIX Orchestra sources under the Apache 2.0 licence.
A real message using tag 81
| Tag | Field | Wire value | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | BeginString | FIX.4.4 | |
| 9 | BodyLength | 116 | |
| 35 | MsgType | D | Order – Single |
| 49 | SenderCompID | BOARTEAM | |
| 56 | TargetCompID | COUNTERPARTY | |
| 34 | MsgSeqNum | 2 | |
| 52 | SendingTime | 20240101-12:00:00.000 | |
| 11 | ClOrdID | ORD-10042 | |
| 81 | ProcessCode | 0 | regular |
| 54 | Side | 1 | Buy |
| 60 | TransactTime | 20240101-12:00:00.000 | |
| 40 | OrdType | 1 | Market |
| 10 | CheckSum | 204 |
Shown with | separators for readability. On the wire FIX uses SOH (0x01), an invisible control byte — and because BodyLength and CheckSum are computed over the actual bytes, the two forms have different checksums. Both are valid and both decode here.
Generated from the FIX 4.4 dictionary and verified at build time: it parses and validates with no issues. Open the decoder to try your own message.
Valid values
A value outside this list is not a parse error — the message still decodes — but validate() reports it as validate/value-not-in-enum.
| Value | Meaning | Symbolic name |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | regular | REGULAR / Regular |
| 1 | soft dollar | SOFT_DOLLAR / SoftDollar |
| 2 | step-in | STEP_IN / StepIn |
| 3 | step-out | STEP_OUT / StepOut |
| 4 | soft-dollar step-in | SOFT_DOLLAR_STEP_IN / SoftDollarStepIn |
| 5 | soft-dollar step-out | SOFT_DOLLAR_STEP_OUT / SoftDollarStepOut |
| 6 | plan sponsor | PLAN_SPONSOR / PlanSponsor |
Where tag 81 appears
Requiredness is a property of the message, not of the field: the same tag can be optional in one message and conditionally required in another.
| Message | MsgType | FIX 4.4 | FIX 4.2 | FIX 5.0 SP2 | Where in the message |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AllocationInstruction | J | Optional | Optional | Optional | inside the AllocGrp component |
| AllocationInstructionAlert | BM | — | — | Optional | inside the AllocGrp component |
| AllocationReport | AS | Optional | — | Optional | inside the AllocGrp component |
| Confirmation | AK | Optional | — | Optional | directly on the message body |
| CrossOrderCancelReplaceRequest | t | Optional | — | Optional | directly on the message body |
| MultilegOrderCancelReplace | AC | Optional | — | Optional | directly on the message body |
| NewOrderCross | s | Optional | — | Optional | directly on the message body |
| NewOrderList | E | Optional | Optional | Optional | inside the ListOrdGrp component |
| NewOrderMultileg | AB | Optional | — | Optional | directly on the message body |
| NewOrderSingle | D | Optional | Optional | Optional | directly on the message body |
| TradeCaptureReport | AE | Optional | — | Optional | inside the TrdCapRptSideGrp component |
| TradeCaptureReportAck | AR | — | — | Optional | inside the TrdCapRptAckSideGrp component |
Wire format
A single character. Most char fields are enumerated, so the value is one of a fixed set rather than arbitrary text. @boarteam/fix keeps the value as a string and, for enumerated fields, reports validate/value-not-in-enum when it is not a defined value.
Read tag 81 in TypeScript
import { createFixEngine } from "@boarteam/fix";import { dictionary } from "@boarteam/fix-dict-fix44";const fix = createFixEngine(dictionary);const { message, issues } = fix.parse(raw);const processCode = message.fields[81]?.raw;// e.g. "0" — regular// The dictionary also carries the labels:const label = fix.dictionary .fieldByTag(81) ?.enumValues?.find((e) => e.value === processCode) ?.description;Other char fields
Decode this in your own code
The same engine that produced the decoded example above is an Apache-2.0 npm package with zero runtime dependencies. It runs in Node and in the browser, and parse() returns problems as data instead of throwing.
npm i @boarteam/fix @boarteam/fix-dict-fix44