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Bloomberg Open API announced recently - is it just the Bloomberg SDK which had been (limitedly) exposed to public for quite a while?

My understanding is that Bloomberg SDK is possible to use only on the machine with a Bloomberg Terminal installed, but the recently announced Open API (which is syntactically the same) will be possible to use from any machine.

Is that correct? Are there any restrictions on the new API (say, delayed responses etc)? Just cannot believe they're giving away for free something that costed money - any clarifications are welcome!

EDIT: The above was probably not clear, so to rephrase:

  1. I wonder if the newly announced Open API is syntactically the Bloomberg SDK API (or how they call it?) which has been available for years already
  2. assuming there are restrictions on using Open API on any machine (comparing to using SDK from a machine with Bloomberg Terminal installed) - I wonder if those restrictions are specified in detail in some official Bloomberg doc.

I can myself guess on both questions, but I thought I'd rather ask :)

andreister
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    as Rahul pointed out - the API is now freely available (And all the data vendors should follow suit) - they sell the data. The real question is why did it take so long. This allows more small 3rd parties to work with it and create useful products with it. – Tim Feb 01 '12 at 20:44
  • Yup. I agree. Perhaps the question wasn't clear enough, I added a clarification - thanks. – andreister Feb 02 '12 at 09:31
  • There is an email address at the bottom of one of those linked pages. You should email them about it. – Tim Feb 02 '12 at 16:02
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    Tim, I am sure about the fact that they will not open up all their data to developers. I work in the market data industry, so I can tell you that for sure. –  Feb 03 '12 at 17:47
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    Real-time data isn't free, not even for testing at present(they mentioned they may set up a server for testing). You can use data only if you have a current subscription. – DumbCoder Mar 03 '12 at 22:56
  • @Rahul - I work in the industry as well - and I don't see why they would not "open up" the data - I am not suggesting free data - I am talking about the API. I spoke to someone at BB about this and while they are not there yet, it appears they are going in that direction... – Tim Mar 05 '12 at 21:48

4 Answers4

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Since the data is not free, you can use this Bloomberg API Emulator (disclaimer: it's my project) to learn how to send requests and make subscriptions. This emulator looks and acts just like the real Bloomberg API, although it doesn't return real data. In my time developing applications that use the Bloomberg API, I rarely care about the actual data that I'm handling; I care about how to retrieve data.

If you want to learn how to use the Bloomberg API give it a try. If you want to test out your code without an account, use this. A Bloomberg account costs about $2,000 a month, so you can save a lot with this project.

The emulator now supports Java and C++ in addition to C#.

C#, C++, and Java:

  • Intraday Tick Requests
  • Intraday Bar Requests
  • Reference Data Requests
  • Historical Data Requests
  • Market Data Subscriptions

Edit: Updated Project link, moved to github

Eyon
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user2023861
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    not exactly answer to the question but very useful tip indeed. thanks! – mantrid Feb 01 '13 at 02:14
  • Bloomberg recently announced that they plan to release a "test" version of their API that does not require a subscription. – assylias Aug 28 '13 at 17:39
  • Their API FAQ at http://www.openbloomberg.com/faq/ says this in question #7 "Bloomberg is planning on releasing a stand-alone simulator which will not require a subscription." This actually is not a recent development however. It's been on their website for months. Are you talking about a more recent announcement? – user2023861 Aug 28 '13 at 18:34
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    I had to make some changes to this project to compile it under .NET 3.5, but after I did it worked really well. Having access to this projects source code also helped me see where I going in the wrong direction with Bloomberg's actual API. – MarkB42 Sep 10 '13 at 14:24
  • @MarkB42 It hadn't occurred to me that it would be helpful to provide code that compiles under .Net 3.5 rather than 4.0. I uploaded new source code that compiles under .Net 3.5. My changes were likely similar to yours. They'll also be available as a download when I roll out my next version. Let me know if you have any questions. – user2023861 Sep 11 '13 at 17:31
  • So it's more than two years after my comment about Bloomberg's plan to "release a stand-alone simulator which will not require a subscription". This is still not available. The answer to FAQ question #7 remains the same. – user2023861 Oct 21 '15 at 12:57
  • So, do I just download the code and compile one of the examples with CSC? Or do I need to install the actual C# API, or anything else? I installed the .msi file, but I am getting a Bloomberglp missing namespace error when compiling the IntraDayTickDataRequest.cs file from the examples folder. – apg Apr 27 '23 at 15:58
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The API's will provide full access to LIVE data, and developers can thus provide applications and develop against the API without paying licencing fees. Consumers will pay for any data received from the apps provided by third party developers, and so BB will grow their audience and revenue in that way.

NOTE: Bloomberg is offering this programming interface (BLPAPI) under a free-use license. This license does not include nor provide access to any Bloomberg data or content.

Source: http://www.openbloomberg.com/open-api/

ΦXocę 웃 Пepeúpa ツ
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Ernst Kuschke
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    AFAI can tell the Bloomberg API with SessionOptions DAPI must run on the BBG terminal, but SAPI (server mode) must talk to some ServerApi.exe, which I guess is a paid component. In DAPI mode the data must not leave the terminal, and if they find out it has, they'll prosecute you and disconnect your terminal. It looks like the way to go would be Reuters, if you have it available. (no relevant disclosures) – Sentinel Sep 05 '12 at 11:21
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    I don't understand understand why this answer is accepted. The quote from bloomberg contradicts the answer and the data is definitely not free. – lukewm Jul 15 '14 at 21:47
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    agree with lukewm, the statement that the API provides full access to LIVE data is factually incorrect, live as well as non-simulated historical data access requires a valid PAID license. – Matt Jul 30 '14 at 07:10
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    As I said, the consumer (client) does require a licence to access live data. – Ernst Kuschke Nov 04 '14 at 15:16
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    Dead link now. Is https://www.bloomberg.com/professional/support/api-library/ the best replacement? – Nemo May 14 '18 at 04:28
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This API has been available for a long time and enables to get access to market data (including live) if you are running a Bloomberg Terminal or have access to a Bloomberg Server, which is chargeable.

The only difference is that the API (not its code) has been open sourced, so it can now be used as a dependency in an open source project for example, without any copyrights issues, which was not the case before.

assylias
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I don't think so. The API's will provide access to delayed quotes, there is no way that real time data or tick data, will be provided for free.

Rahul Srivastava
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  • Thanks. Are the restrictions specified in some official Bloomberg doc somewhere, or it's your gut feeling? I couldn't any sound info on that on their website! – andreister Feb 02 '12 at 09:14
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    Having experience in this area for 10 years I can say for certainty that a data vendor WILL NOT provide free access to the data. They MAY provide a testbed/test server or some other method of allowing testing. – Tim Feb 02 '12 at 16:01
  • You can get real time data and quotes if you have them on the Bloomberg terminal. – ytoledano Oct 20 '12 at 18:32
  • @andreister: I agree with you, it would be good to have a clear document from bloomberg telling you what data you have access and what are the restrictions. – 0x26res Nov 28 '12 at 09:21
  • http://www.bloomberglabs.com/api/faq/ - "Testing any of that functionality currently requires a valid Bloomberg Desktop API (DAPI), Server API (SAPI) or B-Pipe subscription." – fantabolous Jul 17 '15 at 13:58