ESQL/C, Informix 7.3 - undocumented reserved word "ref"?

I'm trying to compile a program under Informix 7.3 that compiles okay under Informix 7.14, and I am apparently having a problem with a particular column name. The relevant parts of the statement are as follows: $select ref, jrnl_no, pst_date, pst_tn into $vch_rec.ref, $vch_rec.jrnl_no, $vch_rec.pst_date, $vch_rec.pst_tm from vch_rec where vch_rec.ref = $vch_ref and vch_rec.jrnl_no = $vch_no; This statement gives the error: Error -33051: Syntax error on identifier or symbol ','. Changing the column name from "ref" to "blah" causes the ESQL/C error to go away. Prefacing it with the table name (eg, vch_rec.ref) causes the error to go away. It would seem, then, that the ESQL/C preprocessor is having some problem with the column name "ref". I don't see anything in $INFORMIXDIR/incl that might be causing ref to be redefined. I've looked at the Informix 7.3 Guide to SQL: Syntax, and while there are a couple of words beginning with "ref" on the reserved words list, "ref" itself isn't there. I've looked at the ESQL/C manual and haven't seen anything that appears applicable. I can live with recoding the application if I have to, but I'd at least like to hang the blame on a bug report or some rational explanation rather than just a flat "that doesn't work; change it to this." ----- William Harris william@carsinfo.com