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Informix Error -16393: Expression or variable contains invalid substring.

Cause and resolution

Expression or variable contains invalid substring.

The Debugger cannot interpret a reference to a substring of a character value. Two numbers in square brackets specify a substring, as in the following expression:

charvalue[n1,n2]

The name charvalue must be the CHAR(n) data type; n1 specifies the first character of the substring, and n2 specifies the last. This error message appears when n1 is larger than n, the length of the character value, or when n1 is greater than n2.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-16393 fires when a charvalue[n1,n2] substring reference is invalid — per the official guidance. charvalue must be CHAR(n); n1 is the first character position, n2 the last.

  1. n1 greater than n, the length of the character value, per the official guidance — the first named case.
  2. n1 greater than n2, per the official guidance — the second named case.
Solutions / Resolution
  1. Correct n1/n2 so n1 is at most n and at most n2, per the official guidance.
Examples
An out-of-range substring reference
> PRINT myname[10,3]
Corrected
> PRINT myname[3,10]
Diagnostic Checks
  1. Check n1/n2 against the character value's actual length, and correct the ordering/bounds.
Related Errors / Related Topics

No closely related error codes are cross-referenced for -16393 in this set yet.

A substring reference's bounds are invalid — check n1 against the value's length and against n2.