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Informix Error -277

-277 UPDATE table table-name is not the same as the cursor table.

This UPDATE WHERE CURRENT OF cursor statement refers to a different table than the table referenced by the SELECT statement that was declared with the cursor. Review the program logic to make sure that an update through a cursor updates only the table that the cursor is reading. This message also applies to cursor statements that use DELETE WHERE CURRENT OF.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-277 is a clear, specific mismatch: an UPDATE ... WHERE CURRENT OF cursor-name (or the equivalent DELETE) named a different table than the one the cursor's SELECT was actually declared against.

  1. A copy-paste error — a cursor declared against one table reused with an UPDATE/DELETE statement that mistakenly names a different, perhaps similarly-structured table.
  2. Confusion in code with several similar cursors declared against different tables, where the wrong table name ends up in the UPDATE/DELETE WHERE CURRENT OF statement.
  3. A refactor that changed the cursor's underlying table without updating the corresponding WHERE CURRENT OF statement to match.
Solutions / Resolution
  1. Review program logic to ensure the UPDATE/DELETE WHERE CURRENT OF statement targets the same table the cursor's SELECT was declared against, per the official guidance.
  2. Correct the table name in the UPDATE/DELETE statement to match the cursor's actual underlying table.
Examples
The mismatch
DECLARE cur1 CURSOR FOR SELECT * FROM orders WHERE status = 'pending' FOR UPDATE;
OPEN cur1;
FETCH cur1 INTO :rec;

UPDATE order_items SET processed = 't' WHERE CURRENT OF cur1;
-- -277: cur1 was declared against "orders", not "order_items"

Fix:

UPDATE orders SET status = 'processing' WHERE CURRENT OF cur1;
Diagnostic Checks
  1. Compare the table named in the cursor's DECLARE ... SELECT against the table named in the failing UPDATE/DELETE WHERE CURRENT OF statement — the mismatch is always directly visible once both are placed side by side.
Related Errors / Related Topics
  • -266 — "There is no current row for UPDATE/DELETE cursor." Another WHERE CURRENT OF related condition, though about fetch state rather than table matching.
  • -207 — "Cannot update cursor declared on more than one table. / Cannot declare a SELECT INTO statement FOR UPDATE." Another cursor-declaration restriction in the same general family.

Compare the cursor's declared table against the UPDATE/DELETE statement's table directly — the mismatch is always exactly this simple once both are placed side by side.