Informix Error -285

Reasons / Common Causes

-285 is a broader version of the same statement/cursor-lifecycle family as -267 and -258 — the official text lists all the ways a cursor can end up unavailable in one place.

1. The cursor was never properly declared or prepared.
2. FREE released it — the same use-after-free theme as -267/-258.
3. An automatic re-prepare attempted while opening the cursor failed, leaving it unavailable — the same cause -267 describes.
4. If the DECLARE refers to a statement identifier, that identifier's statement was never actually PREPAREd.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Review program logic to ensure the cursor has actually been declared.
2. If the DECLARE refers to a statement identifier, check that the referenced statement has been prepared — confirm PREPARE ran successfully first.
3. For the FREE/re-prepare-failure causes, follow -267's guidance — re-prepare or re-declare before reuse.

Examples

DECLARE referencing an unprepared statement identifier

EXEC SQL DECLARE cur1 CURSOR FOR stmt;
/* stmt was never actually PREPAREd — -285 */
EXEC SQL OPEN cur1;

Fix — prepare the statement first:

EXEC SQL PREPARE stmt FROM :query_text;
EXEC SQL DECLARE cur1 CURSOR FOR stmt;
EXEC SQL OPEN cur1;

Diagnostic Checks

1. Review the call sequence for a missing DECLARE or PREPARE.
2. If DECLARE references a statement identifier, confirm PREPARE actually succeeded for it beforehand.
3. Check for FREE calls followed by continued use, the same as -267/-258.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -267 — "The cursor has been previously released and is unavailable." The closest sibling — a more specific version of the same general condition this error covers more broadly.
• -258 — "System error - invalid statement id received by the sqlexec process." Another member of the same statement/cursor-lifecycle family.

Check the full sequence: declared, prepared (if via a statement identifier), and not yet freed — this error covers all three ways that chain can break.