Informix Error -32132: Cannot order by label.

Reasons / Common Causes

-32132 fires when a statement's ORDER BY clause names a label column — per the official guidance, labels aren't ordered linearly, so ordering by them isn't legal.

1. An ORDER BY clause naming a label column, per the official guidance — the direct, only cause; labels form a partial order (a lattice), not a linear one.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Remove the label column from the ORDER BY clause, per the official guidance's implication, and order by a linearly-ordered column instead.

Examples

N/A

No specific triggering statement is documented beyond ordering by a label column.

Diagnostic Checks

1. Check the ORDER BY clause for a label column, and replace it with a linearly-ordered column.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -32190 — "Cannot aggregate label column." A related label-column restriction, on aggregate functions rather than ORDER BY.

An ORDER BY clause named a label column, which isn't linearly ordered — order by a different column instead.