Informix Error -4309: Printing cannot be done within a loop or CASE statement contained in report headers or trailers.

Cause and resolution

Printing cannot be done within a loop or CASE statement contained in report headers or trailers.

4GL needs to know how many lines of space will be devoted to page headers and trailers; otherwise, it does not know how many detail rows to allow on a page. Since it cannot predict how many times a loop will be executed, or which branch of a CASE will be execute, it forbids the use of PRINT in these contexts within FIRST PAGE HEADER, PAGE HEADER, and PAGE TRAILER sections. You have to rearrange the code to place the PRINT statement where it will always be executed.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-4309 fires when PRINT appears inside a loop or CASE statement within a FIRST PAGE HEADER, PAGE HEADER, or PAGE TRAILER section — per the official guidance, 4GL needs to know in advance exactly how many lines headers/trailers occupy, and it can't predict how many times a loop executes or which CASE branch runs.

A PRINT statement inside a loop or CASE statement within a header/trailer section, per the official guidance — the direct, only cause.

Solutions / Resolution

Rearrange the code so PRINT is placed where it will always execute, per the official guidance, outside any loop or CASE branch within the header/trailer.

Examples

PRINT inside a loop in a page header

FIRST PAGE HEADER
  FOR i = 1 TO 3
    PRINT COLUMN 1, "Header line ", i
    -- -4309: loop count isn't statically known
  END FOR

Corrected

FIRST PAGE HEADER
  PRINT COLUMN 1, "Header line 1"
  PRINT COLUMN 1, "Header line 2"
  PRINT COLUMN 1, "Header line 3"

Diagnostic Checks

Check every PRINT statement inside a header/trailer section, and confirm it isn't inside a loop or CASE branch.

Related Errors / Related Topics

-4310 — "Files cannot be printed within report headers or trailers." A related header/trailer restriction, about PRINT FILE specifically rather than loops/CASE.
-4313 — "The NEED statement cannot be used within report headers or trailers." A related header/trailer restriction, about NEED rather than PRINT.

PRINT appears inside a loop or CASE branch within a header/trailer section — move it outside so it always executes.