Informix Error -4336: The parameter variable-name has not been defined within the function or report.

Reasons / Common Causes

-4336 fires when a name in a FUNCTION statement's parameter list has no matching DEFINE statement inside the function — per the official guidance, all parameters must be defined within their function before use; a common cause is a spelling mismatch between the parameter list and the DEFINE statement.

1. A parameter with no matching DEFINE inside the function, per the official guidance — the direct, only cause.
2. A spelling mismatch between the parameter name and its DEFINE, per the official guidance — a specifically named cause.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Add a DEFINE statement for the parameter inside the function, or correct a spelling mismatch between the parameter list and an existing DEFINE.

Examples

A parameter with a spelling mismatch

FUNCTION save(order_id)
  DEFINE orderid INTEGER
  -- -4336: "order_id" (the parameter) != "orderid" (the DEFINE)
END FUNCTION

Corrected

FUNCTION save(order_id)
  DEFINE order_id INTEGER
END FUNCTION

Diagnostic Checks

1. Check every parameter in the FUNCTION statement's list against the DEFINE statements inside the function body, and match their spelling exactly.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -4333 — "The name has already been called with a different number of parameters." A related error; the official guidance for -4333 explicitly says to fix -4336 first when both appear together, since it often resolves -4333 as a side effect.
• -4338 — "The symbol variable-name has already been defined once as a parameter." The mirror-image error, about a parameter defined more than once rather than not at all.

A function parameter has no matching DEFINE inside the function — add one, checking for a spelling mismatch first.