Informix Error -4668: The report output, specified by a START REPORT statement, is not any of file, pipe, screen, printer, pipe in line mode, or pipe in form mode.

Reasons / Common Causes

-4668 fires when a START REPORT statement's output target isn't one of the supported destinations — per the official guidance, a report's output can only go to a file, pipe (in form or line mode), screen, or printer.

1. An output target that isn't file, pipe, screen, or printer, per the official guidance — the direct, only cause.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Set the report's output target to one of the supported destinations: file, pipe (form or line mode), screen, or printer, per the official guidance.

Examples

An unsupported output target

LET report_target = "socket:9000"
OUTPUT REPORT TO report_target
START REPORT myreport TO report_target
-- -4668: not a supported output destination

Corrected

LET report_target = "orders.out"
OUTPUT REPORT TO report_target
START REPORT myreport TO report_target

Diagnostic Checks

1. Check the value passed to OUTPUT REPORT TO/START REPORT, and confirm it resolves to a file, pipe, screen, or printer target.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -4489 — "The statement above does not allow the use of local variables or report parameters in its expressions." A related OUTPUT REPORT TO/START REPORT restriction, about variable scope rather than the output target's validity.

A START REPORT statement's output target isn't file, pipe, screen, or printer — set it to one of those.