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Informix Error -47099: You cannot modify an existing constraint.

Cause and resolution

You cannot modify an existing constraint.

You cannot use the ALTER TABLE menu options to modify an existing constraint. An asterisk preceding the name identifies existing constraints.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-47099 fires in the interactive ALTER TABLE menu when an existing constraint is modified — per the official guidance, existing constraints are marked with a preceding asterisk and can't be modified through this menu.

  1. Attempting to modify an existing (asterisk-marked) constraint, per the official guidance — the direct, only cause.
Solutions / Resolution
  1. No documented workaround via this menu — per the official guidance, existing constraints simply can't be modified this way (drop and re-add instead, if change is needed).
Examples
N/A

No specific triggering statement is documented beyond this menu-driven modification restriction.

Diagnostic Checks
  1. Check whether the constraint is marked with a preceding asterisk (existing), and drop/re-add it instead of trying to modify it directly.
Related Errors / Related Topics

No closely related error codes are cross-referenced for -47099 in this set yet.

An existing (asterisk-marked) constraint can't be modified via the ALTER TABLE menu — drop and re-add it instead.