Informix Error -488

Reasons / Common Causes

-488 is a general mismatch between a cursor's declared statement type and the operation being performed on it: a SELECT-based cursor doesn't support PUT (which is for insert cursors), and an INSERT-based cursor doesn't support FETCH (which is for select cursors) — each operation only makes sense for the statement type the cursor was actually declared with.

1. Calling PUT on a cursor declared for a SELECT statement — PUT is exclusively for insert cursors.
2. Calling FETCH on a cursor declared for an INSERT statement — FETCH is exclusively for select cursors.
3. Confusing which cursor variable corresponds to which declared statement, in code managing multiple cursors of different kinds.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Check the program and confirm the operation matches the cursor's declared statement type, per the official guidance — PUT for insert cursors, FETCH for select cursors, never mixed.
2. Review variable naming if multiple cursors are in play, to rule out a mix-up between an insert cursor and a select cursor.

Examples

The disallowed PUT on a select cursor

DECLARE curs1 CURSOR FOR SELECT * FROM orders;
OPEN curs1;
PUT curs1 FROM :ord_id, :cust_id;
-- -488: curs1 is a SELECT cursor; PUT isn't valid on it

The disallowed FETCH on an insert cursor

DECLARE curs2 CURSOR FOR INSERT INTO orders (order_id, customer_id) VALUES (?, ?);
OPEN curs2;
FETCH curs2;
-- -488: curs2 is an INSERT cursor; FETCH isn't valid on it

Diagnostic Checks

1. Check the DECLARE statement for the cursor named in the failing operation and confirm its statement type (SELECT vs. INSERT).
2. Review variable naming if multiple cursors are in play, to rule out a mix-up.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -417 — "FLUSH can only be used on an insert cursor." The closely related sibling restriction — FLUSH is another insert-cursor-only operation, in the same family as PUT.
• -413 — "Insert attempted on unopen cursor." A related insert-cursor error, about open/close state rather than a statement-type mismatch.

Match the operation to the cursor's declared statement type — PUT/FLUSH for insert cursors, FETCH for select cursors, never mixed.