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Informix Error -736

Cause and resolution

The RESOLUTION and SAMPLING SIZE clauses are not valid for the LOW mode of the UPDATE STATISTICS statement.

Because data distributions are constructed only in the MEDIUM or HIGH modes of the UPDATE STATISTICS statement, specifying the resolution or sampling size is not meaningful in LOW mode.

Remove the RESOLUTION clause and the SAMPLING SIZE clause from the statement.

To use the SAMPLING SIZE clause, change the mode to MEDIUM. To use the RESOLUTION clause, change the mode to MEDIUM or HIGH.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-736 fires when UPDATE STATISTICS LOW includes a RESOLUTION or SAMPLING SIZE clause — per the official guidance, data distributions (which those two clauses configure) are only built in MEDIUM or HIGH mode, so specifying them in LOW mode isn't meaningful.

  1. RESOLUTION/SAMPLING SIZE included on an UPDATE STATISTICS LOW statement, per the official guidance — the direct, only cause.
  2. A statement copy-pasted from a MEDIUM/HIGH mode template, with the mode changed to LOW but the now-inapplicable clauses left in place.
Solutions / Resolution
  1. Remove the RESOLUTION and SAMPLING SIZE clauses, per the official guidance, if LOW mode is genuinely what's needed.
  2. Change the mode to MEDIUM to use SAMPLING SIZE, per the official guidance.
  3. Change the mode to MEDIUM or HIGH to use RESOLUTION, per the official guidance.
Examples
The disallowed combination
UPDATE STATISTICS LOW RESOLUTION 0.5 FOR TABLE orders;
-- -736: RESOLUTION isn't valid in LOW mode
Corrected — remove the clause for LOW mode
UPDATE STATISTICS LOW FOR TABLE orders;
Or corrected — switch to a mode that supports RESOLUTION
UPDATE STATISTICS MEDIUM RESOLUTION 0.5 FOR TABLE orders;
Diagnostic Checks
  1. Check whether UPDATE STATISTICS LOW includes RESOLUTION or SAMPLING SIZE, and either remove the clause or change the mode.
Related Errors / Related Topics
  • -737 — "The confidence value and the SAMPLING SIZE clause are not valid for the HIGH mode of the UPDATE STATISTICS statement." A related mode/clause-compatibility restriction, for HIGH mode instead of LOW.
  • -738 — "DROP DISTRIBUTIONS is only valid in LOW mode." A related UPDATE STATISTICS mode-compatibility restriction, on a different clause.

RESOLUTION/SAMPLING SIZE need MEDIUM or HIGH mode — remove them from a LOW-mode statement, or switch modes.