Informix Error -760

Reasons / Common Causes

-760 fires when a remote procedure (an SPL routine called on a different database server than the calling application's connection) returns to the calling application without having issued a COMMIT WORK or ROLLBACK WORK — per the official guidance, a remote procedure specifically must close out its own transaction before returning control.

1. A remote procedure's logic reaching its RETURN statement without a preceding COMMIT WORK/ROLLBACK WORK, per the official guidance — the direct, only cause.
2. An error-handling path inside the remote procedure that skips the commit/rollback, similar in nature to -535's missing-commit pattern, but specific to the remote-procedure requirement.
3. A routine written for local (same-connection) use, reused as a remote procedure without adding the explicit commit/rollback that remote execution specifically requires.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Add an explicit COMMIT WORK or ROLLBACK WORK before every RETURN path in the remote procedure, per the official guidance.
2. Trace every exit path out of the procedure, including error-handling branches, confirming each one reaches a commit or rollback before returning.

Examples

The disallowed attempt

-- procedure created and stored on server_b:
CREATE PROCEDURE remote_update_order(p_order_id INT, p_status CHAR(10))
  UPDATE orders SET status = p_status WHERE order_id = p_order_id;
  -- -760: no COMMIT WORK/ROLLBACK WORK before returning
END PROCEDURE;

-- called from a session connected to server_a:
CONNECT TO 'stores7@server_a';
EXECUTE PROCEDURE server_b:remote_update_order(42, 'shipped');

Corrected

CREATE PROCEDURE remote_update_order(p_order_id INT, p_status CHAR(10))
  UPDATE orders SET status = p_status WHERE order_id = p_order_id;
  COMMIT WORK;
END PROCEDURE;

The requirement is specific to a procedure invoked from a different server than the one it runs on — an ordinary local call (same server as the caller) doesn't need this explicit commit/rollback the way remote execution does.

Diagnostic Checks

1. Trace every exit path from the remote procedure, including error handlers, confirming a COMMIT WORK/ROLLBACK WORK precedes each one.

Related Errors / Related Topics

No closely related error codes are cross-referenced for -760 in this set yet.

A remote procedure must close out its own transaction before returning — trace every exit path, including error handlers, for a missing commit/rollback.