Informix Error -836: Insert statement has no values clause.

Reasons / Common Causes

-836 fires when the INSERT statement supplied as part of a LOAD statement has no VALUES clause — per the official guidance, this is the current, documented form of the same underlying condition -824 describes as obsolete.

1. An INSERT clause within LOAD missing its VALUES clause entirely, per the official guidance — the direct, only cause.
2. A LOAD statement's INSERT clause copy-pasted incompletely, dropping the VALUES portion during editing.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Revise the statement to include a VALUES clause, per the official guidance.

Examples

The disallowed attempt

LOAD FROM 'orders_import.unl' INSERT INTO orders;
-- if this specific server version requires an explicit VALUES clause here:
-- -836: no VALUES clause supplied

Corrected

LOAD FROM 'orders_import.unl' INSERT INTO orders (order_id, status, total);

The LOAD statement's pseudo-INSERT clause takes a column list, not a VALUES clause; if -836's wording of the official message suggests otherwise, that reflects older/embedded-SQL LOAD usage rather than the current DB-Access LOAD syntax.

Diagnostic Checks

1. Check the INSERT clause within the LOAD statement for a VALUES clause, and add one matching the table's column count.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -824 — "Missing values clause on insert statement." The obsolete predecessor to this same condition — -824's own official text points here for the current documented form.

The current, documented form of -824's condition — add a VALUES clause to the LOAD statement's INSERT clause.