Informix Error -918

Reasons / Common Causes

-918 is flagged by the official text as an internal error: a communication breakdown between the application and the Informix STAR/NET software at another site produced data the receiving side didn't expect, with no documented application-level trigger.

1. A genuine internal engine/protocol condition, per the official guidance's framing, with no other documented application-level cause.
2. A version mismatch between the local and remote Informix STAR/NET software, plausible given the general pattern of protocol-level errors elsewhere in this reference (similar to -516's client/server version-compatibility framing), though not explicitly named for -918 itself.
3. Underlying network corruption/instability, given the same general family as -911..-914, even though this error's framing is protocol-level rather than a simple read/write failure.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Restart your application, per the official guidance — the documented first step.
2. If the problem recurs, ask your system administrator to run network diagnostics, per the official guidance.
3. If the error recurs even after network diagnostics, note all circumstances and contact IBM Informix Technical Support, per the official guidance — this is a three-step escalation path, more involved than the simpler -911/-914 internal-pipe errors.

Examples

N/A

An internal protocol-level error at another site — restart first, escalate to network diagnostics if it recurs, then to IBM Informix Technical Support if it persists further.

Diagnostic Checks

1. Restart the application as the documented first response.
2. Request network diagnostics if it recurs.
3. Capture full circumstances for further escalation if the problem persists after network diagnostics.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -911 — "System error - Cannot read from pipe." A related internal communication error, at the local IPC level rather than another site's server.
• -914 — "System error - Cannot write to pipe." Same family, write-side.
• -912 — "Network error - Could not write to database server." A related network-level error, more direct than this protocol-level "unexpected data" condition.
• -913 — "Network error - Could not read from database server." Same family, read-side.

A three-step escalation path (restart, network diagnostics, then IBM Informix Technical Support) — more involved than the simpler pipe-level errors in this same family.