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Informix Error -1120: Message file not found.

Cause and resolution

Message file not found.

The message file that is specified in the HELP FILE clause of the most recent OPTIONS statement does not exist. Find that OPTIONS statement in the program, and review the "help-file" parameter. It must contain the complete filename of the prepared message file. If the file is not in the current directory, it must have a full pathname. Message files are prepared with the mkmessage utility.

For 4GL programs, -1227 replaces this error.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-1120 fires when the message file named in the HELP FILE clause of the most recent OPTIONS statement doesn't exist — per the official guidance, message files are prepared with the mkmessage utility, and -1227 is the equivalent error for 4GL programs specifically.

  1. A relative message-file path that doesn't resolve from the current directory, per the official guidance — the specific, named requirement is a complete path if the file isn't in the current directory.
  2. The message file genuinely missing or never built with mkmessage.
  3. A typo in the HELP FILE clause's file name/path.
Solutions / Resolution
  1. Provide the complete path to the message file, per the official guidance, if it's not in the current directory.
  2. Confirm the message file was actually built with mkmessage, per the official guidance, and rebuild it if not.
Examples
A relative path that doesn't resolve
OPTIONS HELP FILE "order_help"
-- -1120: order_help.iem isn't in the current directory
Corrected
OPTIONS HELP FILE "/opt/app/msg/order_help"
Diagnostic Checks
  1. Check the HELP FILE clause's path for whether it's relative and whether it resolves from the current directory.
  2. Confirm the message file was built with mkmessage.
Related Errors / Related Topics
  • -1121 — "Message number not found in message file." A related help-message error, about a specific message number missing from an otherwise-found file, rather than the file itself being missing.
  • -1227 — The 4GL-program equivalent of this same missing-message-file condition.

The HELP FILE message file couldn't be located — use a full path if it's outside the current directory, and confirm it was built with mkmessage (see -1227 for the 4GL-program equivalent).