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Informix Error -1140

-1140 NEXT OPTION is a hidden option.

The option that is named in this NEXT OPTION statement has previously been hidden with the HIDE OPTION statement. Because it is not visible to the user, it cannot be highlighted as the next choice.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-1140 fires when a NEXT OPTION clause names an option that was previously hidden with HIDE OPTION — per the official guidance, a hidden option isn't visible to the user, so it can't be highlighted as the next choice.

  1. NEXT OPTION naming an option already hidden via HIDE OPTION, per the official guidance — the direct, only cause.
  2. Menu logic that hides an option and then later (incorrectly) still tries to route focus to it, a design inconsistency between the hide logic and the navigation logic.
Solutions / Resolution
  1. Don't set NEXT OPTION to a currently hidden option, per the official guidance — route to a visible option instead.
  2. If the option should actually be visible at that point, review the HIDE OPTION/SHOW OPTION logic to confirm it's un-hidden before NEXT OPTION tries to target it.
Examples
Targeting a hidden option
HIDE OPTION "Delete"
...
NEXT OPTION "Delete"
-- -1140: "Delete" was hidden and can't be the next highlighted option
Diagnostic Checks
  1. Check whether the NEXT OPTION target was hidden via HIDE OPTION earlier in the program's execution, and either target a visible option or re-show it first.
Related Errors / Related Topics
  • -1133 — "The NEXT OPTION name is not in the menu." A related NEXT OPTION error, about the name not being declared at all rather than being declared but currently hidden.

NEXT OPTION targeted a currently hidden option — target a visible one, or SHOW OPTION it first.