Oninit
Talk to an expert →

Informix Error -1168

-1168 Command does not appear in the menu.

The SHOW OPTION, HIDE OPTION, or NEXT OPTION statement cannot refer to an option (command) that does not exist. Check the spelling of the name of the option.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-1168 fires when a SHOW OPTION, HIDE OPTION, or NEXT OPTION statement references a menu option that doesn't exist — per the official guidance, this is a general option-name-resolution error, covering all three of these statements (compare -1133/-1140, which are specific to NEXT OPTION's own not-found and hidden-option cases).

  1. A SHOW OPTION/HIDE OPTION/NEXT OPTION statement misspelling the option name, per the official guidance — the direct, common cause.
  2. A menu option renamed or removed without updating every statement that references it.
Solutions / Resolution
  1. Verify the spelling of the option name being referenced, per the official guidance, against the option names actually declared via COMMAND in the menu.
Examples
A misspelled option name
SHOW OPTION "Updat"
-- -1168: no COMMAND "Updat" exists; the actual option is "Update"
Corrected
SHOW OPTION "Update"
Diagnostic Checks
  1. List every COMMAND-declared option name in the menu, and check the SHOW OPTION/HIDE OPTION/NEXT OPTION reference against that list.
Related Errors / Related Topics
  • -1133 — "The NEXT OPTION name is not in the menu." A related, more specific error for NEXT OPTION referencing an undeclared option.
  • -1140 — "NEXT OPTION is a hidden option." A related, more specific error for NEXT OPTION referencing an option that exists but is currently hidden.

A SHOW OPTION/HIDE OPTION/NEXT OPTION statement referenced a misspelled or undeclared option name — check it against the menu's actual COMMAND-declared options.