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Informix Error -1236

-1236 Bad era date.

The era name or the era offset that is given in the input string is invalid or has not been entered in the required format. Check that the era name and offset are valid and in the proper order in the input string. Check the format against the value of DBTIME, DBDATE, or the format string passed to the SQL API function, whichever is appropriate.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-1236 fires when the era name or era offset given in an input string is invalid or not in the required format — per the official guidance, this applies wherever an era-aware date format is in use (DBTIME, DBDATE, or a format string passed to a SQL API function).

  1. An invalid era name in the input string, per the official guidance — the direct, named cause.
  2. An invalid era offset in the input string, per the official guidance — the other direct, named cause.
  3. The era name/offset present but not positioned in the required format, per the official guidance — a formatting issue distinct from an outright invalid value.
Solutions / Resolution
  1. Verify that the era name and offset are valid and correctly positioned, per the official guidance.
  2. Ensure the format aligns with DBTIME, DBDATE, or the format string used in the SQL API function call, per the official guidance.
Examples
N/A

No specific triggering statement is documented beyond the general era-format requirement — check the input string's era name/offset against the active DBTIME/DBDATE/format-string configuration.

Diagnostic Checks
  1. Check the era name and offset in the input string against the format required by the active DBTIME/DBDATE/format-string configuration.
Related Errors / Related Topics
  • -1237 — "Bad era name." A related, more specific era error, about the name not matching any recognized era in the GLS locale at all.
  • -1238 — "Bad era initialization." A related, internal era-configuration error.

The era name or offset in the input string is invalid or misformatted — check it against the active DBTIME/DBDATE/format-string configuration.