Informix Error -1274: No output buffer has been specified.

Reasons / Common Causes

-1274 fires when a conversion function's output buffer length is zero, or the buffer pointer itself is null — per the official guidance, database servers after Version 5.01 don't use this specific message (superseded, presumably, by -1273's broader wording).

1. A zero-length output buffer, per the official guidance — the direct, named cause.
2. A null output-buffer pointer, per the official guidance — the other direct, named cause.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Supply a properly allocated, non-null output buffer, per the official guidance.
2. Note this message isn't used on database servers after Version 5.01, per the official guidance — on those versions, the equivalent condition surfaces as -1273 instead.

Examples

N/A

No specific triggering statement is documented beyond a zero-length or null output buffer — see -1273 for the current, broader wording of this same class of condition.

Diagnostic Checks

1. Check the output buffer's pointer and length for null/zero, and supply a properly allocated buffer.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -1272 — "No input buffer has been specified." A related conversion-function error, about the input side rather than the output buffer.
• -1273 — "Output buffer is NULL or too small to hold the result." The current, broader wording of this same condition on database servers after Version 5.01.

A zero-length or null output buffer was supplied — this message is superseded by -1273 on servers after Version 5.01.