Informix Error -1275

Reasons / Common Causes

-1275 fires when a DATETIME/INTERVAL format string's field width or precision doesn't follow the required syntax — per the official guidance, the field width must be a decimal number (optionally with a leading zero or minus sign), and if a precision is present, it must also be decimal and separated from the field width by a period.

1. A non-decimal field width, per the official guidance — the direct, common cause.
2. A precision specification not separated from the field width by a period, per the official guidance — a punctuation/syntax error.
3. A non-decimal precision value, per the official guidance's other named requirement.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Ensure the field width is a decimal number, per the official guidance, with an optional leading zero or minus sign.
2. Ensure any precision specification is decimal and separated from the field width by a period, per the official guidance.

Examples

A malformed field-width/precision specification

rfmtdate(date_val, "%-x.3f", out_buf);
-- -1275: 'x' isn't a valid decimal field width

Diagnostic Checks

1. Check the format string's field-width and precision syntax against the documented rules (decimal field width, period-separated decimal precision).

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -1276 — "Format conversion character not supported." A related format-string error, about the conversion character itself rather than field width/precision syntax.

The format string's field width or precision doesn't follow the required decimal syntax — check it against the documented rules.