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Informix Error -1276

-1276 Format conversion character not supported.

A format conversion character in the format string is not valid. Check the string against the table of format conversion directives for DATETIME and INTERVAL format conversion functions in the manual for your embedded language product. See also the discussion of the DBTIME environment variable in the IBM Informix Guide to SQL: Reference.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-1276 fires when a format string for a DATETIME/INTERVAL conversion function contains a conversion character that isn't valid — per the official guidance, this should be checked against the documented table of format conversion directives for the embedded language product in use.

  1. A conversion character not in the documented directive table, per the official guidance — the direct, only cause.
  2. A conversion directive copied from a different embedded language's documentation, which may use a different character set than the one actually in use.
Solutions / Resolution
  1. Check the format string against the table of format conversion directives for the embedded language product in use, per the official guidance.
  2. Review the DBTIME environment variable settings in the IBM Informix SQL Reference guide, per the official guidance, if DBTIME is involved.
Examples
N/A

No specific triggering statement is documented — check the specific conversion character against the documented directive table for the embedded language product in use.

Diagnostic Checks
  1. Identify the specific unsupported conversion character in the format string, and check it against the documented directive table for the embedded language product in use.
Related Errors / Related Topics
  • -1275 — "Invalid field width or precision in datetime or interval format string." A related format-string error, about field-width/precision syntax rather than the conversion character itself.

An unsupported conversion character appears in the format string — check it against the documented directive table for the embedded language product in use.