Informix Error -1310: Exiting the current function without executing a RETURN statement.

Reasons / Common Causes

-1310 fires when a 4GL function that isn't declared void reaches its end (or an exit path) without executing a RETURN statement — per the official guidance, a non-void function must return a value before exiting.

1. A code path through the function that doesn't reach a RETURN statement, per the official guidance — the direct, only cause, commonly a conditional branch or error-handling path that falls through to the function's end.
2. A function whose declared return type doesn't actually match its intended use (should have been void), less commonly, if no meaningful value is ever produced.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Add a RETURN statement to every exit path of the function, per the official guidance — including error-handling branches and any fall-through end of the function body.
2. If the function genuinely doesn't need to return a value, declare it appropriately, if the function's own signature/type allows a void-style declaration.

Examples

A branch missing a RETURN

FUNCTION get_status(p_order_id INT)
  DEFINE v_status CHAR(10);
  IF p_order_id > 0 THEN
    LET v_status = "found";
    RETURN v_status;
  END IF
  -- -1310: falls through here with no RETURN if p_order_id <= 0
END FUNCTION

Corrected

FUNCTION get_status(p_order_id INT)
  DEFINE v_status CHAR(10);
  IF p_order_id > 0 THEN
    LET v_status = "found";
  ELSE
    LET v_status = "not found";
  END IF
  RETURN v_status;
END FUNCTION

Diagnostic Checks

1. Trace every exit path through the function, including conditional branches and error handlers, and confirm each one reaches a RETURN statement.

Related Errors / Related Topics

No closely related error codes are cross-referenced for -1310 in this set yet.

A code path through the function reaches its end without a RETURN — trace every exit path and add the missing RETURN.