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Informix Error -1353: Use '!' to edit TEXT and BYTE fields.

Cause and resolution

Use '!' to edit TEXT and BYTE fields.

The built-in form editor cannot deal with TEXT or BYTE columns. However, you can designate an external program that can display or edit a value from a TEXT or BYTE column. To call the external program for any field, put the cursor in that field, and key the exclamation mark (!) character. If an external program has been defined (with the PROGRAM attribute in the form specification), it will be started. In a TEXT field, if no external program is specified in the form, the program that the DBEDIT environment variable names will be started.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-1353 is an informational message, not strictly a fault: the built-in form editor can't process TEXT/BYTE columns directly — per the official guidance, editing them requires invoking an external program.

  1. The cursor positioned in a TEXT/BYTE field, per the official guidance's framing — the built-in editor's normal keystroke-based editing simply doesn't apply to these field types.
Solutions / Resolution
  1. Press ! to invoke an external program, per the official guidance, while the cursor is in the field.
  2. If a PROGRAM attribute is defined in the form specification, that program launches, per the official guidance.
  3. For TEXT fields with no specified external program, the application starts the program named by the DBEDIT environment variable, per the official guidance.
Examples
The form specification's PROGRAM attribute
ATTRIBUTES
  notes = order_notes,
    PROGRAM = "/usr/bin/vi";

Pressing ! on this field launches vi to edit the TEXT value.

Diagnostic Checks
  1. Check whether a PROGRAM attribute is defined for the field, or whether DBEDIT is set, to confirm which external editor will launch.
Related Errors / Related Topics

No closely related error codes are cross-referenced for -1353 in this set yet.

TEXT/BYTE fields can't be edited directly — press ! to invoke the form's PROGRAM attribute (or DBEDIT) editor.