Informix Error -1356: Write error on temporary file filename.

Reasons / Common Causes

-1356 fires when writing a TEXT/BYTE variable to its temporary file fails — per the official guidance, this typically indicates either insufficient disk space or a hardware malfunction.

1. Insufficient disk space, per the official guidance's first named cause — the temp file was created, but ran out of room during the write.
2. A hardware malfunction, per the official guidance's other named cause.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Examine operating-system logs for additional diagnostic information, per the official guidance.
2. Check available disk space on the filesystem holding the temp file — on IBM Informix SE this is the directory DBTEMP names; on Dynamic Server/OnLine Dynamic Server, DBTEMP isn't used for this, so check the server's own temp-space configuration instead (this specific server-product distinction isn't from -1356's own sparse official text, but is documented on -1355's page for the same underlying temp-file mechanism).

Examples

Checking disk space on the temp-file filesystem (IBM Informix SE)

$ df -h "$DBTEMP"

Diagnostic Checks

1. Check available disk space on the temp-file filesystem (DBTEMP, on IBM Informix SE only — see -1355's note on the Dynamic Server/OnLine Dynamic Server distinction).
2. Check operating-system logs for hardware-level errors if disk space isn't the issue.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -1355 — "Cannot build temporary file." A related temp-file error, about the file's creation failing rather than a later write to an already-created file.

Writing to the temp file failed, most likely from a full disk or hardware issue — check disk space and OS logs.