Informix Error -142: ISAM error: overflow of tblspace page.

Reasons / Common Causes

-142 is another entry, like -117, that the official documentation itself flags as unusual: "an internal error (probably obsolete)." This isn't a condition with a documented, actionable trigger the way most of this range's errors have — it describes an internal engine bookkeeping overflow within a tblspace page's own structure, and the official guidance's own framing suggests it's unlikely to occur on a current, supported version at all.

1. An internal engine-level condition, not something driven by application design, schema choices, or configuration — there's no documented mechanism by which normal usage triggers this.
2. Historically tied to internal tblspace-page bookkeeping — a counter or internal field related to a tblspace page's own state, in implementation details the official documentation doesn't expose for troubleshooting purposes.
3. An occurrence on a current, supported version is itself the anomaly worth noting — similar to -117, seeing this isn't a condition to diagnose from established patterns.

Solutions / Resolution

1. If you see -142, treat it as an anomaly and escalate. Per the official guidance, capture full circumstances and contact IBM Informix Technical Support — there isn't an established, self-service fix pattern the way there is for the rest of this range.
2. Don't spend significant time searching application code for a root cause. Given the official framing ("probably obsolete," "internal error"), the cause is very unlikely to be anything in application design, schema, or configuration.
3. Confirm and report the exact engine version in use as part of any escalation — this may be relevant to whether the condition is even meaningful on the version encountered.

Examples

There isn't a representative common-cause example to give here, consistent with -117 — the official documentation's own position is that this describes an internal, likely-obsolete condition rather than a diagnosable application-level failure mode.

$ onstat -                       # confirm the actual server version in use, for the support case

Diagnostic Checks

1. Confirm the exact engine version in use.
2. Capture the full sequence of operations immediately preceding the error, for inclusion in a support case.
3. Check the online message log for related messages at the same time, in case additional context was logged alongside -142 itself.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -100 — "ISAM error: duplicate value for a record with unique key." The other foundational ISAM-level error in this family.
• -117 — "ISAM error: bad custom collating sequence." The direct sibling in category — both are officially flagged as legacy/obsolete internal conditions that current products aren't expected to generate, calling for escalation rather than self-diagnosis if either appears.

If -142 recurs, prioritize capturing exact reproduction circumstances for IBM Informix Technical Support over attempting to trace it to an application-level cause.