Informix Error -16398: Illegal BLOB file name. Null name not permitted.

Cause and resolution

Illegal BLOB file name. Null name not permitted.

The 4GL LOCATE statement has located the BYTE or TEXT variable in a file. However, the filename for the variable is a null string. Because the file does not exist, the Debugger cannot do anything with it.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-16398 fires when a 4GL LOCATE statement located a BYTE/TEXT variable in a file, but the filename is a null string — per the official guidance. With no real file, the Debugger can't act on it.

A BYTE/TEXT variable's LOCATEd filename being null, per the official guidance — the direct, only cause.

Solutions / Resolution

Fix the 4GL program's LOCATE statement to supply a real filename, per the official guidance.

Examples

N/A

No specific triggering statement is documented beyond a null LOCATE filename.

Diagnostic Checks

Check the LOCATE statement's filename expression for a value that evaluates to a null string.

Related Errors / Related Topics

-16400 — "Bad file name name." A related invalid-filename error, about a non-null but otherwise malformed filename rather than a null one.

A LOCATEd BLOB's filename is null — fix the LOCATE statement to supply a real filename.