Informix Error -19800: Role name already exists as a user or role.

Reasons / Common Causes

-19800 fires when a CREATE ROLE statement names a role identical to an existing user or role — per the official guidance.

1. A role name matching an existing user known to the system, per the official guidance — the first named case.
2. A role name matching an existing user or role known to the database, per the official guidance — the second named case.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Change the role name to one that doesn't collide with an existing user or role, per the official guidance.

Examples

A role name colliding with an existing user

CREATE ROLE alice;
-- -19800: alice is already a user known to the system/database

Corrected

CREATE ROLE alice_role;

Diagnostic Checks

1. Check sysusers and existing role names for a collision before creating the role.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -19801 — "Role name cannot be ." A related role-naming restriction, about reserved words rather than a collision with an existing name.
• -19808 — "User name already exists as a rolename in the database." The mirror-image condition, about opening a database as a role name matching a user name.

A role name collides with an existing user or role — choose a different name.