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Informix Error -26182: Incorrect file type in DATAFILES string datafile entry.

Cause and resolution

Incorrect file type in DATAFILES string datafile entry.

An error occurred when the database server tried to expand the DATAFILES entries in an INSERT or SELECT statement for an external table. The external table has a DATAFILES entry with an incorrect file type. Only DISK and PIPE file types are allowed for external tables.

Examine the external-table entry, drop the external table, and reissue a corrected CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE statement to correct this error.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-26182 fires when a DATAFILES entry's file type isn't recognized while the server expands it for an INSERT/SELECT against an external table — per the official guidance.

  1. The DATAFILES entry's file type isn't DISK or PIPE, per the official guidance — the direct, only cause; those are the only allowed types.
Solutions / Resolution
  1. Drop the external table and reissue a corrected CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE using only DISK/PIPE file types, per the official guidance.
Examples
N/A

No specific triggering statement is documented beyond an unrecognized DATAFILES file type.

Diagnostic Checks
  1. Check the external table's DATAFILES entries for a file type other than DISK/PIPE, and correct it via drop-and-recreate.
Related Errors / Related Topics
  • -26174 — "Incorrect DATAFILES entry." The general DATAFILES-format error this is a specific instance of, on the file-type portion.

A DATAFILES entry's file type wasn't DISK/PIPE — drop and recreate the external table with a corrected entry.