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Informix Error -270

-270 Could not position within a temporary file.

The database server created a temporary file in the directory specified by the DBTEMP environment variable (or /tmp by default on UNIX systems) but encountered an error when it tried to position (seek) within it. Check the accompanying ISAM error code, and look for operating-system error messages that might give more information. Possibly a hardware failure occurred, or another user truncated the file. Since Version 5.01, the IBM Informix SE database server uses the DBTEMP environment variable, but IBM Informix Dynamic Server and IBM Informix OnLine Dynamic Server do not.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-270 completes the temp-file family alongside -229 (open/create), -230 (read), and -264 (write): the file was created successfully, but positioning (seeking) within it failed.

  1. Hardware failure affecting the temp file's underlying storage.
  2. Another user truncating the file — the same class of external-interference cause -230 describes for reads, here specifically causing a seek to land beyond the file's actual current size.
  3. The same product-specific DBTEMP/DBSPACETEMP distinction as the rest of this family.
Solutions / Resolution
  1. Check the accompanying ISAM error code and OS-level messages first.
  2. Check hardware health for the underlying storage.
  3. Investigate whether another user or process truncated the file — the same /tmp-cleanup-utility investigation as -230.
  4. Confirm which product is in use for the DBTEMP/DBSPACETEMP distinction.
Examples
Truncation causing a failed seek
# A /tmp-cleaning utility or another process truncated the file
# while the database server still expected it at its original size,
# causing a subsequent seek to fail

Exclude the database's temp directory from automatic cleanup policies, exactly as recommended under -230.

Diagnostic Checks
  1. Check the accompanying ISAM error code.
  2. Check hardware health for the underlying storage.
  3. Check for scheduled /tmp-cleanup jobs or other processes that might truncate files the database server is still using.
Related Errors / Related Topics
  • -230 — "Could not read a temporary file." The closest sibling — same external- interference cause (another process affecting the file), for reading rather than positioning.
  • -264 — "Could not write to a temporary file." Another member of the same temp-file family, with its own distinct PDQ-related cause.

Check for external interference (truncation by another process) before assuming hardware failure — the same investigation as -230.