Informix Error -276

Reasons / Common Causes

-276 is different from -259's "cursor not open" — this means the cursor was never declared in the current session at all. The official text defines session boundaries precisely: a session runs from one DATABASE statement to the next DATABASE or CLOSE DATABASE statement — a definition with a specific, easy-to-miss consequence.

1. Referencing a cursor that was never declared in the current session — distinct from -259, which is about a cursor that was declared (and maybe opened before) but isn't currently open.
2. Executing a DATABASE statement resets the session, invalidating cursors declared before that switch. Code that declares a cursor, then switches databases, then tries to use the same cursor will hit this — the cursor doesn't survive the database switch.
3. A typo in the cursor name.
4. Statements executed in the wrong order — referencing a cursor before its DECLARE statement runs.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Review program logic to ensure DECLARE for this cursor runs after the current DATABASE statement, per the official guidance.
2. Redeclare any needed cursors after switching databases — a DATABASE statement starts a new session, and cursors from the previous session don't carry over.
3. Check for a typo in the cursor name.

Examples

A database switch invalidating a cursor

DATABASE db1;
DECLARE cur1 CURSOR FOR SELECT * FROM orders;
OPEN cur1;
FETCH cur1 INTO :rec;

DATABASE db2;
-- new session begins here — cur1 no longer exists

FETCH cur1 INTO :rec;
-- -276: cur1 wasn't declared in this session (db2's session)

Fix — redeclare after the switch, if the cursor is still needed:

DATABASE db2;
DECLARE cur1 CURSOR FOR SELECT * FROM some_other_table;
OPEN cur1;

Diagnostic Checks

1. Review the sequence of DATABASE/DECLARE statements relative to the failing cursor reference — did a DATABASE switch happen between declaring the cursor and using it?
2. Check for a typo in the cursor name.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -259 — "Cursor not open." A different cursor-lifecycle condition — the cursor exists in the current session but isn't currently open, rather than not existing in the session at all.
• -266 — "There is no current row for UPDATE/DELETE cursor." Another cursor-lifecycle condition in the same general family.

Check for an intervening DATABASE statement first — switching databases silently invalidates cursors declared before the switch.