Informix Error -2844

-2844 The column column-name is associated with more than one field in the

form specification.

Any one table column can be related to only one field in an ATTRIBUTES statement. Possibly you are trying to display columns from two or more tables that have the same column names; in that case, prefix the table names to the column names to distinguish them.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-2844 fires when a single table column is referenced by more than one field in ATTRIBUTES — per the official guidance, any one column can be related to only one field.

A table column referenced in two different ATTRIBUTES statements, per the official guidance — the direct, only cause.
Two tables with identically-named columns both referenced unqualified, per the official guidance's suggested fix — implying the actual conflict was a naming collision across tables.

Solutions / Resolution

Prefix table names to column names when displaying columns from multiple tables that share identical column names, per the official guidance.
Otherwise, remove the duplicate field reference for the same column.

Examples

The same column referenced twice

ATTRIBUTES
  status1 = order_status,
  status2 = order_status;
-- -2844: order_status is associated with both status1 and status2

Corrected

ATTRIBUTES
  status = order_status;

Diagnostic Checks

Check every column referenced in ATTRIBUTES for more than one associated field, and qualify with the table name if the conflict is across tables.

Related Errors / Related Topics

-2843 — "The column column-name does not appear in the form specification." The mirror-image restriction: a column referenced zero times, rather than more than once.

A table column is associated with more than one field — remove the duplicate, or qualify with the table name if it's a cross-table naming collision.