Informix Error -2850: The name name is not a column name in this database.

Cause and resolution

The name name is not a column name in this database.

The tables that are specified in the TABLES section of the form exist, but the column name, which is named in the ATTRIBUTES section, does not. Check its spelling against the actual table. Possibly the table was altered, or the column was renamed. You can use Informix SQL to check column names under the Tables menu, Info selection.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-2850 fires when a column referenced in a form's ATTRIBUTES section doesn't exist in the specified database's tables — per the official guidance, this typically happens from a spelling error, a table alteration, or a column rename.

A spelling error in the column name, per the official guidance — the first named cause.
A table alteration or column rename since the form was originally written, per the official guidance — the second named cause.

Solutions / Resolution

Verify the column name against the actual database table using Informix SQL's Tables menu, per the official guidance.

Examples

Checking the database's actual columns

SELECT tabname, colname FROM systables t, syscolumns c
  WHERE t.tabid = c.tabid AND c.colname = 'order_staus';
-- returns nothing if the name is genuinely wrong

Diagnostic Checks

Check the referenced column name against the database's actual columns, via Informix SQL's Tables menu or a direct syscolumns query.

Related Errors / Related Topics

-2846 — "The field field-name is not a member of the table table-name." A related, more specific error, about a field not existing in one particular named table, rather than anywhere in the database.

The referenced column doesn't exist anywhere in the database — verify its name via the Tables menu or syscolumns.