Informix Error -2933: The format width is larger than the allocated display width.

Reasons / Common Causes

-2933 fires when a field's FORMAT string is longer than the field's width as declared in SCREEN — per the official guidance, the length of the FORMAT string must agree with the length of the field itself.

1. A FORMAT string longer than the field's declared width in SCREEN, per the official guidance — the direct, only cause.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Review the screen layout, and revise it or the format so that they agree, per the official guidance.

Examples

A FORMAT wider than its field

SCREEN
{
Price: [price ]
}
END

ATTRIBUTES
  price = unit_price, FORMAT = "####.##";
-- -2933: FORMAT is 7 characters wide, but the field is only 6

Corrected

SCREEN
{
Price: [price  ]
}
END

Diagnostic Checks

1. Compare the FORMAT string's character count to the field's width in SCREEN, and widen the field or shorten the format so they agree.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -2934 — "The format width is less than the allocated display width." The mirror-image error, where the format is narrower than the field, rather than wider.

The FORMAT string is wider than its field's declared width in SCREEN — revise one to match the other.