Informix Error -2972: This column cannot be right justified or zero-filled because its displayed width does not match the actual column width.

Cause and resolution

This column cannot be right justified or zero-filled because its displayed width does not match the actual column width.

In order to use the RIGHT or ZEROFILL attributes, make sure that the field size (as depicted in the SCREEN section) is exactly the same as the width of the database column. Review this statement, the screen layout, and the definition of the table in the database to make sure these sizes agree.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-2972 fires when the RIGHT or ZEROFILL attributes are used on a field whose displayed width (in SCREEN) doesn't match its database column's actual width — per the official guidance, using either attribute requires the field size and the column width to agree exactly.

A field's SCREEN width differing from its database column's actual width, combined with RIGHT or ZEROFILL, per the official guidance — the direct, only cause.

Solutions / Resolution

Review the statement, the screen layout, and the table definition in the database, per the official guidance, to make the field size and column width agree.

Examples

RIGHT on a mismatched-width field

SCREEN
{
Code: [code    ]
}
END

ATTRIBUTES
  code = item_code, RIGHT;
-- -2972: item_code is CHAR(10), but the display field is only 8 wide

Corrected

SCREEN
{
Code: [code      ]
}
END

Diagnostic Checks

Check the SCREEN width of any field using RIGHT or ZEROFILL against its database column's actual width, and make them agree.

Related Errors / Related Topics

-2952 — "In order to use a picture, the picture length must be the same as the display field length." The same size-agreement principle applied to PICTURE, rather than RIGHT/ZEROFILL.

RIGHT/ZEROFILL is used on a field whose SCREEN width doesn't match its database column's actual width — make the sizes agree.