Informix Error -2973

-2973 There may be only one dominant column in a display field description.

This statement defines a join list, a list of two or more column names that are related to the same form field. In such lists, an asterisk that precedes a column name indicates that column is the dominant column in a verify join. Only one such column is allowed in any join, but this list contains two or more. Review the documentation on verify joins, and choose a single dominant table.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-2973 fires when a display field's join list — two or more column names related to the same form field — contains more than one column prefixed with * — per the official guidance, an asterisk marks a column as dominant in a verify join, and only one dominant column is allowed per join list.

More than one *-prefixed (dominant) column in the same display field's join list, per the official guidance — the direct, only cause.

Solutions / Resolution

Review the documentation on verify joins, and choose a single dominant table, per the official guidance, removing the * prefix from all but one column.

Examples

Two dominant columns in a join list

ATTRIBUTES
  cust_id = *orders.cust_id, *customer.cust_id;
-- -2973: two columns are marked dominant with *

Corrected

ATTRIBUTES
  cust_id = *orders.cust_id, customer.cust_id;

Diagnostic Checks

Check every display field's join list for more than one *-prefixed (dominant) column, and remove all but one.

Related Errors / Related Topics

-2857 — "There can be only one dominant composite column in a join list." A near-duplicate wording of this same rule, both codes independently published on the live site for what is functionally the same dominant-column constraint.

A display field's join list has more than one dominant (*-prefixed) column — keep only one. See also -2857, which covers the same rule.