Informix Error -2988: FORMBUILD has run out of memory.

Reasons / Common Causes

-2988 fires when the FORMBUILD form compiler can't get enough data memory to process a form specification — per the official guidance, this is a memory-exhaustion limit distinct from the pseudo-machine expression-complexity limit covered by -2943, which cross-references this code directly.

1. A form specification too large or complex for the compiler's available data memory, per the official guidance — the direct, only cause.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Find a way to simplify the form, per the official guidance.

Examples

Simplifying an oversized form

Split a very large form specification (many fields, screens, or complex expressions) into smaller forms, or reduce the complexity of individual expressions, following the same approach as for -2943.

Diagnostic Checks

1. Check the overall size and complexity of the form specification, and simplify it if FORMBUILD reports running out of memory.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -2943 — "You have exceeded the pseudo machine capacity." Cross-referenced directly in -2943's own official guidance ("See also error message -2988") as a related capacity limit, covering an overly complex expression specifically rather than overall memory exhaustion.

FORMBUILD ran out of data memory processing the form — simplify the form. See also -2943.