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Informix Error -32138: Cannot set the initial SERIAL value.

Cause and resolution

Cannot set the initial SERIAL value.

This message is applicable only for multilevel secure applications. The initial serial value was not set at table creation.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-32138 fires in a multilevel-secure application when the initial SERIAL value wasn't set at table creation — per the official guidance.

  1. The initial SERIAL value wasn't set when the table was created, per the official guidance — the direct, only cause; applicable only to multilevel-secure applications.
Solutions / Resolution
  1. Set the initial SERIAL value at table-creation time, per the official guidance — an existing table missing this needs to be recreated with it set.
Examples
N/A

No specific triggering statement is documented beyond a missing initial SERIAL value.

Diagnostic Checks
  1. Check whether the table's initial SERIAL value was set at creation, and recreate the table with it set if not.
Related Errors / Related Topics
  • -32128 — "No privilege for changing a SERIAL column." A related SERIAL-column error, on a missing privilege rather than a missing initial value.
  • -32139 — "No initial value has been set for the SERIAL column." A related SERIAL-column error, specific to a particular sensitivity level lacking an initial value.

A multilevel-secure table's initial SERIAL value wasn't set at creation — recreate the table with it set.