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Informix Error -325

-325 Filename must be specified with a full path name.

This error occurs if you attempt to create a table using the WITH LOG IN clause but do not specify a complete path to the log file. This error can also occur if you use IBM Informix SE to create database logging but do not specify the full path of the log file. Make sure to specify a full pathname, including the name of the log file, where the log file will reside.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-325 fires when a log filename given in a WITH LOG IN clause (or, on IBM Informix SE, a similar database-logging filename) is relative rather than a full, absolute path. The server requires an unambiguous, complete path to the log file's intended location.

  1. A relative path or bare filename given to WITH LOG IN, instead of an absolute path starting from the filesystem root.
  2. A path assembled programmatically (from a script or template) that omits the leading directory structure, producing something that looks plausible but isn't absolute.
  3. Copy-pasted logging setup syntax from another environment where a relative path happened to work differently, or wasn't actually being enforced the same way.
Solutions / Resolution
  1. Always specify the complete, absolute path to the log file, per the official guidance — including the full directory structure, not just a filename or a path relative to the current working directory.
  2. When generating the path programmatically, verify it's built as an absolute path before using it in the statement.
Examples
A relative path rejected
START DATABASE sales WITH LOG IN 'sales.log';
-- -325: not a full path name

Fix — use the complete absolute path:

START DATABASE sales WITH LOG IN '/informix/logs/sales.log';
Diagnostic Checks
  1. Check that the filename argument begins with a full path (e.g. starts with / on Unix- style systems) rather than a bare filename or relative path.
Related Errors / Related Topics
  • -318 — "File with the same name as specified log file already exists." Another WITH LOG IN-clause restriction in the same database-logging-setup family.

Always give WITH LOG IN a complete, absolute path — a bare filename or relative path is never accepted.