Informix Error -3690: Detail cannot be executed -- tables first and second do not join.

Reasons / Common Causes

-3690 fires at runtime when a master-detail relationship named in INSTRUCTIONS involves two tables with no join defined between them — per the official guidance, the relationship is specified, but the tables themselves don't join.

1. A MASTER OF relationship whose two tables have no join in ATTRIBUTES, per the official guidance — the direct, only cause.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Add a join attribute in the ATTRIBUTES section, per the official guidance, between the two tables named in the MASTER OF relationship.

Examples

Adding the missing join

ATTRIBUTES
  order_id = orders.order_id, item.order_id;

INSTRUCTIONS
  orders MASTER OF item
END

Diagnostic Checks

1. Check ATTRIBUTES for a join between the two tables named in a MASTER OF relationship, and add one if missing.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -2977 — "Table table1 cannot be a master of table table2 because they do not join." The equivalent check performed at compile time, rather than surfacing at runtime.
• -3600 — "No detail table has been specified for this table." A related master/detail error, about no relationship being established at all rather than an established one lacking a join.
• -3610 — "No master table has been specified for this table." The mirror-image error to -3600, also about no relationship being established.

A MASTER OF relationship's two tables have no join defined between them — add one in ATTRIBUTES.