Informix Error -4318

Reasons / Common Causes

-4318 fires when CONTINUE CASE or EXIT CASE appears outside a CASE statement — per the official guidance, either the statement is misplaced, or some other error prevented 4GL from recognizing the enclosing CASE statement.

1. CONTINUE CASE/EXIT CASE used outside a CASE statement, per the official guidance — the direct cause.
2. A separate error prevented the enclosing CASE statement from being recognized, per the official guidance — a related possible cause.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Move the CONTINUE CASE/EXIT CASE statement inside a CASE statement, or
2. Check for other errors preventing the CASE statement from being recognized, per the official guidance.

Examples

EXIT CASE outside a CASE statement

FUNCTION process()
  EXIT CASE
  -- -4318: not inside a CASE statement
END FUNCTION

Corrected

CASE status
  WHEN "New"
    EXIT CASE
END CASE

Diagnostic Checks

1. Check whether the CONTINUE CASE/EXIT CASE statement is inside a CASE statement, and check for other errors affecting the enclosing CASE statement if it should be.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -4314 — "The program cannot continue or exit a menu at this point because it is not within a MENU statement." The same pattern applied to MENU instead of CASE.
• -4316 — "The program cannot exit a WHILE statement at this point because it is not within a WHILE statement." The same pattern applied to WHILE instead of CASE.
• -4317 — "The program cannot exit a FOR statement at this point because it is not within a FOR statement." The same pattern applied to FOR instead of CASE.

CONTINUE CASE/EXIT CASE is used outside a CASE statement — move it inside, or check for errors affecting the CASE statement's recognition.