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Informix Error -4430: Values cannot be RETURNed from within reports.

Cause and resolution

Values cannot be RETURNed from within reports.

A report cannot include a RETURN statement because that would return control to the routine that invoked the report. Only NewEra returns this error.

-4430 Record parameters for a report cannot contain elements that are arrays.

You cannot pass a whole array as a parameter of a function. You can pass an individual element of the array by using a subscript. In this case, a record variable is specified as a parameter using asterisk notation, but one of the components of the record is an array.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-4430 covers two related variants documented on the same live page, per the official guidance:

  1. NewEra: a report can't include a RETURN statement, since that would return control to the routine that invoked the report.

  2. A distinct, more specific condition: a report's record parameter (specified via asterisk notation) has a component that's an array — whole arrays can't be passed as parameters, and this applies even when the array is nested inside a record parameter.

  3. A RETURN statement inside a report's body, per the official guidance — the first named cause.

  4. A record parameter (via asterisk notation) whose components include an array, per the official guidance — the second named cause.

Solutions / Resolution
  1. Remove any RETURN statement from the report.
  2. If a record parameter has an array component, pass that component by individual element instead, per the official guidance.
Examples
A RETURN inside a report
REPORT order_report(rec)
  FORMAT
    ON EVERY ROW
      PRINT rec.order_id
      RETURN
      -- -4430: RETURN is not allowed inside a report
Corrected
REPORT order_report(rec)
  FORMAT
    ON EVERY ROW
      PRINT rec.order_id
Diagnostic Checks
  1. Check the report's body for a RETURN statement, and remove it.
  2. Check whether a record parameter (passed via .*) has an array component, and pass that component by individual element instead.
Related Errors / Related Topics
  • -4162 — "Values cannot be RETURNed from within reports." The same underlying RETURN restriction, documented separately for the general (non-NewEra-specific) case.
  • -4429 — "Report and function parameters cannot be arrays." The same underlying array-parameter restriction, applied here to a record parameter's array component.

A report's RETURN statement is not allowed, or a record parameter has an array component — remove the RETURN, or pass the array component by individual element.