Informix Error -4486: TEXT or BYTE variables and wordwrap fields cannot be printed in report headers or trailers.

Cause and resolution

TEXT or BYTE variables and wordwrap fields cannot be printed in report headers or trailers.

4GL has to be able to predict how many lines will be used in a report header or trailer. Because the size of a TEXT variable is unpredictable, you cannot display one in these contexts.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-4486 fires when a TEXT/BYTE variable or a wordwrap field is printed inside a report header/trailer — per the official guidance, 4GL needs to predict header/trailer line counts in advance, and a TEXT variable's size is unpredictable.

A TEXT/BYTE variable or wordwrap field printed inside a header/trailer, per the official guidance — the direct, only cause.

Solutions / Resolution

Remove the TEXT/BYTE variable or wordwrap field from the header/trailer, printing it in the detail (ON EVERY ROW) section instead, where its line count doesn't need to be predicted.

Examples

A TEXT variable printed in a page header

PAGE HEADER
  PRINT notes_text
  -- -4486: notes_text is TEXT, whose size is unpredictable

Corrected

ON EVERY ROW
  PRINT notes_text

Diagnostic Checks

Check every header/trailer section for TEXT/BYTE variables or wordwrap fields, and move them to the detail section.

Related Errors / Related Topics

-4309 — "Printing cannot be done within a loop or CASE statement contained in report headers or trailers." A related header/trailer restriction, about loops/CASE rather than unpredictable-length content.
-4310 — "Files cannot be printed within report headers or trailers." A related header/trailer restriction, about PRINT FILE specifically rather than TEXT/BYTE variables.

A TEXT/BYTE variable or wordwrap field is printed in a header/trailer — move it to the detail section instead.