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Informix Error -4513: Incorrectly formed hexadecimal value.

Cause and resolution

Incorrectly formed hexadecimal value.

The hexadecimal digits are a to f and 0 to 9. Possibly you included an illegal character where NewEra expected a hexadecimal value or its sign.

-4513 A number used as a DISPLAY AT location or SCROLL count must be positive.

For a DISPLAY AT statement, see error -1135, which has replaced this error. Since Version 4.0, the SCROLL statement accepts negative numbers.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-4513 bundles two distinct, unrelated messages on the official page. On NewEra, it means an incorrectly formed hexadecimal value: per the official guidance, valid hex digits are a-f and 0-9, so an illegal character appeared where NewEra expected a hexadecimal value or its sign. On other (legacy 4GL) products, it instead means a number used as a DISPLAY AT location or SCROLL count wasn't positive; for DISPLAY AT, that legacy wording has been replaced by error -1135, and since Version 4.0 the SCROLL statement accepts negative numbers outright, per the official guidance.

  1. On NewEra: an illegal character in a hexadecimal literal or its sign, per the official guidance — the direct, active cause on that product.
  2. On legacy 4GL: a non-positive DISPLAY AT location, per the official guidance — superseded by -1135.
  3. On legacy 4GL: a negative SCROLL count, per the official guidance — no longer an error since Version 4.0, which accepts negative SCROLL counts.
Solutions / Resolution
  1. On NewEra, correct the hexadecimal literal to use only a-f/0-9 digits, with a valid sign, per the official guidance.
  2. On legacy 4GL DISPLAY AT, treat this as -1135 and apply that code's resolution steps.
  3. On legacy 4GL SCROLL, no fix is needed on Version 4.0 and later — negative counts are accepted, per the official guidance.
Examples
An illegal character in a hexadecimal literal (NewEra)
LET n = 0x1G3
-- -4513: "G" is not a valid hexadecimal digit
Diagnostic Checks
  1. On NewEra, check the hexadecimal literal's digits and sign for anything outside a-f/0-9.
  2. On legacy 4GL, determine whether the flagged statement is DISPLAY AT or SCROLL, and apply the corresponding note above.
Related Errors / Related Topics
  • -1135 — "The row or column number in DISPLAY AT exceeds the limits of your terminal." A related DISPLAY AT positioning error; the current, active code that has replaced -4513's legacy DISPLAY AT wording.

-4513 bundles two unrelated messages: an incorrectly formed hexadecimal value on NewEra, or a legacy DISPLAY AT/SCROLL positivity check on other products (superseded by -1135 for DISPLAY AT; no longer an error for SCROLL since Version 4.0).