Informix Error -463

Reasons / Common Causes

-463 is the read-side counterpart of -461/-462, specific to loading a file's content into a BYTE/TEXT column: the server encountered an operating-system error while reading the source file.

1. The source file was modified, truncated, or removed while the read was in progress.
2. A disk-level I/O error on the filesystem hosting the source file.
3. File permission issues preventing a successful read partway through (less common than an outright open failure, but possible with certain filesystem/permission configurations).

Solutions / Resolution

1. Check the accompanying ISAM error code, per the official guidance, for the specific underlying reason.
2. Check for operating-system messages around the same time, per the official guidance.
3. Confirm the source file wasn't modified or removed externally while the load operation was in progress.
4. Check for disk-level I/O errors on the filesystem hosting the source file.

Examples

Checking for external file modification during a load

-- Confirm the source file backing a file-to-column load
-- wasn't being written to, truncated, or removed by another
-- process while this read was in progress.

Diagnostic Checks

1. Read the accompanying ISAM error code for the specific underlying reason.
2. Check OS-level messages around the same timestamp.
3. Check for external file modification during the read.
4. Check for disk I/O errors on the source filesystem.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -461 — "File open error." A related file-operation failure, at the open step rather than the read step.
• -454 — "'loc_read()' failed." A closely related read failure, in the more general loc_*()-function family rather than this specific file-to-column load scenario.

Check for external file modification during the read first — a file changing out from under an in-progress load is a common, easily overlooked cause.