Informix Error -533: Extent size too small, minimum size is number k.

Reasons / Common Causes

-533 is a hard floor on extent sizes: an EXTENT SIZE or NEXT SIZE clause on CREATE TABLE must specify at least four times the dbspace's disk page size, per the official guidance, and a value below that floor is rejected.

1. An EXTENT SIZE/NEXT SIZE value copied from a different environment with a smaller page size, where the same number no longer clears the four-page-size floor.
2. A very small extent size chosen deliberately for a tiny table, without accounting for the platform's minimum.
3. A page-size change on the dbspace (moving to a larger page size) that raised the minimum extent size above a value that used to be valid.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Raise the EXTENT SIZE/NEXT SIZE value to at least four times the dbspace's page size, per the official guidance — the error message itself states the exact minimum in kilobytes for this platform/dbspace.
2. Size EXTENT SIZE for the table's actual expected row count, per the official guidance's broader recommendation — large enough to hold the initially estimated rows — rather than just clearing the minimum.
3. Set NEXT SIZE to roughly an eighth or a quarter of EXTENT SIZE, per the official guidance's rule of thumb, once EXTENT SIZE itself is sized appropriately.

Examples

Below the floor

CREATE TABLE small_lookup (id INT, label CHAR(10))
  EXTENT SIZE 4 NEXT SIZE 2;
-- -533: extent size too small; minimum is (4 * dbspace page size) k

Corrected, sized per the guidance

CREATE TABLE small_lookup (id INT, label CHAR(10))
  EXTENT SIZE 64 NEXT SIZE 16;

Diagnostic Checks

1. Check the dbspace's page size (via onstat -d) to compute the actual minimum extent size for this table's target dbspace.
2. Compare the requested EXTENT SIZE/NEXT SIZE against that computed minimum before retrying the CREATE TABLE.

Related Errors / Related Topics

No closely related error codes are cross-referenced for -533 in this set yet.

A hard floor of four times the dbspace's page size — the error text itself states the exact minimum for this platform, so raise the value to at least that.