Informix Error -539: DBTEMP too long.

Reasons / Common Causes

-539 is specific to IBM Informix SE: the DBTEMP environment variable, which SE uses to locate its temporary-file directory, has a pathname exceeding the 80-character limit the official guidance states. (DBTEMP is an SE-specific variable — IBM Informix Dynamic Server uses different mechanisms, DBSPACETEMP/PSORT_DBTEMP, for temporary-table and sort-file placement, so this specific error is scoped to SE deployments.)

1. DBTEMP set to a deeply nested directory path, pushing the full pathname past 80 characters — the direct, only cause.
2. An automated environment-setup script constructing DBTEMP from a long base path (a versioned install directory, a long hostname-based path, etc.) without checking the resulting length.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Locate the temporary directory higher in the directory hierarchy, per the official guidance, so the full pathname assigned to DBTEMP comes in under 80 characters.
2. Use a short, dedicated temp directory (e.g. directly under /tmp or /var/tmp) rather than a long nested application path, if flexibility in location exists.
3. Recheck the exported value's actual length after editing the environment setup, since shell quoting or variable expansion can sometimes produce a longer path than expected.

Examples

Too long

export DBTEMP=/export/disk/applications/informix-se/versions/5.01/instances/prod/tmp
# 81 characters -- -539

Shortened

export DBTEMP=/tmp/informixse

Diagnostic Checks

1. Check the length of the exported DBTEMP value directly:

   echo -n "$DBTEMP" | wc -c
   

   confirm it's 80 characters or fewer.

Related Errors / Related Topics

No closely related error codes are cross-referenced for -539 in this set yet.

An IBM Informix SE-specific 80-character pathname limit on DBTEMP — shorten the path, moving the temp directory higher in the hierarchy if needed.