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Informix Error -618

-618 Error occurred while trying to copy TEXT or BYTE data.

This statement copies a BYTE or TEXT value from one row to another, but some unexpected error interfered with the operation. Roll back the current transaction. Check the accompanying ISAM error code for more information; possibly a hardware error, data corruption of the storage space or tblspace, or a shortage of disk space exists, or an invalid storage space was named. If the error recurs, note all circumstances and contact IBM Informix Technical Support.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-618 fires when copying a TEXT/BYTE value from one row to another fails unexpectedly — per the official guidance, one of several possible storage-level causes, echoing the -600 through -606 BLOB-operation family but specifically at the copy step.

  1. Hardware error or data corruption in the storage space/tblspace involved, per the official guidance.
  2. A shortage of disk space in the destination storage space, per the official guidance.
  3. An invalid storage space named, per the official guidance, for where the copy should land.
  4. An underlying ISAM-level error during the copy, per the official guidance's pointer to checking the accompanying ISAM error code.
Solutions / Resolution
  1. Roll back the current transaction, per the official guidance.
  2. Check the accompanying ISAM error code, per the official guidance, for the specific underlying reason.
  3. Check free space in the destination storage space, per the official guidance:
    onstat -d
  4. Confirm any storage space named in the statement is valid, per the official guidance, using the same check as -606.
  5. Check for hardware errors or corruption, per the official guidance, via chunk status and OS-level disk/hardware logs, if space and validity both check out.
  6. If this recurs, note all circumstances and contact IBM Informix Technical Support, per the official guidance.
Examples
Checking space and validity before escalating
$ onstat -d
-- review free-page counts and on-line status for the destination storage space
Diagnostic Checks
  1. Check the accompanying ISAM error code first, per the official guidance.
  2. Check destination storage-space free space, validity, and on-line status (onstat -d) before treating this as hardware/corruption.
Related Errors / Related Topics
  • -600 through -606 — the rest of the TEXT/BYTE storage-operation error family, covering create, delete, open, close, read, write, and invalid-storage-space failures for the same underlying data.

Effectively a fifth cause added to the -600..-606 family's usual suspects — check space, storage-space validity, and the accompanying ISAM error before assuming hardware/corruption.