Informix Error -633

Reasons / Common Causes

-633 fires when dropping an optical cluster fails for a reason the accompanying ISAM error identifies — per the official guidance, this error itself is a general failure indicator, with the specific cause carried by the ISAM error alongside it, the drop-side counterpart to -632's creation failure.

1. An underlying ISAM-level error during the optical cluster's removal, per the official guidance's pointer to checking the accompanying ISAM error — the only documented path to the specific cause.
2. The optical cluster still referenced by data or in active use at the time of the drop attempt, a plausible category of cause given the subsystem involved, though not explicitly named by the sparse official text.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Check the accompanying ISAM error code, per the official guidance — this is the only documented path to the specific underlying cause.
2. Confirm the optical cluster isn't still in active use by other operations before retrying the drop, as a plausible contributor to rule out.
3. Check Optical Subsystem storage availability (media, jukebox/library status) as another plausible contributor, similar to -632.

Examples

Checking the accompanying ISAM error

-- Review the ISAM error code reported alongside -633 for the specific
-- underlying reason the optical cluster couldn't be dropped.

Diagnostic Checks

1. Check the accompanying ISAM error code first, per the official guidance.
2. Confirm the optical cluster isn't still in active use before retrying.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -631 — "Cannot create optical cluster on column that is not TEXT or BYTE." A related optical-cluster error, specific to creation with a wrong column type.
• -632 — "Cannot create optical cluster." The corresponding creation-side general failure, sharing this error's "check the accompanying ISAM error" resolution path.

The drop-side counterpart to -632 — the accompanying ISAM error carries the specific reason, per the official guidance.