Informix Error -656

-656 Routine is not declared to return values.

When the routine was declared, it did not contain a RETURNING clause to indicate that the routine would not return any value, but then a RETURN statement was found in the body of the routine.

An example of the error follows:

CREATE ROUTINE testproc() DEFINE a INT; LET a = 10; RETURN a + 1; -- error END ROUTINE

Correction: Add a RETURNING clause before the DEFINE statement, or remove the RETURN statement.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-656 fires when a routine's body contains a RETURN statement but its declaration has no RETURNING clause — per the official guidance, a routine without RETURNING is declared to return nothing, so any RETURN (with or without values) in its body is unexpected.

A RETURN statement left in a routine whose RETURNING clause was removed during editing, without also removing the now-invalid RETURN.
A routine intended to return a value, but the RETURNING clause was forgotten when the routine was first written.
A bare RETURN; (no values) used to exit a void routine early — per the official guidance, this specific case is also invalid without RETURNING; use EXIT or restructure the control flow to exit early instead.

Solutions / Resolution

Add a RETURNING clause before the routine body, per the official guidance, if the routine genuinely needs to return one or more values.
Or remove the RETURN statement from the routine body, per the official guidance, if the routine genuinely returns nothing.

Examples

The disallowed attempt

CREATE PROCEDURE log_order_event(p_order_id INT)
  DEFINE v_status CHAR(10);
  ...
  RETURN;
  -- -656: no RETURNING clause was declared
END PROCEDURE;

Corrected — remove RETURN

CREATE PROCEDURE log_order_event(p_order_id INT)
  DEFINE v_status CHAR(10);
  ...
END PROCEDURE;

Or corrected — add RETURNING if a value was actually intended

CREATE PROCEDURE log_order_event(p_order_id INT)
  RETURNING INT;
  DEFINE v_status CHAR(10);
  ...
  RETURN 1;
END PROCEDURE;

Diagnostic Checks

Check whether the routine's declaration includes a RETURNING clause, and whether the body's RETURN statement(s) are actually needed given the routine's intended purpose.

Related Errors / Related Topics

-655 — "RETURN value count does not match procedure declaration." A related return-value mismatch error, about a count mismatch once RETURNING does exist, rather than RETURNING being absent entirely.

RETURN requires a matching RETURNING clause on the routine declaration — add one, or remove the RETURN if the routine genuinely returns nothing.