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Informix Error -728: Unknown first argument of dbinfo(<argument>). </argument>

Cause and resolution

Unknown first argument of dbinfo(<argument>). </argument>

Check that the first argument to dbinfo() is a quoted string that corresponds to one of the following values: 'dbspace', 'version', 'sqlca.sqlerrd1', 'sqlca.sqlerrd2', 'sessionid', 'coserverid', 'utc_to_datetime', 'utc_current', 'get_tz', or 'dbhostname'.

-728 Unknown first argument of dbinfo argument-name.

The valid arguments to the dbinfo() function are the quoted string 'dbspace' followed by the number of a valid tablespace, or one of the following two values: 'sqlca.sqlerrd1' or 'sqlca.sqlerrd2'. Check that you supplied one of these values and enclosed the string in quotes.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-728 fires when DBINFO()'s first argument, though correctly a quoted string, doesn't match any value the function recognizes — per the official guidance, the full set of valid values is 'dbspace', 'version', 'sqlca.sqlerrd1', 'sqlca.sqlerrd2', 'sessionid', 'coserverid', 'utc_to_datetime', 'utc_current', 'get_tz', or 'dbhostname'.

  1. A misspelled argument name, per the official guidance — the most common, direct cause.
  2. An argument name from a different server version or product, not recognized by this server's DBINFO() implementation.
  3. 'dbspace' used without the required second argument, per the official guidance's note that 'dbspace' specifically must be followed by a tablespace number — though a missing second argument for 'dbspace' would typically surface as -727 rather than -728, confirming the first argument itself is spelled correctly is still worth doing first.
Solutions / Resolution
  1. Check that the first argument is one of the ten documented values, per the official guidance, spelled and quoted exactly.
  2. Consult the documented list for the server version in use, since not every argument may be available on older versions.
Examples
An unrecognized argument name
SELECT DBINFO('sesion_id') FROM systables WHERE tabid = 1;
-- -728: 'sesion_id' isn't recognized; the correct name is 'sessionid'
Corrected
SELECT DBINFO('sessionid') FROM systables WHERE tabid = 1;
Diagnostic Checks
  1. Compare the quoted first argument against the documented list: 'dbspace', 'version', 'sqlca.sqlerrd1', 'sqlca.sqlerrd2', 'sessionid', 'coserverid', 'utc_to_datetime', 'utc_current', 'get_tz', 'dbhostname'.
Related Errors / Related Topics
  • -726 — "First argument to dbinfo() must be a quoted string constant." A related DBINFO() error, about the argument not being a literal quoted string at all, rather than being an unrecognized value.
  • -727 — "Invalid or NULL tblspace number given to dbinfo(dbspace)." A related DBINFO() error, specific to 'dbspace''s second argument once the first argument is correctly recognized.

Compare the quoted argument, character for character, against the ten documented DBINFO() values.