Informix Error -732

Reasons / Common Causes

-732 covers several distinct misuses of a trigger's OLD/NEW correlation name, per the official guidance: using it outside the FOR EACH ROW section, using it in the EXECUTE PROCEDURE action's INTO clause, using it to qualify a SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT ...) column, an INSERT trigger specifying an old correlation name, or a DELETE trigger specifying a new correlation name.

1. The correlation name referenced outside FOR EACH ROW, per the official guidance — it's only meaningful within the row-level action section.
2. The correlation name used in an INTO clause, per the official guidance — the same restriction area as -731, but here about the correlation name specifically rather than a plain column.
3. The correlation name used to qualify a SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT column) argument, per the official guidance's specific example — SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT oldname.colname) is disallowed outright.
4. An INSERT trigger declaring an OLD correlation name, per the official guidance — an inserted row has no "old" state, so this isn't meaningful.
5. A DELETE trigger declaring a NEW correlation name, per the official guidance — a deleted row has no "new" state, the mirror-image restriction.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Move the correlation-name reference inside the FOR EACH ROW section, if it was used outside it.
2. Remove the correlation name from any INTO clause, per -731's resolution.
3. Rewrite COUNT(DISTINCT oldname.colname)-style expressions to avoid qualifying the DISTINCT argument with the correlation name — reference the column without the correlation prefix if the query's context makes it unambiguous, or restructure the aggregate.
4. Remove REFERENCING OLD from INSERT triggers, per the official guidance — only NEW is meaningful there.
5. Remove REFERENCING NEW from DELETE triggers, per the official guidance — only OLD is meaningful there.

Examples

An OLD correlation name on an INSERT trigger

CREATE TRIGGER trg_orders_insert INSERT ON orders
  REFERENCING OLD AS pre NEW AS post FOR EACH ROW
  (EXECUTE PROCEDURE log_new_order(post.order_id));
-- -732: an INSERT trigger has no "old" row; OLD isn't valid here

Corrected

CREATE TRIGGER trg_orders_insert INSERT ON orders
  REFERENCING NEW AS post FOR EACH ROW
  (EXECUTE PROCEDURE log_new_order(post.order_id));

Diagnostic Checks

1. Identify which of the five documented misuses applies: outside FOR EACH ROW, inside INTO, qualifying COUNT(DISTINCT ...), OLD on an INSERT trigger, or NEW on a DELETE trigger.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -730 — "Cannot specify REFERENCING if trigger does not have FOR EACH ROW." A related REFERENCING/FOR EACH ROW structural restriction.
• -731 — "Invalid use of column reference in trigger body." A related restriction on INTO clause usage, for plain columns rather than correlation names specifically.
• -734 — "Object name matches old or new values correlation name." A related REFERENCING restriction, about a naming collision rather than a usage-context misuse.

Five distinct misuse patterns share this one message — match the specific symptom (event type mismatch, INTO usage, COUNT DISTINCT qualification, or scope) to the right fix.