Informix Error -837: There is not enough memory available.

Reasons / Common Causes

-837 is documented as obsolete — per the official guidance, database servers after Version 4.1 don't produce it, with -208 noted as the related current alternative message. It's documented here for older platforms/archival reference: on the versions where it applied, Informix SQL couldn't allocate memory for one of several small internal work areas.

1. Client-side memory exhaustion, per the official guidance — a general resource shortage on the platforms where this specific error applied.
2. On DOS systems specifically, insufficient disk space, per the official guidance — a distinct, platform-specific cause (DOS memory management of the era relied on disk-backed resources in ways later platforms didn't).

Solutions / Resolution

1. Stop the program and restart it, per the official guidance — the documented first step on affected older platforms.
2. If that doesn't resolve it, see the system administrator about getting more memory, per the official guidance.
3. On DOS systems, free some disk space, per the official guidance's platform-specific note.
4. On a current server version, check -208's discussion instead, per the official guidance's pointer, since that's the currently documented alternative for this same general condition.

Examples

N/A

This is an obsolete message, documented for archival reference on older platforms.

Diagnostic Checks

1. On a current server version, this specific message isn't expected — check -208's discussion instead, per the official guidance's pointer.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -208 — noted directly by the official guidance as the related current alternative message for this same general out-of-memory condition on supported server versions.

Obsolete since Version 4.1 — check -208's discussion for the current documented form of this condition.