Informix Error -845: There are no user-menus in the database.

Reasons / Common Causes

-845 fires when the database has no usable user-menu system at all — per the official guidance, three possible reasons: the sysmenus table doesn't exist in this database, it exists but is empty, or the top-level menu isn't named main (the name the tool specifically expects).

1. The current database was never set up with user menus, per the official guidance — no sysmenus table at all.
2. sysmenus exists but has no rows, per the official guidance — set up structurally but never populated.
3. The top-level menu isn't named main, per the official guidance — a specific naming convention the tool requires for the entry point, even if other menus are defined.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Check that the intended database is actually connected, per the official guidance — this condition may simply mean the wrong database is current.
2. Consult with the person who defined the user menus for this database, per the official guidance — this is the documented resolution path, since setting up the menu system is a design/deployment task.
3. Check whether sysmenus exists and has rows, and specifically whether a menu named main is among them:

   SELECT colname FROM syscolumns
   WHERE tabid = (SELECT tabid FROM systables WHERE tabname = 'sysmenus');
   
   SELECT * FROM sysmenus;
   

Examples

Checking for sysmenus and a main entry

SELECT * FROM sysmenus;

Review the result for any rows at all, and specifically for one representing a top-level menu named main.

Diagnostic Checks

1. Confirm the correct database is connected.
2. Query sysmenus to check for its existence, whether it has rows, and whether a main top-level menu is present.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -818 — "Specified user menu not found." A related menu error, about one specific named menu not being found, rather than the database having no user-menu system at all.
• -819 — "There are no menu items in the menu." A related menu error, about a found menu being empty of items, rather than no menus existing at all.

Three specific possible causes (no sysmenus table, an empty one, or no main top-level menu) — query sysmenus to distinguish which applies.