Informix Error -862

Reasons / Common Causes

-862 fires when ALTER FRAGMENT ... ATTACH is issued with no table named to consume — per the official guidance, at least one table must be specified.

1. ALTER FRAGMENT ... ATTACH with an empty (or entirely omitted) table list — the direct, only cause.
2. A generated ATTACH statement's table list ending up empty due to an upstream logic error (for example, a filter that excluded every candidate table).

Solutions / Resolution

1. Specify at least one table to attach, per the official guidance — consult the ALTER FRAGMENT ... ATTACH syntax in the IBM Informix Guide to SQL: Syntax, per the official guidance's own pointer, for the full documented syntax.
2. Review whatever logic generated the ATTACH statement if the empty table list was unexpected, to find why no tables ended up in the list.

Examples

The disallowed attempt

ALTER FRAGMENT ON TABLE orders ATTACH;
-- -862: no table specified to consume

Corrected

ALTER FRAGMENT ON TABLE orders ATTACH orders_2025;

Diagnostic Checks

1. Check the ATTACH clause's table list for emptiness, and trace back to why, if it was generated programmatically.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -779 — "Duplicate table name in the alter fragment specification." A related ATTACH restriction, about a name repeated rather than the list being empty.
• -782 — "Attached table is fragmented." A related ATTACH restriction, on the attached table's own structure.
• -786 — "Cannot attach to this table because it is not in the list of tables in the ATTACH clause." A related ATTACH restriction, about the surviving table's own required listing.

Specify at least one table in the ATTACH clause — consult the documented ALTER FRAGMENT ... ATTACH syntax for the full requirements.