Informix Error -880: Trim character and trim source must be of string data type.

Reasons / Common Causes

-880 fires when TRIM's character-to-trim argument or its source (the value being trimmed) isn't a string type — per the official guidance, both must be string types.

1. A non-string value passed as the trim character or the source, per the official guidance — a numeric or date value where a character string is required.
2. A column/expression of the wrong type referenced by mistake, where a similarly-named string column was intended instead.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Check the syntax of the TRIM function call, per the official guidance.
2. Check that both the character and source values are string-typed, per the official guidance — cast explicitly if a conversion is genuinely needed:

   TRIM(BOTH ' ' FROM order_id::VARCHAR(10));
   

Examples

The disallowed non-string source

SELECT TRIM(BOTH ' ' FROM order_id) FROM orders;
-- -880: order_id is INT, not a string type

Corrected — explicit cast

SELECT TRIM(BOTH ' ' FROM order_id::VARCHAR(10)) FROM orders;

Diagnostic Checks

1. Check the declared type of both the trim character and the source value against TRIM's string-type requirement.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -879 — "Trim character must be null or have a length of 1." A related TRIM restriction, about the character argument's length rather than its data type.

Both TRIM arguments must be string types — cast explicitly if either is a non-string value.