Informix Error -884

Reasons / Common Causes

-884 fires when ALTER INDEX targets an index on a temporary table — the same standing family of temp-table restrictions as -508/-509/-510/-532/-548/-576/-781, here applied to index alteration specifically.

1. ALTER INDEX attempted against an index defined on a temp table, per the official guidance — the direct, only cause.
2. DDL copy-pasted from a permanent-table index-maintenance script, applied to a temp table's index by mistake.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Correct the program to avoid altering indexes on temporary tables, per the official guidance — the only path, consistent with the rest of this family of restrictions.
2. Re-create the temp table (and its index) with the desired index characteristics from the start, if a different index structure is actually needed:

   DROP TABLE staging_orders;
   CREATE TEMP TABLE staging_orders (order_id INT, status CHAR(10));
   CREATE INDEX idx_staging_status ON staging_orders (status);
   

Examples

The disallowed attempt

CREATE TEMP TABLE staging_orders (order_id INT, status CHAR(10));
CREATE INDEX idx_staging_status ON staging_orders (status);
ALTER INDEX idx_staging_status TO NOT CLUSTER;
-- -884: idx_staging_status is on a temporary table

Corrected — re-create with the desired structure

DROP TABLE staging_orders;
CREATE TEMP TABLE staging_orders (order_id INT, status CHAR(10));
CREATE INDEX idx_staging_status ON staging_orders (status);

Diagnostic Checks

1. Confirm whether the index's underlying table is temporary before attempting ALTER INDEX — if so, re-creating the table and index together is the only path.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -508 through -510, -532, -548, -576, -781 — the standing family of temp-table restrictions this index-alteration restriction belongs to.

Part of the standing family of temp-table restrictions — re-create the temp table and its index together rather than trying to alter the index in place.