Informix Error -9001: Only columns of type CHARACTER may be subscripted or printed without trailing blanks.

Reasons / Common Causes

-9001 fires when a report specification subscripts a column/variable, or applies the CLIPPED function to one, that isn't of type CHARACTER — per the official guidance.

1. Subscripting or applying CLIPPED to a noncharacter variable, per the official guidance — the first named cause.
2. A variable declared with the wrong data type, per the official guidance — the second named cause.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Only subscript or CLIPPED columns/variables of type CHARACTER, per the official guidance.
2. Check the DEFINE section for the variable's declared type and correct it if wrong, per the official guidance.

Examples

Subscripting a noncharacter column

PRINT some_integer_col[1,3]   -- -9001: some_integer_col isn't CHARACTER

Corrected

PRINT some_char_col[1,3]

Diagnostic Checks

1. Check the DEFINE section for the column/variable's declared type, and correct any subscript or CLIPPED usage on a noncharacter value.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -9060 — "The values m and n used to subscript name are outside the bounds for the column's defined length." A related column-subscripting error, on bounds rather than type.

Only CHARACTER columns/variables can be subscripted or CLIPPED — check the DEFINE section for the value's declared type.