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Informix Error -909

-909 Invalid database name format.

This statement seems to refer to a database from another database server, but the database name, site name, server name, or punctuation is incorrect. Review the statement, and check that all identifiers start with a letter (or underscore, for Version 6.0 and later) and contain only letters, digits, and underscores, and that the reference is in the form dbname@sitename or //sitename/dbname (before Version 6.0) or dbname@servername or //servername/dbname (Version 6.0 and later). If you are using IBM Informix OnLine for NetWare, check that you provided the remote database name in one of the forms that is explained in the product manual.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-909 fires when a cross-database-server reference's database name, site name, server name, or punctuation is incorrect — per the official guidance, identifiers must follow the standard naming rule (letter or, from Version 6.0, underscore to start; letters/digits/underscores thereafter, the same rule as -841), and the reference itself must use one of the documented forms.

  1. An identifier not following the standard naming rule, per the official guidance — the same rule as -841.
  2. The reference not in a valid form: dbname@sitename or //sitename/dbname (before Version 6.0), or dbname@servername or //servername/dbname (Version 6.0 and later), per the official guidance.
  3. On IBM Informix OnLine for NetWare specifically, a remote database name not given in one of the product-specific forms documented in that product's manual, per the official guidance.
Solutions / Resolution
  1. Review the statement's database reference, per the official guidance, checking identifiers against the standard naming rule and the reference against the documented forms.
  2. Use dbname@servername (the current, Version 6.0+ form), per the official guidance, for ordinary cross-server references.
  3. On IBM Informix OnLine for NetWare, check the product manual for that platform's specific accepted forms, per the official guidance.
Examples
The current documented form
DATABASE sales@remote_server;
An invalid format
DATABASE sales@@remote_server;
-- -909: invalid punctuation
Diagnostic Checks
  1. Check every identifier in the reference against the standard naming rule.
  2. Check the reference's overall form against dbname@servername (current) or the documented alternatives for older versions/platforms.
Related Errors / Related Topics
  • -841 — "Name must start with a letter or "" and contain letters, digits, or ""." The same underlying naming rule, applied to database/report/form/file names generally.
  • -906 — "Cannot locate remote system (check DBPATH)." A related cross-server error, about the target system being unreachable once the reference format is itself valid.

Check identifiers against the standard naming rule, and the reference's overall form against dbname@servername.