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Informix Error -936

-936 Error on remote connection connection-name.

An attempted connection to a remote host failed. Check the name of the connection that is specified in your particular connection statement (CONNECT, DATABASE, and so on) to make sure that you correctly specified the name or path of the connection. Check for incorrect spelling. Check for the wrong connection name.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-936 fires when an attempted connection to a remote host fails — per the official guidance, the first thing to check is the connection name itself, as specified in the connection statement (CONNECT, DATABASE, etc.), for a spelling or naming mistake.

  1. A misspelled connection name/path, per the official guidance — the most direct, common cause.
  2. The wrong connection name used, per the official guidance — a name that's spelled correctly but doesn't identify the intended target.
Solutions / Resolution
  1. Check the name of the connection specified in the statement, per the official guidance, to confirm it's correctly specified.
  2. Check for incorrect spelling, per the official guidance.
  3. Check for the wrong connection name, per the official guidance — confirm the name used actually identifies the intended remote target, not just that it's spelled plausibly.
Examples
Reviewing the connection statement
CONNECT TO 'sales@remote_server' AS conn1;
-- -936: check 'sales@remote_server' for spelling and whether it's
-- genuinely the intended target
Diagnostic Checks
  1. Review the connection name/path in the failing statement character by character.
  2. Confirm it identifies the actually-intended remote target, not just a plausible-looking name.
Related Errors / Related Topics
  • -930 — "Cannot connect to database server servername." A related connectivity error, about a general connection failure rather than the connection name itself being wrong.
  • -934 — "Connection to remote site no longer valid." A related connectivity error, about a previously-valid connection lost mid-operation, rather than an initial attempt failing.

Check the connection name for spelling and correctness first, before assuming a general network problem.