Informix Error -9659: The server does not support the specified UPDATE operation on JSON documents

Reasons / Common Causes

-9659 fires when an in-place UPDATE is attempted on a JSON document in a way the server doesn't support — per the official guidance.

1. An unsupported direct UPDATE operation on a JSON document, per the official guidance — the direct, only cause.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Use successive SELECT, DELETE, and INSERT operations to update JSON documents instead, per the official guidance.

Examples

Updating a JSON document via SELECT/DELETE/INSERT

SELECT doc FROM json_tab WHERE id = 1 INTO :doc;
-- modify :doc in the application
DELETE FROM json_tab WHERE id = 1;
INSERT INTO json_tab VALUES (1, :doc);

Diagnostic Checks

1. Check whether the attempted UPDATE targets a JSON document directly, and replace it with SELECT/DELETE/INSERT.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -9660 — "The database server operation failed due to an invalid JSON document." A related JSON-document error, on document validity rather than an unsupported UPDATE operation.

A direct UPDATE on a JSON document isn't supported — use SELECT, DELETE, and INSERT instead.