You are using a database server that manages tables as ordinary disk files. The current database is managed as a directory, and tables are files within it. Look for operating-system error messages that might give more information. Locate the database directory (either in the current directory or on a path that is named in the DBPATH environment variable). Check that disk space is available. In UNIX, your personal account does not have to have write access to the directory and table files; however, they must be writable to the group-id informix.