Informix Error -2893

-2893 The display field label tag-name appears more than once

in this form, but the lengths are different.

You can put multiple copies of a field in the screen layout (all will display the same column), but all copies must be the same length. Review the SCREEN section to make sure that, if you intended to have multiple copies of one field, all copies are the same.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-2893 fires when a display field's tag-name appears more than once in the SCREEN section with inconsistent lengths — per the official guidance, multiple copies of a field are allowed (all displaying the same column), but every copy must be the same length.

Multiple copies of the same field tag-name in SCREEN, defined with differing lengths, per the official guidance — the direct, only cause.

Solutions / Resolution

Review the SCREEN section to make sure all copies of one field are the same length, per the official guidance, if duplicating the field was intended.

Examples

Mismatched copy lengths

SCREEN
{
Status: [status    ]        Copy: [status]
}
END
-- -2893: one copy is 10 characters wide, the other only 6

Corrected

SCREEN
{
Status: [status    ]        Copy: [status    ]
}
END

Diagnostic Checks

Check every occurrence of the same field tag-name in SCREEN, and confirm they're all the same length.

Related Errors / Related Topics

-2892 — "The column column-name name appears more than once. If you wish a column to be duplicated in a form, use the same display field label." A related duplicate-field error, about a mismatched column/tag-name pairing rather than mismatched copy lengths.

A field tag-name is duplicated in SCREEN with inconsistent lengths — make all copies the same length.