Informix Error -4386: There are too many ORDER BY fields in this report. The maximum number is number.

Cause and resolution

There are too many ORDER BY fields in this report. The maximum number is number.

A limit exists on the number of ordering fields. You will have to redesign the report so that it requires ordering by no more than number columns. Alternatively you can order the data before passing it to the report, and specify the EXTERNAL keyword on the ORDER BY statement in the report body. It is generally more efficient to have the database server produce the rows in the correct order (using SELECT...ORDER BY in the cursor that produces the rows).

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-4386 fires when a report's ORDER BY clause exceeds the maximum number of ordering fields — per the official guidance, this is a hard limit on report-level ordering.

An ORDER BY clause with more fields than the report supports, per the official guidance — the direct, only cause.

Solutions / Resolution

Redesign the report to require ordering by no more than the stated maximum number of columns, per the official guidance.
Alternatively, order the data before passing it to the report, and specify EXTERNAL on the report's ORDER BY, per the official guidance — generally more efficient, since the database server produces the rows already ordered via SELECT...ORDER BY in the driving cursor.

Examples

Ordering externally instead

DECLARE cur CURSOR FOR
  SELECT * FROM orders ORDER BY region, customer, order_date;

REPORT myreport(rec)
  ORDER EXTERNAL BY rec.region, rec.customer, rec.order_date

Diagnostic Checks

Count the report's ORDER BY fields against the stated maximum, and either reduce them or move ordering to the driving cursor's SELECT...ORDER BY with EXTERNAL.

Related Errors / Related Topics

No closely related error codes are cross-referenced for -4386 in this set yet.

A report's ORDER BY exceeds the field limit — reduce it, or order externally via the driving cursor's SELECT...ORDER BY.