Informix Error -4499: Member "name" is already declared in the class or in its base class.

Reasons / Common Causes

-4499 fires in one of two situations — per the official guidance, either a member called "name" already exists in the current class (declared again, directly), or the declaration is attempting to override an event or a variable inherited from a base class, which isn't supported.

1. A member with the same name already exists in the current class, per the official guidance — the direct, first case.
2. An attempt to override an inherited event or variable, per the official guidance — only member functions can be overridden.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Rename the new member, or remove the duplicate declaration, if the collision is within the current class.
2. Don't attempt to override an inherited event or variable — per the official guidance, only member functions support overriding.

Examples

Attempting to override an inherited variable

CLASS Base
  DEFINE status CHAR(10)
END CLASS

CLASS Derived : Base
  DEFINE status CHAR(10)
  -- -4499: "status" is inherited from Base and cannot be overridden
END CLASS

Diagnostic Checks

1. Check the current class and its base class(es) for an existing member of the same name, and confirm whether the intent was a genuine override — only member functions permit that.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -4025 — "Function "name" is already declared in the class." A related duplicate-declaration error, specific to functions rather than any class member.
• -4497 — "Event "name" is already declared in the class." A related duplicate-declaration error, specific to events rather than any class member.

A class member name collides with an existing member in the class or its base class, or attempts to override a non-function member — only member functions can be overridden.