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Query against an external table returns conversion error -26168

Troubleshooting


Problem

On a Windows system, executing a SQL select statement against an external table returns error code -26168. The returned error message could be one of the following: -26168: Conversion err:(file,offset,reason,col)=(,0,NO_REC_END,) -26168: Conversion err:(file,offset,reason,col)=(,0,UNSUPPORTED_ROW_SIZE,)

Cause

It is possible that the external table is using a data file that was previously unloaded from a database table using DB-Access utility or the dbexport utility.

Resolving The Problem

To avoid the error, define RECORDEND as '\012' in the CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE statement.

- RECORDEND: specifies the character that separates records in a delimited text file .
- \012: an ASCII value equivalent to the newline character.

Following is an example of how to create an external table with RECORDEND "\012":


CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE ext_tab1 SAMEAS tab1
USING (DATAFILES ('DISK:C:\temp\ext_tab1.unl'), RECORDEND '\012');

or:

CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE ext_tab1
(
col1 INTEGER,
col2 CHAR(15)
)
USING(DATAFILES("DISK:C:\temp\ext_tab1.unl"), RECORDEND "\012");


Where the "C:\temp\ext_tab1.unl" is an unload file previously produced by DB-Access or dbexport utility.

Related Information

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Document Information

Modified date:
16 June 2018

UID

swg21627845