IBM Support

SQL0420N Invalid character found in a character string argument of the function "DECFLOAT"

Troubleshooting


Problem

Notice multiple dump.bin errors and SQL0420N Invalid character found in a character string argument of the function "DECFLOAT" in db2diag.log

Symptom

In DB2 V 9.7 FP 5 & in DB2 V 10.5 , a command similar to :

db2 "values ('SMS' + '.')" may result in

SQL0402N The data type of an operand of an arithmetic function or operation "+" is not numeric. SQLSTATE=42819

[{"Product":{"code":"SSEPGG","label":"Db2 for Linux, UNIX and Windows"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU058","label":"IBM Infrastructure w\/TPS"},"Component":"OTHER - Uncategorised","Platform":[{"code":"PF002","label":"AIX"},{"code":"PF010","label":"HP-UX"},{"code":"PF016","label":"Linux"},{"code":"PF033","label":"Windows"}],"Version":"10.1;10.5;9.7","Edition":"","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB10","label":"Data and AI"}}]

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Document Information

More support for:
Db2 for Linux, UNIX and Windows

Software version:
10.1, 10.5, 9.7

Operating system(s):
AIX, HP-UX, Linux, Windows

Document number:
291323

Modified date:
30 April 2025

UID

swg21998393

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