Common Vortex Errors

Some common error messages generated by Vortex include:

Can't open source file nnn: ...

  The Vortex script nnn, given in the URL or command line, could not be found or is unreadable. The file or one of its directory components might not exist (No such file or directory), or may be unreadable with Vortex' user permissions. Keep in mind that many Web servers run CGI programs (such as Vortex) as a different user or permission level than normal programs.

Cannot open default script ...: ...

  No Vortex script was given to execute and the default script index in the default database cannot be opened.

Function/variable must be alphanumerics

  The function or variable name had illegal syntax. Names must be composed of alphanumeric characters, underscores, and periods.

Function `func' already defined

 

The function "func" was already defined (as a user or builtin function, if indicated), and a redeclaration was attempted.

`sometag' is a reserved name (HTML/Vortex tag)

 

The token "sometag" is reserved (cannot be a function name) because it is an HTML or Vortex tag name. Function names cannot be HTML tags to avoid confusion when calling them.

Must have a function `main' defined in script

  All Vortex scripts must have a main function defined, as the default start point of the script. This error is often caused by a misspelled <SCRIPT LANGUAGE=vortex> tag: if the block is not recognized as Vortex, it is silently skipped (it's assumed to be another script language).

No text permitted after variable in argument

 

Argument must be single variable or literal

  Each argument to a function or Vortex statement must be a literal value (e.g. "hello") or a single variable. Variables cannot be nested inside a string, e.g. "hello $there" is illegal as an argument. (The SQL statement is an exception; its embedded variables are SQL parameters.)

Variable expected

  A variable argument was expected, not a literal.

Syntax error: ...

  The syntax of a Vortex statement was incorrect, and should conform to the given syntax.

Wrong number of arguments to user function `func' (expected nnn)

 

A user-defined or builtin function func was called with the wrong number of arguments.

Function `func' has no parameter named `ppp'

 

A script function func was called with an incorrect parameter ppp.

Function `func' requires parameter `ppp'

  A required parameter ppp (one with no default value) was not specified in a call to function func.

Function `main' must be PUBLIC

  The function main must always be PUBLIC, because it is the default start function to Vortex scripts.

Unterminated <IF>/<ELSE>/etc.

 

Syntax error: unterminated block

  A block statement, such as <SQL>, <LOOP>, <EXEC>, or <SWITCH>, was not terminated with a corresponding closing (</tag>) tag.

</IF> without <IF>

  A closing tag for a Vortex block statement was given where there is no such open statement.

Unknown operator `op'

 

"op" is not a valid Vortex operator (e.g. eq, lt, etc.).

Format code `p' illegal in format string

 

The format code "p" is known but illegal in a <fmt> string.

Too many/few arguments for <fmt> format

  Too many or too few arguments were passed to <fmt> for the given format string.

State URL too long, truncated

  There were too many variables EXPORTed to the URL, and/or their values were too long to be contained in a 512-character URL. Some or all of the variables will be lost. A common mistake is to inadvertently leave an EXPORT URL variable set to a list of multiple values instead of one or none, or forgetting to clear it after a SQL loop: the next $url might export a lot of unneeded values.

Stack overflow

  Too many commands or function calls were nested. This may be caused by recursive function calls (a function calling itself). There is a fixed limit of 250 nestable calls, to catch infinite recursion. See the STACK directive (here) and the vxcp function (here).

Corrupt object file

  An inconsistency was detected in the Vortex object file (.vtx file). This can be caused by another program modifying the file, copying it incorrectly (e.g. FTP in non-binary mode), or copying an object file from a different operating system or environment (object files are optimized for each platform). The error can generally be corrected by deleting the .vtx file, as Vortex will then automatically re-compile the script source when it is run.