The following restrictions apply to replacing methods that implement ordering or transform operations on UDTs.
- A method used to implement either ordering or transform functionality for a UDT can only be replaced if a complete definition already exists for it.
This means that the definitions for both the referenced UDT and the method to be replaced, as defined by the CREATE TYPE and CREATE METHOD statements, must already exist.
See CREATE TYPE (Distinct Form), CREATE TYPE (Structured Form), and CREATE METHOD for information about these statements.
- The REPLACE METHOD specification must be an exact match with the existing method specification in the data dictionary. This means that its name, parameter list, method entry point name as defined in the EXTERNAL clause, and so on must all match.
- The execution mode for the method being altered must be EXECUTE PROTECTED.
If the function is currently set to EXECUTE NOT PROTECTED mode, then you must perform an ALTER METHOD request (see ALTER METHOD) to change the mode to EXECUTE PROTECTED before you can perform the REPLACE METHOD request.
Unless all of these conditions have been met when you submit the REPLACE METHOD request, the system aborts it and returns an error to the requestor.