Troubleshooting "Arg list too long" and "Argument list too long" Errors - Teradata Vantage - Analytics Database

SQL External Routine Programming

Deployment
VantageCloud
VantageCore
Edition
VMware
Enterprise
IntelliFlex
Product
Analytics Database
Teradata Vantage
Release Number
17.20
Published
June 2022
ft:locale
en-US
ft:lastEdition
2026-03-06
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qnu1472247494689
lifecycle
latest
Product Category
Teradata Vantageā„¢

On Linux, creating, replacing, or altering a UDF, UDM, or external stored procedure (collectively called external routines) can produce an "Argument list too long" error.

You get this error if the database in which you want to create, replace, or alter the external routine has a large number of external routines or external routines with long names.

The new external routine compiles (or recompiles) successfully, but when the name of the resulting object file is added to the list of object files for all of the external routines already in the database, the compiler cannot create a new dynamic linked library (.so file) because the resulting list exceeds the maximum command line argument size.

To work around this limitation on Linux, you can do any of the following:

  • Drop all unnecessary UDTs and external routines from the database.
  • Instead of installing each external routine individually, create a package or library of external routines and install the package.
This may not work in all cases, for example, if you reach the maximum number of UDTs allowed on a system.