CPF9815: Member not found

What it means

CPF9815 is an escape message from QCPFMSG. Its text reads "Member &5 file &2 in library &3 not found". On IBM i, the data in a physical file is kept in members. A file can have no members, one member, or many members up to its MAXMBRS limit. Source files work the same way, with one member for each piece of source.

The message means the system found the file and the library, so neither is missing. Only the member wasn't there. CHKOBJ with the MBR parameter is the classic place to see it, and other commands and system APIs that look up a member send it too.

CRTPF creates one member with the same name as the file unless told otherwise. A table created with SQL has one member, unless it is a partitioned table, which has one member per partition. So CPF9815 mostly turns up with files that are built to hold many members, or with files created with MBR(*NONE).

Common causes

• The member name is misspelled, or a variable built the wrong name, for example a member named after a date or a period.
• The step that adds the member (ADDPFM or ADDLFM) never ran, failed, or ran in a different order.
• Someone removed the member with RMVM, or a clean-up job removed old members.
• The file was created with MBR(*NONE), so it has no members at all.
• An override (OVRDBF with MBR) points the job at a member that isn't there.

How to find the problem

1. Read the full message with DSPJOBLOG, cursor on CPF9815 and F1. It names the member, file and library exactly as the program used them.
2. List the file's members with DSPFD FILE(ACCTLIB/PAYHIST) TYPE(*MBRLIST), or work with them in WRKMBRPDM.
3. Run DSPOVR to see whether an override in the job changed the member the program asked for.
4. If the name came from a variable, look at the command just before the message in the job log. It shows the member name the program actually used.

How to fix it

• Correct the member name in the command, program or override.
• Add the member with ADDPFM FILE(ACCTLIB/PAYHIST) MBR(M202610), or rerun the step that should have created it.
• Test for the member before using it. A common CL pattern runs CHKOBJ with OBJTYPE(*FILE) and MBR, then MONMSG MSGID(CPF9815) EXEC(ADDPFM ...) to add it when it's missing.
• If the file holds one member per period, check that MAXMBRS allows enough members, and that the clean-up job isn't removing members still in use.

What it looks like

Member M202610 file PAYHIST in library ACCTLIB not found.

DSPMSGD MSGID(CPF9815) MSGF(QSYS/QCPFMSG)

Technical reviewer: Albert Joseph, WND Software.

Last reviewed 2026-10-18 by the WND Software team. Written in our own words. For the full reference, check IBM’s documentation for your IBM i release.