MCH3402: Object no longer exists

What it means

When a job calls a program or opens an object, it resolves the name once and keeps a pointer to the object for later use. If someone then deletes that object, the pointer still exists but points at nothing. The next time the job uses it, the machine sends MCH3402.

Recompiling is where most people meet it. IBM's support note explains that jobs which already called a program keep using their pointer to the old version after a recompile. That works as long as the old program still exists somewhere. Compiling with REPLACE(*YES) moves the old version to library QRPLOBJ, so running jobs keep working. Deleting the program first and then compiling it removes the old version for good, and every job holding a pointer to it gets MCH3402 on its next call.

IBM also describes a less common path. If QRPLOBJ is full, the old version goes to QTEMP of the job that did the compile instead. When that job ends, its QTEMP is deleted, and so is the old program.

Common causes

• A program was deleted (DLTPGM) and then recompiled while other jobs were using it.
• QRPLOBJ was full during a REPLACE(*YES) compile, so the old version went to the compiling job's QTEMP and disappeared when that job ended.
• An object a job had located earlier, such as a data area, a user space or a file, was deleted and re-created by another job while the first job still held its pointer.

How to find the problem

1. Run DSPJOBLOG on the failing job, put the cursor on MCH3402 and press F1, then F9. Note the program and statement that used the old pointer.
2. Find out what that statement refers to, usually a called program, and check when that object was last changed or re-created with DSPOBJD.
3. Check with whoever promoted code at that time whether the object was deleted before compiling, or whether a deployment tool replaced it that way.
4. Look at the library QRPLOBJ with DSPLIB to see whether it is very full.

How to fix it

• End and restart the affected job, or have the user sign off and on. A new job resolves the name again and finds the new object.
• Compile with REPLACE(*YES) instead of deleting first, so running jobs keep the old version until they finish. Compile when the program isn't busy if you can.
• Change deployment tools that delete and re-create objects to use replace or move instead.
• Keep QRPLOBJ from filling up. An IPL clears it, and IBM support has a document on clearing it without an IPL.

DSPMSGD MSGID(MCH3402) 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.