error when i type crontab -e and save
 

This is the error when i type crontab -e and save for a user in solaris 10

"/tmp/crontabzWai5I" 1 line, 16 characters
The editor indicates that an error occurred while you were
editing the crontab data - usually a minor typing error.

Edit again, to ensure crontab information is intact (y/n)?
('n' will discard edits.)

Check if /tmp is not full or has proper rights.

Sorry check also /var/spool or /var in general if its not full.

Since you're talking for a Solaris box, you should set "EDITOR=vi" prior running crontab -e.

I have set the EDITOR to vi also

and there is ample amount of space avilable in /var partiotion

the permission for /tmp is
drwxrwxrwt 50 root sys 19968 Oct 7 19:56 tmp

in that case make sure an individual record does not span 2 lines.
if it does remove the new line and try again. so it shows a $ or similar instead of the new line.

im not able to do this(crontab -e) for any user even root

and there are no entries than span two lines

does crontab -l work?

is there a newline at the end of the file?

there is no blank line at the end

Runto see if there is no other crontab editing running and then (re)move the temporary file from /tmp. Set the EDITOR to vi and try again to edit crontab.

At only 16 characters, it is pretty likely there is an error in the file. A minimal crontab entry would be:

which is 13 characters including the newline. Unless the script is located in the root and its file name is only 4 characters (eg. /abcd), there's an error.

Have you set custom commands in ~/.exrc or $EXINIT ?

A vi error due to a mistake in these commands can cause the problem you describe.

You can try a different editor to sort it out like this:

Not working either

Can you elaborate about it ?

What happens when you enter the command ?
What is the crontab content looking like ?
What error message do you get when saving the file and leaving the editor ?