What does HRESULT 0x00040ED6 (DB_S_STOPLIMITREACHED) mean?

DB_S_STOPLIMITREACHED

OLE DB stopped at a resource limit with partial results

DB_S_STOPLIMITREACHED is HRESULT 265942 (0x00040ED6) from Microsoft OLE DB. AllStat describes this result as “Execution stopped because a resource limit was reached; Results obtained so far were returned, but execution cannot resume.” The high-order severity bit is clear, so this is a success result, but it carries more information than plain S_OK.

Execution returned results obtained so far but stopped at a provider resource limit and cannot resume from the same operation.

Where the result is encountered

• This result can appear in row fetching under provider quotas; record the producing interface and method rather than inferring behavior from the symbolic name alone.
• This result can appear in search or query operations with stop limits; record the producing interface and method rather than inferring behavior from the symbolic name alone.
• It can appear in large result sets constrained by memory or execution policy; record the producing interface and method rather than inferring behavior from the symbolic name alone.

The same numeric success value can be mishandled when a wrapper exposes only a Boolean. Keep the original HRESULT until the code-specific outputs and state transition have been evaluated.

State boundary that must be proved

The central question for it is whether the partial result count is explicit and the caller does not assume continuation is available. The HRESULT alone confirms neither unrelated work nor the quality of optional outputs.

A reliable interpretation of it names the exact method contract, the object generation, and the outputs that remain valid. This prevents a success-with-information result from being promoted to full success or demoted to a generic error.

Evidence and telemetry to preserve

• preserve provider limit type.
• preserve rows or results returned.
• preserve query and parameters.
• preserve elapsed time and memory use.
• preserve whether a new command can continue from a stable key.

Also record db_s_stoplimitreached_operation, db_s_stoplimitreached_object, db_s_stoplimitreached_state_before, db_s_stoplimitreached_state_after, UTC time, process and thread identifiers, and a correlation ID. Keep secrets out of logs while retaining GUIDs, CLSIDs, media subtypes, property IDs, row identities, and hashes needed to distinguish objects.

Correct handling, retry, and recovery

Use the partial results only if allowed, then redesign paging or reduce scope. A new execution may be required; do not call the same rowset expecting it to resume.

Retry it only when the recorded state can change the documented outcome. Repeating the same call is inappropriate for a stable end marker, cancellation, unsupported format, adjusted property, or partial result whose completed side effects have not been reconciled.

Diagnostic sequence

• capture the raw HRESULT 0x00040ED6 immediately after the returning method and record whether the caller used SUCCEEDED, FAILED, equality testing, or exception translation.
• Identify the exact owner of it: interface, method, object instance, provider or filter version, thread or apartment, and operation phase.
• Validate the decisive contract boundary for it: the partial result count is explicit and the caller does not assume continuation is available.
• inspect every output parameter, count, status array, returned interface, or side effect that the method documentation associates with this success-with-information result.
• Compare the observed state before and after it; do not assume that a success severity bit means every optional sub-operation completed.
• reproduce the smallest request with the same object state and then change only the condition identified by the evidence before repeating the operation.

Practical validation scenario

A provider stops a broad search at its resource ceiling after returning 10,000 rows. The client marks the set incomplete and reruns narrower key ranges rather than requesting another batch from the stopped rowset.

The negative test should preserve the condition that produces it; the recovery test should alter only that condition and verify the final state as well as the HRESULT.

Difference from nearby HRESULT values

DB_S_ROWLIMITEXCEEDED can often continue after releasing active rows; it says this execution cannot resume.

This distinction determines whether the caller should consume partial outputs, stop iteration, wait, reconfigure, notify the user, or perform no error recovery at all.

Developer and administrator guidance

Tests for it should verify both the encoded condition and the resulting outputs. A test for it that checks only SUCCEEDED cannot detect stale counts, partial streams, adjusted properties, missing callbacks, or other code-specific effects.

A support report for it should include decimal 265942, hexadecimal 0x00040ED6, the AllStat meaning, the owning API, and the first detailed status or output that explains why the method did not return ordinary S_OK.

References

• Microsoft: OLE DB return codes
• Microsoft: OLE DB Driver return codes
• Microsoft: OLE DB error records
• Microsoft: IRowset::GetNextRows

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