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E_POINTER
COM method received an invalid pointer
E_POINTER is HRESULT 2147500035 (0x80004003) from winerror.h. The documented description is “Invalid pointer.” The value must be interpreted at a COM or Automation method whose contract requires a non-null input pointer or writable output location.
A required address is null, stale, incorrectly typed, or not writable for the documented parameter direction. When this result crosses a language or process boundary, preserve its original numeric form before projections replace it with a broad exception class.
Where the result appears
- This result may surface in a COM or Automation method whose contract requires a non-null input pointer or writable output location.
Typical causes and interpretation
Common cause categories are: a caller passed null for a mandatory out parameter; a structure lifetime ended too early; native and managed signatures disagree about indirection. Do not treat the cause list as a checklist of simultaneous failures; use traces and postconditions to select the matching branch.
Key distinction: a required address is null, stale, incorrectly typed, or not writable for the documented parameter direction.
Correct handling and recovery
The appropriate recovery is to validate arguments before the call, correct the interop signature, allocate outputs for the required lifetime, and never retry unchanged invalid addresses. A retry policy needs a bounded attempt count, a state refresh step, and a rule for reconciling work that may already have completed.
Cleanup following it must be generation-aware: do not destroy shared state or outputs owned by an earlier successful operation.
Practical scenario
A wrapper declares an output interface as an input value, passing null instead of an address; fixing the signature makes the same method succeed.
Coverage should include the exact failure, a corrected success case, and the closest related HRESULT so classification remains stable.
Difference from related HRESULTs
E_INVALIDARG reports a bad value; it specifically points to the address or indirection contract.
Tests and telemetry should retain the producing component and operation so future wrappers do not flatten this result into an ambiguous generic exception.
References
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