What does HRESULT 0x80040068 (DV_E_LINDEX) mean?

DV_E_LINDEX

Invalid lindex

Windows defines DV_E_LINDEX as 2147745896 (0x80040068; signed value -2147221400). AllStat’s description is “Invalid lindex”. The code marks a specific failure: FORMATETC::lindex is invalid for the requested aspect or data format. The relevant operation is validating a FORMATETC before GetData, QueryGetData, SetData, or cache negotiation.

The high bit in 0x80040068 is set, so this is a failure rather than a success or informational result. Its facility field is 4 (FACILITY_ITF) and its low 16-bit code is 104 (0x0068). Those bit fields classify the value, but they do not identify the failing object by themselves; the native method, object identity, and first producer of DV_E_LINDEX remain essential.

Where it is raised

Understanding DV_E_LINDEX requires this subsystem context: COM data-transfer structures are compound contracts: a field can be numerically well formed yet invalid for the provider, object generation, requested aspect, or ownership rules. For DV_E_LINDEX, diagnosis therefore has to preserve the complete descriptor and the exact method that consumed it.

• Associate DV_E_LINDEX with one exact operation in IDataObject, FORMATETC/STGMEDIUM negotiation, data advisory enumeration, or OLE rendering.
• Confirm that DV_E_LINDEX came from validating a FORMATETC before GetData, QueryGetData, SetData, or cache negotiation, rather than from cleanup or a wrapper that ran afterward.
• Preserve any IErrorInfo, underlying Win32 result, provider message, or callback failure that preceded DV_E_LINDEX; the HRESULT alone should not erase a more specific cause.

Telemetry checklist

A useful DV_E_LINDEX incident records the IDataObject identity, method, clipboard format, aspect, lindex, tymed mask, target-device size, advisory cookie, and ownership of every returned interface or medium. For DV_E_LINDEX, also retain the application and component build, architecture, process and thread IDs, COM apartment, operation correlation ID, elapsed time, and the first state-changing event before the failure. When logging DV_E_LINDEX, redact content and credentials while preserving types, lengths, hashes, opaque identities, and lifecycle generations needed to reproduce its contract.

• For DV_E_LINDEX, record the exact signed lindex value and the selected DVASPECT.
• For DV_E_LINDEX, enumerate supported FORMATETC values and compare index semantics, not only cfFormat.
• For DV_E_LINDEX, check structure packing and language interop where -1 can become 4294967295.

Why this result is specific

• DV_E_LINDEX can result when the caller passes a nonnegative index for a format that is not page-oriented.
• DV_E_LINDEX can result when the index is outside the provider-defined range for a multi-page or multi-item representation.
• DV_E_LINDEX can result when a wrapper converts the documented -1 sentinel to an unsigned or truncated value.

Investigation order

1. Capture DV_E_LINDEX at the first native return before a wrapper maps it to a generic exception.
2. Identify the exact object, method, and lifecycle phase involved in validating a FORMATETC before GetData, QueryGetData, SetData, or cache negotiation.
3. Record the exact signed lindex value and the selected DVASPECT.
4. Enumerate supported FORMATETC values and compare index semantics, not only cfFormat.
5. Check structure packing and language interop where -1 can become 4294967295.
6. Reproduce DV_E_LINDEX with one controlled input or state change, and verify that the correction changes the decisive evidence rather than merely hiding the result.

Safe handling

Correction. For DV_E_LINDEX, use the index contract advertised for that format, commonly -1 when the entire aspect rather than one page is requested. Retry boundary. A retry is safe after correcting lindex before any medium is transferred; do not loop with the same index. Before repeating the DV_E_LINDEX operation, release every returned STGMEDIUM according to pUnkForRelease, retain advisory cookies only after successful DAdvise, and discard enumerated formats after the data object is replaced.

Practical scenario

A preview handler requests DVASPECT_CONTENT with lindex 0 even though the source supports only the whole presentation at lindex -1; changing only lindex makes QueryGetData succeed. This isolates DV_E_LINDEX within COM data transfer and advisory connections and provides a regression test for the stated correction.

Difference from related HRESULTs

DV_E_DVASPECT rejects the aspect value; DV_E_LINDEX says the selected position within that aspect is invalid. For DV_E_LINDEX, keep those outcomes separate in exception mappings, telemetry dimensions, user messages, and automated retry policy.

Developer and administrator guidance

For DV_E_LINDEX, copy complete FORMATETC and DVTARGETDEVICE structures, preserve signed lindex values, intersect tymed masks before requesting data, and encode STGMEDIUM ownership explicitly. Regression coverage for DV_E_LINDEX should include provider-advertised versus caller-invented formats, supported and unsupported DVASPECT/tymed combinations, sentinel lindex values, malformed target-device sizes, and replacement during advisory callbacks.

Operational repair for DV_E_LINDEX must target the evidence-backed owner: compare the data provider, consumer, and registered handler versions; repair a handler only when traces identify that provider as missing or incompatible. Retain before-and-after traces for DV_E_LINDEX so the change can be attributed and reversed.

References

• Microsoft: generic COM error codes — official Microsoft documentation relevant to DV_E_LINDEX.
• Microsoft: HRESULT values — official Microsoft documentation relevant to DV_E_LINDEX.
• Microsoft: IDataObject — official Microsoft documentation relevant to DV_E_LINDEX.
• Microsoft: FORMATETC structure — official Microsoft documentation relevant to DV_E_LINDEX.
• Microsoft: IViewObject — official Microsoft documentation relevant to DV_E_LINDEX.

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