What does HRESULT 0x80040069 (DV_E_TYMED) mean?

 
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DV_E_LINDEX DV_E_CLIPFORMAT

DV_E_TYMED

Invalid tymed

The native value 0x80040069 is DV_E_TYMED, unsigned 2147745897 and signed -2147221399. According to AllStat, it means “Invalid tymed”. Treat it as evidence that the requested TYMED mask cannot be used for this data transfer; the operation in progress is matching FORMATETC::tymed with the medium a source can produce or a destination can accept.

The high bit in 0x80040069 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 105 (0x0069). 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 this result remain essential.

Operational meaning

Understanding this result 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. Diagnosis therefore has to preserve the complete descriptor and the exact method that consumed it.

  • Associate this result with one exact operation in IDataObject, FORMATETC/STGMEDIUM negotiation, data advisory enumeration, or OLE rendering.
  • Confirm that this result came from matching FORMATETC::tymed with the medium a source can produce or a destination can accept, rather than from cleanup or a wrapper that ran afterward.
  • Preserve any IErrorInfo, underlying Win32 result, provider message, or callback failure that preceded it; the HRESULT alone should not erase a more specific cause.

Cause model

  • It can result when the source offers TYMED_ISTREAM but the caller demands TYMED_HGLOBAL.
  • It can result when the mask is zero, contains unsupported flags, or disagrees with STGMEDIUM::tymed.
  • It can result when the destination retains a medium type that is unsafe for cross-process marshaling or the object lifetime.

Troubleshooting workflow

  1. Capture it 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 matching FORMATETC::tymed with the medium a source can produce or a destination can accept.
  3. Log both the requested tymed mask and the medium actually returned.
  4. Use EnumFormatEtc or QueryGetData to discover provider combinations.
  5. Verify pUnkForRelease and ReleaseStgMedium ownership for the selected medium.
  6. Reproduce it with one controlled input or state change, and verify that the correction changes the decisive evidence rather than merely hiding the result.

What to log

A useful 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. 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 it, redact content and credentials while preserving types, lengths, hashes, opaque identities, and lifecycle generations needed to reproduce its contract.

Correction strategy

Correction. for it, negotiate one of the source-advertised media and initialize STGMEDIUM consistently with that choice. Retry boundary. Retry after changing the medium contract; release any partially returned medium before another attempt. Before repeating the 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 drag target asks only for TYMED_HGLOBAL, while the source intentionally exposes a large file through TYMED_ISTREAM; accepting the stream avoids copying the payload. This isolates it within COM data transfer and advisory connections and provides a regression test for the stated correction.

Difference from related HRESULTs

DV_E_STGMEDIUM identifies an invalid transfer container; it identifies the unsupported or contradictory medium kind. Keep those outcomes separate in exception mappings, telemetry dimensions, user messages, and automated retry policy.

Developer and administrator guidance

Copy complete FORMATETC and DVTARGETDEVICE structures, preserve signed lindex values, intersect tymed masks before requesting data, and encode STGMEDIUM ownership explicitly. Regression coverage for it 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 it 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 it so the change can be attributed and reversed.

References

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