What does HRESULT 0x80040E05 (DB_E_OBJECTOPEN) mean?

 
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DB_E_BADROWHANDLE DB_E_BADCHAPTER

DB_E_OBJECTOPEN

Object was open

Exact value and interpretation

DB_E_OBJECTOPEN has the unsigned 32-bit value 2147749381 (0x80040E05) and the signed representation -2147217915. AllStat defines the result as “Object was open”. In the concrete failure represented here, an OLE DB operation requires an object to be closed but a dependent rowset, command result or storage object is still open.

The high bit is set for DB_E_OBJECTOPEN, so it is a failure HRESULT rather than a success or informational status. Its facility field is 4 (FACILITY_ITF) and its low code is 3589 (0x0E05). Those bit fields place DB_E_OBJECTOPEN in an interface-defined family, but they do not reveal the provider, object identity, method, rowset generation or command state that produced it.

OLE DB contract boundary

DB_E_OBJECTOPEN must be interpreted against this contract: OLE DB objects follow both COM lifetime rules and provider-specific state contracts; open dependents, ownership transfer, aggregation, callbacks and namespace identity must be traced from the exact interface call rather than inferred from a wrapper exception.

Start with the COM object that returned the result and every dependent interface or provider-owned resource involved in the call when investigating DB_E_OBJECTOPEN. Preserve DB_E_OBJECTOPEN before ADO, ATL, .NET, a database abstraction layer or an application exception replaces it with a generic message; the exact interface and method matter because one OLE DB object can expose several contracts with different preconditions.

Specific conditions that produce this result

  • Cause 1 for DB_E_OBJECTOPEN: an active rowset still references the command being changed or unprepared.
  • Cause 2 for DB_E_OBJECTOPEN: a table, index or stream is open while a definition operation targets it.
  • Cause 3 for DB_E_OBJECTOPEN: the consumer leaked an interface or row handle that keeps the provider object active.

Evidence to collect before changing the system

A useful DB_E_OBJECTOPEN record includes provider CLSID and version, process architecture, interface and method, COM apartment and thread, object correlation ID, transaction state, and the first preceding HRESULT. When DB_E_OBJECTOPEN involves object URLs, command trees, data source names, caller identities and copied data, record types, lengths, hashes or redacted identifiers instead of secrets or full business data.

  • Evidence 1 for DB_E_OBJECTOPEN: the exact object and operation blocked by the open dependency.
  • Evidence 2 for DB_E_OBJECTOPEN: outstanding interface counts, rowsets, rows, chapters and storage objects.
  • Evidence 3 for DB_E_OBJECTOPEN: the creation stack or correlation ID for every dependent object not yet released.

Diagnostic sequence

  1. Capture DB_E_OBJECTOPEN immediately at the native OLE DB return and obtain the current OLE DB error object before another COM call replaces thread error information.
  2. Identify the exact stage for DB_E_OBJECTOPEN: an OLE DB operation requires an object to be closed but a dependent rowset, command result or storage object is still open.
  3. For DB_E_OBJECTOPEN, compare the live command, rowset, accessor or schema state with the metadata and properties actually granted by the provider.
  4. For DB_E_OBJECTOPEN, inspect per-binding, per-property, per-row or per-record statuses whenever the method supplies them; the aggregate result may not identify the rejected element.
  5. For DB_E_OBJECTOPEN, reproduce the issue with the smallest command, rowset or definition operation that preserves the same contract boundary.
  6. For DB_E_OBJECTOPEN, apply one evidence-backed correction, then verify that the operation succeeds and does not merely change into a nearby HRESULT.

Corrective actions

  • Action 1 for DB_E_OBJECTOPEN: close result rowsets and release row, chapter and stream handles in reverse ownership order.
  • Action 2 for DB_E_OBJECTOPEN: separate metadata changes from active query lifetimes.
  • Action 3 for DB_E_OBJECTOPEN: add deterministic cleanup around every early-return and cancellation path.

Retry and recovery policy

Retry rule for DB_E_OBJECTOPEN: retry after all documented dependent objects are closed; waiting alone is insufficient if a reference leak keeps them open. A safe DB_E_OBJECTOPEN retry must use a changed input, object generation, provider capability or state transition. If the call returning DB_E_OBJECTOPEN could have created, updated, deleted or copied data, determine partial completion before replaying it.

For DB_E_OBJECTOPEN, use bounded retries and preserve cancellation. For DB_E_OBJECTOPEN, configuration and contract failures should normally fail fast; concurrency, resource or transient state failures may justify retry only after their stated precondition changes.

Practical incident

A service calls ICommandPrepare::Unprepare while a rowset produced by that command is still alive; releasing the rowset first removes DB_E_OBJECTOPEN. The diagnostic value comes from retaining DB_E_OBJECTOPEN together with the failing interface and object state, not from reducing every provider result to “database error”.

Difference from related HRESULT values

DB_E_TABLEINUSE and DB_E_INDEXINUSE name specific schema objects in use, while DB_E_OBJECTOPEN is the general object-state failure. Keep these outcomes separate in telemetry and user-facing remediation because DB_E_OBJECTOPEN requires a different next action.

Implementation guidance

Code handling DB_E_OBJECTOPEN should release OLE DB resources in ownership order, preserve every provider error record, and log granted properties rather than only requested properties. When handling DB_E_OBJECTOPEN, handles such as HACCESSOR, HROW, HCHAPTER and provider-specific region tokens must never be treated as portable integers across object lifetimes.

When DB_E_OBJECTOPEN crosses an abstraction boundary, attach a stable correlation ID and structured fields for the native HRESULT, provider source, interface IID, method, object generation and operation phase. For DB_E_OBJECTOPEN, do not log passwords, access tokens, complete SQL text or unrestricted row values merely to make the event easier to search.

Official Microsoft references

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