What does HRESULT 0x80040E1C (DB_E_GOALREJECTED) mean?

 
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DB_E_NEWLYINSERTED DB_E_UNSUPPORTEDCONVERSION

DB_E_GOALREJECTED

Goal was rejected because no nonzero weights were specified for any goals supported. Current goal was not changed

Exact value and interpretation

DB_E_GOALREJECTED has the unsigned 32-bit value 2147749404 (0x80040E1C) and the signed representation -2147217892. AllStat defines the result as “Goal was rejected because no nonzero weights were specified for any goals supported. Current goal was not changed”. In the concrete failure represented here, an optimization-goal request contains no nonzero weight for any goal the provider supports, so the current goal remains unchanged.

The high bit is set for DB_E_GOALREJECTED, 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 3612 (0x0E1C). Those bit fields place DB_E_GOALREJECTED 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_GOALREJECTED must be interpreted against this contract: an OLE DB command moves through explicit states: command definition, properties and parameters are established before optional preparation and execution; dialect, query-tree and optimizer contracts are provider-specific and should be inferred only from reported capabilities.

Start with the active command object, its state transition history, dialect and provider error records when investigating DB_E_GOALREJECTED. Preserve DB_E_GOALREJECTED 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.

Diagnostic sequence

  1. Capture DB_E_GOALREJECTED 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_GOALREJECTED: an optimization-goal request contains no nonzero weight for any goal the provider supports, so the current goal remains unchanged.
  3. For DB_E_GOALREJECTED, compare the live command, rowset, accessor or schema state with the metadata and properties actually granted by the provider.
  4. For DB_E_GOALREJECTED, 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_GOALREJECTED, reproduce the issue with the smallest command, rowset or definition operation that preserves the same contract boundary.
  6. For DB_E_GOALREJECTED, apply one evidence-backed correction, then verify that the operation succeeds and does not merely change into a nearby HRESULT.

Specific conditions that produce this result

  • Cause 1 for DB_E_GOALREJECTED: all supplied weights are zero.
  • Cause 2 for DB_E_GOALREJECTED: nonzero weights are assigned only to goals unsupported by the provider.
  • Cause 3 for DB_E_GOALREJECTED: a mapping bug sends weights under the wrong goal identifiers.

Evidence to collect before changing the system

A useful DB_E_GOALREJECTED 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_GOALREJECTED involves command text, parameter values, object names and query-plan details, record types, lengths, hashes or redacted identifiers instead of secrets or full business data.

  • Evidence 1 for DB_E_GOALREJECTED: the full goal identifier and weight array.
  • Evidence 2 for DB_E_GOALREJECTED: the provider's supported optimization goals.
  • Evidence 3 for DB_E_GOALREJECTED: the previous active goal, which must remain unchanged after rejection.

Corrective actions

  • Action 1 for DB_E_GOALREJECTED: query supported goals before constructing weights.
  • Action 2 for DB_E_GOALREJECTED: ensure at least one supported goal has a nonzero weight.
  • Action 3 for DB_E_GOALREJECTED: preserve the previous optimizer configuration when a new goal is rejected.

Retry and recovery policy

Retry rule for DB_E_GOALREJECTED: retry after supplying a meaningful nonzero weight for a supported goal. A safe DB_E_GOALREJECTED retry must use a changed input, object generation, provider capability or state transition. If the call returning DB_E_GOALREJECTED could have created, updated, deleted or copied data, determine partial completion before replaying it.

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

Difference from related HRESULT values

DB_E_LIMITREJECTED concerns rejected resource limits, while DB_E_GOALREJECTED concerns an unusable optimization-goal weighting. Keep these outcomes separate in telemetry and user-facing remediation because DB_E_GOALREJECTED requires a different next action.

Practical incident

A tuning UI enables only a provider-unsupported response-time goal and sets all other weights to zero; capability-aware mapping avoids DB_E_GOALREJECTED. The diagnostic value comes from retaining DB_E_GOALREJECTED together with the failing interface and object state, not from reducing every provider result to “database error”.

Implementation guidance

Code handling DB_E_GOALREJECTED 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_GOALREJECTED, handles such as HACCESSOR, HROW, HCHAPTER and provider-specific region tokens must never be treated as portable integers across object lifetimes.

When DB_E_GOALREJECTED 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_GOALREJECTED, 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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