What does HRESULT 0x80040E1E (DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION) mean?

 
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DB_E_UNSUPPORTEDCONVERSION DB_E_NOQUERY

DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION

No rows were returned because the offset value moves the position before the beginning or after the end of the rowset

Exact value and interpretation

DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION has the unsigned 32-bit value 2147749406 (0x80040E1E) and the signed representation -2147217890. AllStat defines the result as “No rows were returned because the offset value moves the position before the beginning or after the end of the rowset”. In the concrete failure represented here, a row-fetch positioning request uses an offset that places the start before the beginning or after the end of the rowset.

The high bit is set for DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION, 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 3614 (0x0E1E). Those bit fields place DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION 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_BADSTARTPOSITION must be interpreted against this contract: OLE DB rowsets own HROW values, fetch position, granted properties and visibility rules; row handles, bookmarks, update state and navigation capabilities remain valid only under the lifetime and generation that produced them.

Start with the current rowset instance, its granted properties and the exact row or position token used by the consumer when investigating DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION. Preserve DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION 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_BADSTARTPOSITION: a negative offset exceeds the rows before the reference bookmark.
  • Cause 2 for DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION: a positive offset exceeds the remaining rows.
  • Cause 3 for DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION: row-count assumptions became stale after filtering or data changes.

Evidence to collect before changing the system

A useful DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION 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_BADSTARTPOSITION involves row values, bookmarks, keys and query parameters, record types, lengths, hashes or redacted identifiers instead of secrets or full business data.

  • Evidence 1 for DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION: the reference bookmark, signed offset and requested row count.
  • Evidence 2 for DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION: current rowset size or approximate-position information.
  • Evidence 3 for DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION: filter, chapter and transaction state affecting visible rows.

Diagnostic sequence

  1. Capture DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION 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_BADSTARTPOSITION: a row-fetch positioning request uses an offset that places the start before the beginning or after the end of the rowset.
  3. For DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION, compare the live command, rowset, accessor or schema state with the metadata and properties actually granted by the provider.
  4. For DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION, 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_BADSTARTPOSITION, reproduce the issue with the smallest command, rowset or definition operation that preserves the same contract boundary.
  6. For DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION, 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_BADSTARTPOSITION: clamp user-derived offsets to valid boundaries.
  • Action 2 for DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION: refresh pagination state when the rowset changes.
  • Action 3 for DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION: treat an empty valid range separately from an invalid starting position.

Retry and recovery policy

Retry rule for DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION: retry after recalculating the start position from the current rowset. A safe DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION retry must use a changed input, object generation, provider capability or state transition. If the call returning DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION could have created, updated, deleted or copied data, determine partial completion before replaying it.

For DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION, use bounded retries and preserve cancellation. For DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION, 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 pager keeps a page index after a filter reduces the result set and requests a start beyond the new end; resetting pagination avoids DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION. The diagnostic value comes from retaining DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION together with the failing interface and object state, not from reducing every provider result to “database error”.

Difference from related HRESULT values

DB_E_BADRATIO rejects an invalid fractional position, while DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION rejects a concrete offset outside the rowset. Keep these outcomes separate in telemetry and user-facing remediation because DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION requires a different next action.

Implementation guidance

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

When DB_E_BADSTARTPOSITION 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_BADSTARTPOSITION, 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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