What does HRESULT 0x80040E44 (DB_E_BADPROPERTYVALUE) mean?

 
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DB_E_BOOKMARKSKIPPED DB_E_INVALID

DB_E_BADPROPERTYVALUE

Property value is invalid

Exact value and interpretation

DB_E_BADPROPERTYVALUE has the unsigned 32-bit value 2147749444 (0x80040E44) and the signed representation -2147217852. AllStat defines the result as “Property value is invalid”. In the concrete failure represented here, an OLE DB property is assigned a value invalid for that property.

The high bit is set for DB_E_BADPROPERTYVALUE, 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 3652 (0x0E44). Those bit fields place DB_E_BADPROPERTYVALUE 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_BADPROPERTYVALUE 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_BADPROPERTYVALUE. Preserve DB_E_BADPROPERTYVALUE 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_BADPROPERTYVALUE 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_BADPROPERTYVALUE: an OLE DB property is assigned a value invalid for that property.
  3. For DB_E_BADPROPERTYVALUE, compare the live command, rowset, accessor or schema state with the metadata and properties actually granted by the provider.
  4. For DB_E_BADPROPERTYVALUE, 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_BADPROPERTYVALUE, reproduce the issue with the smallest command, rowset or definition operation that preserves the same contract boundary.
  6. For DB_E_BADPROPERTYVALUE, 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_BADPROPERTYVALUE: the VARIANT type does not match the property's required type.
  • Cause 2 for DB_E_BADPROPERTYVALUE: the value is outside the supported enumeration or numeric range.
  • Cause 3 for DB_E_BADPROPERTYVALUE: the property conflicts with another requested property.

Evidence to collect before changing the system

A useful DB_E_BADPROPERTYVALUE 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_BADPROPERTYVALUE 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_BADPROPERTYVALUE: the property set GUID, property ID and VARIANT type.
  • Evidence 2 for DB_E_BADPROPERTYVALUE: DBPROPSTATUS for the property.
  • Evidence 3 for DB_E_BADPROPERTYVALUE: provider property information and current conflicting values.

Corrective actions

  • Action 1 for DB_E_BADPROPERTYVALUE: query property metadata before assignment.
  • Action 2 for DB_E_BADPROPERTYVALUE: validate type and range for each property.
  • Action 3 for DB_E_BADPROPERTYVALUE: handle properties-in-error individually rather than discarding all diagnostics.

Retry and recovery policy

Retry rule for DB_E_BADPROPERTYVALUE: retry after correcting or removing the specific property value. A safe DB_E_BADPROPERTYVALUE retry must use a changed input, object generation, provider capability or state transition. If the call returning DB_E_BADPROPERTYVALUE could have created, updated, deleted or copied data, determine partial completion before replaying it.

For DB_E_BADPROPERTYVALUE, use bounded retries and preserve cancellation. For DB_E_BADPROPERTYVALUE, 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_BADVALUES is a broad invalid-value result, while DB_E_BADPROPERTYVALUE specifically identifies an OLE DB property value. Keep these outcomes separate in telemetry and user-facing remediation because DB_E_BADPROPERTYVALUE requires a different next action.

Practical incident

A rowset request sets a Boolean property using a string VARIANT; constructing the required VT_BOOL value prevents DB_E_BADPROPERTYVALUE. The diagnostic value comes from retaining DB_E_BADPROPERTYVALUE together with the failing interface and object state, not from reducing every provider result to “database error”.

Implementation guidance

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

When DB_E_BADPROPERTYVALUE 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_BADPROPERTYVALUE, 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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