What does HRESULT 0x80040E48 (DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED) mean?

 
Previous Next
DB_E_BADSTORAGEFLAGS DB_E_NULLACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED

DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED

Reference accessors are not supported by this provider

Exact value and interpretation

DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED has the unsigned 32-bit value 2147749448 (0x80040E48) and the signed representation -2147217848. AllStat defines the result as “Reference accessors are not supported by this provider”. In the concrete failure represented here, the consumer requests a reference accessor but the provider does not support by-reference accessors.

The high bit is set for DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED, 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 3656 (0x0E48). Those bit fields place DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED in an interface-defined family, but they do not reveal the provider, object identity, method, rowset generation or command state that produced it.

Specific conditions that produce this result

  • Cause 1 for DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED: DBTYPE_BYREF is used in one or more bindings.
  • Cause 2 for DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED: the consumer assumes provider-owned pointers are available for long data.
  • Cause 3 for DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED: a reusable binding map was built for a different provider capability.

OLE DB contract boundary

DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED must be interpreted against this contract: OLE DB accessors describe how columns or parameters map to a consumer buffer; an HACCESSOR is object-scoped, reference-counted and inseparable from its DBBINDING layout, bound parts, data types, offsets and ownership rules.

Start with the command or rowset that created the accessor and the consumer buffer passed to the failing method when investigating DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED. Preserve DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED 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_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED 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_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED: the consumer requests a reference accessor but the provider does not support by-reference accessors.
  3. For DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED, compare the live command, rowset, accessor or schema state with the metadata and properties actually granted by the provider.
  4. For DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED, 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_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED, reproduce the issue with the smallest command, rowset or definition operation that preserves the same contract boundary.
  6. For DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED, apply one evidence-backed correction, then verify that the operation succeeds and does not merely change into a nearby HRESULT.

Evidence to collect before changing the system

A useful DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED 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_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED involves parameter values, row contents, connection-specific identifiers and long-data buffers, record types, lengths, hashes or redacted identifiers instead of secrets or full business data.

  • Evidence 1 for DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED: the bindings containing DBTYPE_BYREF.
  • Evidence 2 for DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED: the object's IConvertType and accessor capabilities.
  • Evidence 3 for DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED: buffer ownership and lifetime expectations.

Corrective actions

  • Action 1 for DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED: use consumer-owned buffers with ordinary value bindings.
  • Action 2 for DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED: stream long data through a supported storage interface.
  • Action 3 for DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED: capability-gate optimized by-reference paths.

Practical incident

A high-performance path requests provider-owned string pointers from a provider that only copies values; ordinary buffers avoid DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED. The diagnostic value comes from retaining DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED together with the failing interface and object state, not from reducing every provider result to “database error”.

Retry and recovery policy

Retry rule for DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED: retry after rebuilding the accessor without by-reference bindings. A safe DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED retry must use a changed input, object generation, provider capability or state transition. If the call returning DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED could have created, updated, deleted or copied data, determine partial completion before replaying it.

For DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED, use bounded retries and preserve cancellation. For DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED, 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_BADTYPE rejects an invalid type indicator, while DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED rejects a valid by-reference form the provider does not implement. Keep these outcomes separate in telemetry and user-facing remediation because DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED requires a different next action.

Implementation guidance

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

When DB_E_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED 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_BYREFACCESSORNOTSUPPORTED, do not log passwords, access tokens, complete SQL text or unrestricted row values merely to make the event easier to search.

Official Microsoft references

Looking for a different code? Search another status or error code.