What does HRESULT 0x80040E5D (DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME) mean?

 
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DB_E_BADCONVERTFLAG DB_E_MULTIPLESTORAGE

DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME

Parameter name is unrecognized

Exact value and result class

DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME has unsigned value 2147749469 (0x80040E5D) and signed 32-bit value -2147217827. AllStat describes it as “Parameter name is unrecognized”. In this result, parameter metadata or binding refers to a name that the current command does not recognize.

The high bit is set, so DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME is a failure HRESULT. Its facility is 4 (FACILITY_ITF) and its low code is 3677 (0x0E5D). For DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME, these fields identify an interface-defined result family; they do not identify the provider instance, method, object generation or partial effects.

Contract boundary

For DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME, accessors are created on a specific command or rowset and encode direction, purpose, bound parts and buffer ownership. For DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME, a valid HACCESSOR on one object is not interchangeable with a parameter accessor, a readable row accessor or an accessor created for another generation.

Investigation of DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME should start with the object that created the accessor, its DBACCESSORFLAGS and every DBBINDING entry. Capture DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME before ADO, ATL, .NET or a database abstraction layer replaces the native HRESULT with a generic exception.

Diagnostic sequence

  1. Capture raw 0x80040E5D and symbolic DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME at the native call boundary.
  2. Identify the exact failing stage for DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME: parameter metadata or binding refers to a name that the current command does not recognize.
  3. Retrieve all OLE DB error records for DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME before another COM call replaces thread error information.
  4. Compare the live object state and provider-granted capabilities with the input that produced DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME.
  5. Reduce the DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME operation to the smallest case that preserves the same accessor contract.
  6. Apply one evidence-backed correction for DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME and verify that the result is not merely replaced by a neighboring HRESULT.

Conditions that specifically lead to this result

  • Cause 1 for DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME: the name differs in case or qualification under provider rules.
  • Cause 2 for DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME: command text changed but cached parameter names did not.
  • Cause 3 for DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME: the provider supports only ordinal parameters for the chosen dialect.

Evidence to collect

A useful DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME event records provider CLSID and version, process architecture, interface IID and method, object correlation ID, transaction state and the immediately preceding HRESULT. When recording DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME data involving parameter values, row values and provider-owned storage pointers, use types, lengths, hashes or redacted identifiers rather than secrets or complete business data.

  • Evidence 1 for DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME: the supplied name and stable hash of command text.
  • Evidence 2 for DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME: current parameter ordinals and names reported by the provider.
  • Evidence 3 for DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME: dialect and identifier-comparison rules.

Corrective actions

  • Action 1 for DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME: use provider-reported names where available.
  • Action 2 for DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME: fall back to ordinals when the provider contract is positional.
  • Action 3 for DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME: invalidate parameter-name caches with command changes.

Retry and recovery

Retry rule for DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME: retry after mapping the parameter to a recognized current name or ordinal. A DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME retry is safe only when the relevant input, object generation, capability or external state has changed. Before replaying a modifying call that returned DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME, determine whether rows, schema objects or URL resources were partially created or changed.

Do not turn DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME into an unbounded retry loop. Preserve cancellation for DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME and use a fresh provider object when the failed call may have left local state ambiguous.

Difference from nearby HRESULT values

DB_E_PARAMUNAVAILABLE means metadata could not be derived or supplied, while DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME rejects a specific name. Telemetry and remediation for DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME should keep these outcomes distinct.

Practical scenario

A stored procedure is redeployed with renamed parameters; refreshing metadata prevents the stale name from reaching SetParameterInfo. Keeping DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME with the method and object state makes this scenario diagnosable instead of reducing it to “database error”.

Developer and operations guidance

Code handling DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME should release COM objects in ownership order, retain per-row, per-column or per-property statuses, and log granted capabilities rather than only requested options. While handling DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME, opaque values such as HACCESSOR, HROW, HCHAPTER, DBID components and provider handles must remain scoped to the object that issued them.

Operational dashboards for DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME should group by provider version, interface, method and normalized failure stage. A DB_E_BADPARAMETERNAME event must not expose passwords, tokens, full connection strings, unrestricted command text or raw row contents.

Official Microsoft references

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