What does HRESULT 0x80040E93 (DB_E_NOTCOLLECTION) mean?

 
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DB_E_RESOURCELOCKED DB_E_READONLY

DB_E_NOTCOLLECTION

Exact value and result class

DB_E_NOTCOLLECTION has unsigned value 2147749523 (0x80040E93) and signed 32-bit value -2147217773. AllStat describes it as “Client requested an object type that is valid only for a collection”. In this result, the requested operation or object type is valid only for a collection, but the URL resolves to a noncollection resource.

The high bit is set, so this result is a failure HRESULT. Its facility is 4 (FACILITY_ITF) and its low code is 3731 (0x0E93). These fields identify an interface-defined result family; they do not identify the provider instance, method, object generation or partial effects.

Contract boundary

The OLE DB binder model maps URLs to row, rowset, stream or collection objects. URL scope, requested object type, bind flags, asynchronous capability, locks and server reachability are independent parts of the binding contract.

Investigation of this result should start with the binder or session, normalized URL, requested GUID/object type and DBBINDURLSTATUS result. Capture it before ADO, ATL,.NET or a database abstraction layer replaces the native HRESULT with a generic exception.

Conditions that specifically lead to the result

  • Cause 1 for it: a create-child operation targets a leaf row.
  • Cause 2 for it: the requested GUID describes a rowset or collection interface.
  • Cause 3 for it: the URL was expected to end at a folder but resolves to a stream.

Evidence to collect

A useful it event records provider CLSID and version, process architecture, interface IID and method, object correlation ID, transaction state and the immediately preceding HRESULT. When recording it data involving URLs containing credentials, tenant paths and remote object names, use types, lengths, hashes or redacted identifiers rather than secrets or complete business data.

  • Evidence 1 for it: resolved object type for the URL.
  • Evidence 2 for it: requested resource GUID and bind flags.
  • Evidence 3 for it: parent-child relationship expected by the caller.

Diagnostic sequence

  1. Capture raw 0x80040E93 and symbolic it at the native call boundary.
  2. Identify the exact failing stage for it: the requested operation or object type is valid only for a collection, but the URL resolves to a noncollection resource.
  3. Retrieve all OLE DB error records for it before another COM call replaces thread error information.
  4. Compare the live object state and provider-granted capabilities with the input that produced it.
  5. Reduce the operation to the smallest case that preserves the same binder contract.
  6. Apply one evidence-backed correction for it and verify that the result is not merely replaced by a neighboring HRESULT.

Corrective actions

  • Action 1 for it: bind to the parent collection before child operations.
  • Action 2 for it: inspect object type rather than infer it from URL syntax.
  • Action 3 for it: use row or stream operations for leaf resources.

Retry and recovery

Retry rule for it: retry after selecting a URL that resolves to a collection. A it retry is safe only when the relevant input, object generation, capability or external state has changed. Before replaying a modifying call that returned it, determine whether rows, schema objects or URL resources were partially created or changed.

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

Practical scenario

A namespace browser tries to enumerate children of a document row; checking its resource type prevents it. Keeping it with the method and object state makes this scenario diagnosable instead of reducing it to “database error”.

Difference from nearby HRESULT values

DB_E_RESOURCENOTSUPPORTED means the provider lacks the requested type, while it means this particular resource is not a collection. Telemetry and remediation for it should keep these outcomes distinct.

Developer and operations guidance

Code handling it 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 it, opaque values such as HACCESSOR, HROW, HCHAPTER, DBID components and provider handles must remain scoped to the object that issued them.

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

Official Microsoft references

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