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hrCreateIndexFailed
Interpretation in the backup state machine
For hrCreateIndexFailed, this result identifies a specific state transition rather than a generic “database failure.” The decisive boundary is a compound table-creation operation could not complete one of its requested index definitions.
The stored Value is 0x88000581 (positive JET status 1409; 1409). The HRESULT carries a warning, so the call may have useful output or a valid cursor state that must be inspected. The legacy this result name comes from the Windows Directory Service backup/restore message header.
The first useful distinction is that the top-level warning can coexist with partial object creation, so checking only the table handle loses the failing index detail. Start by capture every table, column, and index descriptor plus the per-object result fields returned by the compound API. That separates a reproducible incident from a later generic cleanup or service error.
Start with these observations
Preserve the first result before retries, cleanup, service restart, or file replacement changes the evidence. The diagnostic record should identify the exact API phase and the owner of every handle or artifact involved.
- Code-specific observation: capture every table, column, and index descriptor plus the per-object result fields returned by the compound API.
- Requested versus effective limits: record it together with this result and the timestamp of the first occurrence.
- Created object IDs: record it together with this result and the timestamp of the first occurrence.
- Cleanup after partial success: record it together with it and the timestamp of the first occurrence.
- All schema descriptors and result fields: record it together with it and the timestamp of the first occurrence.
Use hashes, lengths, IDs, generation numbers, and redacted samples instead of copying directory contents or sensitive database values into routine logs. For this it investigation, a complete provenance chain is often more useful than a second automatic retry.
Objects and state involved
| Diagnostic layer | partial schema creation and effective column/index definitions |
|---|---|
| Relevant API surface | compound table/column/index creation and schema inspection |
| Code-specific boundary | a compound table-creation operation could not complete one of its requested index definitions |
| Narrow corrective direction | inspect per-index results, remove any partial schema deliberately, and retry only the corrected definition |
Compound schema APIs can report object-specific results rather than one all-or-nothing outcome., the effective schema returned by ESE is the contract the application must verify.
Recovery or retry plan
- Record it,
0x88000581, the API name, the current phase, and all live context or file owners. - Verify the decisive condition by capture every table, column, and index descriptor plus the per-object result fields returned by the compound API.
- Apply only the narrow correction: inspect per-index results, remove any partial schema deliberately, and retry only the corrected definition.
- After it, recreate any context invalidated by the failure; do not carry stale HBC, cursor, file, or restore-map state into the retry.
- repeat the smallest non-destructive test that reaches the same boundary, then verify both the return value and the resulting file, cursor, backup, or database state.
Not the same as
It specifically means that the top-level warning can coexist with partial object creation, so checking only the table handle loses the failing index detail. Related values below can appear in the same workflow but require a different response:
hrColumnMaxTruncated | the requested maximum column length exceeded the supported limit and the engine reduced it |
|---|---|
hrColumnSetNull | a column update resulted in a NULL value as an explicit outcome |
hrLogFileNotFound | an incremental Directory Service backup cannot assemble the required transaction-log set |
Keep the original constant and hexadecimal value in telemetry. Replacing it with “backup failed” or “database warning” removes the state information needed to select the next legal API call.
Actions that can make diagnosis worse
- do not deploy a schema whose effective limits were not read back.
- do not assume rollback removed every partially created object.
- do not discard the first lower-level Win32, RPC, or JET result merely because a later cleanup call returned a more familiar error.
Acceptance criteria for a fix
A useful regression test for this HRESULT should force the condition “a compound table-creation operation could not complete one of its requested index definitions”, call one documented API transition, and assert the exact HRESULT. The corrected the case should change only the decisive precondition and should verify cleanup as well as the primary output. For the result backup or restore path, also prove that the resulting set can be enumerated and that no file handle or context remains active after finalization.
Technical references
- ESE warning and error table — API ordering, file semantics, warning/error interpretation, or recovery behavior relevant to it.
- JET_ERR enumeration
- Open-source ESE implementation
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