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hrOutOfDatabaseSpace
Locate the failure in the Jet call chain
hrOutOfDatabaseSpace means the database reached an engine-imposed growth ceiling rather than merely a full volume.
This is the legacy Directory Service backup/restore HRESULT form of JET_errOutOfDatabaseSpace (0xC80003F4).
The key comparison is: hrDiskFull concerns the file system; this code can occur while the volume still has free bytes. The first useful observation is to record database page size, current pages, configured maximum, free space, and the operation that needed growth. This evidence identifies the exhausted pool so a leak, long transaction, concurrency spike, and hard capacity limit are not confused.
The ESE objects in play
| Diagnostic layer | bounded engine, process, and storage resources |
|---|---|
| Typical API surface | instance system parameters, sessions, cursors, temporary tables, database attachment, and file growth |
| Code-specific condition | the database reached an engine-imposed growth ceiling rather than merely a full volume |
| First corrective direction | increase the supported database limit or compact/archive data using the owning application, then validate growth |
Questions the logs must answer
- the oldest transaction, longest-held cursor, or file growth operation retaining the resource; associate it with this result rather than with a later generic exception.
- live resource counts grouped by session and request owner; associate it with this result rather than with a later generic exception.
- relevant JET_param values and process or system capacity at first failure.
Response and verification
- Freeze the failing request context and record
0xC80003F4, the Jet API name, and the current instance/session ownership. - Apply the targeted fix: increase the supported database limit or compact/archive data using the owning application, then validate growth.
- Before retrying the operation, reconcile resource counts, owner cleanup, and capacity after the correction.
Distinguishing signals
hrOutOfCursors | the process exhausted table cursor resources because cursors were opened faster than they were closed |
|---|---|
hrOutOfFileHandles | the engine could not obtain another operating-system file handle for database work |
hrOutOfBuffers | the database page cache could not supply another usable buffer for the requested work |
Actions that can hide or worsen the problem
- Do not raise limits before checking ownership and release paths.
- Do not create a retry storm while the exhausted resource remains unavailable.
Technical references
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