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OLE_S_MAC_CLIPFORMAT
Legacy Macintosh clipboard format recognized
OLE_S_MAC_CLIPFORMAT is HRESULT 262146 (0x00040002) from winerror.h. AllStat describes this result as “Macintosh clipboard format.” The high-order severity bit is clear, so this is a success result, but it carries more information than plain S_OK.
The OLE data-transfer operation succeeded while identifying the data as a Macintosh clipboard format that may require legacy format mapping.
State boundary that must be proved
The central question for it is whether the declared clipboard format, byte order, encoding, and storage medium match the converter that will consume the data. The HRESULT alone confirms neither unrelated work nor the quality of optional outputs.
A reliable interpretation of this result names the exact method contract, the object generation, and the outputs that remain valid. This prevents a success-with-information result from being promoted to full success or demoted to a generic error.
Where the result is encountered
- This result can appear in cross-platform document import; record the producing interface and method rather than inferring behavior from the symbolic name alone.
- It can appear in OLE clipboard conversion code; record the producing interface and method rather than inferring behavior from the symbolic name alone.
- It can appear in archival applications that encounter old Macintosh-originated embedded data; record the producing interface and method rather than inferring behavior from the symbolic name alone.
The same numeric success value can be mishandled when a wrapper exposes only a Boolean. Keep the original HRESULT until the code-specific outputs and state transition have been evaluated.
Evidence and telemetry to preserve
- preserve clipboard format identifier.
- preserve FORMATETC fields and tymed value.
- preserve source application and platform metadata.
- preserve raw data length and a hash before conversion.
- preserve the selected conversion routine and resulting format.
Also record ole_s_mac_clipformat_operation, ole_s_mac_clipformat_object, ole_s_mac_clipformat_state_before, ole_s_mac_clipformat_state_after, UTC time, process and thread identifiers, and a correlation ID. Keep secrets out of logs while retaining GUIDs, CLSIDs, media subtypes, property IDs, row identities, and hashes needed to distinguish objects.
Diagnostic sequence
- capture the raw HRESULT
0x00040002immediately after the returning method and record whether the caller usedSUCCEEDED,FAILED, equality testing, or exception translation. - Identify the exact owner of it: interface, method, object instance, provider or filter version, thread or apartment, and operation phase.
- Validate the decisive contract boundary for it: the declared clipboard format, byte order, encoding, and storage medium match the converter that will consume the data.
- inspect every output parameter, count, status array, returned interface, or side effect that the method documentation associates with this success-with-information result.
- Compare the observed state before and after it; do not assume that a success severity bit means every optional sub-operation completed.
- reproduce the smallest request with the same object state and then change only the condition identified by the evidence before repeating the operation.
Correct handling, retry, and recovery
Preserve the original bytes and perform format-specific conversion. Do not reinterpret the data as an ordinary Windows clipboard format solely because the HRESULT indicates success.
Retry it only when the recorded state can change the documented outcome. Repeating the same call is inappropriate for a stable end marker, cancellation, unsupported format, adjusted property, or partial result whose completed side effects have not been reconciled.
Practical validation scenario
An import utility reads an old compound document and encounters a Macintosh clipboard presentation. It records the original format, converts into a supported Windows representation, and compares the rendered result with the source preview.
The negative test should preserve the condition that produces it; the recovery test should alter only that condition and verify the final state as well as the HRESULT.
Difference from nearby HRESULT values
OLE_S_STATIC concerns object activity; it concerns the representation and origin of transferred clipboard data.
This distinction determines whether the caller should consume partial outputs, stop iteration, wait, reconfigure, notify the user, or perform no error recovery at all.
Developer and administrator guidance
Code handling it should test the exact documented value before a generic SUCCEEDED(hr) branch when outputs or control flow differ. Operational remediation for it should target the owning COM, media, Tablet PC, or OLE DB component instead of resetting unrelated services.
A support report for it should include decimal 262146, hexadecimal 0x00040002, the AllStat meaning, the owning API, and the first detailed status or output that explains why the method did not return ordinary S_OK.
References
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