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E_BOUNDS
Operation attempted to access data outside the valid range
E_BOUNDS is HRESULT 2147483659 (0x8000000B) from winerror.h. AllStat describes it as “The this condition.” In the Windows Runtime metadata, object lifetime, asynchronous operation, activation, and apartment model, the code identifies a specific failure boundary and should not be replaced by a generic COM exception.
The caller should keep this result intact through logging, exception translation, and RPC or language projection boundaries.
Decisive interpretation boundary
Before choosing recovery, verify that the valid lower and upper bounds were obtained from the same object generation as the failing access and integer arithmetic did not overflow. That boundary prevents this result from being misclassified as corruption, network failure, or a reason for an unsafe automatic retry.
Also confirm that all observed objects, tokens, buffers, proxies, metadata files, or ACLs belong to the current operation generation and were not retained from an earlier attempt.
Where it is encountered
- This result can be returned during C++/WinRT, WRL,.NET projections, or native WinRT ABI calls. Record the interface, method, component version, thread, apartment, process, and correlation ID.
- This result can be returned during runtime-class activation, WinMD reflection, asynchronous objects, observable state, or view lifecycle.
- It can be returned during cross-thread and cross-apartment handoff between UI, ASTA, STA, MTA, broker, and background work.
The immediate focus for it is an index, offset, slice, iterator position, or requested count that falls outside the current object extent. Keep it attached to that operation; the same numeric severity outside the owning API does not supply enough context.
Correct handling and recovery
Reject or clamp only when the API contract allows it, recompute the range from current data, and preserve the original index for diagnostics. Do not retry unchanged input.
An unchanged retry loop for it can duplicate effects, deepen reentrancy, or hide an invalid lifetime transition.
Difference from nearby HRESULTs
It describes a valid object with an invalid range; RO_E_CLOSED says the object lifetime ended, and E_CHANGED_STATE says a concurrent change invalidated a previously valid position.
Merging it with the neighboring HRESULT would choose the wrong retry, recreation, authorization, or cleanup path.
Lifetime, retry, and cleanup rules
After it, determine whether the current object, interface pointer, call context, token, stream, metadata reader, asynchronous operation, or access-control instance remains valid. Release only resources owned by the failing attempt, cancel callbacks through their documented mechanism, and avoid double close, double commit, repeated activation, or replay of a non-idempotent remote method.
The retry policy for it should state the trigger, maximum attempts, cancellation owner, and reconciliation step for effects that may have completed elsewhere.
Developer and administrator guidance
When it crosses native, managed, scripting, RPC, or WinRT projection boundaries, preserve the unsigned 32-bit HRESULT. Unit tests for it should assert the code-specific postcondition and resource ownership, not merely that an exception was thrown.
Change the smallest component, identity, ACL, package, or threading boundary that the evidence identifies, then reproduce the same operation. Define who owns retry, cancellation, cleanup, policy changes, package repair, and user-facing messaging for it.
Practical scenario
A vector has ten elements but a stale UI selection requests element twelve after filtering. The application refreshes the count, clears the selection, and records the old generation instead of masking the bug.
A regression test should reproduce it, assert the raw HRESULT and all relevant outputs, then correct only the decisive condition and verify the intended success or neighboring failure result.
References
- Microsoft: C++/WinRT error handling
- Microsoft: concurrency and asynchronous operations
- Microsoft: WinMD files
- Microsoft: IAgileObject
- Microsoft: COM apartments
- Microsoft: HRESULT values
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