What does HRESULT 0x80040002 (OLE_E_ENUM_NOMORE) mean?

OLE_E_ENUM_NOMORE

OLE enumerator cannot continue because backing data is missing

OLE_E_ENUM_NOMORE is HRESULT 2147745794 (0x80040002) from winerror.h. The documented description is “Can't enumerate any more, because the associated data is missing” The result belongs to enumeration of OLE verbs, advise connections, or related object data. This HRESULT is most useful when tied to the method and lifecycle phase where the enumerator has no usable associated data from which to produce another element.

This result means that the enumerator has no usable associated data from which to produce another element. Preserve the original HRESULT and the state that made this condition true; the severity bit alone does not determine how the caller should handle it.

Where the result appears

• This result can surface in a compound-document containers, embedded or linked objects, OLE activation, advising, caching, conversion, and persistence.
• Map the failure to one concrete operation among IOleObject, IOleLink, IOleCache, IAdviseSink, IPersistStorage, IOleInPlaceObject, monikers, verbs, and client-site callbacks.
• Preserve CLSID, object and client-site identity, storage or moniker, advise cookie, verb, activation state, window generation, and presentation format before releasing or replacing the object that returned this result.

An incident record must distinguish caller, runtime, provider, and backing resource while testing whether the enumerator has no usable associated data from which to produce another element.

Typical causes and interpretation

The immediate contract boundary is specific: the enumerator has no usable associated data from which to produce another element. Common cause branches include the following:

• The object removed the collection while enumeration was active.
• The enumerator outlived its owner.
• Backing presentation or link data was not initialized.

Confirm the cause branch that explains why the enumerator has no usable associated data from which to produce another element by using call arguments, object state, metadata, device information, or provider traces.

Correct handling and recovery

The primary recovery is to reacquire the enumerator from the current object state and treat a documented terminal condition separately from missing backing data. The failure report should capture the relevant state during enumeration of OLE verbs, advise connections, or related object data so it is clear why the enumerator has no usable associated data from which to produce another element.

The owner of it must define idempotency, cancellation, attempt limits, and reconciliation for the failed enumeration of OLE verbs, advise connections, or related object data.

Practical scenario

An advise enumerator survives object shutdown and fails because its holder has already released the connection table.

Difference from related HRESULTs

S_FALSE often marks normal end of COM enumeration; it records a failure because associated data is unavailable.

Developer and administrator guidance

Broad permission or compatibility changes are inappropriate unless evidence for the enumerator has no usable associated data from which to produce another element points to that layer.

References

• Microsoft: generic COM and OLE error codes
• Microsoft: IOleObject
• Microsoft: OLE and data-transfer interfaces
• Microsoft: OLE view caching