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DB_E_BADPRECISION
Meaning
Windows documents DB_E_BADPRECISION as “Precision is invalid”. Here, a column, parameter or binding specifies a precision value outside the range accepted for its type.
Relevant OLE DB contract
This result must be interpreted against this contract: OLE DB schema contracts combine DBIDs, provider type metadata, column attributes, constraints and locale rules; current provider metadata is authoritative; cached ordinals or type assumptions can become invalid after a schema or command change.
Diagnostic sequence
- Capture this result immediately at the native OLE DB return and obtain the current OLE DB error object before another COM call replaces thread error information.
- Identify the exact stage: a column, parameter or binding specifies a precision value outside the range accepted for its type.
Specific conditions that produce it
- Cause 1: precision is zero where the type requires a positive value.
- Cause 2: precision exceeds provider or native-type limits.
- Cause 3: precision is supplied for a type where that field is not meaningful.
Evidence to collect before changing the system
- Evidence 1: the DBTYPE, precision and scale values.
- Evidence 2: provider type metadata and native type name.
- Evidence 3: the structure and ordinal carrying the invalid precision.
Corrective actions
- Action 1: derive precision from provider metadata.
- Action 2: validate type-specific limits before creating bindings or schema objects.
- Action 3: keep precision and buffer length calculations separate.
Retry and recovery policy
Retry rule: retry after correcting the precision for the selected type.
Difference from related HRESULT values
DB_E_BADSCALE rejects the fractional scale, while DB_E_BADPRECISION rejects the total number of significant digits.
Practical incident
A schema generator copies a 38-digit precision to a provider whose numeric type supports only 28 digits; mapping to the provider limit resolves it.
Official Microsoft references
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