What does HRESULT 0x80041665 (QPARSE_E_EXPECTING_GUID) mean?

Status / error code:

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Constant name:

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Description:

The parser expected a GUID literal. Diagnose raw GUID, byte length and brace form.

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QPARSE_E_EXPECTING_CURRENCY	QPARSE_E_EXPECTING_BRACE

QPARSE_E_EXPECTING_GUID

The parser expected a GUID literal

QPARSE_E_EXPECTING_GUID is the failure HRESULT 0x80041665 (-2147215771 signed; 2147751525 unsigned). Its severity bit is 1, facility is 4 (FACILITY_ITF), and code is 0x1665. AllStat describes it as “Expecting GUID.”

Operation and state

This result belongs to legacy Windows query parsing and is returned while reading a GUID-valued comparison or object identifier. The exact condition is: the field is empty, uses a friendly name, has bad braces/hyphens or is truncated. This stage matters because converting the result to a generic COM failure removes the information needed to choose the owner and retry policy.

This value comes from the legacy Indexing Service query parser. The exact final string, parser mode, locale and target property schema matter more than the query text shown in a user interface, because escaping and serialization can alter the token stream before parsing. Current Search SQL documentation can help compare operators and property syntax, but the failing token must still be interpreted under this legacy parser dialect.

Failure paths to examine

an incomplete raw GUID hides the distinction needed to separate this HRESULT from a later catalog or service failure.
changes in byte length between validation and execution can reproduce the result even when the user-visible input looks unchanged.
Retrying this result with the same brace form leaves the decisive contract violation intact.
This result can appear when first invalid offset disagrees with the state expected while reading a GUID-valued comparison or object identifier.
a stale or transformed intended identifier can make the component observe that the field is empty, uses a friendly name, has bad braces/hyphens or is truncated.

The strongest hypothesis for this HRESULT must account for the operation—reading a GUID-valued comparison or object identifier—and the documented condition. A parse failure does not identify the expected token class, property type, locale conversion or escaping layer until the final parser input is preserved.

Data to collect first

compare failing and known-good values for raw GUID under the same provider or handler version.
record the source and normalization path of byte length, not only its display form.
use brace form to test whether the failure belongs to parsing, execution, indexing or capability negotiation.
preserve first invalid offset before objects or work items are released.
associate intended identifier with the exact UTC timestamp and correlation identifier.
compare failing and known-good values for final parser input bytes under the same provider or handler version.

Evidence for this HRESULT should reflect what the component actually received. Preserve a bounded token window, offsets, quote and delimiter state, locale and canonical property identity without logging unrelated query text.

Step-by-step diagnosis

Capture raw GUID and byte length at the call boundary that returns this result.
confirm the operation reached reading a GUID-valued comparison or object identifier with the intended brace form.
perform the decisive check: capture raw bytes and compare with the intended semantic identifier.
reduce the case until changing first invalid offset alone changes the HRESULT or proves it irrelevant.
apply the recovery only after verifying intended identifier; preserve the original result for comparison.

A useful control for this HRESULT changes one dimension at a time. Begin with a minimal expression using the same property and parser mode, then add the failing literal, operator or delimiter without changing locale or escaping.

Continuation policy

Emit a canonical GUID and verify both syntax and meaning. Retry it only after the responsible input or state changes and the previous operation has completed or been cancelled. Retrying identical parser bytes cannot succeed; regenerate the specific token or schema pairing that failed.

Limits of this HRESULT

It does not prove that the user intent is invalid or that the catalog lacks data; it identifies how this parser interpreted the final serialized expression. Without code-specific evidence for this HRESULT, the value also cannot identify which wrapper, configuration, handler or service transition introduced the condition.

Distinguishing similar results

QPARSE_E_INVALID_LITERAL covers a present typed literal that remains invalid. Keep the symbolic HRESULT beside the stage name in telemetry because nearby constants may require different owners, user messages and retry rules despite the same visible symptom.

Developer and administrator guidance

Retain final parser bytes, query form, token offset, expected token class, locale, escaping path and target property schema. Do not log credentials or unrestricted document content. Before changing catalog schema for this HRESULT, prove the final token stream and property type at the parser boundary.

Operational case

A template truncates the final GUID field. Strict round-trip parsing detects the defect before execution. A regression test for this HRESULT should assert the decisive evidence, change only the responsible condition, and include one neighboring HRESULT so future code cannot collapse distinct failures into a generic message.

Official Microsoft references

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