| Previous | Next |
| QPARSE_E_UNEXPECTED_EOS | QPARSE_E_NO_SUCH_SORT_PROPERTY |
QPARSE_E_WEIGHT_OUT_OF_RANGE
The relevance weight is outside its permitted range
QPARSE_E_WEIGHT_OUT_OF_RANGE is the failure HRESULT 0x80041673 (-2147215757 signed; 2147751539 unsigned). Its severity bit is 1, facility is 4 (FACILITY_ITF), and code is 0x1673. AllStat describes it as “Weight must be between 0 and 1000 in short form queries and between 0.0 and 1.0 in long form queries.”
Exact contract boundary
This result belongs to legacy Windows query parsing and is returned while validating a term or ranking weight in short- or long-form query syntax. The exact condition is: short form requires 0–1000 while long form requires 0.0–1.0; scale, locale or negative input violates the range. 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.
Input or state defects
- an incomplete raw weight hides the distinction needed to separate this HRESULT from a later catalog or service failure.
- changes in parsed value between validation and execution can reproduce the result even when the user-visible input looks unchanged.
- Retrying this result with the same locale leaves the decisive contract violation intact.
- This result can appear when boundary tests disagrees with the state expected while validating a term or ranking weight in short- or long-form query syntax.
The strongest hypothesis for this HRESULT must account for the operation—validating a term or ranking weight in short- or long-form query syntax—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.
Incident record
- associate query form with the exact UTC timestamp and correlation identifier.
- compare failing and known-good values for raw weight under the same provider or handler version.
- record the source and normalization path of parsed value, not only its display form.
- use locale to test whether the failure belongs to parsing, execution, indexing or capability negotiation.
- preserve boundary tests before objects or work items are released.
- associate final parser input bytes with the exact UTC timestamp and correlation identifier.
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.
How to isolate the cause
- Capture query form and raw weight at the call boundary that returns this result.
- confirm the operation reached validating a term or ranking weight in short- or long-form query syntax with the intended parsed value.
- perform the decisive check: capture query form, raw weight and parsed numeric value before clamping.
- reduce the case until changing locale alone changes the HRESULT or proves it irrelevant.
- apply the recovery only after verifying boundary tests; 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.
Restoration strategy
Validate the correct range and serialize invariantly; clamp only if the product contract explicitly says so. 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.
Scope of the result
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.
Comparison with adjacent codes
QPARSE_E_INVALID_RANKMETHOD rejects the ranking method rather than its numeric weight. 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.
Example from a search pipeline
A UI value of 75 percent is emitted as `75` in long form. Explicit conversion to 0.75 preserves intent. 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
- Microsoft: legacy Indexing Service error messages
- Microsoft: Windows Search WHERE clause
- Microsoft: Windows Search SQL syntax
- Microsoft: ISearchQueryHelper
Looking for a different code? Search another status or error code.