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hrSeekNotEqual
Why this result matters
For hrSeekNotEqual, treat the value as part of a state machine: it says what remained valid and what did not. The decisive boundary is a less-than-or-equal or greater-than-or-equal seek positioned the cursor without finding an exact key match.
The stored Value is 0x8800040F (positive JET status 1039; 1039). The HRESULT carries a warning, so the call may have useful output or a valid cursor state that must be inspected. Current ESE documentation uses JET_wrnSeekNotEqual for the corresponding published JET condition.
The first useful distinction is that the cursor can be validly positioned even though equality was not achieved; hrRecordNotFound is a different outcome. Start by preserve the search key, index name, seek flags, returned key, range limits, and current-record state. That separates a reproducible incident from a later generic cleanup or service error.
Do not confuse it with
This result specifically means that the cursor can be validly positioned even though equality was not achieved; hrRecordNotFound is a different outcome. Related values below can appear in the same workflow but require a different response:
hrKeyChanged | cursor movement or update caused the current index key to change |
|---|---|
hrTableEmpty | the table opened successfully but contains no current record for navigation |
hrNyi | the selected legacy Directory Service backup or restore entry point is present but that operation is not implemented |
Keep the original constant and hexadecimal value in telemetry. Replacing this result with “backup failed” or “database warning” removes the state information needed to select the next legal API call.
Forensic checklist
Preserve the first result before retries, cleanup, service restart, or file replacement changes the evidence. The diagnostic record should identify the exact API phase and the owner of every handle or artifact involved.
- Code-specific observation: preserve the search key, index name, seek flags, returned key, range limits, and current-record state.
- Returned current key: record it together with this result and the timestamp of the first occurrence.
- Bookmark and transaction snapshot: record it together with it and the timestamp of the first occurrence.
- Index and key: record it together with it and the timestamp of the first occurrence.
- Seek/move flags: record it together with it and the timestamp of the first occurrence.
Use hashes, lengths, IDs, generation numbers, and redacted samples instead of copying directory contents or sensitive database values into routine logs. For this it investigation, a complete provenance chain is often more useful than a second automatic retry.
Objects and state involved
| Diagnostic layer | cursor position, current-record validity, and ordered index navigation |
|---|---|
| Relevant API surface | seek, move, range, key construction, table open, and post-update navigation |
| Code-specific boundary | a less-than-or-equal or greater-than-or-equal seek positioned the cursor without finding an exact key match |
| Narrow corrective direction | inspect the current key and accept or reject the nearest record according to the requested range semantics |
A warning can leave the cursor positioned on a valid non-equal record., cursor state must be rechecked after updates, deletes, and key changes.
Actions that can make diagnosis worse
- do not read columns before confirming a current record.
- do not assume ordered iteration remains valid after an indexed key changes.
- do not discard the first lower-level Win32, RPC, or JET result merely because a later cleanup call returned a more familiar error.
Validation after correction
- Record it,
0x8800040F, the API name, the current phase, and all live context or file owners. - Verify the decisive condition by preserve the search key, index name, seek flags, returned key, range limits, and current-record state.
- Apply only the narrow correction: inspect the current key and accept or reject the nearest record according to the requested range semantics.
- After it, recreate any context invalidated by the failure; do not carry stale HBC, cursor, file, or restore-map state into the retry.
- repeat the smallest non-destructive test that reaches the same boundary, then verify both the return value and the resulting file, cursor, backup, or database state.
Acceptance criteria for a fix
A useful regression test for this HRESULT should force the condition “a less-than-or-equal or greater-than-or-equal seek positioned the cursor without finding an exact key match”, call one documented API transition, and assert the exact HRESULT. The corrected the case should change only the decisive precondition and should verify cleanup as well as the primary output. For the result backup or restore path, also prove that the resulting set can be enumerated and that no file handle or context remains active after finalization.
Technical references
- ESE warning table — API ordering, file semantics, warning/error interpretation, or recovery behavior relevant to it.
- JET_ERR enumeration
- Open-source ESE implementation
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