What does HRESULT 0xC00E0018 (MQ_ERROR_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY_VALUE) mean?

MQ_ERROR_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY_VALUE

Operational meaning

MQ_ERROR_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY_VALUE belongs to the Message Queuing HRESULT facility, but its useful meaning is narrower than a generic messaging failure. It applies to valid property with an invalid value. The identifier and VARTYPE can be correct while the numeric range, string syntax, flag combination, or enum value is not.

Validation occurs in layers: identifier recognition, variant type, buffer shape, value range, required companions, and operation eligibility. When diagnosing this result, these layers correspond to different MSMQ HRESULTs and different fixes.

MSMQ uses arrays whose indexes bind a property identifier, an MQPROPVARIANT value, and optionally a status result. Misaligned counts or reordered arrays can make the logged property differ from the one actually rejected.

Where the condition occurs

Do not merge it with other property failures: identifier, VARTYPE, value, size, required companions, and operation eligibility are diagnosed by different codes. The code-specific boundary is valid property with an invalid value.

Evidence to preserve

• The complete apropid/apropvar/astatus triples in original order.
• The api name and whether the structure was input, output, or both.
• The first failing property rather than only the aggregate hresult.

Handling and recovery

Validate against the documentation for that exact property, not against a similarly named property.

Nearby failures

Changing a queue ACL or restarting the service does not correct an invalid identifier, VARTYPE, value, structure, or property combination. Code-specific condition: valid property with an invalid value.

Worked example

References

• Microsoft: queue properties and MQQUEUEPROPS
• Microsoft: MSMQ message properties
• Microsoft: MQCreateQueue
• Microsoft: Message Queuing error and information codes