PRB: Error -2147467259 (80004005) When Visual Basic Client Calls a Method on a COM Object (318519)

SYMPTOMS

When a Visual Basic 6.0 client calls a method on a Component Object Model (COM) object, the Visual Basic runtime may report the following error message:

Run-time error '-2147467259 (80004005)': Method '~' of object '~' failed

Namely, the method call returns E_FAIL, but the object either does not implement the ISupportErrorInfo interface or does not provide an error object by calling the CreateErrorInfo function.

MORE INFORMATION

If you use proper error handling code, you can determine the server name that contains the object that returns the error. This information is stored in the Source property of the Err object. For example, the following code creates an event log entry when the error occurs:

Private Sub TestSub()
    On Error GoTo errHandler
    Dim o As TestServer.Class1
    Set o = New TestServer.Class1
    o.SomeMethod
    Exit Sub
errHandler:
    App.LogEvent "Error in TestSub: " & Err.Number & "; Source: " & Err.Source & "; Description: " & Err.Description
End Sub

If the above-mentioned error occurs when o.SomeMethod is called, you can identify the function name (TestSub), the error number [-2147467259 (80004005)], the error source (TestServer), and the description (Method '~' of object '~' failed). You can use this information to narrow the cause of the problem.

If you are debugging in the Visual Basic integrated development environment (IDE), and if the COM object is running in process, you can obtain a more specific error description that includes the object and method names. To determine the root cause of the problem, debug the method of the object that returns E_FAIL.