Runtime error R6025 Windows Internet Explorer

36 hours later...

[whoisgregg]

A particular page that logged in customers can access to view their order details started to bomb Internet Explorer with a Runtime error R6025 - pure virtual function call [support.microsoft.com]. This page has worked fine for a couple months, this problem just started on Friday morning. A small section of new code had been added to the page on Thursday evening. Removing that code fixed the problem, but of course, the code needed to be there.

The same page on a different site (they share the backend code for this particular set of features) would not bomb Explorer. So, although I realized the new code was probably the culprit, apparently only it's interaction with something unique to the one site was the real problem.

So I worked out through line-by-line removal that the line that includes the external stylesheet could be removed to fix the problem. So, obviously the problem lay in my sitewide CSS. (Makes sense, right? different sites, different look and feel, all the CSS fault.)

So then I started systematically removing CSS but wasn't making any progress pinpointing a single line or chunk that was at fault.

I went back to that new hunk of code that was inserted and looked at it again... All plain HTML -- just a div wrapped around a form, wrapped around a table. And an anchor tag, for the user to jump to that section:

[4]<a name="invite" />[/4]

I looked at it a few times, then compared it to other anchor tags I've made for this purpose and changed the code a bit:

[4]<a name="invite" id="invite"> </a>[/4]

And now Explorer doesn't bomb anymore. So, although this only bombed IE with the unique mix of CSS declarations on my one site, hopefully if it ever happens to someone else, this post can serve as a hint of one possible solution.

[encyclo]

<a name="invite" />

This kind of syntax is going to be problematic within IE when serving

text/html

- it is XML syntax rather than HTML. As IE has no support for XHTML syntax other than ignoring any trailing slashes, it is not going to recognize the above as a closed element. The parser will consider the anchor as remaining open until another element will forcibly close it. Combined with CSS acting on the surrounding elements, it becomes a recipe for disaster.

Glad you found out the cause of the problem! :)