Handle

A unique reference to a system resource managed by the operating system. In ooSQLite, most handles are references to data structures assigned by the SQLite database engine to manage its databases. These can be references to a database connection, a prepared statement, an online backup, etc.. Other handles not related to the database engine are also used by ooSQLite.

Handles are mostly used in the The Classic Rexx Interface to SQLite Rexx interface and are required as arguments for certain functions. Some handles are also used in the object orientated interface. A handle is an opaque type, the Rexx programmer need not be aware of the specific format of a handle. For the classical interface, the ooSQLite package provides functions that return handles. When a function requires a handle as an argument, the Rexx programmer needs to obtain the handle from one of those provided functions. In the object orientated interface the situation is similar, ooSQLite provides methods that return handles and methods that require handles as arguments. To obtain a handle required for a method argument, the Rexx programmer needs to obtain the handle from one of the provided methods.

As a general rule, handles obtained from functions in the classic Rexx interface should not be used as handle arguments to methods, and vice versa. However, as ooSQLite is enhanced, this may not be an absolute rule. The ooSQLite documentation will point out exceptions to this rule if there are any.