(1) A variable that represents an internal structure within a software system.
(2) A character string that is created by an extender that is used to represent an image, an audio, or a video object in a table. A handle is stored for an object in a user table and in administrative support tables. In this way, an extender can link the handle that is stored in a user table with information about the object that is stored in the administrative support tables.
(3) In application programming interfaces, a variable that represents an object, an instance of an application using some function, or a processing session.
(4) In WebSphere MQ, the identifier or token by which a program accesses an MQM object.
(5) In the AIX operating system, a data structure that is a temporary local identifier for an object. Allocating a handle creates it. Binding a handle makes it identify an object at a specific location.
(6) A character string that represents an object, and is used to retrieve the object.
(7) In the Java EE specification, an object that identifies an enterprise bean. A client may serialize the handle, and then later deserialize it to obtain a reference to the enterprise bean. (Sun)
(8) In DB2 ODBC, a variable that refers to a data structure and associated resources.