handle

handle

1. the quality, as of textiles, perceived by touching or feeling

2. Gambling the total amount of a bet on a horse race or similar event

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

handle

[′han·dəl]

(computer science)

One of several small squares that appear around a selected object in an object-oriented computer-graphics program, and can be dragged with a mouse to move, enlarge, reduce, or change the shape of the object.

In particular, one of the two interior points on a Bézier curve that can be dragged to alter its shape. Also known as control handle.

(mechanical engineering)

The arm connecting the bucket with the boom in a dipper shovel or hoe.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

handle

(programming, operating system)

A simple item of data that identifies a resource. For example, a Unix file handle identifies an open file and associated data such as whether it was opened for read or write and the current read/write position. On the Macintosh, a handle is a pointer to a pointer to some dynamically-allocated memory. The extra level of indirection allows on-the-fly memory compaction or garbage collection without invalidating application program references to the allocated memory.

handle

(jargon)

An alias used intended to conceal a user's true identity in an electronic message. The term is common on Citizen's Band and other amateur radio but, in that context usually means the user's real name as FCC rules forbid concealing one's identity.

Use of grandiose handles is characteristic of crackers, weenies, spods, and other lower forms of network life; true hackers travel on their own reputations.

Compare nick.

This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)

handle

(1) Slang for a nickname, pseudonym, alias or username. For example, a Twitter handle is how people identify themselves on Twitter. For decades, "CB handles" have been the short but unique identities truck drivers use over citizens band radio (see CB radio).

(2) A temporary name or number assigned to a file, font or other object. Also called a "file descriptor," an operating system may assign a sequential number to each file that it opens as a way of identifying and keeping track of it. At the processing level, applications activate open, close, read and write operations by file handle rather than file name.

(3) In a drawing program, a handle is a tiny, square block on an image that can be grabbed for reshaping.

Graphics Handles

The handles are the tiny (blue) squares that are displayed when an object is selected.

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