HANDLE handle, what?

[ShadowScripter]

I stumbled upon another what I think is initializer, like int and char, named HANDLE.
It's also used when creating an application, I've browsed the net and found that it is a sort of pointer to an object that can change without me knowing it... eh... It wasn't really that good of an explanation. Can anyone explain it a bit more... dumbed down for me? Giving examples usually helps.

int integer;
char character;
HANDLE handle;

Questions:

1. What does it do?
2. How can I use this effectively in a code that doesn't have to do with windows itself? and by that I mean, can I use a handle on one of my own objects or variables or whatever it does?
3. Can it be used to "point" to a class or a class member? If yes, please give an example

Answer should (doesn't have to) include/have/be:

• an example
• explained, if possible, line by line

Sidenote: I've seen this HANDLE used in another code called JASS (Blizz code), where the handle could be a timer, unit, trigger, effect, anything that is an object. If you'd rather explain it through JASS, I won't mind (It's easier to understand Blizz's dumbed down language).
Sidenote: Hope I was clear enough for people to understand. :)

[Clockowl]

Is it a Windows handle, the one in windows.h? It's not an initializer, it's what int and char are: a type.

If it's a window handle, it's basically as specific as a pointer. A pointer used by windows to keep track of resources, varying from windows (window handles) to files (file handles).

Here's a bit more info on windows variables, including HANDLE: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Windows_Programming/Handles_and_Data_Types

[ShadowScripter]

hm, need more easy to read examples... about this thing, that's what's wrong with most of these things, all they do is blabber on about the most general things, but I have found that it is easier practice to see it in action, much like the cplusplus.com site. I have yet to find an explanation on that site about HANDLEs tho :( (probably blind)

[Clockowl]

Windows has a table of resources (Windows, buttons, icons, mouse pointers, menus, etc.)
Each resource has an unique ID.
With that ID, you can get that resource, and functions that create a new resource return such an ID.
The simplest example being

HANDLE WINAPI CreateFile(
  __in      LPCTSTR lpFileName,
  __in      DWORD dwDesiredAccess,
  __in      DWORD dwShareMode,
  __in_opt  LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES lpSecurityAttributes,
  __in      DWORD dwCreationDisposition,
  __in      DWORD dwFlagsAndAttributes,
  __in_opt  HANDLE hTemplateFile
);

Also on http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa363858(VS.85).aspx

This function creates a resource (a file) and gives you its ID, so you can pass that to ReadFile() for example:

BOOL WINAPI ReadFile(
  __in         HANDLE hFile,
  __out        LPVOID lpBuffer,
  __in         DWORD nNumberOfBytesToRead,
  __out_opt    LPDWORD lpNumberOfBytesRead,
  __inout_opt  LPOVERLAPPED lpOverlapped
);

Second param. :)

So, in this case, HANDLE is like C's FILE*: An unique ID for a file.

[ShadowScripter]

Ah, this explains alot, I'll bookmark that page, and this page for future reference! Although, I know little about the API, but not enough to understand anything of what you said, apart from the unique ID for the file, which is highly desireable I believe? Cause for this project I'm doing I REALLY need ID's for all the monsters spawned, so that I can then refer back to the specific monster. Altho I guess if you have a static monster, you can just get his location and you're done. So, maybe you can create static objects in windows? :D