22.2.1 Registry Handle Objects

This object wraps a Windows HKEY object, automatically closing it when the object is destroyed. To guarantee cleanup, you can call either the Close() method on the object, or the CloseKey() function.

All registry functions in this module return one of these objects.

All registry functions in this module which accept a handle object also accept an integer, however, use of the handle object is encouraged.

Handle objects provide semantics for __nonzero__() - thus

    if handle:
        print "Yes"

will print Yes if the handle is currently valid (has not been closed or detached).

The object also support comparison semantics, so handle objects will compare true if they both reference the same underlying Windows handle value.

Handle objects can be converted to an integer (eg, using the builtin int() function, in which case the underlying Windows handle value is returned. You can also use the Detach() method to return the integer handle, and also disconnect the Windows handle from the handle object.

Close( ): Closes the underlying Windows handle.
If the handle is already closed, no error is raised.

Detach( )

Detaches the Windows handle from the handle object.

The result is an integer (or long on 64 bit Windows) that holds the value of the handle before it is detached. If the handle is already detached or closed, this will return zero.

After calling this function, the handle is effectively invalidated, but the handle is not closed. You would call this function when you need the underlying Win32 handle to exist beyond the lifetime of the handle object.

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