# Remove references to \`OS\_HANDLE\` in docs

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/remove-references-to-os-handle-in-docs/80602>\
**Category:** Internals & Design\
**Tags:** documentation\
**Created:** [May 6, 2022, 11:01am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/remove-references-to-os-handle-in-docs/80602 "2022-05-06T11:01:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![nandoconde](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/nandoconde/32/19497_2.png) [@nandoconde](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/nandoconde)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2022, 11:01am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/remove-references-to-os-handle-in-docs/80602/1 "2022-05-06T11:01:45Z")

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In the official docs, there is a [function](https://docs.julialang.org/en/v1/base/io-network/#Base.open) whose input type is defined as `OS_HANDLE`. This type is not mentioned anywhere else in the docs. Furthermore, it is not exported, and `help` about it says:

```nohighlight
help?> Base.OS_HANDLE
  RawFD

  Primitive type which wraps the native OS file descriptor. RawFDs can be passed to methods like stat to discover information about
  the underlying file, and can also be used to open streams, with the RawFD describing the OS file backing the stream.

```

Which matches exactly to `RawFD` help:

```nohighlight
help?> RawFD
search: RawFD

  RawFD

  Primitive type which wraps the native OS file descriptor. RawFDs can be passed to methods like stat to discover information about
  the underlying file, and can also be used to open streams, with the RawFD describing the OS file backing the stream.

```

Should every reference to `OS_HANLDE` be removed?

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**Author:** ![jling](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/jling/32/212909_2.png) [@jling](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/jling)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2022, 12:31pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/remove-references-to-os-handle-in-docs/80602/2 "2022-05-06T12:31:05Z")

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[https://github.com/JuliaLang/julia/blob/bf534986350a991e4a1b29126de0342ffd76205e/base/stream.jl#L363](https://github.com/JuliaLang/julia/blob/bf534986350a991e4a1b29126de0342ffd76205e/base/stream.jl#L363)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![nandoconde](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/nandoconde/32/19497_2.png) [@nandoconde](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/nandoconde)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2022, 1:36pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/remove-references-to-os-handle-in-docs/80602/3 "2022-05-07T13:36:08Z")

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Yeah, and? What’s its use? It is in Base, and it shows on the exported documentation, so it should be explained somewhere

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**Author:** ![jling](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/jling/32/212909_2.png) [@jling](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/jling)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2022, 4:59pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/remove-references-to-os-handle-in-docs/80602/4 "2022-05-07T16:59:07Z")

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They are not the same thing

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![nandoconde](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/nandoconde/32/19497_2.png) [@nandoconde](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/nandoconde)\
**Post date:** [May 9, 2022, 2:11pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/remove-references-to-os-handle-in-docs/80602/5 "2022-05-09T14:11:37Z")

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I agree with you they aren’t. But shouldn’t this difference be documented anywhere?

Furthermore, shouldn’t `OS_HANDLE` be documented itself? I, for one, don’t knw what it is, and it appears in the docs, but there is no way to know it from there.