.\" ENVIRONMENTS: COHERENT, LC, TOS
.TH "file descriptor" "" "" Definition
.PC
.PP
A
.B "file descriptor"
is an integer between 1 and 20 that indexes an area in \fB_psbase\fR,
which, in turn, points to the operating system's internal file descriptors.
It is used by routines like
.BR open ,
.BR close ,
and
.B lseek
to work with files.
A file descriptor is \fInot\fR the same as a \fBFILE\fR stream,
which is used by routines like
.BR fopen ,
.BR fclose ,
or
.BR fread .
.if \nX=2 \{\
Note, too, that \*(OS routines use the term
.B handle
as a synonym for \*(QLfile descriptor\*(QR. \}
.SH "See Also"
.B
Definitions, file, FILE
.if \nX=1 \{\
.br
\fIAdvanced MS-DOS\fR, page 261
.R \}
