You can use BDE-enabled datasets without ever needing to make direct API calls to the Borland Database Engine. The BDE-enabled datasets, in combination with database and session components, encapsulate much of the BDE functionality. However, if you need to make direct API calls to the BDE, you may need BDE handles for resources managed by the BDE. Many BDE APIs require these handles as parameters. 

All BDE-enabled datasets include three read-only properties for accessing BDE handles at runtime:

• Handle is a handle to the BDE cursor that accesses the records in the dataset.
• DBHandle is a handle to the database that contains the underlying tables or stored procedure.
• DBLocale is a handle to the BDE language driver for the dataset. The locale controls the sort order and character set used for string data.

These properties are automatically assigned to a dataset when it is connected to a database server through the BDE.