This constant controls the inclusion or exclusion of handle management functions during compilation. These functions will be compiled if the value is set to 1. If the value is set to 0, the functions will not be compiled.

If this constant is not defined, it defaults to 1, causing the functions to be included in the output code. If handles are not required, this portion of the library can be excluded from compilation by setting ST_USE_HANDLE to 0, which reduces the output code size.