freeing-descriptors.md

title	description	author	ms.author	ms.date	ms.service	ms.subservice	ms.topic	helpviewer_keywords
Freeing Descriptors	Freeing Descriptors	David-Engel	davidengel	01/19/2017	sql	connectivity	conceptual	SQLFreeHandle function [ODBC] descriptors [ODBC], allocating and freeing freeing descriptors [ODBC] allocating and freeing descriptors [ODBC]

Freeing Descriptors

Explicitly allocated descriptors can be freed either explicitly, by calling SQLFreeHandle with HandleType of SQL_HANDLE_DESC, or implicitly, when the connection handle is freed. When an explicitly allocated descriptor is freed, all statement handles to which the freed descriptor applied automatically revert to the descriptors implicitly allocated for them.

Implicitly allocated descriptors can be freed only by calling SQLDisconnect, which drops any statements or descriptors open on the connection, or by calling SQLFreeHandle with a HandleType of SQL_HANDLE_STMT to free a statement handle and all the implicitly allocated descriptors associated with the statement. An implicitly allocated descriptor cannot be freed by calling SQLFreeHandle with a HandleType of SQL_HANDLE_DESC.

Even when freed, an implicitly allocated descriptor remains valid, and SQLGetDescField can be called on its fields.