# How do I resolve a Handle?

**URL:** <https://forum.clarin.eu/t/how-do-i-resolve-a-handle/398>\
**Category:** Persistent Identifiers\
**Tags:** handle\
**Created:** [12 August 2024 13:35 UTC](https://forum.clarin.eu/t/how-do-i-resolve-a-handle/398 "2024-08-12T13:35:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dieter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@dieter](https://forum.clarin.eu/u/dieter)\
**Post date:** [12 August 2024 13:35 UTC](https://forum.clarin.eu/t/how-do-i-resolve-a-handle/398/1 "2024-08-12T13:35:38Z")

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A handle exists of 2 parts:

- a prefix (e.g. _1839)_
- a suffix (e.g. _00-0000-0000-0009-3C7E-F_)

The official way of refering to a handle is:

hdl: + _prefix_ + / + _suffix_

e.g.:

hdl:1839/00-0000-0000-0009-3C7E-F

To resolve such a handle (=make it a clickable link that redirects to the resource itself) use the following formula:

[https://hdl.handle.net/\*prefix\*/\*suffix](https://hdl.handle.net/*prefix*/*suffix)\*

e.g.: [https://hdl.handle.net/1839/00-0000-0000-0009-3C7E-F](https://hdl.handle.net/1839/00-0000-0000-0009-3C7E-F)

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**Author:** ![egon](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/forum.clarin.eu/egon/32/17_2.png) [@egon](https://forum.clarin.eu/u/egon)\
**Post date:** [7 October 2025 10:51 UTC](https://forum.clarin.eu/t/how-do-i-resolve-a-handle/398/2 "2025-10-07T10:51:07Z")

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(ok, this is an old post - but) have they actually ever made it official that httpS(!) is supported - i remember, i tried to find its explicit mention but wasn’t able to. (a yes would suffice, if you have seen it - i can live without having ever found it myself 😉 )

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**Author:** ![dieter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@dieter](https://forum.clarin.eu/u/dieter)\
**Post date:** [20 October 2025 14:26 UTC](https://forum.clarin.eu/t/how-do-i-resolve-a-handle/398/3 "2025-10-20T14:26:15Z")

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Indeed: [hdl.handle.net](http://hdl.handle.net) supports HTTPS. I would only advise to use it in combination with handles that redirect to an HTTPS address too (which is good practice these days). If an HTTPS handles is redirecting to an HTTP target it can be seen as a [Downgrade attack - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downgrade_attack) - especially Java is very strict about this, it might lead to the impossibility to access the target URL.