This function returns a result representing a comparison of the contents of handle a& with the contents of handle b&. If result& is zero, the contents of the handles are identical. If result& is negative, -result&indicates the byte position at which handle a& was found to be less than handle b&. If result& is positive, it indicates the byte position at which handle a& was found to be greater than handle b&. The first position in the handle is byte number 1 (not zero). Two handles which differ from the very first byte will return a positive or negative 1 as a result.