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It's all a matter of perspective, really. A story's protagonist can be a bank robber, and revolve all around him, but in the end, when he gets caught, that's not exactly a happy ending, despite the "good" guy actually being a bank robber, and all... a "happy" ending is something open for an individual's interpretation.
As for what I think, I consider it a happy ending when I feel that the confrontation between the two opposing forces is suffice for all that happened earlier in the story. For example, when you have a 500-page epic about the adventures of some courageous hero, and on the 501st page, when the good guy finally meets the evil villain, and the good guy simply shoots him dead an walks away...I don't really consider that happy. It wasn't satisfactory at all, and I don't like it a single bit. Don't get me wrong...sometimes it works, but more often than not, it doesn't.
On the other hand, let's take one more example, with an ending scene when the main character is lying there, dying in the arms of his beloved. And just before he breathes his last, he touches her cheek softly and whispers, "Don't be afraid. I...I will always love you," then it ends. You feel sad that the main character is dead (or is he...?), yet pleasantly happy and satisfied that there's something that will go on beyond the last chapter.
You see what I mean? XD I almost make it a science.
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