NAME

       elektra-key-names - the names of keys

       Every Key object with the same name will receive the very same information from the global
       key database. The name locates a unique key in the key  database.  Key  names  are  always
       absolute; so no parent or other information is needed. That makes a Key self-contained and
       independent both in memory and storage.

       Every key name starts with a namespace elektra-namespaces.md, for example user or  system.
       These prefixes spawn key hierarchies each.

       The  shared  system  configuration  is identical for every user. It contains, for example,
       information about system daemons, network related preferences  and  default  settings  for
       software.  These keys are created when software is installed, and removed when software is
       purged. Only the administrator can change system configuration.

       Examples of valid system key names:

           system
           system/hosts/hostname
           system/sw/apache/httpd/num_processes
           system/sw/apps/abc/current/default-setting

       user configuration is empty until the user changes some  preferences.  User  configuration
       affects  only  a single user. The user´s settings can contain information about the user´s
       environment, preferred applications and anything not useful for the rest of the system.

       Examples of valid user key names:

           user
           user/env/#1/LD_LIBRARY_PATH
           user/sw/apps/abc/current/default-setting
           user/sw/kde/kicker/preferred_applications/#1

       The slash (/) separates key names and structures them hierarchically. If  two  keys  start
       with  the  same key names, but one key name continues after a slash, this key is below the
       other and is called a subkey. For example user/sw/apps/abc/current is a subkey of the  key
       user/sw/apps.  The  key  is  not  directly  below  but,  for example, user/sw/apps/abc is.
       keyRel() implements a way to decide the relation between two keys.

                                            July 2017                        ELEKTRA-KEY-NAMES(7)