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)