NAME

       pmLoadNameSpace - load a local PMNS for an application

C SYNOPSIS

       #include <pcp/pmapi.h>

       int pmLoadNameSpace(const char *filename);

       cc ... -lpcp

DESCRIPTION

       If  the  application  wants  to  force using a local Performance Metrics Name Space (PMNS)
       instead of a distributed PMNS  then  it  must  load  the  PMNS  using  pmLoadNameSpace  or
       pmLoadASCIINameSpace(3).   If the application is to use a distributed PMNS, then it should
       NOT make a call to load the PMNS explicitly.

       Most applications using a Performance Metrics Application  Programming  Interface  (PMAPI)
       context (of any type, so PM_CONTEXT_HOST or PM_CONTEXT_ARCHIVE or PM_CONTEXT_LOCAL) should
       not need to call pmLoadNameSpace.

       The filename argument designates the PMNS of interest.  For applications not  requiring  a
       tailored  PMNS,  the  special  value  PM_NS_DEFAULT may be used for filename, to force the
       default local PMNS to be loaded.

       The default local PMNS is found in the file $PCP_VAR_DIR/pmns/root unless the  environment
       variable PMNS_DEFAULT is set, in which case the value is assumed to be the pathname to the
       file containing the default local PMNS.

       Externally a PMNS is stored in an ASCII format as described  in  PMNS(5).   However,  note
       that pmLoadNameSpace assumes filename does not contain any C-style comments, pre-processor
       directives or macros; if this is not the  case,  pmLoadASCIINameSpace(3)  should  be  used
       instead.

       As  of  Version  3.10.3  of  PCP, by default, multiple names in the PMNS are allowed to be
       associated with a single Performance Metrics Identifier (PMID) and this is unconditionally
       allowed  by  pmLoadNameSpace.   pmLoadASCIINameSpace(3)  provides an alternative interface
       with user-defined control over the handling of duplicate names for the same  PMID  in  the
       PMNS.

       pmLoadNameSpace returns zero on success.

FILES

       $PCP_VAR_DIR/pmns/root   the   default   local   PMNS,   when   the  environment  variable
                                PMNS_DEFAULT is unset

PCP ENVIRONMENT

       Environment variables with the prefix PCP_ are used to parameterize the file and directory
       names used by PCP.  On each installation, the file /etc/pcp.conf contains the local values
       for these variables.  The $PCP_CONF  variable  may  be  used  to  specify  an  alternative
       configuration  file,  as  described  in  pcp.conf(5).   Values  for these variables may be
       obtained programmatically using the pmGetConfig(3) function.

SEE ALSO

       PMAPI(3),  pmGetConfig(3),   pmLoadASCIINameSpace(3),   pmTrimNameSpace(3),   pcp.conf(5),
       pcp.env(5) and PMNS(5).

DIAGNOSTICS

       Syntax  and  other errors in the parsing of the PMNS are reported on stderr with a message
       of the form ``Error Parsing ASCII PMNS: ...''.

       PM_ERR_DUPPMNS

              It  is  an  error  to  try  and  load  more  than  one  PMNS,  or  to  call  either
              pmLoadNameSpace and/or pmLoadASCIINameSpace(3) more than once.

       PM_ERR_PMNS

              Syntax error in the PMNS file.