Methods to do various operations on Key names. More...

Collaboration diagram for Name Manipulation Methods:

Functions
const char *	keyName (const Key *key)
	Returns a pointer to the abbreviated real internal `key` name. More...

ssize_t	keyGetNameSize (const Key *key)
	Bytes needed to store the Key's name (excluding owner). More...

const void *	keyUnescapedName (const Key *key)
	Returns a Key's name, separated by NULL bytes and without backslashes for escaping. More...

ssize_t	keyGetUnescapedNameSize (const Key *key)
	Returns the size of the Key's unescaped name including embedded and terminating NULL characters. More...

ssize_t	keyGetName (const Key key, char returnedName, size_t maxSize)
	Get abbreviated Key name (excluding owner). More...

ssize_t	keyGetUnescapedName (const Key key, char returnedName, size_t maxSize)
	Copies the unescaped name of a Key into `returnedName`. More...

ssize_t	keySetName (Key key, const char newName)
	Set a new name to a Key. More...

ssize_t	keyAddName (Key key, const char newName)
	Add an already escaped name part to the Key's name. More...

int	keyReplacePrefix (Key key, const Key oldPrefix, const Key *newPrefix)
	Replaces a prefix of the key name of `key`. More...

bool	elektraKeyNameValidate (const char *name, bool isComplete)
	Takes an escaped key name and validates it. More...

void	elektraKeyNameCanonicalize (const char name, char canonicalName, size_t canonicalSizePtr, size_t offset, size_t *usizePtr)
	Takes a valid (non-)canonical key name and produces its canonical form. More...

void	elektraKeyNameUnescape (const char canonicalName, char unescapedName)
	Takes a canonical key name and unescapes it. More...

const char *	keyBaseName (const Key *key)
	Returns a pointer to the unescaped Key's name where the basename starts. More...

ssize_t	keyGetBaseNameSize (const Key *key)
	Calculates number of bytes needed to store basename of `key` (including NULL terminator). More...

ssize_t	keyGetBaseName (const Key key, char returned, size_t maxSize)
	Copy the Key's basename to `returned`. More...

size_t	elektraKeyNameEscapePart (const char part, char *escapedPart)
	Takes a single key name part and produces its escaped form. More...

ssize_t	keyAddBaseName (Key key, const char baseName)
	Adds `baseName` to the name of `key`. More...

ssize_t	keySetBaseName (Key key, const char baseName)
	Sets `baseName` as the new basename for `key`. More...

elektraNamespace	keyGetNamespace (const Key *key)
	Returns the elektraNamespace for a Key. More...

ssize_t	keySetNamespace (Key *key, elektraNamespace ns)
	Changes the namespace of a Key. More...

int	elektraIsArrayPart (const char *namePart)
	Checks if the given key name part is an array part. More...

Detailed Description

Methods to do various operations on Key names.

To use them:

#include <kdb.h>

These functions make it easier for C programmers to work with key names.

Terminology of Key Names

A key name (see keySetName() and keyName()) defines the place of a key within the key database. To be unique, it is always absolute and canonical.
Key names are composed out of many key name parts split by a separator. These key name parts do not contain an unescaped separator.
A key base name (see keySetBaseName() and keyAddBaseName()) is the last part of the key name.
A C-String is a null terminated sequence of characters. So \0 (null-character) must not occur within a C-String.

Namespaces: A namespace denotes the place the key comes from:

spec:/something for specification of other keys.

proc:/something for in-memory keys, e.g. commandline.

dir:/something for dir keys in current working directory
system:/something for system keys in /etc or /
user:/something for user keys in home directory
user:username/something for other users (deprecated: kdbGet() + kdbSet() currently unsupported)
/something for cascading keys (actually refers to one of the above, see also ksLookup())
Note
The rules are currently not formally specified and are subject of change in the next major release. So, always prefer:
- To use keySetName() and keyAddName() to get the canonified version of the keyname
- To use keySetBaseName() and keyAddBaseName() to get an escaped key name part.
- Not to escape or canonify with your own algorithms!
- To use keyUnescapedName() and keyBaseName() to have access to the key name without escape sequences (key name parts are null terminated)
- Not to unescape the strings yourself!
Syntax for Key Names
Key names and key name parts have following goals:
- The C-String passed to keySetName() and keyAddName() may be any C-String.
- The key name parts (e.g. keySetBaseName(), keyBaseName()) may be any C-String. Escaping is needed to achieve both goals.
Semantics for Key Name Parts
- % denotes an empty key name part.
Canonicalization for Key Names
- / (slash) is the separator between key name parts.
- // is shortened to /
- trailing / (slashes) are removed
- . (dot) and .. (dot-dot) is removed in an canonical key name, with following rules:
  - /./ is shortened to /
  - _/../ is shortened to _
Conventions for key names
- Key name parts starting with # are array elements. Then only _ (underscore) followed by 0-9 is allowed. So we have the regular expression #[_]*[0-9]+ with the further limitation that the number of _ is defined by the number of digits-1.
- Key name parts starting with _ are reserved for special purposes (if you use this within a plugin you still have to make sure _ is escaped properly)
- Key name parts starting with @ are reserved for special purposes (if you use this within a plugin you still have to make sure @ is escaped properly)
Escaping rules
- \ (backslash) is the escape character for the situations as described here (and only these). The \ character must only be escaped, when one of the following rules apply.
- Stray escape characters are only possible in the end of the string.
- \/ allows one to escape / (any uneven number of \). Does not introduce a new part.
- Any uneven number N of \ before / allows you to escape / with the N/2 of \ prefixed. Does not introduce a new part.
- \\/ allows one to use \ as character before / and introduces a new part.
- Any even number N of \ before / allows you to have N/2 of \ prefixed before a / which introduces a new part.
- Use \. and \.. if you want your key name part to represent . and ..
- \\. and \\.. allows us to use \ as character before . and .. (and so on)
- Use \% if you want your key name part to start with % (and does not represent an empty name)
- Using \\% allows one to use \ as character before % (and so on)
Semantics for Key Name Specifications
- _ denotes that the key name part is arbitrary (syntax as described above).
- # denotes that the key name part has array syntax.
- names surrounded by % (e.g. %profile%) denotes a placeholder.

Function Documentation

◆ elektraIsArrayPart()

int elektraIsArrayPart ( const char * namePart )

Checks if the given key name part is an array part.

The return value of this function can safely be treated as a boolean.

Parameters

namePart an arbitrary string that shall be checked

Returns: if namePart is an array part, the index of the first digit in namePart, or 0 otherwise

◆ elektraKeyNameCanonicalize()

void elektraKeyNameCanonicalize	(	const char *	name,
		char **	canonicalName,
		size_t *	canonicalSizePtr,
		size_t	offset,
		size_t *	usizePtr
	)

Takes a valid (non-)canonical key name and produces its canonical form.

As a side-effect it can also calculate the size of the corresponding unescaped key name.

Parameters

name	The key name that is processed
canonicalName	Output buffer for the canonical name
canonicalSizePtr	Pointer to size of `canonicalName`
offset	Offset into `canonicalName`
usizePtr	Output variable for the size of the unescaped name

Precondition: name MUST be a valid (non-)canonical key name. If it is not, the result is undefined; canonicalName MUST be a valid first argument for elektraRealloc() when cast to void**; canonicalSizePtr >= offset; offset MUST be 0 or *canonicalName + offset MUST point to the zero-termintor of a valid canonical key name that starts at *canonicalName; if offset is 0 then *usizePtr MUST 0, otherwise *usizePtr MUST be the correct unescaped size of the existing canonical name in *canonicalName

See also: elektraKeyNameValidate

◆ elektraKeyNameEscapePart()

size_t elektraKeyNameEscapePart	(	const char *	part,
		char **	escapedPart
	)

Takes a single key name part and produces its escaped form.

Parameters

part	A single key name part, i.e. contained '/' will be escaped, '\0' terminates part
escapedPart	Output buffer for the escaped form

Precondition: escapedPart MUST be a valid first argument for elektraRealloc() when cast to void**

Returns: The size of the escaped form excluding the zero terminator

◆ elektraKeyNameUnescape()

void elektraKeyNameUnescape	(	const char *	canonicalName,
		char *	unescapedName
	)

Takes a canonical key name and unescapes it.

Parameters

canonicalName	The canonical name to unescape
unescapedName	Output buffer for the unescaped name

Precondition: canonicalName MUST be a canonical key name. If this is not the case, the result is undefined.; unescapedName MUST be allocated to the correct size.

See also: elektraKeyNameCanonicalize

◆ elektraKeyNameValidate()

bool elektraKeyNameValidate	(	const char *	name,
		bool	isComplete
	)

Takes an escaped key name and validates it.

Complete key names must inlcude a namespace or a leading slash.

Parameters

name	The escaped key name to check
isComplete	Whether or not `name` is supposed to be a complete key name

Return values

#true	If `name` is a valid key name.
#false	Otherwise

◆ keyAddBaseName()

ssize_t keyAddBaseName	(	Key *	key,
		const char *	baseName
	)

Adds baseName to the name of key.

baseName will be escaped before adding it to the name of key. No other part of the Key's name will be affected.

Assumes that key is a directory and will append baseName to it. The function adds the path separator for concatenating.

If key has the name "system:/dir1/dir2" and this method is called with baseName "mykey", the resulting key will have the name "system:/dir1/dir2/mykey".

When baseName is 0, nothing will happen and the size of the name is returned.

The escaping rules apply as in above .

A simple example is:

Key * k = keyNew ("user:/my/long", KEY_END);
keyAddBaseName (k, "myname");
printf ("%s\n", keyName (k)); // will print user:/my/long/myname
keyDel (k);

E.g. if you add . it will be escaped:

        keySetName (k, "system:/valid");
        succeed_if (keyAddBaseName (k, ".") >= 0, "could not add a base name");
        succeed_if_same_string (keyName (k), "system:/valid/\\.");
        succeed_if_same_string (keyBaseName (k), ".");

Parameters

key	the Key to add the basename to
baseName	the string to append to the Key's name

Returns: the size in bytes of the Key's new name including the NULL terminator

Return values

-1	if the Key has no name
-1	on NULL pointers
-1	if Key was inserted into KeySet before
-1	if the Key was read-only
-1	on memory allocation errors

Since: 1.0.0

See also: keySetBaseName() for setting the basename of a Key; keySetName() for setting the name of a Key

◆ keyAddName()

ssize_t keyAddName	(	Key *	key,
		const char *	newName
	)

Add an already escaped name part to the Key's name.

The same way as in keySetName() this method finds the canonical pathname:

it will ignore /./
it will remove a level when /../ is used
it will remove multiple slashes ////

For example:

Key * k = keyNew ("user:/x/r", KEY_END);
keyAddName (k, "../y/a//././z");
assert (!strcmp (keyName (k), "user:/x/y/a/z"));
keyDel (k);

Unlike keySetName() it adds relative to the previous name and cannot change the namespace of a Key. For example:

Key * n = keyNew ("user:/away", KEY_END);
keyAddName (n, "../../../new/name");
assert (!strcmp (keyName (n), "user:/new/name"));
keyDel (n);

The passed name needs to be valid according the key name rules . It is not allowed to:

be empty
end with unequal number of \

Precondition: key MUST be a valid #Key

Parameters

key	the Key where a name should be added
newName	the new name to add to the name of `key`

Returns: new size of the escaped name of key

Return values

-1	if `key == NULL` or `newName == NULL`
-1	`newName` is not a valid escaped name
-1	`key` is read-only

Since: 1.0.0

See also: keySetName() for setting a Key's name; keyAddBaseName() for adding a basename to a Key

◆ keyBaseName()

const char* keyBaseName ( const Key * key )

Returns a pointer to the unescaped Key's name where the basename starts.

This is a much more efficient version of keyGetBaseName() and you should use it if you are responsible enough to not mess up things. The name might change or even point to a wrong place after a keySetName(). So make sure to copy the memory before the name changes.

keyBaseName() returns "" when the Key has no basename. The reason is

        keySetName (k, "");
        succeed_if_same_string (keyBaseName (k), "");
        keySetName (k, "user:/");
        succeed_if_same_string (keyBaseName (k), "");

There is also support for really empty basenames:

        keySetName (k, "system:/valid");
        succeed_if (keyAddBaseName (k, "") >= 0, "could not add a base name");
        succeed_if_same_string (keyName (k), "system:/valid/%");
        succeed_if_same_string (keyBaseName (k), "");

Note: You must never use the pointer returned by keyBaseName() method to change the name. You should use keySetBaseName() instead.; Do not assume that keyBaseName() points to the same region as keyName() does.

Parameters

key	the Key to obtain the basename from

Returns: a pointer to the Key's basename

Return values

""	when the Key has no (base)name
0	on NULL pointer

Since: 1.0.0

See also: keyGetBaseName() for getting a copy of the Key's basename; keyGetBaseNameSize() for getting the size of the Key's basename; keyName() for getting a pointer to the Key's name

◆ keyGetBaseName()

ssize_t keyGetBaseName	(	const Key *	key,
		char *	returned,
		size_t	maxSize
	)

Copy the Key's basename to returned.

The copy will include a NULL terminator which will be considered for the returned size. Nothing will be copied if maxSize is smaller than the size of the basename.

Some examples:

basename of system:/some/keyname is keyname
basename of "user:/tmp/some key" is "some key"

Parameters

key	the Key to extract basename from
returned	a pre-allocated buffer for storing the basename
maxSize	size of the buffer `returned`

Returns: number of bytes copied to returned

Return values

1	when Key's name is empty
-1	on NULL pointers
-1	when maxSize is 0 or larger than SSIZE_MAX
-1	when maxSize is smaller than the size of the Key's basename

Since: 1.0.0

See also: keyBaseName() for getting a pointer to the Key's basename; keyGetBaseNameSize() for getting the size of a Key's basename; keyName(), keyGetName() for getting a pointer / copy of the whole name; keySetName() for setting a Key's name

◆ keyGetBaseNameSize()

ssize_t keyGetBaseNameSize ( const Key * key )

Calculates number of bytes needed to store basename of key (including NULL terminator).

Key names consisting of only root names (e.g. "system:/" or "user:/" or "user:domain" ) do not have basenames. In this case the function will return 1, because only a NULL terminator is needed for storage.

Basenames are denoted as:

system:/some/thing/basename -> basename
user:domain/some/thing/base\/name > base\/name

Parameters

key	the Key to get the size of the basename from

Returns: size in bytes of the Key's basename including NULL terminator

Return values

-1	if the Key or the Key's basename is NULL

Since: 1.0.0

See also: keyBaseName() for getting a pointer to a Key's basename; keyGetBaseName() for getting a copy of a Key's basename; keyName(), keyGetName() for getting a pointer / copy of the whole name; keySetName() for setting a Key's name

◆ keyGetName()

ssize_t keyGetName	(	const Key *	key,
		char *	returnedName,
		size_t	maxSize
	)

Get abbreviated Key name (excluding owner).

When there is not enough space to write the name, nothing will be written and -1 will be returned.

maxSize is limited to SSIZE_MAX. When this value is exceeded, -1 will be returned. The reason for that is, that any value higher is just a negative return value passed by accident. elektraMalloc() is not as failure tolerant and would try to allocate memory accordingly.

char *getBack = elektraMalloc (keyGetNameSize(key));

keyGetName(key, getBack, keyGetNameSize(key));

keyGetName

ssize_t keyGetName(const Key *key, char *returnedName, size_t maxSize)

Get abbreviated Key name (excluding owner).

Definition: elektra/keyname.c:562

keyGetNameSize

ssize_t keyGetNameSize(const Key *key)

Bytes needed to store the Key's name (excluding owner).

Definition: elektra/keyname.c:457

elektraMalloc

void * elektraMalloc(size_t size)

Allocate memory for Elektra.

Definition: internal.c:274

Parameters

key	the Key to get the name from
returnedName	pre-allocated buffer to write the Key's name
maxSize	maximum number of bytes that will fit in returnedName, including the NULL terminator

Returns: number of bytes written to returnedName

Return values

1	when only NULL terminator was written
-1	when Key's name is longer than maxSize or maxSize is 0 or maxSize is greater than SSIZE_MAX
-1	`key` or `returnedName` is NULL pointer

Since: 1.0.0

See also: keyGetNameSize() for getting the size of a Key's name; keyName() for getting a pointer to a Key's name; keyGetBaseName() for getting a Key's base name; keyGetNamespace() for getting the namespace of a Key's name

◆ keyGetNameSize()

ssize_t keyGetNameSize ( const Key * key )

Bytes needed to store the Key's name (excluding owner).

For an empty Key name you need one byte to store the ending NULL. For that reason, 1 is returned when the name is empty.

Parameters

key	the Key to get the name size from

Returns: number of bytes needed, including NULL terminator, to store Key's name (excluding owner)

Return values

1	if Key has no name
-1	on NULL pointer

Since: 1.0.0

See also: keyGetName() for getting the Key's name; keyGetUnescapedNameSize() for getting the size of the unescaped name

◆ keyGetNamespace()

elektraNamespace keyGetNamespace ( const Key * key )

Returns the elektraNamespace for a Key.

To handle every namespace a Key could have, you can use the following snippet:

switch (keyGetNamespace (k))
{
case KEY_NS_SPEC:
        printf ("spec namespace\n");
        break;
case KEY_NS_PROC:
        printf ("proc namespace\n");
        break;
case KEY_NS_DIR:
        printf ("dir namespace\n");
        break;
case KEY_NS_USER:
        printf ("user namespace\n");
        break;
case KEY_NS_SYSTEM:
        printf ("system namespace\n");
        break;
case KEY_NS_NONE:
        printf ("no key\n");
        break;
case KEY_NS_META:
        printf ("metakey\n");
        break;
case KEY_NS_CASCADING:
        printf ("cascading key\n");
        break;
}

To loop over all valid namespaces use:

for (elektraNamespace ns = KEY_NS_FIRST; ns <= KEY_NS_LAST; ++ns)
{
        // work with namespace
        printf ("%d\n", ns);
}

Note: This method might be extended. There is no guarantee that a Key with a specific namespace will retain that namespace after recompilation. Make sure that your compiler gives you a warning for unhandled switches (gcc: -Wswitch or -Wswitch-enum if you want to handle default) and look out for those warnings when recompiling.

Parameters

key	the Key to get the namespace from

Returns: the namespace of the Key

Return values

KEY_NS_NONE if Key is NULL

Since: 1.0.0

See also: keySetNamespace() for setting a Key's namespace

◆ keyGetUnescapedName()

ssize_t keyGetUnescapedName	(	const Key *	key,
		char *	returnedName,
		size_t	maxSize
	)

Copies the unescaped name of a Key into returnedName.

It will only copy the whole name. If the buffer is too small, an error code will be returned.

To ensure the buffer is big enough, you can use keyGetUnescapedNameSize() to get the correct size.

Parameters

key	the Key to extract the unescaped name from
returnedName	the buffer to write the unescaped name into
maxSize	maximum number of bytes that can be copied into `returnedName`

Precondition: key MUST be a valid #Key and key != NULL; returnedName MUST be allocated to be at least maxSize bytes big; returnedName must not be NULL

Returns: the actual size of the Key's unescaped name, i.e. the number of bytes copied into returnedName

Return values

-1	Precondition error
-2	the size of the unescaped name is greater than `maxSize`

Since: 1.0.0

See also: keyGetUnescapedNameSize() for getting the size of the unescaped name; keyGetName() for getting the Key's escaped name

◆ keyGetUnescapedNameSize()

ssize_t keyGetUnescapedNameSize ( const Key * key )

Returns the size of the Key's unescaped name including embedded and terminating NULL characters.

Parameters

key	the Key where to get the size of the unescaped name from

Returns: The size of the Key's unescaped name

Return values

-1	on NULL pointer
0	if Key has no name

Since: 1.0.0

See also: keyUnescapedName() for getting a pointer to the unescaped name; keyGetUnescapedName() for getting a copy of the unescaped name; keyGetNameSize() for getting the size of the escaped name

◆ keyName()

const char* keyName ( const Key * key )

Returns a pointer to the abbreviated real internal key name.

This is a much more efficient version of keyGetName() and can use it if you are responsible enough to not mess up things. You are not allowed to change anything in the returned array. The content of that string may change after keySetName() and similar functions. If you need a copy of the name, consider using keyGetName().

Return values

""	when there is no keyName. The reason is

key=keyNew(0);
keySetName(key,"");
keyName(key); // you would expect "" here
keyDel(key);

Valid key names are:

spec:/something for specification of other keys.
proc:/something for in-memory keys, e.g. commandline.
dir:/something for dir keys in current working directory
system:/something for system keys in /etc or /
user:/something for user keys in home directory
user:username/something for other users (deprecated: kdbGet() + kdbSet() currently unsupported)
/something for cascading keys (actually refers to one of the above, see also ksLookup())

Note: Note that the Key structure keeps its own size field that is calculated by library internal calls, so to avoid inconsistencies, you must never use the pointer returned by keyName() method to set a new value. Use keySetName() instead.

Parameters

key	the Key you want to get the name from

Returns: a pointer to the Key's name which must not be changed.

Return values

""	when Key's name is empty
0	on NULL pointer

Since: 1.0.0

See also: keyGetNameSize() for the string length; keyGetName() as alternative to get a copy; keyUnescapedName to get an unescaped Key name

◆ keyReplacePrefix()

int keyReplacePrefix	(	Key *	key,
		const Key *	oldPrefix,
		const Key *	newPrefix
	)

Replaces a prefix of the key name of key.

The function only modifies key, if is is below (or same as) oldPrefix (see keyIsBelowOrSame()) and they both have the same namespace (this is not always the case with keyIsBelowOrSame()).

In simple terms this function operates as follows:

If before calling this function key and oldPrefix had the same name, then afterwards key will have the same name as newPrefix.
If key was in the same namespace as and below oldPrefix, then after calling this function key will be in the same namespace as and below newPrefix.
Otherwise key will not be modified.

Note: We use const Key * arguments for the prefixes instead of const char * to ensure only valid key names can be passed as arguments.

Parameters

key	The key that will be manipulated.
oldPrefix	The name of this key will be removed from the front of the name of `key`.
newPrefix	The name of this key will be added to the front of `key`, after the name of `oldPrefix` is removed.

Return values

-1	if `key`, `oldPrefix` or `newPrefix` are NULL or the name of `key` is marked as read-only
0	if `key` is not below (or same as) `oldPrefix`, i.e. there is no prefix to replace
1	if the prefix was sucessfully replaced

◆ keySetBaseName()

ssize_t keySetBaseName	(	Key *	key,
		const char *	baseName
	)

Sets baseName as the new basename for key.

Only the basename of the Key will be affected.

A simple example is:

Key * k = keyNew ("user:/my/long/name", KEY_END);
keySetBaseName (k, "myname");
printf ("%s\n", keyName (k)); // will print user:/my/long/myname
keyDel (k);

All text after the last '/' in the Key's name is erased and baseName is appended. If baseName is 0 (NULL), then the last part of the Key's name is removed without replacement. The root name of the Key will not be removed though.

Let us suppose key has name "system:/dir1/dir2/key1". If baseName is "key2", the resulting key name will be "system:/dir1/dir2/key2". If baseName is 0 (NULL), the resulting key name will be "system:/dir1/dir2". If baseName is empty, the resulting key name will be "system:/dir1/dir2/%", where "%" denotes an empty base name, as also shown in the following code:

        keySetName (k, "system:/valid");
        keySetBaseName (k, "");
        succeed_if_same_string (keyName (k), "system:/%");
        succeed_if_same_string (keyBaseName (k), "");

keySetBaseName() does proper escaping on the supplied name argument.

You can use character sequences as baseName (e.g. "." (dot), ".." (dot-dot), "%" (empty basename)). They will be properly escaped and will not have their usual meaning.

If you want to add to the basename instead of changing it, use keyAddBaseName(). If you do not want any escaping, use keyAddName().

Parameters

key	the Key whose basename to set
baseName	the new basename for the Key

Returns: the size in bytes of the new key name

Return values

-1	if Key is NULL
-1	if Key was inserted into KeySet before
-1	if Key is read-only
-1	on allocation errors

Since: 1.0.0

See also: keyAddBaseName() for adding a basename instead of changing it; keyAddName() for adding a name without escaping; keySetName() for setting a completely new name; Name Manipulation Methods for more details on special names

◆ keySetName()

ssize_t keySetName	(	Key *	key,
		const char *	newName
	)

Set a new name to a Key.

A valid name is one of the forms:

spec:/something for specification of other keys.
proc:/something for in-memory keys, e.g. commandline.
dir:/something for dir keys in current working directory
system:/something for system keys in /etc or /
user:/something for user keys in home directory
user:username/something for other users (deprecated: kdbGet() + kdbSet() currently unsupported)
/something for cascading keys (actually refers to one of the above, see also ksLookup())

An invalid name either has an invalid namespace or a wrongly escaped \ at the end of the name.

See key names for the exact rules.

The last form has explicitly set the owner, to let the library know in which user folder to save the Key. A owner is a user name. If it is not defined (the second form), current user is used.

You should always follow the guidelines for Key tree structure creation.

A private copy of the Key name will be stored, and the newName parameter can be freed after this call.

.., . and / will be handled as in filesystem paths. A valid name will be build out of the (valid) name what you pass, e.g. user:///sw/../sw//././MyApp -> user:/sw/MyApp

Trailing slashes will be stripped.

On invalid names, the name stays unchanged.

Returns: size of the new Key name in bytes, including NULL terminator

Return values

-1	if `key` or `keyName` is NULL or `keyName` is empty or invalid
-1	if Key was inserted to a KeySet before
-1	if Key name is read-only

Parameters

key	the Key whose name to set
newName	the new name for the Key

Since: 1.0.0

See also: keyGetName() for getting a copy of the Key's name; keyName() for getting a pointer to the Key's name; keySetBaseName(), keyAddBaseName() for manipulating the base name

◆ keySetNamespace()

ssize_t keySetNamespace	(	Key *	key,
		elektraNamespace	ns
	)

Changes the namespace of a Key.

The rest of the Key's name remains unchanged.

Precondition: ns MUST be a valid namespace and not KEY_NS_NONE; key MUST be a valid #Key, especially key != NULL

Parameters

key	The #Key whose namespace will be changed
ns	The new namespace of for `key`

Returns: the new size in bytes of the Key's namespace

Return values

-1	precondition error

Since: 1.0.0

See also: keyGetNamespace() for getting a Key's namespace

◆ keyUnescapedName()

const void* keyUnescapedName ( const Key * key )

Returns a Key's name, separated by NULL bytes and without backslashes for escaping.

Slashes are replaced with NULL bytes. Therefore unescaped names of cascading Keys start with a NULL byte. Otherwise escaped characters, e.g. non-hierarchy slashes, will be unescaped.

This name is essential if you want to iterate over parts of the Key's name, compare Key names or check relations of Keys in the hierarchy.

Parameters

key	the Key whose unescaped name to get

Returns: the name in its unescaped form

Return values

0	on NULL pointers
""	if Key's name is empty

Since: 1.0.0

See also: keyGetUnescapedName() for getting a copy of the unescaped name; keyGetUnescapedNameSize() for getting the size of the unescaped name; keyName() for getting the escaped name of the Key

Functions

Detailed Description

Function Documentation

◆ elektraIsArrayPart()

◆ elektraKeyNameCanonicalize()

◆ elektraKeyNameEscapePart()

◆ elektraKeyNameUnescape()

◆ elektraKeyNameValidate()

◆ keyAddBaseName()

◆ keyAddName()

◆ keyBaseName()

◆ keyGetBaseName()

◆ keyGetBaseNameSize()

◆ keyGetName()

◆ keyGetNameSize()

◆ keyGetNamespace()

◆ keyGetUnescapedName()

◆ keyGetUnescapedNameSize()

◆ keyName()

◆ keyReplacePrefix()

◆ keySetBaseName()

◆ keySetName()

◆ keySetNamespace()

◆ keyUnescapedName()