Registry basics
An RTCS registry is a hierarchical set of keys (or nodes) and values used to store data for access by a product from multiple address spaces.
A registry key is a named container of other keys and values. A registry value is a named data element that has a specific data type (basic or complex).
Each registry key is uniquely identified by a path name, which is the set of individual key names descending from the root key, down to the key that is being examined. This registry path can be written in the same way as a hierarchical file system path. For example, a node named software that is defined at the root node is written /software and a value named foo defined at that node is written /software/foo.
A registry value can be a complex structured data type that contains multiple fields (each of which can be a basic data type or even another complex data type), or it can be a single, predefined, basic data type (such as an integer or string data element). As a result, binary data structures can be easily stored and directly retrieved for use by programs. All registry keys and most registry value data types can be represented in an XML document.
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