The Central Repository is a collection of data structures which retains the setup of an application or component from one session to another.
Many applications and modules come with a data structure called a repository or keyspace which is used to persist application data such as default filenames, locale settings and user preferences from one session to another. The component which manages repositories is called the Central Repository. Repositories are created and initialized along with their associated application when a device is built by device creators. The purpose of the Central Repository APT is to enable application developers and device creators to modify repository data and to provide notification of changes to a repository.
To use the Central Repository APT it is necessary to know the structure and syntax of an initialization file as explained in Central Repository How To Guide.
A data structure holding data to be persisted for a component or application, equivalent to a file. Also called a keyspace.
An item of data in a repository, equivalent to a line in a file. Also called a key.
The text file from which a repository is created.
Another term for a repository.
Read or write permissions on a setting or group of settings.
Conceptually, the Central Repository is comparable to a folder, an individual repository to a file and a setting to a line in a file. In fact repositories are implemented as binary files held at various locations in memory and are accessed through C++ classes which encapsulate them with a single API. Repositories are created with the applications to which they refer at device build time. The Central Repository APT is only used to access repositories, not to create them.
The
Central Repository APT provides the CRepository class to
provide access to repositories.
The Central Repository is typically used by applications such as messaging services to retrieve logins, localization data and information needed for interprocess communication.