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* README.gpgconf: Change meaning of type 0 options value if it is the empty string or "0".
325 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
325 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
============
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GPG Conf
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============
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CONCEPT
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=======
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gpgconf provides access to the configuration of one or more components
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of the GnuPG system. These components correspond more or less to the
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programs that exist in the GnuPG framework, like GnuPG, GPGSM,
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DirMngr, etc. But this is not a strict one-to-one relationship. Not
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all configuration options are available through GPGConf. GPGConf
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provides a generic and abstract method to access the most important
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configuration options that can feasibly be controlled via such a
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mechanism.
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GPGConf can be used to gather and change the options available in each
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component, and can also provide their default values. GPGConf will
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give detailed type information that can be used to restrict the user's
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input without making an attempt to commit the changes.
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GPGConf provides the backend of a configuration editor. The
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configuration editor would usually be a graphical user interface
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program, that allows to display the current options, their default
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values, and allows the user to make changes to the options. These
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changes can then be made active with GPGConf again. Such a program
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that uses GPGConf in this way will be called 'GUI' throughout this
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document.
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Format Conventions
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==================
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Some lines in the output of GPGConf contain a list of colon-separated
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fields. The following conventions apply:
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The GUI program is required to strip off trailing newline and/or carriage
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return characters from the output.
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GPGConf will never leave out fields. If a certain version documents a
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certain field, this field will always be present in all GPGConf
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versions from that time on.
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Future versions of GPGConf might append fields to the list. New
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fields will always be separated from the previously last field by a
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colon separator. The GUI should be prepared to parse the last field
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it knows about up until a colon or end of line.
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Not all fields are defined under all conditions. You are required to
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ignore the content of undefined fields.
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Some fields contain strings that are not escaped in any way. Such
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fields are described to be used "verbatim". These fields will never
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contain a colon character (for obvious reasons). No de-escaping or
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other formatting is required to use the field content. This is for
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easy parsing of the output, when it is known that the content can
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never contain any special characters.
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Some fields contain strings that are described to be
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"percent-escaped". Such strings need to be de-escaped before their
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content can be presented to the user. A percent-escaped string is
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de-escaped by replacing all occurences of %XY by the byte that has the
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hexadecimal value XY. X and Y are from the set { '0'..'9', 'a'..'f' }.
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Some fields contain strings that are described to be "localised". Such
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strings are translated to the active language and formatted in the
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active character set.
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Some fields contain an unsigned number. This number will always fit
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into a 32-bit unsigned integer variable. The number may be followed
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by a space, followed by a human readable description of that value.
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You should ignore everything in the field that follows the number.
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Some fields contain a signed number. This number will always fit into
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a 32-bit signed integer variable. The number may be followed by a
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space, followed by a human readable description of that value. You
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should ignore everything in the field that follows the number.
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Some fields contain an option argument. The format of an option
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argument depends on the type of the option and on some flags:
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The simplest case is that the option does not take an argument at all
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(TYPE is 0). Then the option argument is either empty if the option
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is not set, or an unsigned number that specifies how often the option
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occurs. If the LIST flag is not set, then the only valid numbers are
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0 and 1. 0 often has a special meaning in this context as it actually
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negates setting the option one or more times.
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If the option takes a number argument (ALT-TYPE is 2 or 3), and it can
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only occur once (LIST flag is not set), then the option argument is
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either empty if the option is not set, or it is a number. A number is
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a string that begins with an optional minus character, followed by one
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or more digits. The number must fit into an integer variable
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(unsigned or signed, depending on ALT-TYPE).
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If the option takes a number argument and it can occur more than once,
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then the option argument is either empty, or it is a comma-separated
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list of numbers as described above.
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If the option takes a string argument (ALT-TYPE is 1), and it can only
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occur once (LIST flag is not set) then the option argument is either
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empty if the option is not set, or it starts with a double quote
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character (") followed by a percent-escaped string that is the
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argument value. Note that there is only a leading double quote
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character, no trailing one. The double quote character is only needed
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to be able to differentiate between no value and the empty string as
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value.
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If the option takes a string argument and it can occur more than once,
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then the option argument is either empty or it starts with a double
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quote character (") followed by a comma-separated list of
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percent-escaped strings. Obviously any commas in the individual
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strings must be percent-escaped.
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FIXME: Document the active language and active character set. Allow
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to change it via the command line?
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Components
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==========
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A component is a set of configuration options that semantically belong
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together. Furthermore, several changes to a component can be made in
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an atomic way with a single operation. The GUI could for example
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provide a menu with one entry for each component, or a window with one
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tabulator sheet per component.
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The following interface is provided to list the available components:
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Command --list-components
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-------------------------
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Outputs a list of all components available, one per line. The format
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of each line is:
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NAME:DESCRIPTION
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NAME
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This field contains a name tag of the component. The name tag is used
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to specify the component in all communication with GPGConf. The name
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tag is to be used verbatim. It is not in any escaped format.
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DESCRIPTION
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The string in this field contains a human-readable description of the
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component. It can be displayed to the user of the GUI for
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informational purposes. It is percent-escaped and localized.
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Example:
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$ gpgconf --list-components
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gpg-agent:GPG Agent
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dirmngr:CRL Manager
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OPTIONS
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=======
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Every component contains one or more options. Options may belong to a
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group. The following command lists all options and the groups they
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belong to:
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Command --list-options COMPONENT
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--------------------------------
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Lists all options (and the groups they belong to) in the component
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COMPONENT. COMPONENT is the string in the field NAME in the
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output of the --list-components command.
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There is one line for each option and each group. First come all
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options that are not in any group. Then comes a line describing a
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group. Then come all options that belong into each group. Then comes
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the next group and so on.
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The format of each line is:
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NAME:FLAGS:LEVEL:DESCRIPTION:TYPE:ALT-TYPE:ARGNAME:DEFAULT:VALUE
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NAME
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This field contains a name tag for the group or option. The name tag
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is used to specify the group or option in all communication with
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GPGConf. The name tag is to be used verbatim. It is not in any
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escaped format.
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FLAGS
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The flags field contains an unsigned number. Its value is the
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OR-wise combination of the following flag values:
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1 group If this flag is set, this is a line describing
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a group and not an option.
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O 2 optional arg If this flag is set, the argument is optional.
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O 4 list If this flag is set, the option can be given
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multiple times.
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O 8 runtime If this flag is set, the option can be changed
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at runtime.
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Flags marked with a 'O' are only defined for options (ie, if the GROUP
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flag is not set).
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LEVEL
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This field is defined for options and for groups. It contains an
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unsigned number that specifies the expert level under which this group
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or option should be displayed. The following expert levels are
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defined for options (they have analogous meaning for groups):
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0 basic This option should always be offered to the user.
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1 advanced This option may be offered to advanced users.
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2 expert This option should only be offered to expert users.
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3 invisible This option should normally never be displayed,
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not even to expert users.
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4 internal This option is for internal use only. Ignore it.
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The level of a group will always be the lowest level of all options it
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contains.
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DESCRIPTION
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This field is defined for options and groups. The string in this
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field contains a human-readable description of the option or group.
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It can be displayed to the user of the GUI for informational purposes.
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It is percent-escaped and localized.
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TYPE
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This field is only defined for options. It contains an unsigned
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number that specifies the type of the option's argument, if any.
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The following types are defined:
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0 none No argument allowed.
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1 string An unformatted string.
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2 int32 A signed integer number.
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3 uint32 An unsigned integer number.
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4 pathname A string that describes the pathname of a file.
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The file does not necessarily need to exist.
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5 ldap server A string that describes an LDAP server in the format
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HOSTNAME:PORT:USERNAME:PASSWORD:BASE_DN.
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More types will be added in the future. Please see the ALT-TYPE field
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for information on how to cope with unknown types.
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ALT-TYPE
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This field is identical to TYPE, except that only the types 0 to 3 are
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allowed. The GUI is expected to present the user the option in the
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format specified by TYPE. But if the argument type TYPE is not
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supported by the GUI, it can still display the option in the more
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generic basic type ALT-TYPE. The GUI must support the basic types 0
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to 3 to be able to display all options.
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ARGNAME
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This field is only defined for options with an argument type TYPE that
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is not 0. In this case it may contain a percent-escaped and localised
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string that gives a short name for the argument. The field may also
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be empty, though, in which case a short name is not known.
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DEFAULT
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This field is defined only for options. Its format is that of an
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option argument (see section Format Conventions for details). If the
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default value is empty, then no default is known. Otherwise, the
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value specifies the default value for this option. Note that this
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field is also meaningful if the option itself does not take a real
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argument.
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VALUE
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This field is defined only for options. Its format is that of an
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option argument. If it is empty, then the option is not explicitely
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set in the current configuration, and the default applies (if any).
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Otherwise, it contains the current value of the option. Note that
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this field is also meaningful if the option itself does not take a
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real argument.
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CHANGING OPTIONS
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================
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To change the options for a component, you must provide them in the
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following format:
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NAME:NEW-VALUE
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NAME
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This is the name of the option to change.
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NEW-VALUE
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The new value for the option. The format is that of an option
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argument. If it is empty (or the field is omitted), the option will
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be deleted, so that the default value is used. Otherwise, the option
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will be set to the specified value.
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Option --runtime
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----------------
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If this option is set, the changes will take effect at run-time, as
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far as this is possible. Otherwise, they will take effect at the next
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start of the respective backend programs.
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BACKENDS
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========
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Backends should support the following commands:
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Command --gpgconf-list
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----------------------
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List the location of the configuration file, and all default values of
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all options. The location of the configuration file must be an
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absolute pathname.
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Example:
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$ dirmngr --gpgconf-list
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gpgconf-config-file:/mnt/marcus/.gnupg/dirmngr.conf
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ldapservers-file:/mnt/marcus/.gnupg/dirmngr_ldapservers.conf
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add-servers:0
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max-replies:10
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