Schemas are generated from schema definition files. A schema definition file defines the characteristics of all of the keys in a particular application. Schema definition files have a .schemas extension.
The schema definition files are included in the /etc/gconf/schemas directory. You can use the schema definition files to create a new configuration source.
Some schema definition files correspond closely to a part of the GNOME
Desktop user interface. For example, system_http_proxy.schemas
corresponds to the Network Proxy
preference tool.
Other schema definition files contain preference keys that are not present
in the GNOME Desktop user interface. For example, the /apps/gnome-session/options/splash_screen_text key is not present in the user interface.
Some parts of the GNOME Desktop user interface contain preferences that
represent preference keys from more than one schema definition file. For example,
the Keyboard Shortcuts
preference tool contains
preferences that represent keys from the panel-global-config.schemas and metacity.schemas files.