EVP: Adapt KEYEXCH, SIGNATURE and ASYM_CIPHER to handle key types better

[oweals/openssl.git] / doc / man3 / EVP_PKEY_CTX_new.pod

diff --git a/doc/man3/EVP_PKEY_CTX_new.pod b/doc/man3/EVP_PKEY_CTX_new.pod
index 5d18a043444243dc936fa47b0b8682545538bb09..90486ae0dcbcf83a2261a3ba70c4107c549b67cb 100644 (file)
--- a/doc/man3/EVP_PKEY_CTX_new.pod
+++ b/doc/man3/EVP_PKEY_CTX_new.pod
@@ -21,14 +21,14 @@ EVP_PKEY_CTX_dup, EVP_PKEY_CTX_free
 =head1 DESCRIPTION
 
 The EVP_PKEY_CTX_new() function allocates public key algorithm context using
-the algorithm specified in I<pkey> and ENGINE I<e>.
+the I<pkey> key type and ENGINE I<e>.
 
 The EVP_PKEY_CTX_new_id() function allocates public key algorithm context
-using the algorithm specified by I<id> and ENGINE I<e>.
+using the key type specified by I<id> and ENGINE I<e>.
 
 The EVP_PKEY_CTX_new_provided() function allocates a public key algorithm
 context using the library context I<libctx> (see L<OPENSSL_CTX(3)>), the
-algorithm specified by I<name> and the property query I<propquery>.  None
+key type specified by I<name> and the property query I<propquery>.  None
 of the arguments are duplicated, so they  must remain unchanged for the
 lifetime of the returned B<EVP_PKEY_CTX> or of any of its duplicates.
 
@@ -44,11 +44,25 @@ If I<ctx> is NULL, nothing is done.
 
 =head1 NOTES
 
+=over 4
+
+=item 1.
+
 The B<EVP_PKEY_CTX> structure is an opaque public key algorithm context used
 by the OpenSSL high level public key API. Contexts B<MUST NOT> be shared between
 threads: that is it is not permissible to use the same context simultaneously
 in two threads.
 
+=item 2.
+
+We mention "key type" in this manual, which is the same
+as "algorithm" in most cases, allowing either term to be used
+interchangeably.  There are algorithms where the I<key type> and the
+I<algorithm> of the operations that use the keys are not the same,
+such as EC keys being used for ECDSA and ECDH operations.
+
+=back
+
 =head1 RETURN VALUES
 
 EVP_PKEY_CTX_new(), EVP_PKEY_CTX_new_id(), EVP_PKEY_CTX_dup() returns either