sequenceDiagram
    participant App as Application Code
    participant API as Registry API
    participant Helper as Helper Functions
    participant WinReg as Windows Registry

    Note over App,WinReg: Registry Read Flow

    App->>API: GetStringFromRegistry(path, key, val)
    API->>API: Determine registry path based on RTS_GENERALS/RTS_ZEROHOUR
    API->>Helper: getStringFromRegistry(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, fullPath, key, val)
    Helper->>WinReg: RegOpenKeyEx(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, ...)
    alt Key Found
        Helper->>WinReg: RegQueryValueEx(...)
        WinReg-->>Helper: Return value
        Helper-->>API: Return TRUE
        API-->>App: Return TRUE with value
    else Key Not Found
        Helper-->>API: Return FALSE
        API->>Helper: getStringFromRegistry(HKEY_CURRENT_USER, fullPath, key, val)
        Helper->>WinReg: RegOpenKeyEx(HKEY_CURRENT_USER, ...)
        alt Key Found
            Helper->>WinReg: RegQueryValueEx(...)
            WinReg-->>Helper: Return value
            Helper-->>API: Return TRUE
            API-->>App: Return TRUE with value
        else Key Not Found
            Helper-->>API: Return FALSE
            API-->>App: Return FALSE
        end
    end

    Note over App,WinReg: Cross-Version Access

    App->>API: GetStringFromGeneralsRegistry(path, key, val)
    Note over API: Always uses Generals registry path
    API->>Helper: getStringFromRegistry(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, "...\\Generals"+path, key, val)
    Helper->>WinReg: RegOpenKeyEx(...)
    alt Key Found in HKLM
        WinReg-->>Helper: Return value
        Helper-->>API: Return TRUE
        API-->>App: Return TRUE with value
    else Try HKCU
        API->>Helper: getStringFromRegistry(HKEY_CURRENT_USER, "...\\Generals"+path, key, val)
        Helper->>WinReg: RegOpenKeyEx(...)
        WinReg-->>Helper: Return value or error
        Helper-->>API: Return TRUE/FALSE
        API-->>App: Return TRUE/FALSE
    end