def _updatePolicyElements(policy_item, regkey):
    """
    helper function to add the reg key to each policies element definitions if
    the key attribute is not defined to make xpath searching easier for each
    child in the policy <elements> item
    """
    for child in policy_item.getiterator():
        if 'valueName' in child.attrib:
            if 'key' not in child.attrib:
                child.attrib['key'] = regkey
    return policy_item
