[unix-history] / usr / src / lib / libc / gen / getpass.3

.\"	@(#)getpass.3	6.2 (Berkeley) 1/24/89
.\"
.TH GETPASS 3  "January 24, 1989"
.AT 3
.SH NAME
getpass \- read a password
.SH SYNOPSIS
.nf
.B char *getpass(prompt)
.B char *prompt;
.fi
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I Getpass
reads a password from the file
.IR /dev/tty ,
or if that cannot be opened, from the standard input,
after prompting with the null-terminated string
.I prompt
and disabling echoing.
A pointer is returned to a null-terminated string
of at most 8 characters.
A calling process should zero the password as soon
as possible to avoid leaving the cleartext password
visible in the process' address space.
.SH FILES
/dev/tty
.SH "SEE ALSO"
crypt(3)
.SH BUGS
The return value points to static data
whose content is overwritten by each call.
Commit	Line	Data
1c15e888	1	.\" @(#)getpass.3 6.2 (Berkeley) 1/24/89
0adf1b99	2	.\"
1c15e888	3	.TH GETPASS 3 "January 24, 1989"
0adf1b99 KM	4	.AT 3
	5	.SH NAME
	6	getpass \- read a password
	7	.SH SYNOPSIS
	8	.nf
	9	.B char *getpass(prompt)
	10	.B char *prompt;
	11	.fi
	12	.SH DESCRIPTION
	13	.I Getpass
	14	reads a password from the file
	15	.IR /dev/tty ,
	16	or if that cannot be opened, from the standard input,
	17	after prompting with the null-terminated string
	18	.I prompt
	19	and disabling echoing.
	20	A pointer is returned to a null-terminated string
	21	of at most 8 characters.
e643a577 KF	22	A calling process should zero the password as soon
	23	as possible to avoid leaving the cleartext password
	24	visible in the process' address space.
0adf1b99 KM	25	.SH FILES
	26	/dev/tty
	27	.SH "SEE ALSO"
	28	crypt(3)
	29	.SH BUGS
	30	The return value points to static data
	31	whose content is overwritten by each call.