GETPASS(3C) Standard C Library Functions GETPASS(3C)

NAME

getpass, getpassphrase - read a string of characters without echo

SYNOPSIS

#include <stdlib.h>

char *getpass(const char *prompt);


char *getpassphrase(const char *prompt);


XPG4, SUS, SUSv2
#include <unistd.h>

char *getpass(const char *prompt);

DESCRIPTION

The getpass() function opens the process's controlling terminal, writes
to that device the null-terminated string prompt, disables echoing, reads
a string of characters up to the next newline character or EOF, restores
the terminal state and closes the terminal.


The getpassphrase() function is identical to getpass(), except that it
reads and returns a string of up to 257 characters in length.

RETURN VALUES

Upon successful completion, getpass() returns a pointer to a null-
terminated string of at most 9 bytes that were read from the terminal
device. If an error is encountered, the terminal state is restored and a
null pointer is returned.

ERRORS

The getpass() and getpassphrase() functions may fail if:

EINTR
The function was interrupted by a signal.


EIO
The process is a member of a background process attempting to
read from its controlling terminal, the process is ignoring or
blocking the SIGTTIN signal or the process group is orphaned.


EMFILE
OPEN_MAX file descriptors are currently open in the calling
process.


ENFILE
The maximum allowable number of files is currently open in the
system.


ENXIO
The process does not have a controlling terminal.

USAGE

The return value points to static data whose content may be overwritten
by each call.

ATTRIBUTES

See attributes(7) for descriptions of the following attributes:


+--------------------+------------------------+
| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
+--------------------+------------------------+
|Interface Stability | getpass() is Standard. |
+--------------------+------------------------+
|MT-Level | Unsafe |
+--------------------+------------------------+

SEE ALSO

attributes(7), standards(7)

September 2, 2003 GETPASS(3C)