NAME

getpass - read a string of characters without echo (LEGACY)

 SYNOPSIS

#include <unistd.h>

char *getpass(const char *prompt);

 DESCRIPTION

The getpass() function opens the process' 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.

This interface need not be reentrant.

 RETURN VALUE

Upon successful completion, getpass() returns a pointer to a null-terminated string of at most {PASS_MAX} 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() function may fail if:

[EINTR]

The getpass() 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. This error may also be generated for implementation-dependent reasons.

[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.

 EXAMPLES

None.

 APPLICATION USAGE

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

This function was marked LEGACY since it provides no functionality which a user could not easily implement, and its name is misleading.

 FUTURE DIRECTIONS

None.

 SEE ALSO

<limits.h>, <unistd.h>.

DERIVATION

Derived from System V Release 2.0.