print * instead of character

hi,

I'm new in C++. I want to know is it possible to get a string and showing * instead of characters. e.g. for getting password from user.

I asked this from one of my friends and he said that I should set something in flags, but he didn't remember exactly what should I do.

as I said I'm new in c++, I decided to ask it in here

thanks, Behzad

We get this question about 5 times a day. Use the search function.

But I couldn't find what i need. if I did I would not post this.

I think that the short answer is that it is quite hard (if not impossible) with the standard libraries. You'll actually find that this is much easier in GUI (e.g you just set a flag when creating a text-box and Windows takes care of masking the password).

However, locale's are a completely dark territory to me, but wouldn't it be possible to create a locale or facet that masks input? If I'm not mistaken locale's can transform the (input?) stream's contents or would that be hopeless?

Display input(password) as asterisk(*)

from the second page

I read that topic, but I didn't get anything .
I know I'm dumb

No real standard way to do it but include <conio.h> and use getch() in a while loop. Getch reads the keyboard input in a character-by-character method.

What's so difficult about understanding this?

sorry
i get it

I would use a library that is platform independant such as ncurses or something. That way you can at least easily port your code if you are so inclined.

Here's the *best* implementation I've ever seen for Windows: Masking password input

gg

Someone is a little self-promoting today. It looks good to me though. So you are allowed to be self-promoting this time I have an entire conio library that I wrote a while back since its not exactly the most portable header in the world.

I'm using this code. it seems perfect

Code:

#include <iostream>
#include <stdexcept>
#include <string>
#include <windows.h>
using namespace std;

string getpassword( const string& prompt = "Enter password> " )
  {
  string result;

  // Set the console mode to no-echo, not-line-buffered input
  DWORD mode, count;
  HANDLE ih = GetStdHandle( STD_INPUT_HANDLE  );
  HANDLE oh = GetStdHandle( STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE );
  if (!GetConsoleMode( ih, &mode ))
    throw runtime_error(
      "getpassword: You must be connected to a console to use this program.\n"
      );
  SetConsoleMode( ih, mode & ~(ENABLE_ECHO_INPUT | ENABLE_LINE_INPUT) );

  // Get the password string
  WriteConsoleA( oh, prompt.c_str(), prompt.length(), &count, NULL );
  char c;
  while (ReadConsoleA( ih, &c, 1, &count, NULL) && (c != '\r') && (c != '\n'))
    {
    if (c == '\b')
      {
      if (result.length())
        {
        WriteConsoleA( oh, "\b \b", 3, &count, NULL );
        result.erase( result.end() -1 );
        }
      }
    else
      {
      WriteConsoleA( oh, "*", 1, &count, NULL );
      result.push_back( c );
      }
    }

  // Restore the console mode
  SetConsoleMode( ih, mode );

  return result;
  }

int main()
  {
  try {

    string password = getpassword( "Enter a test password> " );
    cout << "\nYour password is " << password << endl;

    }
  catch (exception& e)
    {
    cerr << e.what();
    return 1;
    }

  return 0;
  }

not using conio.h anymore.

It looks good to me I am not opposed to using the Win32 API. If you patrol the forums enough you will see this question posted frequently. Now you can simply supply anyone who asks with a link to your code

[edit]Wait... why are you using ReadConsoleA() and WriteConsoleA() instead of just ReadConsole() and WriteConsole()? Just don't compile it for unicode and you should be fine.[/edit]

Originally Posted by master5001

Wait... why are you using ReadConsoleA() and WriteConsoleA() instead of just ReadConsole() and WriteConsole()? Just don't compile it for unicode and you should be fine.

I find this code in Cplusplus.com and just use it
because this code is beyond my knowledge
I'm very new in C++ ( about 2 weeks )

Well I have no issue with writing websites emails about the nature of their coding. So that is on my todo list