.\" Copyright (c) 1989, 1991 The Regents of the University of California.
.\" All rights reserved.
.\"
.\" %sccs.include.redist.man%
.\"
.\"     @(#)getpass.3	6.3 (Berkeley) 04/19/91
.\"
.Dd 
.Dt GETPASS 3
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm getpass
.Nd get a password
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Fd #include <unistd.h>
.Ft char *
.Fn getpass "const char *prompt"
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Fn getpass
function prompts for a password
from
.Pa /dev/tty .
If the file
.Pa /dev/tty is not accessible,
.Fn getpass
reads from the
.Em stdin .
The prompt string must be
.Dv NUL Ns -terminated
and after it is written
to the output,
.Fn getpass
turns off character echoing.
.Pp
.Sh RETURN VALUES
If successful,
.Fn getpass
returns a pointer to the
password. The password may be up to 128
characters long and is null terminated.
The calling process should zero the password as soon as possible
to avoid leaving the cleartext password visible in the process's
address space.
.Sh FILES
.Bl -tag -width /dev/tty - compact
.It Pa /dev/tty
.El
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr crypt 3
.Sh HISTORY
A
.Fn getpass
function appeared in
.At v7 .
.Sh BUGS
The
.Fn getpass
function leaves its result in an internal static object and returns
a pointer to that object. Subsequent calls to
.Fn getpass
will modify the same object.