How to mask console password input

[julianmoors]

Hey,

Currently I'm writing a VB.NET/1.1 app and I need to mask the input for
the password field. Does anyone know how to do this in VB? I've seen a
C# example, but wouldn't know how to convert it myself. Here's the URL:
http://www.codeproject.com/dotnet/Co...swordInput.asp

[Pritcham]

Hi Julian

One of the comments in the codeproject entry you've listed points to a
blog entry that does exactly what you're asking for using SecureString
- take a look at
http://blogs.msdn.com/shawnfa/archiv...27/143254.aspx which
seems to be what you're after.

hope that helps
Martin
ju*********@hot mail.com wrote:

Hey,

Currently I'm writing a VB.NET/1.1 app and I need to mask the input for
the password field. Does anyone know how to do this in VB? I've seen a
C# example, but wouldn't know how to convert it myself. Here's the URL:
http://www.codeproject.com/dotnet/Co...swordInput.asp

[julianmoors]

Hi Pritcham,

Thanks for replying to my message, but the example in the MSDN blog
seems to be describing a Whidbey (VB.NET 2005) sample and I'm currently
using VB.NET 2003. The code on there doesn't make any sense to me.
Could you possibly convert this to VB.NEt 2003 for me? I just need the
masking part from below such as:

while(nextKey.K ey != ConsoleKey.Ente r)
{
if(nextKey.Key == ConsoleKey.Back Space)
{
if(password.Len gth 0)
{
password.Remove At(password.Len gth - 1);

// erase the last * as well
Console.Write(n extKey.KeyChar) ;
Console.Write(" ");
Console.Write(n extKey.KeyChar) ;
}
}
else
{
password.Append Char(nextKey.Ke yChar);
Console.Write(" *");
}

nextKey = Console.ReadKey (true);
}

.... and below is the full example:

public static SecureString GetPassword()
{
SecureString password = new SecureString();

// get the first character of the password
ConsoleKeyInfo nextKey = Console.ReadKey (true);

while(nextKey.K ey != ConsoleKey.Ente r)
{
if(nextKey.Key == ConsoleKey.Back Space)
{
if(password.Len gth 0)
{
password.Remove At(password.Len gth - 1);

// erase the last * as well
Console.Write(n extKey.KeyChar) ;
Console.Write(" ");
Console.Write(n extKey.KeyChar) ;
}
}
else
{
password.Append Char(nextKey.Ke yChar);
Console.Write(" *");
}

nextKey = Console.ReadKey (true);
}

Console.WriteLi ne();

// lock the password down
password.MakeRe adOnly();
return password
}
Pritcham wrote:

Hi Julian

One of the comments in the codeproject entry you've listed points to a
blog entry that does exactly what you're asking for using SecureString
- take a look at
http://blogs.msdn.com/shawnfa/archiv...27/143254.aspx which
seems to be what you're after.

hope that helps
Martin
ju*********@hot mail.com wrote:

Hey,

Currently I'm writing a VB.NET/1.1 app and I need to mask the input for
the password field. Does anyone know how to do this in VB? I've seen a
C# example, but wouldn't know how to convert it myself. Here's the URL:
http://www.codeproject.com/dotnet/Co...swordInput.asp

[Pritcham]

How about something like the following:

Public Shared Function GetPassword() As SecureString
Dim password As New SecureString()

' get the first character of the password
Dim nextKey As ConsoleKeyInfo = Console.ReadKey (True)

Do While nextKey.Key <ConsoleKey.Ent er
If nextKey.Key = ConsoleKey.Back Space Then
If password.Length 0 Then
password.Remove At(password.Len gth - 1)

' erase the last * as well
Console.Write(n extKey.KeyChar)
Console.Write(" ")
Console.Write(n extKey.KeyChar)
End If
Else
password.Append Char(nextKey.Ke yChar)
Console.Write(" *")
End If

nextKey = Console.ReadKey (True)
Loop

Console.WriteLi ne()

' lock the password down
password.MakeRe adOnly()
Return password

Hope that helps
Martin
ju*********@hot mail.com wrote:

Hi Pritcham,

Thanks for replying to my message, but the example in the MSDN blog
seems to be describing a Whidbey (VB.NET 2005) sample and I'm currently
using VB.NET 2003. The code on there doesn't make any sense to me.
Could you possibly convert this to VB.NEt 2003 for me? I just need the
masking part from below such as:

while(nextKey.K ey != ConsoleKey.Ente r)
{
if(nextKey.Key == ConsoleKey.Back Space)
{
if(password.Len gth 0)
{
password.Remove At(password.Len gth - 1);

// erase the last * as well
Console.Write(n extKey.KeyChar) ;
Console.Write(" ");
Console.Write(n extKey.KeyChar) ;
}
}
else
{
password.Append Char(nextKey.Ke yChar);
Console.Write(" *");
}

nextKey = Console.ReadKey (true);
}

... and below is the full example:

public static SecureString GetPassword()
{
SecureString password = new SecureString();

// get the first character of the password
ConsoleKeyInfo nextKey = Console.ReadKey (true);

while(nextKey.K ey != ConsoleKey.Ente r)
{
if(nextKey.Key == ConsoleKey.Back Space)
{
if(password.Len gth 0)
{
password.Remove At(password.Len gth - 1);

// erase the last * as well
Console.Write(n extKey.KeyChar) ;
Console.Write(" ");
Console.Write(n extKey.KeyChar) ;
}
}
else
{
password.Append Char(nextKey.Ke yChar);
Console.Write(" *");
}

nextKey = Console.ReadKey (true);
}

Console.WriteLi ne();

// lock the password down
password.MakeRe adOnly();
return password
}
Pritcham wrote:

Hi Julian

One of the comments in the codeproject entry you've listed points to a
blog entry that does exactly what you're asking for using SecureString
- take a look at
http://blogs.msdn.com/shawnfa/archiv...27/143254.aspx which
seems to be what you're after.

hope that helps
Martin
ju*********@hot mail.com wrote:

Hey,
>
Currently I'm writing a VB.NET/1.1 app and I need to mask the input for
the password field. Does anyone know how to do this in VB? I've seen a
C# example, but wouldn't know how to convert it myself. Here's the URL:
http://www.codeproject.com/dotnet/Co...swordInput.asp