getpass(3C)                                           getpass(3C)



     NAME
          getpass - read a password

     SYNOPSIS
          char *getpass(prompt)
          char *prompt;

     DESCRIPTION
          getpass reads up to a newline or EOF from the file /dev/tty,
          after prompting on the standard error output with the null-
          terminated string prompt and disabling echo.  A pointer is
          returned to a null-terminated string of at most 8 charac-
          ters.  If /dev/tty cannot be opened, a NULL pointer is re-
          turned.  An interrupt terminates input and sends an inter-
          rupt signal to the calling program before returning.

     FILES
          /dev/tty

     SEE ALSO
          crypt(3C).

     WARNINGS
          The above routine uses <stdio.h>. This causes the size of
          programs not otherwise using standard I/O to increase more
          than might be expected.

     BUGS
          The return value points to static data whose content is
          overwritten by each call.

























     April, 1990                                                     1