Problem
I experimented with the following code…
string pass = "";
Console.Write("Enter your password: ");
ConsoleKeyInfo key;
do
{
key = Console.ReadKey(true);
// Backspace Should Not Work
if (key.Key != ConsoleKey.Backspace)
{
pass += key.KeyChar;
Console.Write("*");
}
else
{
Console.Write("\b");
}
}
// Stops Receving Keys Once Enter is Pressed
while (key.Key != ConsoleKey.Enter);
Console.WriteLine();
Console.WriteLine("The Password You entered is : " + pass);
However, the backspace key does not work while typing the password in this manner. Is there anything you could suggest?
Asked by Mohammad Nadeem
Solution #1
Console. You don’t have any code in your else block that removes the previously input character from your pass string variable, therefore Write(“b b”); will remove the asterisk character from the screen.
Here’s the appropriate functioning code, which should accomplish your goal:
var pass = string.Empty;
ConsoleKey key;
do
{
var keyInfo = Console.ReadKey(intercept: true);
key = keyInfo.Key;
if (key == ConsoleKey.Backspace && pass.Length > 0)
{
Console.Write("\b \b");
pass = pass[0..^1];
}
else if (!char.IsControl(keyInfo.KeyChar))
{
Console.Write("*");
pass += keyInfo.KeyChar;
}
} while (key != ConsoleKey.Enter);
Answered by CraigTP
Solution #2
You should utilize the System for this. Security. SecureString
public SecureString GetPassword()
{
var pwd = new SecureString();
while (true)
{
ConsoleKeyInfo i = Console.ReadKey(true);
if (i.Key == ConsoleKey.Enter)
{
break;
}
else if (i.Key == ConsoleKey.Backspace)
{
if (pwd.Length > 0)
{
pwd.RemoveAt(pwd.Length - 1);
Console.Write("\b \b");
}
}
else if (i.KeyChar != '\u0000' ) // KeyChar == '\u0000' if the key pressed does not correspond to a printable character, e.g. F1, Pause-Break, etc
{
pwd.AppendChar(i.KeyChar);
Console.Write("*");
}
}
return pwd;
}
Answered by Damian Leszczyński – Vash
Solution #3
Vanilla-flavored full solution 3.5+ C#.net
Cut & Paste (Cut & Paste) (Cut & Paste)
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
namespace ConsoleReadPasswords
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Console.Write("Password:");
string password = Orb.App.Console.ReadPassword();
Console.WriteLine("Sorry - I just can't keep a secret!");
Console.WriteLine("Your password was:\n<Password>{0}</Password>", password);
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}
namespace Orb.App
{
/// <summary>
/// Adds some nice help to the console. Static extension methods don't exist (probably for a good reason) so the next best thing is congruent naming.
/// </summary>
static public class Console
{
/// <summary>
/// Like System.Console.ReadLine(), only with a mask.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="mask">a <c>char</c> representing your choice of console mask</param>
/// <returns>the string the user typed in </returns>
public static string ReadPassword(char mask)
{
const int ENTER = 13, BACKSP = 8, CTRLBACKSP = 127;
int[] FILTERED = { 0, 27, 9, 10 /*, 32 space, if you care */ }; // const
var pass = new Stack<char>();
char chr = (char)0;
while ((chr = System.Console.ReadKey(true).KeyChar) != ENTER)
{
if (chr == BACKSP)
{
if (pass.Count > 0)
{
System.Console.Write("\b \b");
pass.Pop();
}
}
else if (chr == CTRLBACKSP)
{
while (pass.Count > 0)
{
System.Console.Write("\b \b");
pass.Pop();
}
}
else if (FILTERED.Count(x => chr == x) > 0) { }
else
{
pass.Push((char)chr);
System.Console.Write(mask);
}
}
System.Console.WriteLine();
return new string(pass.Reverse().ToArray());
}
/// <summary>
/// Like System.Console.ReadLine(), only with a mask.
/// </summary>
/// <returns>the string the user typed in </returns>
public static string ReadPassword()
{
return Orb.App.Console.ReadPassword('*');
}
}
}
Answered by shermy
Solution #4
Using the top response and the suggestions in the comments, I’ve modified it to use SecureString instead of String, test for all control keys, and not error or put an extra “*” to the screen when the password length is 0:
public static SecureString getPasswordFromConsole(String displayMessage) {
SecureString pass = new SecureString();
Console.Write(displayMessage);
ConsoleKeyInfo key;
do {
key = Console.ReadKey(true);
// Backspace Should Not Work
if (!char.IsControl(key.KeyChar)) {
pass.AppendChar(key.KeyChar);
Console.Write("*");
} else {
if (key.Key == ConsoleKey.Backspace && pass.Length > 0) {
pass.RemoveAt(pass.Length - 1);
Console.Write("\b \b");
}
}
}
// Stops Receving Keys Once Enter is Pressed
while (key.Key != ConsoleKey.Enter);
return pass;
}
Answered by MDMoore313
Solution #5
Mine handles line wrapping while ignoring control characters:
public static string ReadLineMasked(char mask = '*')
{
var sb = new StringBuilder();
ConsoleKeyInfo keyInfo;
while ((keyInfo = Console.ReadKey(true)).Key != ConsoleKey.Enter)
{
if (!char.IsControl(keyInfo.KeyChar))
{
sb.Append(keyInfo.KeyChar);
Console.Write(mask);
}
else if (keyInfo.Key == ConsoleKey.Backspace && sb.Length > 0)
{
sb.Remove(sb.Length - 1, 1);
if (Console.CursorLeft == 0)
{
Console.SetCursorPosition(Console.BufferWidth - 1, Console.CursorTop - 1);
Console.Write(' ');
Console.SetCursorPosition(Console.BufferWidth - 1, Console.CursorTop - 1);
}
else Console.Write("\b \b");
}
}
Console.WriteLine();
return sb.ToString();
}
Answered by Ronnie Overby
Post is based on https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3404421/password-masking-console-application