When reading in a password from a terminal/screen you want to set the
Security Terminal Enhancement on HP terminals. In Unix/Linux we have a
terminal database called terminfo, managed using vi, tic, and toc. The
getpass() routine will probably use this terminfo database to decide
what security enhancement (if any) is to be used for the specific
terminal setting.

In COBOL on M.P.E. using a HP Terminal I would always prompt for a
password using the following character escape sequence:

 24.2    01  ESC-SEQUENCES.
 24.3        05  SECURITY-ENH.
 24.4            10 FILLER         PIC X     VALUE %33.
 24.5            10 FILLER         PIC XXXX  VALUE "&dS ".
 24.6        05  LINE-DRAWING      PIC X     VALUE %16.
 24.7

If the terminal did not support the %33&dS sequence, then I would use
the HP-line drawing character set, makes the password unreadable.

This no longer applies these days, if you use a Windows HP terminal
emulator then just set your terminal type to HP700, and in COBOL
initialize your VPLUS field with %33&dS, or without VPLUS display as
follows.

DISPLAY "Enter Password? " %33 "&dS"
    WITH NO ADVANCING.
ACCEPT MYPASS.


--
Michael Anderson
Spring Independent School District
16717 Ella Boulevard
Houston, Texas 77090-4299
office: 281.586.1105
fax: 281.586.1187
-

>>> Peter Osborne <[log in to unmask]> 06/03/02 09:47AM >>>
Hello all,

I'm currently porting our Screen Handler (written in Cobol) to Linux. In
password fields to keep the characters from displaying on screen we
called an
ancient SPL routine to do this. Does anyone know of a quick way to keep
the
characters entered at the keyboard from displaying? Cobol is the
prefered
method but I'll settle for C.

Thanks,
Peter Osborne
Carleton Technologies

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