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classification
Title: Windows getpass bug
Type: Stage:
Components: Windows Versions:
process
Status: closed Resolution: fixed
Dependencies: Superseder:
Assigned To: mhammond Nosy List: JosephArmbruster, amc1, georg.brandl, mhammond, tim.peters
Priority: normal Keywords:

Created on 2002-04-20 18:34 by amc1, last changed 2022-04-10 16:05 by admin. This issue is now closed.

Messages (6)
msg10452 - (view) Author: Allan Crooks (amc1) Date: 2002-04-20 18:34
I'm currently running Python 2.2.1 on a Windows 98 
box, and this is the code I have just run.

-------

Python 2.2.1 (#34, Apr  9 2002, 19:34:33) [MSC 32 bit 
(Intel)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for 
more information.
>>> import getpass
>>> def x():
...    secret = getpass.getpass('Tell me a secret: ')
...    stuff = raw_input ('Tell me something else: ')
...    print 'The user told me the secret was "%s" and 
the other thing was "%s"'
 % (secret, stuff)
...
>>> x()
Tell me a secret:
Tell me something else:
The user told me the secret was "Autechre" and the 
other thing was ""
>>>

-------

This may seem normal, but I didn't get the opportunity 
to enter anything when the raw_input was called. I'm 
assuming that getpass leaves the newline character in 
the input buffer, which is then used by raw_input, 
leaving you unable to enter anything.
msg10453 - (view) Author: Tim Peters (tim.peters) * (Python committer) Date: 2002-04-20 20:10
Logged In: YES 
user_id=31435

Assigning to MarkH in case he has a bright idea.  I don't.

The problem is that getpass on Windows is implemented via 
raw Windows console I/O, and console I/O buffers interact 
in strange and undocumented ways with C's stdio buffers.  
I've never found a reliable way to keep them in synch, and 
MS says you can't mix the two, period.  The only workaround 
I know of is to build your own raw_input() workalike out of 
the msvcrt module's console I/O routines (getch(), etc).
msg10454 - (view) Author: Allan Crooks (amc1) Date: 2002-06-11 10:01
Logged In: YES 
user_id=39733

I've currently written a module which attempts to fix this 
problem, which you can get from here: 
http://ccec.sf.net/getpassfix.html

However, as I've mentioned in the documentation, it is a hack, 
but the "platform" based solution should become a more 
suitable candidate as it is tested.
msg10455 - (view) Author: Allan Crooks (amc1) Date: 2002-09-09 14:05
Logged In: YES 
user_id=39733

The function getpass_hack in the getpassfix module 
(referenced earlier) is a suitable alternative to the win_getpass 
function in the getpass module, but it should only be used if 
the operating system is Windows 95/98/ME (this is based on 
my observations so far).

If we have a nice Pythonic way of determining what operating 
system that Python is running on (say, by using Marc-Andre 
Lemburg's platform module: 
http://www.lemburg.com/files/python/platform.py), we could 
then provide a straightforward fix.
msg58701 - (view) Author: Joseph Armbruster (JosephArmbruster) Date: 2007-12-17 18:53
For the record, I tested this out with:

url: http://svn.python.org/projects/python/branches/py3k:
rev: 59540
OS Name: Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Version: 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2 Build 2600

The following snippet appeared to behave as intended (i input "secret"
them "something else"):

>>> import getpass
>>> def x():
...    secret = getpass.getpass('Tell me a secret: ')
...    stuff = input('Tell me something else: ')
...    print('The user told me the secret was "%s" and the other thing
was "%s"' % (secret, stuff))
...
>>> x()
Tell me a secret:
Tell me something else: something else
The user told me the secret was "secret" and the other thing was
"something else
"
>>>
msg61289 - (view) Author: Georg Brandl (georg.brandl) * (Python committer) Date: 2008-01-20 13:54
So it seems to be fixed in NT -- we don't support 9x anymore in 2.6 up.
History
Date User Action Args
2022-04-10 16:05:15adminsetgithub: 36476
2008-01-20 13:54:49georg.brandlsetstatus: open -> closed
nosy: + georg.brandl
resolution: fixed
messages: + msg61289
2007-12-17 18:53:36JosephArmbrustersetnosy: + JosephArmbruster
messages: + msg58701
2002-04-20 18:34:10amc1create