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Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!cbatt!ihnp4!homxb!genesis!hotlg!nz
From: nz@hotlg.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.emacs
Subject: Re: reading without echo...
Message-ID: <94@hotlg.ATT>
Date: Wed, 13-May-87 13:51:45 EDT
Article-I.D.: hotlg.94
Posted: Wed May 13 13:51:45 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 16-May-87 04:46:13 EDT
References: <188@scampi.UUCP>
Reply-To: nz@hotlg.UUCP (Neal Ziring)
Followup-To: ihnp4!hotlg!nz
Distribution: na
Organization: AT&T-BL Dept. 54315
Lines: 57
Keywords: Gnu Emacs

In article <188@scampi.UUCP> ramin@scampi.UUCP (Fubar Void) writes:
 > Maybe I'm missing something... but is there a way to read in the
 > minibuffer with echo turned off? That is, to prompt the user for, say,
 > a password, and read it in without echo...
 > 
 > ramin...
 > -- 
 > {ihnp4,lll-lcc,hoptoad}!scampi!ramin
 > systems control inc.		(415) 494-1165 x-1777

Ramin,

	I wrote a small package that used such a thing a while ago, but
RMS declined to include it in the 18.4x distribution.  I could not find
a way to accomplish the read purely in Elisp, so I did it in C. 
Here is a useful routine that was part of the terminal-lock package:


DEFUN ("read-string-silent", Fread_string_silent, Sread_string_silent, 1, 1, 0,
   "Read a string from the terminal, no echo, return result on seeing CHAR.\
  Maximum length of the string is same as maximum width of screen.")
       (rc)
       Lisp_Object rc;
{
    int  ic, icret;
    char is[MScreenWidth];
    int  ndex;
    Lisp_Object ret, justread;

    icret = XINT (rc);
    for(ndex = 0, ic = icret + 1; ic != icret; ) {
	justread = Fread_char ();
	ic = XINT (justread);
	if (ndex < (MScreenWidth - 1)) {
	    is[ndex] = (char) ic;
	    ndex++;
	}
    }

    is[ndex] = '\0';
    ret = build_string (is);

    return ret;
}


Of course, this doesn't do the prompting, but I just use (message x y z)
for that.

If anybody out there in net land is interested in the lock-terminal command
and termlock package, just drop me a letter and I'll send it off to you.

-- 
...nz  (Neal Ziring  @  ATT-BL Holmdel, x2354, 3H-437)
	"You can fit an infinite number of wires into this junction box,
	but we usually don't go that far in practice."
					London Electric Co. Worker, 1880s