Re: String ENCRYPTION Function available?

Vern Bawden - Prentice Centre - UQ (ccvern_at_uqvax.cc.uq.oz.au) wrote:
: ORACLE obviously has an encryption function for storing passwords; is this
: function available to developers for storing authentication data specific
: to an application? e.g., a Forms trigger might do something like:
 

: insert into authent_table (id_field, key_field)
: values (:ENTERED_ID, ENCRYPT(:ENTERED_KEY));
 

: or to test values entered:
 

: select 'X' from authent_table
: where id_field = :ENTERED_ID
: and key_field = ENCRYPT(:ENTERED_KEY);
 

: Note that ONE-WAY encryption only is required. Can't find anything in the
: ORACLE 7 manuals (which doesn't necessarily mean it isn't there).
 

: Such a function does exist with other databases, e.g., PROGRESS (ENCODE
: function). If ORACLE do not provide such a function, would anyone care
: to share their own PL/SQL coded encryption function? I don't wish to
: reinvent the wheel if I don't really need to...

I am not aware of an encrypt function in Oracle mostly because the algorithm for which the function is to determine how to translate the string (A = X, B=!) would need to be user defined. If you are using ORACLE7, you can create a function that can encrypt a string.

        encrypted_string := encrypt_string(:a_string);

If you are using Oracle V6, you would need to write a similar PL/SQL block, probably in Forms to accomplish this.

Either way you will need translate the characters, either by hardcoding, or creating from-to strings in a table.

Tim McCollum
Oracle Services
Iselin NJ Received on Mon Jun 27 1994 - 22:28:51 CEST