# crypt library for Erlang
Wrapper around the system `crypt(3)` library for Erlang.
## WARNING
The algorithms supported by `crypt` are dependent on the system `crypt(3)`
library.
## USAGE
```
crypt(Key, Salt) -> binary()
crypt_to_string(Key, Salt) -> string()
Types Key = iodata()
Salt = iodata()
Crypted = binary()
Calls the system crypt(3) function with the provided arguments.
If crypt(3) is not supported by the OS, the crypt module will
fail to load.
Depending on your system crypt(3) library, errors may or may not
be returned. Some implementations return NULL. If this occurs,
crypt/2 will throw a bad arg exception. Other implementations
may choose to return a fixed string (if this is a concern,
the caller will need to test for this condition).
The NetBSD man page for crypt(3) summarizes the situation as:
The behavior of crypt() on errors isn't well standardized.
Some implementations simply can't fail (unless the process
dies, in which case they obviously can't return), others
return NULL or a fixed string. Most implementations
don't set errno, but some do. Version 2 of the Single
UNIX Specification (``SUSv2'') specifies only returning
NULL and setting errno as a valid behavior, and defines
only one possible error (ENOSYS, ``The functionality is
not supported on this implementation.'') Unfortunately,
most existing applications aren't prepared to handle NULL
returns from crypt(). The description below corresponds
to this implementation of crypt() only. The behavior may
change to match standards, other implementations or existing
applications.
crypt() may only fail (and return) when passed an invalid
or unsupported setting, in which case it returns a pointer
to a magic string that is shorter than 13 characters and is
guaranteed to differ from setting. This behavior is safe
for older applications which assume that crypt() can't fail,
when both setting new passwords and authenticating against
existing password hashes.
```
## EXAMPLES
```
1> crypt:crypt("test","aa").
<<"aaqPiZY5xR5l.">>
2> crypt:crypt("test","$1$aaaaaaaa").
<<"$1$aaaaaaaa$lWxWtPmiNjS/cwJnGm6fe0">>
3> crypt:crypt("test","$6$aaaaaaaa").
<<"$6$aaaaaaaa$HREHv6TuSmUS/7spCDO5Js3ssSZ6.iwVkUoVtatJUhJDKVmERrRKBTolrPMub2s5dX6IEjZg6d6wZzFRlidV41">>
4> crypt:crypt_to_string(<<"test">>,"aa").
"aaqPiZY5xR5l."
```