Re: Password Storage Class - Visual Basic Discussion Boards

Hello,

I'm not sure but i think this would do the trick

VB

dim output as string = System.Text.Encoding.Unicode.GetChars(your_byte_array)

hope it helps!

edit: oeps didn't see you already fixed it, never mind that i said something Wink | ;)

modified 21-Jun-12 9:19am.

Is there a way that i can make a class to store passwords from my form1 or form2 to the Windows 7 Registry or a spot on the local Drive?

Public Class Form1

My.Computer.FileSystem.WriteAllText("C:\Pass\PasswordLog.txt", TextBoxLog.Text, True)
End Sub
End Class

or

SOME way to store in the registry... what would the code be for this ?

i tried and failed bad im sure... im a noob with VB but here is what i have for my class that stores passwords in the registry ....

<pre lang="vb">

Imports Microsoft.Win32

' Reads and writes the top three high scores to the registry.
Public Class Passwords
Shared Password As Integer

''' Read Passwords from the registry.
Public Shared Function GetPasswords() As Password()
Dim tops(1) As Password
Dim passKey As RegistryKey = Registry.CurrentUser.CreateSubKey("Software\VBSamples\Collapse\Passwords")
For index As Integer = 0 To 1
Dim key As String = "place" & index.ToString
Dim password As New Password(CStr(passKey.GetValue(key)))
tops(index) = password
Next
passKey.Close()
Return tops
End Function

' Update and write the Passwords.

Public Shared Sub UpdatePasswords(ByVal Password As Integer)
Dim tops(1) As Password
Dim passKey As RegistryKey = Registry.CurrentUser.CreateSubKey("Software\VBSamples\Collapse\Passwords")
tops(0) = New Password(passKey.GetValue("Place0").ToString)
If Password > tops(0).Password Then
Dim name As String = InputBox("New Password " & Password)
tops(1) = New Password("")
tops(1).Password = Password
Array.Sort(tops)
Array.Reverse(tops)
passKey.SetValue("Place0", tops(0).ToString)
End If
passKey.Close()
End Sub

' Set up the entries for new Passwords.
Shared Sub SetUpPasswords()
Dim passKey As RegistryKey = Registry.CurrentUser.CreateSubKey("Software\VBSamples\Collapse\Passwords")
If passKey.GetValue("Place0") Is Nothing Then
passKey.SetValue("Place0", "")
End If
passKey.Close()
End Sub

' Reset Passwords.
Shared Sub ResetPasswords()
Dim passKey As RegistryKey = Registry.CurrentUser.CreateSubKey("Software\VBSamples\Collapse\Passwords")
passKey.SetValue("Place0", "")
passKey.Close()
End Sub
End Class

For the Form1 or Form2 i was thinking something like :

Public Class Passwordz
Private Sub Passwordz_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
Me.DataGrid1.DataSource = HighScores.GetHighScores()
End Sub
Private Sub resetPasswords_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles resetScores.Click
Passwords.ResetPasswords()
Me.DataGrid1.DataSource = Passwords.GetPasswords()
End Sub
End Class

</pre>

my Questions here is would something like this work and how would i go about doing it?

If you would like credit for any code you provide please say so and ill add your name on the project.

-- modified 18-Jun-12 13:41pm.

I'm kinda wondering why you're using passwords at all if you're happy to have them stored unencrypted in full public view?

thats a good question . i've only been doing VB for almost a year now off n on. I can make it encrypted myself if i wanted so that is not my issue at the moment but if anyone wants to add it into the class please feel free to do so.

thank you

Ok, I've now looked through your commented code and see that the scenario may be rather different than how I first imagined it. Firstly, I don't think you mean 'password' but 'user name' which is rather different! Anyway, I can't see any great value in writing this kind of detail to the registry and certainly not to CURRENT_USER as presumably it is possible that the program (a game, I assume?) might be operated by several people using different log-on accounts. The best answer by far would be to set up a small database to read and write from.

yes its ment for a game but i would like to use it for other things too if possible.

how would i set up a small database to read and write from ?
Please Keep in Mind if you explain it to me...

im still new to VB even though ive been doing it almost a year .... i have only done super simple projects and now im trying to challenge myself to see if i can do better stuff or not. I make things for people i know in person so i can hand them the project on a flash drive. I Hope to get good enough to write something like Microsoft paint in VB not C# or C++ or any other language at the moment. I do want to learn C# one day just waiting till im up to intermediate/Advanced level with VB so as to not get too far ahead of myself.

idea of my skill level if it helps. I wrote my own tic-tac-toe game to play against myself. if i went in spot 1 it would auto move to spot 2,4, or 5 and if i move to spot 5 first it would move to spot 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, or 9. it all depends on where i move for its next move.... not the best work ive made but almost.

please dont use big o' computer programmer word(s) i have to google to know what they mean unless you cant help yourself.
Thank you and ill be waiting for a reply Big Grin | :-D

I got ticked off yesterday for not using big ol' computer words. You just can't win! Wink | ;)

Are you using VB Express or the full Visual Studio version?

modified 21-Jun-12 19:29pm.

Ok, here we go. All the code you need to set up a simple database and a subroutine to add new records to which you can pass values without the need to change any existing code. You need to add a DataGridView for display. It's not the most elegant but it's the easiest to set up. When you're familiar with the code you can try something more sophisticated.

VB

Imports ADOX

Public Class Create
    'This holds the data from the database for processing in the program
    Dim DBSet As New DataSet
    Dim DBAdaptor As OleDb.OleDbDataAdapter
    Dim DBTable As DataTable
    Dim DBView As DataView
    'This will give access to the database (open to read/write, close to end transaction)
    Dim DBCon As New OleDb.OleDbConnection("PROVIDER=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source = ScoreDB.mdb")
    'This passes commands to database
    Dim DBCommand As OleDb.OleDbCommandBuilder

    Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load

        'If database doesn't exist create new database (first use)
        If Not My.Computer.FileSystem.FileExists("ScoreDB.mdb") Then
            Dim DBCat As New Catalog()
            DBCat.Create("Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;" & _
                    "Data Source=ScoreDB.mdb;" & _
                    "Jet OLEDB:Engine Type=5")
            'Add table and define fields
            Dim DBCmd As New OleDb.OleDbCommand("CREATE TABLE [High_Score] ([Name] TEXT(30), [Score] NUMERIC(10))", DBCon)
            'Open database and complete update
            DBCon.Open()
            DBCmd.ExecuteNonQuery()
            DBCon.Close()
        End If

        'Fill dataset from database (all uses)
        DBCon.Open()
        Dim DBAdaptor As New OleDb.OleDbDataAdapter("SELECT * FROM High_Score", DBCon)
        DBAdaptor.Fill(DBSet, "High_Score")
        DBCon.Close()

        'Fill datatable & provide dataview to facilitate sorting

        Dim DBView As New DataView(DBSet.Tables(0))
        'Sort highest score first, alphabetical if scores identical
        DBView.Sort = "Score DESC, Name ASC"
        'Display
        DataGridView1.DataSource = DBView

    End Sub

    Private Sub DataUpdate(ByVal Name As String, Score As Integer)
        Dim DBAdaptor As New OleDb.OleDbDataAdapter("SELECT * FROM High_Score", DBCon)
        'Command builder translates adapter commands for database
        Dim DBCommand As New OleDb.OleDbCommandBuilder(DBAdaptor)
        Dim DBRow As DataRow

        DBRow = DBSet.Tables("High_Score").NewRow()
        DBRow.Item("Name") = Name
        DBRow.Item("Score") = Score

        DBSet.Tables(0).Rows.Add(DBRow)

        DBAdaptor.Update(DBSet, "High_Score")


    End Sub

End Class

Sorry i've been away awhile.
Thank you For the help i will use this and try to become familiar with your code. After i'm familiar with your code i will try to make one of my own similar to yours if possible.

[SOLVED]

I use the FULL Visual Studio Version . soo glad i got it a long time ago it said $11,000 on the Ultimate Version on it the other day.... i was like WTF!!?? when did that happen lol but yes i have the full version and it works Great. Big Grin | :-D

Hi people

I have a desktop vb.application that make a logon on to a server application.
In case of successfull logon session is set (or at least I suppose it is). This code is a webservice public function linked to VB.NET as webservice Reference

Public Function Login_Click(stringa, azienda)
Dim conn As OdbcConnection
Dim comm As OdbcCommand
Dim dr As OdbcDataReader
Dim Sql As String = stringa
Dim ritorno As Boolean = False

conn = New OdbcConnection(connectionString)
Try
conn.Open()
comm = New OdbcCommand(Sql, conn)
dr = comm.ExecuteReader()

ritorno = dr.Read
If dr.Read() Then
'create sessions
Session("ID") = dr.GetString(0) *That's the userid
Session("DateTime") = DateTime.Now.ToString()
Session("company") = azienda
Session("blacklist") = dr.GetString(2)

End If

Now, from another VB.NET application I wish to check the users who logged on. So as webservice reference I tried something like this, but it doesn't work:
<webmethod()> _
Public Function checkSession(id) As Boolean
Dim answer As Boolean
MsgBox(Session.Item(id))
If Session.Item(id) Is id Then
answer = True
Else
answer = False
End If
Return answer
End Function

My expectation was that VB.NET application get the user state, but an error happens.
Regardless my implementation, any suggestion from you in order to get the information that i need ?

Anybody so kind to give me an hand ?
Thanks a lot \\ Antonio

There is no such thing as a Session in a desktop app.

You can create your own implementation of this though. Your logins would have to be stored in a database of some kind. Off the top of my head, the application sends the username and password to your server code when it is authenticated. If it passes authentication, it sends back a GUID that is also logged into the database as being an active login.

Once you have that data, your other app can request all the active logins from the database.

Your server code will also have to implement a logout method to remove the GUID passed to the client. The client could just pass the GUID to let it know it wants to log out.

Your server code will also have to maintain the active login database by clearing out stale records where a timeout value has expired. Theis prevents the database from being loaded up with dead login data where the client logged in, but never logged out for some reason.

A guide to posting questions on CodeProject[^]

Dave Kreskowiak

Hi Dave
Thanks a lot for your reply.
I was supposing that session stuff doesn't require any interwork with db. If I store into the DB my loggin state it's much easer but it doesn't sound as implementation of session functionality either.
Please forgive me, I suck as designer, but I supposed that session functionality allows the user to keep available information without accessing to the DB.
Regarding timeout, how can I keep track of inactive users logged in my DB without a session mechanism ?
I suppose that I should implement a sort of tread which performs a continuos scan of users table.
Honestly, I'm a bit surprise because I belived that to start a session from 1 side using a webreference class which set 'session("my_session")=1' was enough.
The other desktop application use another webreference class which can read the state of a specific session if this way
'if session("my_session")=1
return true
Most probably session mechanism works very differently of my understanding

ilgrongo wrote:
I belived that to start a session from 1 side using a webreference class which
set 'session("my_session")=1' was enough.

Desktop apps have no such concept as a "session". They only exist in web applications (ASP.NET) and that mechanism can be used by web services to manage session state.

For a web service, sessions do exist. But, session data (and the "Session" object) only exist in the server-side code. The desktop application cannot reference Session at all.

A guide to posting questions on CodeProject[^]

Dave Kreskowiak

Thanks again Dave
Sorry It was my fault, sometime I can't express myself properly.
So far,I didn't write a single line of code desktop side trying to manage session, modificate session data and so on.

What I'm struggling with is just the retriving of session information from server side to be used.
On desktop side I'm writing code like this:
Dim webConsumer As New localhost.WebService1
If webConsumer.checkSession(userid) = 1 Then
.....do something.........
Where webConsumer is the instance of object WebService1

Thanks a lot

WITHOUT using msgina.dll or any DLL file / hooks... Is there a way to disable CTRL ALT DEL keys and the Win Key ?

The app im working on now has a timer to keep it ontop. it is password enabled to both lock and unlock it so random kids cant lock or unlock the PC without the password. i made the app so it can not be shutdown with the ALT+F4 keys, it is borderless, and FILLS the whole screen.

This Program would be a big hit on my website.
ill give credit to all that help in the code if asked.

There is no way at all to disable Ctrl-Alt-Delete. And Windows already has a lock screen built into it that will always be more secure that your app.

In order to disble the Windows key, you'll have to write a global keyboard hook. There's tons of examples of this all over the web, you need only to Google for "VB.NET keyboard hook" to find them.

BTW, the keyboard hook trick will NOT work for Ctrl-Alt-Del.

Windows Vista and 7 do not use GINA. GINA was retired with Windows XP and a new model was put into place that offers more flexibility and extensibility, called Credential Providers.

A guide to posting questions on CodeProject[^]

Dave Kreskowiak

yes i agree with you... "Windows already has a lock screen built into it that will always be more secure that your app." but i want a program that acts almost the same but allows me to run programs . windows 7 lock on my PC will not allow me to run some of my programs while its in use. im goal is to make an app to allow me to run program and act in place of windows lock.

Unless your descriuption is missing a crucial little detail, the Lock Screen doesn't prevent your apps from running at all. You can run anything you want, then lock Windows whenever you want. The only exception to that would be some games.

A guide to posting questions on CodeProject[^]

Dave Kreskowiak

Member 8768189 wrote:
The app im working on now has a timer to keep it ontop. it is password enabled to both lock and unlock it so random kids cant lock or unlock the PC without the password. i made the app so it can not be shutdown with the ALT+F4 keys, it is borderless, and FILLS the whole screen.

If it's used to protect your environment against kids, then by all means, simply use the account-control that comes with Windows. It provides in a safe password-storage and a safe environment.

These type of questions often benefit from additional background-information, such as the version of Windows that you're targetting. If you're merely looking for your own environment then open your own desktop[^].

Bastard Programmer from Hell Suspicious | :suss:

modified 16-Jun-12 17:11pm.

404 Alert!

The difficult we do right away...
...the impossible takes slightly longer.

tx

ill give it a try. Thank you. Smile | :)

im going to attempt to make my own environment and see how that works out. ive never tried that so any tips would be great and thank you for your GREAT idea Smile | :)

i want this app for myself and many many others and its to keep all people off not just kids.

Member 8768189 wrote:
i want this app for myself and many many others and its to keep all people off not just kids.

Even for adults; the best way to secure the desktop is by using the built-in provider.

It's fun to play with alternatives to the default logon, but it doesn't make it more secure. I'd be in that system before you finished peeling a banana.

Bastard Programmer from Hell Suspicious | :suss:

How would i go about using the built-in provider?
I have Windows 7 and if i can use this app to do something like what your talking about then how would i go about doing it?