Password Mask Syntax

Overview

Using this masking syntax, any conceivable pattern can be defined for generating passwords. You can control the length, as well as the range of characters from which the random characters are selected at each position of the password.

Following is a table of the symbols that are used in mask definition. See the examples below.

Mask Symbols

#	Numeric - will be replaced by a random number (0-9)
>	Uppercase - alphabetic characters after this symbol are forced to uppercase
<	Lowercase - alphabetic characters after this symbol are forced to lowercase
<>	No case - alphabetic characters after this symbol can be either uppercase or lowercase (this is the default setting)
A	Alpha - will be replaced by an alphabetic character (A-Z and/or a-z depending on case
N	Alphanumeric - will be replaced by an alphanumeric character (Any of A-Z, a-z, or 0-9)
K	Keyboard character - will be replaced by any character that can be typed using the computer keyboard
C	Ascii character - will be replaced by any ascii character excluding null (see ASCII chart)
?	Punctuation character - will be replaced by one of the following punctuation characters: ~`!@#$%^&*()_+-={}\|[]\:";'<>?,./
%	Special character (Numeric and punctuation) - will be replaced by one of the following: ~!@#$%^&*()_+`1234567890-={}\|[]\:";'<>?,./
V	Vowel character - will be replaced by a vowel (AEIOUaeiou) Professional Edition only
W	Consonant character - will be replaced by a consonant (BCDFGHJKLMNPQRSTVWXYZbcdfghjklmnpqrstvwxyz) Professional Edition only
*n	Repeat indicator - the preceding character will be repeated 'n' times
\	Literal indicator - Precede any of the above symbols by a backslash (\) so that the symbol will be treated as a literal and not be replaced, but copied into the password without conversion
others	All other characters not listed above are copied to the same position in the password without any conversion

Random Masks

Random masking syntax is available only in the Professional Edition - if this syntax is tried in the Standard Edition you will get a password that looks very much like the mask, without complaint from the generator.

~	The tilde (~) character at the beginning of the mask indicates this is a random mask and must have 3 sections, in any order: 1 - Password length; 2 - Required character(s); 3 - Default character.
(min.max )	Password Length enclosed by parentheses () - Replace min with the minimum size of the password, and replace max with the maximum size, with a period (.) in between. The generator will choose a random password length between these two numbers, inclusive.
{c} or {c,c}, etc.	One or more required character masks enclosed in curly braces {} - if more than one is entered, each character mask (c) must be separated by a comma (,). Each mask must be only one character in length. The generator will ensure that the password includes a character from each required mask's character set. There should be no more than min - 1 required characters.
[c]	The default character mask that should be used for all positions in the password that don't include a required character. This mask will be used in (password length - # required characters) positions in the generated password. The positions for all characters are randomly chosen by the generator.

See below for some examples of random masks

Examples

Mask	Password	Description
####	3409	4 digit number - can be used for PIN's
#*4	3926	Same as above - shortcut for repeating the same masking character 'n' times
<AAAA-AAAA-AAAA	ijfz-eolz-qkbr	Three word alpha - notice how the dashes have been copied literally - entire password will be lowercase because of the leading '<'
NNNN-NNNN-NNNN	0480-a4Gk-j1mu	Three word alphanumeric
\AB\CNNNNN	ABCHM8If	'A' and 'C' have been literalized using the backslash so that they are copied without conversion
ABCNNNNN	TB5xAF3Y	What happens without backslash before 'A' and 'C' characters
N*8	6NxAy8bJ	Good one for systems that require passwords with maximum 8 characters
C*12	s,j(TB^4	Very cryptic - funny-looking characters are outside the alphanumeric range - such characters cannot be typed using the keyboard except on some systems by holding down the Alt key while entering the ascii number into the numeric keypad
K*18	N5YE0>jjgS#PVg`>Vb	Long, but something that can be typed using the keyboard
###987###	233987685	Notice how '987' is copied literally
NNN\\AAA	zSk\Qfv	Two backslashes together generate a literal backslash
<AA->NNN-<>AAA	ig-UDL-pFh	See how the case is changed from lower to upper to none
AK?K#NNN	pS$A0Q5R	Example using a random punctuation character
<VWVWVVW	oxazoek	Use of vowels and consonants to generate a pronounceable password. Will work only in Professional Edition.
~(7.10){#,?}[A]	LAal!2Cqo	Random length and positioning. Password will be between 7 and 10 characters long and will contain a numeric and a punctuation character in any position. All other characters will be upper- or lower- case alphabetic. Will work only in Professional Edition.
~(6.12){%}[<A]	y2ockjwl	Another random mask example. Password will be between 6 and 12 characters. One special character is required and all others will be lowercase alphabetic characters. Will work only in Professional Edition.