This function can accept as an input the name of the file where your list of
words resides, or an array of words. At the beginning of the function you
will see that we check whether an array was passed, if so we assing the
variable name to the variable <?php example (‘$word_arr’);?>.
words resides, or an array of words. At the beginning of the function you
will see that we check whether an array was passed, if so we assing the
variable name to the variable <?php example (‘$word_arr’);?>.
If no array was passed we assume that is a filename
(or an URL), attempt to open the file and save the contents to an
array taking into account the constrain of the minimum number of letters per
word. We then assign the name of the array to the variable
<?php example (‘$word_arr’);?>.
(or an URL), attempt to open the file and save the contents to an
array taking into account the constrain of the minimum number of letters per
word. We then assign the name of the array to the variable
<?php example (‘$word_arr’);?>.
During the generation of the password we make use of the array of words, and
the code there is independent on whether the array was passed to the function
or created by reading from a file. We accomplish this by referring to the array
as <?php example (‘${$word_arr}’);?>, which the parser will interpret as <?php example (‘$words’);?>
or <?php example (‘$ext_arr’);?>, depending on the origin of the array.
This is an example of the use of
variable
variables to make general routines.
the code there is independent on whether the array was passed to the function
or created by reading from a file. We accomplish this by referring to the array
as <?php example (‘${$word_arr}’);?>, which the parser will interpret as <?php example (‘$words’);?>
or <?php example (‘$ext_arr’);?>, depending on the origin of the array.
This is an example of the use of
variable
variables to make general routines.
The test samples show how to use the function to generate passwords using the
default values for all parameters, how to change the separator from “_” to
“**”, and finally how to pass our own array of words and make the function
generate password with exactly 2 words.
default values for all parameters, how to change the separator from “_” to
“**”, and finally how to pass our own array of words and make the function
generate password with exactly 2 words.
Running the program in Listing 2, would generate output such as:
acuity_abuilding_abyssinia_actuate
accuracy_abacus_aborning_abnormal
ablaze_acquiescent_accomplice
abbreviate_acme_acton
accessible_abhorred_absent
abreact_aaron
academician_absolution
abelson_academician
abstention_adept_abuilding_acropolis
additive_acreage_acanthus
about**abc**acidulous
dog_cat
Further improvements
There are many other things you could improve in this function, for example,
you could have 2 or more arrays, one with verbs, another with adjectives and
adverbs, and other with nouns, and then use some simple grammatical rules to
construct passphrases (e.g. tomatoes fly terribly), which are more difficult
to guess than regular passwords and more easy to remember for the user.
you could have 2 or more arrays, one with verbs, another with adjectives and
adverbs, and other with nouns, and then use some simple grammatical rules to
construct passphrases (e.g. tomatoes fly terribly), which are more difficult
to guess than regular passwords and more easy to remember for the user.
We can also improve performance by avoiding the opening of an external file, and then
the parsing of it to create the array of words, by having the arrays predefined
into an include file or in the same script (also the latter will make your script long).
the parsing of it to create the array of words, by having the arrays predefined
into an include file or in the same script (also the latter will make your script long).
This and other improvements are (of course) left as an excercise to the
reader.
reader.
Good luck and have fun.
–Jesus M. Castagnetto
–Jesus M. Castagnetto
