.NET Framework Class Library
MembershipUser..::.GetPassword Method (String)

Gets the password for the membership user from the membership data store.

Namespace:  System.Web.Security
Assembly:  System.Web (in System.Web.dll)
Syntax
Visual Basic (Declaration) 
Public Overridable Function GetPassword ( _
    passwordAnswer As String _
) As String
Visual Basic (Usage) 
Dim instance As MembershipUser
Dim passwordAnswer As String
Dim returnValue As String

returnValue = instance.GetPassword(passwordAnswer)
C# 
public virtual string GetPassword(
    string passwordAnswer
)
Visual C++ 
public:
virtual String^ GetPassword(
    String^ passwordAnswer
)
JScript 
public function GetPassword(
    passwordAnswer : String
) : String

Parameters

passwordAnswer
Type: System..::.String
The password answer for the membership user.

Return Value

Type: System..::.String
The password for the membership user.
Remarks

GetPassword calls the MembershipProvider..::.GetPassword method of the membership provider referenced by the ProviderName property to retrieve the password for the membership user from the membership data store. If a password answer is required and an incorrect password answer is supplied, a MembershipPasswordException is thrown by the membership provider.

If EnablePasswordRetrieval is false, the membership provider will return an exception. If the provider supports passwords with a PasswordFormat of Hashed, you will be unable to retrieve the password for the membership user and should consider making use of the ResetPassword method when a user has forgotten his or her password.

NoteNote:

A ConfigurationException will be thrown if enablePasswordRetrieval is set to true and passwordFormat is set to Hashed in the Web.config file for the ASP.NET application.

If RequiresQuestionAndAnswer is false, you can supply nullNothingnullptra null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic) for the answer parameter, or use the GetPassword overload that does not take any parameters.
Examples

The following code example calls the GetPassword method to retrieve the password for a specified user name if the correct password answer is supplied. The password is sent to the user's e-mail address.

NoteNote:

Returning a password in clear text using e-mail is not recommended for sites that require a high level of security. For high-security sites, it is recommended that you return passwords using encryption, such as SSL.

Security noteSecurity Note:

This example contains a text box that accepts user input, which is a potential security threat. By default, ASP.NET Web pages validate that user input does not include script or HTML elements. For more information, see Script Exploits Overview.

Visual Basic 
<%@ Page Language="VB" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="System.Web.Security" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="System.Web.Mail" %>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<script runat="server">

Public Sub Page_Load(sender As Object, args As EventArgs)
  If Not Membership.EnablePasswordRetrieval Then
    FormsAuthentication.RedirectToLoginPage()
  End If

  Msg.Text = ""

  If Not IsPostBack Then
    Msg.Text = "Please supply a username."
  Else
    VerifyUsername()
  End If
End Sub


Public Sub VerifyUsername()
    Dim u As MembershipUser = Membership.GetUser(UsernameTextBox.Text, False)

    If u Is Nothing Then
      Msg.Text = "Username " & Server.HtmlEncode(UsernameTextBox.Text) & " not found. Please check the value and re-enter."

      QuestionLabel.Text = ""
      QuestionLabel.Enabled = False
      AnswerTextBox.Enabled = False
      EmailPasswordButton.Enabled = False
    Else
      QuestionLabel.Text = u.PasswordQuestion
      QuestionLabel.Enabled = True
      AnswerTextBox.Enabled = True
      EmailPasswordButton.Enabled = True
    End If
End Sub


Public Sub EmailPassword_OnClick(sender As Object, args As EventArgs)
  Dim u As MembershipUser = Membership.GetUser(UsernameTextBox.Text, False)
  Dim password As String

  If Not u Is Nothing Then
    Try
        password = u.GetPassword(AnswerTextBox.Text)
      Catch e As Exception
        Msg.Text = "An exception occurred retrieving your password: " & Server.HtmlEncode(e.Message)
        Return
    End Try

    EmailPassword(u.Email, password)
    Msg.Text = "Password sent via e-mail."
  Else
    Msg.Text = "Password Answer is not valid. Please check the value and try again."
  End If
End Sub


Private Sub EmailPassword(email As String, password As String)
  Try
    Dim Message As MailMessage = New MailMessage()
    Message.To = email
    Message.From = "administrator"
    Message.Subject = "Your Password"
    Message.Body = "Your password is: " & Server.HtmlEncode(password)

    SmtpMail.SmtpServer = "smarthost"
    SmtpMail.Send(Message)
  Catch 
    Msg.Text = "An exception occurred sending your password. Please try again."
  End Try
End Sub

</script>
<html  >
<head>
<title>Sample: Retrieve Password</title>
</head>
<body>

<form id="form1" runat="server">
  <h3>Retrieve Password</h3>

  <asp:Label id="Msg" runat="server" ForeColor="maroon" /><br />

  Username: <asp:Textbox id="UsernameTextBox" Columns="30" runat="server" AutoPostBack="true" />
            <asp:RequiredFieldValidator id="UsernameRequiredValidator" runat="server"
                                        ControlToValidate="UsernameTextBox" ForeColor="red"
                                        Display="Static" ErrorMessage="Required" /><br />

  Password Question: <b><asp:Label id="QuestionLabel" runat="server" /></b><br />

  Answer: <asp:TextBox id="AnswerTextBox" Columns="60" runat="server" Enabled="false" />
          <asp:RequiredFieldValidator id="AnswerRequiredValidator" runat="server"
                                      ControlToValidate="AnswerTextBox" ForeColor="red"
                                      Display="Static" ErrorMessage="Required" Enabled="false" /><br />

  <asp:Button id="EmailPasswordButton" Text="Email My Password" 
              OnClick="EmailPassword_OnClick" runat="server" Enabled="false" />

</form>

</body>
</html>
C# 
<%@ Page Language="C#" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="System.Web.Security" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="System.Web.Mail" %>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<script runat="server">

public void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs args)
{
  if (!Membership.EnablePasswordRetrieval)
  {
    FormsAuthentication.RedirectToLoginPage();
  }

  Msg.Text = "";

  if (!IsPostBack)
  {
    Msg.Text = "Please supply a username.";
  }
  else
  {
    VerifyUsername();
  }
}


public void VerifyUsername()
{
    MembershipUser u = Membership.GetUser(UsernameTextBox.Text, false);

    if (u == null)
    {
      Msg.Text = "Username " + Server.HtmlEncode(UsernameTextBox.Text) + " not found. Please check the value and re-enter.";

      QuestionLabel.Text = "";
      QuestionLabel.Enabled = false;
      AnswerTextBox.Enabled = false;
      EmailPasswordButton.Enabled = false;
    }
    else
    {
      QuestionLabel.Text = u.PasswordQuestion;
      QuestionLabel.Enabled = true;
      AnswerTextBox.Enabled = true;
      EmailPasswordButton.Enabled = true;
    }
}


public void EmailPassword_OnClick(object sender, EventArgs args)
{
  MembershipUser u = Membership.GetUser(UsernameTextBox.Text, false);
  string password;

  if (u != null)
  {
    try
    {
      password = u.GetPassword(AnswerTextBox.Text);
    }
    catch (Exception e)
    {
      Msg.Text = "An exception occurred retrieving your password: " + Server.HtmlEncode(e.Message);
      return;
    }

    EmailPassword(u.Email, password);
    Msg.Text = "Password sent via e-mail.";
  }
  else
  {
    Msg.Text = "Password Answer is not valid. Please check the value and try again.";
  }
}


private void EmailPassword(string email, string password)
{
  try
  {
    MailMessage Message = new MailMessage();
    Message.To = email;
    Message.From = "administrator";
    Message.Subject = "Your Password";
    Message.Body = "Your password is: " + Server.HtmlEncode(password);

    SmtpMail.SmtpServer = "smarthost";
    SmtpMail.Send(Message);
  }
  catch 
  {
    Msg.Text = "An exception occurred sending your password. Please try again.";
  }
}

</script>
<html  >
<head>
<title>Sample: Retrieve Password</title>
</head>
<body>

<form id="form1" runat="server">
  <h3>Retrieve Password</h3>

  <asp:Label id="Msg" runat="server" ForeColor="maroon" /><br />

  Username: <asp:Textbox id="UsernameTextBox" Columns="30" runat="server" AutoPostBack="true" />
            <asp:RequiredFieldValidator id="UsernameRequiredValidator" runat="server"
                                        ControlToValidate="UsernameTextBox" ForeColor="red"
                                        Display="Static" ErrorMessage="Required" /><br />

  Password Question: <b><asp:Label id="QuestionLabel" runat="server" /></b><br />

  Answer: <asp:TextBox id="AnswerTextBox" Columns="60" runat="server" Enabled="false" />
          <asp:RequiredFieldValidator id="AnswerRequiredValidator" runat="server"
                                      ControlToValidate="AnswerTextBox" ForeColor="red"
                                      Display="Static" ErrorMessage="Required" Enabled="false" /><br />

  <asp:Button id="EmailPasswordButton" Text="Email My Password" 
              OnClick="EmailPassword_OnClick" runat="server" Enabled="false" />

</form>

</body>
</html>
Platforms

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.
Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0
See Also

Reference

MembershipUser Class
MembershipUser Members
GetPassword Overload
System.Web.Security Namespace

Other Resources

Introduction to Membership
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