OCIPasswordChange()

Purpose

This call allows the password of an account to be changed.

Syntax

sword OCIPasswordChange ( OCISvcCtx     *svchp,
                          OCIError      *errhp,
                          CONST text    *user_name,
                          ub4           usernm_len,
                          CONST text    *opasswd,
                          ub4           opasswd_len,
                          CONST text    *npasswd,
                          sb4           npasswd_len,
                          ub4           mode );

Parameters

svchp (IN/OUT)

A handle to a service context. The service context handle must be initialized and have a server context handle associated with it.

errhp (IN)

An error handle you can pass to OCIErrorGet() for diagnostic information in the event of an error.

user_name (IN)

Specifies the user name, which can be in UTF-16 encoding. It must be terminated with a NULL character if the service context has been initialized with an authentication handle.

usernm_len (IN)

The length of the user name string specified in user_name, in number of bytes regardless of the encoding. usernm_len must be nonzero.

opasswd (IN)

Specifies the user's old password, which can be in UTF-16 encoding.

opasswd_len (IN)

The length of the old password string specified in opasswd, in bytes. opasswd_len must be nonzero.

npasswd (IN)

Specifies the user's new password, which can be in UTF-16 encoding. If the password complexity verification routine is specified in the user's profile to verify the new password's complexity, the new password must meet the complexity requirements of the verification function.

npasswd_len (IN)

The length in bytes of the new password string specified in npasswd. For a valid password string, npasswd_len must be nonzero.

mode (IN)

• OCI_DEFAULT - use the setting in the environment handle.
• OCI_UTF16. - use UTF-16 encoding, regardless of the setting of the environment handle.

  There is only one encoding allowed, either UTF-16 or not, for user_name, opasswd, and npasswd.

• OCI_AUTH - If a user session context is not created, this call creates the user session context and changes the password. At the end of the call, the user session context is not cleared. Hence the user remains logged in.

  If the user session context is already created, this call just changes the password and the flag has no effect on the session. Hence the user still remains logged in.

Comments

This call allows the password of an account to be changed. This call is similar to OCISessionBegin() with the following differences:

• If the user session is already established, it authenticates the account using the old password and then changes the password to the new password
• If the user session is not established, it establishes a user session and authenticates the account using the old password, then changes the password to the new password.

This call is useful when the password of an account has expired and OCISessionBegin() returns an error (ORA-28001) or warning that indicates that the password has expired.

The mode or the environment handle determines if UTF-16 is being used.

Related Functions

OCISessionBegin()