Password fields
A Password field contains text. Fields in user interfaces that allow users to type a value for a Password field do not display the actual value of the field or the text that is entered. A Password field uses all the usual field properties, which are described in "Field properties". There are two additional properties.
The Validation property may have no value, in which case anything entered in a user interface for the value of the Password field is acceptable. The Validation property may contain the value Alpha Only No Spaces, in which case what is entered in a user interface for a Password field must contain only letters to be acceptable. Anything entered that contains a number, spaces, or punctuation is not acceptable.
If you set the Validation for a Password field to Alpha Only No Spaces, it encourages people to make the password a single word that will be easy for them to remember. The drawback to this is that passwords that are regular words are more easily guessed.
Setting no Validation for a password field by leaving the Validation property blank allows the password to be multiple words that can contain numbers and punctuation. Such passwords may be harder to remember but also are harder to guess.
- Do Not Encrypt
- This option stores the password as plain text in the database.
- Encrypt - Reversible
- This option encrypts the password using a reversible technique and stores that encrypted value in the database.
- Encrypt Non-Reversible
- This option encrypts the password using a non-reversible technique and stores that encrypted value in the database.
Once a Password field has been saved with the Reversible Encryption property set to Encrypt Non-Reversible, the Reversible Encryption property is disabled. If you wish to change the Reversible Encryption property, you must delete the field and add it again.
A Password field can be mapped to a Text field, for example using a workflow. If the Reversible Encryption property is Do Not Encrypt or Encrypt - Reversible, a Text field mapped from a Password field can be displayed as plain text. If the Reversible Encryption property is set to Encrypt Non-Reversible, a Text field mapped from a Password field can be displayed but the output will be unreadable.
Password fields set to Encrypt Non-Reversible with identical content will not compare as equal in a workflow. Instead, try the following procedure in a password change/verification scenario where the user enters the password twice to make sure they entered it correctly: In the temp record used to receive and compare the two fields containing the new password, set the fields to Encrypt - Reversible. After the workflow validation is complete, have the workflow use one of the values to set/update the password on the user's profile in a different field that is Encrypt Non-Reversible. Then discard the values of the Encrypt - Reversible fields.