JPasswordField returning some hash code converted

Question

My program takes user name and password authentication from user before initialising the program, so i created a button login to which i associated ActionListener as show below

   login.addActionListener(new ActionListener(){
            public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event){
                if(txtUserName.getText().equals("Suraj") && (txtPwd.getPassword().toString()).equals("s123")){

                                dispose();
                                TimeFrame tFrame = new TimeFrame(userName);
                                tFrame.setVisible(true);
                                tFrame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DO_NOTHING_ON_CLOSE);
                                tFrame.setLayout(new GridLayout());

                        } else {
                            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null,"User name or password don't match","Acces Denied", JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE);
                        }

Now the problem that occurs is even if i enter correct password, program displays an error message

Answer 1

getPassword() returns a char[]. The toString() on it does not return the contents as a string as you assume.

Try new String(txtPwd.getPassword()).equals("s123").

However, there is a reason it is a char[] and not a String. Try looking up the security aspect of it in the javadoc.

Answer 2

I had the same problem:

private void loginActionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) {

    char[] pass = passwordField.getPassword();
    String mypass = pass.toString();
    String user = (String) combo.getSelectedItem();


    try {
        String driver = "sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver";
        Class.forName(driver);

        String db = "jdbc:odbc:LoginDB";
        con = DriverManager.getConnection(db);
        st = con.createStatement();
        String sql = "select * from Table2";
        rs = st.executeQuery(sql);

        while (rs.next()) {

            String AdminNewID = rs.getString("AdminID");
            String AdminNewPass = rs.getString("AdminPassword");

            if ((user.equals(AdminNewID)) && pass.equals(AdminNewPass)) {

                MyApp form = new MyApp();
                form.setVisible(true);

            } else {
                this.res.setText(" Incorrect User Name or Password");
            }
        }
    } catch (Exception ex) {
    }
}

Answer 3

Note: this should have been a comment but is way too long for this. Consider giving the upvotes to the answers in the linked thread

As already indicated by mKorbel there is a rather complete discussion in getText() vs getPassword() .

Further, read the Swing tutorial about JPasswordField which contains a nice example on how you should compare the password (by comparing char arrays, and not by converting the char array to a String) - small copy paste from the tutorial:

private static boolean isPasswordCorrect(char[] input) {
    boolean isCorrect = true;
    char[] correctPassword = { 'b', 'u', 'g', 'a', 'b', 'o', 'o' };

    if (input.length != correctPassword.length) {
        isCorrect = false;
    } else {
        isCorrect = Arrays.equals (input, correctPassword);
    }

    //Zero out the password.
    Arrays.fill(correctPassword,'0');

    return isCorrect;
}

The reason why you should compare char arrays is nicely explained by Hovercraft Full Of Eels in his answer in the linked SO question at the start of this answer.