Get credentials

This function provides several options for ways in which user credentials (i.e., a user name and password) may be collected in R. The intent here is for use cases where some sort of authentiation is necessary within R, such as database connection credentials.

get_credentials(prompt = "", username = guess_user(), toggle_cache = TRUE,
  preferences = get_recommended_credentialer())

get_credentials_via_readline(prompt = "", username = guess_user(),
  plain_text = FALSE, toggle_cache = TRUE)

get_credentials_via_rstudioapi(prompt = "", username = guess_user(),
  toggle_cache = TRUE)

get_credentials_via_shiny(prompt = "", username = guess_user(),
  toggle_cache = TRUE)

get_credentials_via_tcltk(prompt = "", username = guess_user(),
  toggle_cache = TRUE)

Arguments

prompt	Character. A prompt justifying why a user ought to provide a password, or perhaps indicating what the password is needed for.
username	Character. The username that will be used in conjunction with the provided password
toggle_cache	Logical. Used only in the shiny option, it enables packages to be friendly about whether users would like to have their passwords cached to avoid reentry (e.g., if the same system is going to be connected several times) or if they would prefer to be asked each time.
preferences	Character. An ordered list of preferred credentialing options. The first option on the list that is functional on the user's system will be used. Note that in the event that none of the preferred options is available on a user's system, then all available options (per list_credentialing_options) will be tried even though they may not appear on the preferences list.
plain_text	Logical. Available only for the readline option only, this allows a password to be entered in plain text on the console. This is generally a bad and avoidable option. It exists as a method of last resort for those who don't care about security.

Details

Generally get_credentials is a better choice for packages to use than one of the specific credential getters. The order in which options are considered is controllable via the preferences argument, but there are safeguards adapt to the urser's system.