---
title: clsPassword
summary: API reference for clsPassword.
status: draft
owner: <owner>
last_reviewed: 2026-07-24
library: SAIF.Business.External.Users
reference_type: package
---

# clsPassword

`clsPassword` generates external-user passwords and validates proposed passwords against the library's length, complexity, and identity-matching checks.

## Purpose
- Generate random passwords using configurable uppercase, lowercase, numeric, and symbol character sets.
- Validate submitted passwords against length, complexity, and no-name/no-user-ID rules.

## Context
- Namespace: `SAIF.Business.External.Users`*
- Assembly/package: `SAIF.BOF.Business.External.Users`
- Likely uses `SAIF.HashUtil` for hashing operations, per the nuspec dependency.*

## Public members

| Member | Signature | Purpose |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `SPECIAL_CHARS` | `Public Const SPECIAL_CHARS As String = "#$@%?*"` | Represents the special chars constant with value `"#$@%?*"`.* |
| `CHARS_TO_EXCLUDE` | `Public Const CHARS_TO_EXCLUDE As String = "1l0O"` | Represents the chars to exclude constant with value `"1l0O"`.* |
| `SpecialCharsToInclude` | `Public Property SpecialCharsToInclude As Char() = SPECIAL_CHARS.ToCharArray` | Indicates all the special characters that will be included by the generator. |
| `IncludeUpper` | `Public Property IncludeUpper As Boolean = True` | Determines if upper-case letters are included by the generator. |
| `IncludeLower` | `Public Property IncludeLower As Boolean = False` | Determines if lower-case letters are included by the generator. |
| `IncludeNumbers` | `Public Property IncludeNumbers As Boolean = True` | Determines if numbers 0-9 are included by the generator. |
| `IncludeSymbol` | `Public Property IncludeSymbol As Boolean = True` | Gets or sets the include symbol.* |
| `CharsToExclude` | `Public Property CharsToExclude As Char() = CHARS_TO_EXCLUDE.ToCharArray` | Indicates all characters that will be excluded by the generator. |
| `New` | `Public Sub New(Optional includeUpper As Boolean = True, Optional includeLower As Boolean = True, Optional includeNumbers As Boolean = True, Optional includeSymbol As Boolean = False)` | Initializes a new instance of `clsPassword`.* |
| `Generate` | `Public Function Generate(Optional passwordLength As Integer = 8, Optional numSpecialChars As Integer = 0) As String` | Generates .* |
| `IsValid` | `Public Function IsValid(password As String, userId As String, firstName As String, lastName As String) As PasswordValdationResult` | Returns whether valid.* |

## Behavioral notes
- `Generate` removes excluded characters from all candidate character lists before it assembles the password.
- `IsValid` returns a `PasswordValdationResult` populated with UI resource messages for each failed validation rule.

## Constraints and usage notes
- `Generate` can append extra required characters, so the final password can exceed the requested base length.
- Validation messages come from `UI_ExternalSecurityMaintenance` resource strings.

> **Note:** Statements marked with `*` were inferred from code structure, naming conventions, or contextual evidence where direct confirmation was not available in source artifacts.

## Sources
- `Business\SAIF.Business.External.Users\clsPassword.vb`